Mile Stones

The past couple of years mark some major mile stones in my life. Last year (2012)
marked 20 years since I started wrestling. As a young high school wrestler I always
wanted to be like the coaches and athletes that I saw at wrestling camp who could
say "I've been wrestling for 15 years", or "I've been wrestling for 20 years." 

For some reason that inspired me and made me want to have a long and
successful career as an athlete. Last year I hit that goal. This past winter
(2013) I was inducted into the Taylorsville High School Wrestling Hall of Fame.
This spring I was also inducted into the Taylorsville High School Hall of Fame
for my athletic achievements. It was a very satisfying feeling to have been
recognized for my wrestling and grappling career and what continues to be
lifelong achievement and contribution to the sports of wrestling and Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu. 

This year, 2013, also marks two more significant mile stones for me. The
first (chronologically speaking) is my 10 year mark in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I've
been very fortunate to have some great instructors, friends and training
partners who have helped me reach some very lofty goals. Jiu Jitsu allowed me to
achieve on a world stage and to pick up where wrestling left off and add
submissions to my overall grappling philosophy. Over the past 10 years I’ve
achieved black belt rank in Jiu Jitsu and won many titles and honors. My biggest
high light (so far) has been winning the 2011 FILA Grappling World Championships
in which over 25 nations were represented. It was truly a sweet experience. 

The final mile stone, and the most significant, is the completion of 10 years
of marriage to my wonderful wife Brynne. She has been a great help and support
to me. There have been so many ups and downs on my road as an athlete and she
has been there helping me at each step of the way. She was pretty much baptized
by fire as only two weeks after we were married we moved to Colorado so that I
could live and train at the Olympic Training Center. Brynne had no idea what she
was getting into and the type of dedication that it would take for me to be
competitive at that level. She went through some puzzling and confusing times
early on and gave up a lot to help me in my wrestling pursuits at the OTC. 

In addition to being 100% committed to our marriage and family Brynne has
committed 100% support to my athletic career. When I’ve been up she has
celebrated with me, when I’ve been down she has helped me keep going. She is a
great example of what it means to be a team. I’ve been very fortunate to have
her as my wife and best friend. Without her support I wouldn’t have been able to
achieve the goals that I have. I wouldn’t be the athlete and man I am today
without her positive influence.

My mile stones are satisfying to me and they mark major achievements not only
in my athletic endeavors but in my family and personal life. The take away from
my mile stones is Commitment. I’ve been able to reach these goals because I’ve
committed myself and my efforts to them. It hasn’t been easy being committed to
striving for a world class athletic career or a happy enduring marriage, but it
has been absolutely worth it. 

Without commitment there is no lasting achievement and no lasting legacy that
can be reached. If you would have more success and happiness in your life stop
and take a look at what you’re committed too. Are you all in? Or are you just
passing time? Find your passion and commit to it 100%. There will be both good
times and bad but in the end they all add up to compose the richness of your
life experience. In the end that is the only thing that we take with us.

I had a great time today at the 2013 APF/AAPF Rocky Mountain Bench Press &
Deadlift Championship! I did really well and there were even a few American
records set by some of the competitors!

It was a totally new experience. I've never comp...eted in Powerlifting till today! I won my division the
Novice Super Heavy Weight Bench Press and I also won the Novice lifter award of the entire event! I was really happy about the result. My family came to watch as did my friends Matt Groesbeck and Nate Hasebi. Thanks to Chris McGrail for organizing and thanks to my sponsor www.CombatCorner.com

There is another event coming up in December! I'll be back!

I'm so excited to compete at the UTAH POWERLIFTING 2013 Rocky Mountain Push-Pull Championship this Saturday July 27th at 10:00am at Jeremy Horn Elite Performance Gym 7932 S 1530 W West Jordan UT. Come see some of the strongest men and Utah and the World compete in West Jordan. Your eyes will be opened and you won't see training the same way ever again!


Come down and check it out!

The Single Biggest Thing
That Helped My BJJ

As I’ve pondered the question “What is the single biggest thing that helped my BJJ?” posed by my good friend,
Brent Lundell, I couldn’t help but think; “Is there really ONE overriding factor that has helped me in BJJ or are there more? And if so what is it or what are they?”

I started jotting down all of the things that I believe have helped me over the years as a wrestler and grappler. I came up with many principles that most of you probably would come up with right off the bat; desire, sacrifice, effort etc. But that seemed too easy. It seemed on some level that was the ‘Sunday School’ answer and although true and accurate it couldn’t possibly cover my 21 years of wrestling and grappling experience. 
 
I wanted a clearer picture of what it has taken me to get to this point. I wanted to really take a holistic look at how I got here and how I can continue on.

Successes and failures in life often depend on three things that we have the most control over. These are: 

1. Attitudes
2. Actions
3. Environments

These three factors all influence one’s life direction and outcomes. Of all the things that one can ‘control’
in this life these are the three which are most controllable and which you have the most direct choice in determining. You may not always control the type of environment you start with but you can determine which environment you will end up in. Attitudes lead to actions. Actions create Environments. Environments influence Attitudes. This cyclical combination will ultimately take you where you want to be or send you down a path of misery. 

