A Year in Reflection
As I manage to spend another year on this planet bringing my grand total to 20, I feel it is a great time to reflect back on the year and all that has happened and everything I have learned. This is my top 20 (or so) lessons learned this year.
1.) There are quite a few guys way better than you in every discipline.
2.) Getting beat up does in fact make you better.
3.) Fighting for the first time is f*****g scary, like really scary.
4.) Fighting for the second time is still f*****g scary.
5.) Ho Shin Sool is the best fighting family you could ask for.
6.) Running sucks, conditioning work sucks, scrapping is fun.
7.) Wrestling is considerably harder than it first looks, unless it looks really hard to you in which case it is.
8.) The feeling of making someone tap never gets old…ever.
9.) Mitch Fryia has the best fight moniker ever, the hardships of being The Most Desirable Man
10.) Kewadin Casino security now fears BJ Evans and his (umm deadly?) knees
11.) The cooler your fight shorts the better you are…well not really but it never hurts to have some flair.
12.) Being sidelined with a skin infection is one of the most depressing week long experiences, but does open up opportunities to write articles.
13.) My Portuguese Grandmother who I love with all my heart hates MMA with a passion and voices it by saying, “OUHPA those poor boysh, too rough”
14.) The toughest guys are often soft spoken and smile easily…not always but lots of the time.
15.) Watching Frank Mir break Tim Silvia’s arm with an arm bar does not mean you will be able to do it to someone in the gym your first time out.
16.) In relation to number 15 the process of Green Lighting one of these characters is also immensely satisfying.
17.) Cutting weight is a miserable process…receiving a pair of “Sperm” shorts 4.5 lbs in to the cut is also miserable...seeing Ray laugh at you for being miserable only makes it worse
18.) If you want to fight don’t say anything just come work…no excuses just hard work.
19.) Some days I love Coop others I hate him but he always makes me better..thanks big guy.
a.) Teammates that move to Korea don’t pull any punches if they feel you slighted them (check Brent’s comment to understand)
b.) Regardless of how much I would like to win I doubt I will beat Trevor in pre-practice Tekken
20.) I love everyone I train and fight with.
Vengeance