I am so stoked to be headed out to Cali to compete at the Mundials tomorrow! Nova Uniao instructors and black belts such as Marcelinho Freitas, Bruno Bastos, Rodrio 'Feijao', Robson Moura, Daniel Garcia and Chris Westfall were in Dallas to train, teach and get everyone ready for this years Worlds. Many other high level rollers attended when they could including Travis Lutter and Hillary Williams. The camp was awesome and I feel great! My weight is good, I'm healthy and ready to rock n roll down in Cali.
I am sure there are plenty of people who are interested in seeing me compete in the gi. I have been back in the gi since about a week after I split with 10th Planet and Eddie Bravo, over a year now. I recently competed in a Super 8 Man tourney down in Houston (Nogi) and placed 3rd but this is the gi mundials. I wanted to wait till I felt comfortable enough to compete in the gi. Now I feel great! I roll well against brown and blacks in the gi in the gym so it's time to put myself to the test. When I competed at NAGA I was Mr Fade to Black, Eddie's 1st affiliate, the face of 10PJJ after Eddie, Eddie saying I was top 3 for his blackbelt blah blah blah...I was unbelievably nervous for that match. I was talking to Mike, the guy who beat me for 3rd at NAGA the other day at Lutters and we talking about how nervous I was. At the Super 8 I wasn't nervous at all, thats why I performed well. I am not going into this one nervous either. I'm just having fun again, no pressure.
The haters will always be haters. Especially the 10PJJ guys, they just hate, research peoples profiles, pull pics from other websites, say what they want and try to make it truth, make cartoons, say vile things about my wife and kid and yet call me scum, you name it and I shouldn't even say 10PJJ guys, it's more like just a couple of them and a couple who aren't and I can care less what they say. So for those guys who talk about the 'revolution' yup gentlemen I eat my words. NO REVOLUTION! Lmbo! I ate those words the day I put a gi back on and a kurtka. I eat them 10 times over everyday I train with world champion jiu jitsu practitioners who wreck me, everyday I get visitors from Alliance, Gracie Barra and many other schools and we train gi. It's crazy being in and then out. Now I have my eyes reopened to how basics are a must, relying on a physical attribute is poor jiu jitsu. As Ryan Hall said, "it should be a bonus to your jiu jitsu not your only jiu jitsu." That tripped me out when a guy who can triangle himself said that to me when at my school. Relying on certain techs is not a good thing in my opinion now too. Rely on your foundation, that is sturdy. Posture, dont be on your back in half, passing the guard, combat base, escapes, positional dominance, space creates escape, clinch isnt always best, nogi is not mma, takedowns. Tricks are awesome and sometimes needed but they should be flavor, not your meat and potatoes.
On the flip side, I have many awesome people everyday who email and call me, message me on FB, myspace, youtube and my website with positive feedback, motivation, compliments and encouragement. Thats why I stay in this sport and industry. I love jiu jitsu! My students SMASH tournaments and fights which makes me so proud as well! My student base keeps growing and growing and I must say I have been blessed. Our last NAGA we had 20 competitors bring home 36 medals and a belt! Woohoo so proud!
keep checking back I will write when I can
Never Quit