With some further luck and insight this exercise might help both you and me in continuing on in our quest for grappling greatness. Remember what the great Sun Tzu said; “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” 
 
I have made an attempt to categorize the factors that have influenced my athletic career into the three categories I’ve listed previously. Most of the items I describe fit nicely under these three categories however
there are some which are less tangible but fit best in one category over another. 

Attitudes

• Desire: to excel and desire to achieve and experience greatness as it pertains to performance and achievement as an athlete.
• Enjoyment: I enjoy the challenge and the struggle of competition and overcoming them
• God: he’s blessed my path and granted me success in my endeavors
• Open minded: I enjoy trying new styles: Wrestling (Folk, Greco Roman, Freestyle), BJJ, Judo, Catch as Catch-Can Wrestling, Sambo, Eskrima, Boxing, Kick Boxing.
• Humility: I’ve tried to learn from as many people as I can.
• Vision: “Without vision the people perish.” I was able to see what others had done and accomplished and then desired it for myself. “If they can I can” When you see others doing good you see that it’s possible. You think differently about the world and about what you’re doing that could be better if you only did xyz. I got to see a lot of good wrestling US Open, OTC, GR/FS Worlds. I got to see a lot of good grappling BJJ Worlds, FILA Worlds etc. I wanted to be the kind of athlete that has a long career and success and tradition of winning. I wanted to be able to have stories and have good memories of being a top level athlete.
• Responsibility: “Being my own Master” seeking to be the one in control of my own destiny and path; consequently I have taken full responsibility for my performances and for my development as an athlete and instructor. I actively seek for mastery. I study. I perfect my craft.
• Guts & Stupidity: Being too dumb and determined to know that I should have packed it up years ago.

Actions
 

• Study: Observing and connecting styles and principles. Reading and listening to the success of others whether they are athletes or not. Finding the correlations that exist for successful people in diverse fields. I am always studying videos for personal application and general knowledge within my craft and I understand the difference between the two.
• Planning & Designing my approach to training and competition. Developing specific plans for incremental improvement in training and competition.
• Mental/Emotional development – Increasing my Spirit. I’ve worked very hard to develop a stronger mental game and understanding sport psychology. I’ve been able to have major breakthroughs because of it. I’ve also helped my athletes make breakthroughs with the knowledge I have on the subject.
• Time: Endurance and Persistence. I’ve paid the price to be successful physically, emotionally, mentally and financially. I’ve put a lot of time, effort, energy and money into my athletic goals.
• Sacrifice: Willingness to pay the price. I’ve given up time on other things, time with family and given my physical body.
• Consistent Training Schedule: Regular planned times to train for Strength & Conditioning and technique and sparring

Environment

• Success breeds success: Small victory leads to big victory. Those who have will receive more. Those who have not will have it taken away. Winners get more attention from other winners and coaches. Their opponents give up and fear them mentally/emotionally. Once I got my foot in the door or success I’ve been
  able to wriggle my way in.
• Luck: Good and bad it is always a factor
• Support Team: My wife and kids. Mom & Dad. They all help me do what I do/have done.
• Friends: Good training partners who let me torque on them
• Coaches: I’ve had some good instruction from world class athletes and coaches.
• Talent: I do have a physical talent and penchant for grappling styles and being physical. Hard work can complement talent and help one get the most out of whatever amount of talent they do have but it rarely ever replaces it.

If I were to boil it all down to one thing, which as I stated earlier is almost impossible, I would have to say that DESIRE is the number one factor that has enabled me to have success in Wrestling and BJJ. Without an initial desire to attain or experience something greater than what you now have you won’t go anywhere. My desire led to everything else, but
as you can clearly see success is more than just “wanting
it bad enough”or “wanting it more
than the other guy”.Desire is like a seed that grows over time that
eventually grows into success. It is a process.



I hope you enjoyed my answers to a simple but powerful question.
I hope it helps you in your pursuit of greatness.

As I was coming up the ranks of Greco Roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I really made an effort to sell-myself-on-myself. Let me explain. Early on I was not where I wanted to be physically and technically. I didn’t have the know-how or the insight that I needed to achieve my goals just then. Rather than just sit back and give in to my weakness I made the effort to convince myself that it could be done and that it could be done by me.

In essence my plan was, “Believe it ‘till you See IT.” 


I made a series of inspirational posters that I hung up around
our apartment. They stated my goals and gave affirmation that it could be done.
Some were simple phrases or sayings like: “There is more in you!” and“Champions
find a Way!” I wrote down goals with a set deadline and reviewed them daily. 

I found that as I read and reviewed these goals and continually
sold-myself-on-myself I started to have little breakthroughs, then larger
breakthroughs then I started having major successes on a consistent basis. Even
now I have made new goals and I am working to sell-myself-on-myself reaching
those goals.
 
If you don’t make the effort to believe in what you’re doing and
what you’re trying to accomplish then no one else will. 
 
Take time right now and write down one thing that you would like
to do but are having a hard time getting the confidence to do. Start an ad
campaign to yourself about how you can achieve your goal. Make mini posters.
Write a sales pitch. Talk yourself up to yourself. 

Keep on this course for the next 3 weeks and watch your self-belief increase.