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Attitude First
Thoughts from our Mixed Martial Arts journey. www.attitudefirst.net for all the information.

  • Sometimes Just Believe
    I was a high school Science/Biology teacher for 12 years. I have had so many injuries/surgeries my Sports Orthopedic is on speed dial. So I have a good understanding of the human body.

    Recently I have been having some bad back pain and stiffness. My back kept getting worse the past couple of months. I felt like an 80 year old man. I couldn't sleep through the night and I couldn't sit still in my chair at work as I couldn't get comfortable.

    So I tried what I know. Saw my chiropractor, massage therapist (almost make me tap out from the pain), stretch, inversion table, etc. Nothing was really helping and no one could tell me what was causing the pain.

    Now for those of you that have had chronic pain you know you will do almost anything to get rid of it. So I decided I would try accupuncture. This "cured" JR's calf problem in one visit so I thought it might be worth a try.

    Milton Liu is his name and he is from China or somewhere in Asia. There was a communication problem on my end but he understood what was going on. He then stuck a bunch of needles in my back and hooked them up to some electrical stimulation. 25 minutes later he took them out and told me to test out my back.
    The amazing thing is that it worked!!!!!!!!!! I don't understand how but my back felt so much better. I didn't have that chronic pain and could move around pretty good. It felt so good that at training that night I forgot I had a back problem and was working out until I realized that I am supposed to take it easy.

    It's not 100% yet but after a few more treatments I will be good to go! I now realize that I had some tightness in my back for the past year as it now is more flexible than I can remember.

    I do not understand the science behind accupuncture. All I can tell you is that for me it worked great. Better than "western" treatments. Sometimes you just need to try something new and just believe.

  • Who Controls You?!
    I heard this analogy a long time ago. (for you old timers I heard it from Mack Newton)

    You are a baseball player and you are hitting. You step in and the pitcher throws a high and tight fastball. You bail out of the batters box so you don't get hit.
    You dig back in and get ready for the next pitch. Same thing: Fastball, high and tight. You bail out.
    Now you dig in but this time you move your stance back a few inches off the plate because of the previous two pitches.

    The Pitcher just controlled you!! He did something that made you change the way you act.
    Now this same process occurs in real life all the time. Someone can say something to you and it creates emotion. You get mad or sad or upset. Guess what they just threw that high fastball and caused you to change.

    If someone says something to you and you get upset then you are letting them control you. "You Suck , Your Stupid, Your Ugly, You have no skill, That dude kicked your ass", etc. Now this happens a lot in kids and ego driven young adults.

    I can't stand the fact that people I know get "controlled" by others comments or actions that don't actually do anything to them.

    So next time you get upset at work or in life STOP and realize that you are giving someone else power to control you/your emotions. If you think about it this way then hopefully you can take the control back by not allowing them to upset you.

  • Your Record?
    I recently had a conversation with a student and the words "afraid to lose" came up. I have a hard time understanding this. By just committing to the competition and participating you have won.

    YOU ARE NOT JUDGED BY YOUR WIN/LOSS RECORD. If someone thinks less of you because you lost an MMA fight then they are not a friend. YOU ARE JUDGED BY YOUR ACTIONS AND THE QUALITY OF THE PERSON YOU ARE. That is how people should see you.

    "little" Sal lost his first fight. Does that mean he is less of a person? Does that mean his opponent is a better person? His opponent could be a serial killer. The win means nothing in terms of character.

    Sal just won his first fight. Does that mean his opponent is a bad person? No he could do great things in his personal life. He was just not the better athlete that night. If he fought Sal 10 times, Sal would win all 10. Does that mean anything about this guy? No!

    After Sal's fight he was helping his teammates get ready for their fight. He went out and saw his family/friends and then came back into the locker room and did a great job helping them. He could have stayed out in the crowd and enjoyed his win. He gave up some of that to help others. That reveals more about the type of person he is than his win/loss record.

    So don't be afraid to lose. Be afraid to lose out on great experiences!

  • What Matters
    What Matters? Is it winning? Is it what others think?

    Sometimes we get disracted from what really matters. Omur just "lost" a fight due to a cut. He was not getting beat he just got cut. So it shows up on his record as a loss.

    I was really having a hard time dealing with this. His opponent was celebrating and his fans posted that he "kicked his ass", etc. (Most people don't know that the stategy was to let his opponent gas then take over the fight.)

    I was distracted from what really matters.

    Omur pointed out some things that were said to him that have helped me regain my focus.
    * People commented on the name of our gym. I need to remember that it's not just a name (like Joe's Combat Sports) but also stands for something.
    * Somone also said that it looked like we were a very tight group of friends. I can't tell you how important it is that all of the guys support each other and care about each other. Sal (after his fight) and Patrick went above and beyond helping get the guys ready backstage. Everyone helps push each other in training and will sacrifice their own time to help a teammate get ready for a fight. If people in the audience can see this then we are doing the right thing.

    It's more important that we realize it's about ourselves and giving back. Lawrence has always done this with his actions. It's hard to explain but if you pay attention you will see it.

    So What Matters to You?

  • The Time is Now
    I posted this article on our original web page and several people said they started training because of it. I thought I would post it again as it is always relevant.

    I want to share an article with you. It is about doing things now and age doesn’t matter."The first is best explained with this simple story. In a small restaurant there sat two couples on opposite sides of the room. One couple was in their thirties, while the other was in their forties. The younger couple was talking about how much they regretted not traveling when they were in their twenties, when it would have been possible.

    The older couple spoke of the very same situation. They both wished they would have seen all the places they wanted to visit when they were ten years younger, when it would have been possible.

    You see, this cycle will last forever. You may say to yourself, 'I wish I would have done so and so ten years ago,' but you'll be saying the same thing ten years from now. The point is to do what you have always wanted to do now. Next year you'll wish you would have started a year ago.

    Please realize you are never too old. Omur is 38 years old and just fought as the main event. He is only getting better with age! It doesn’t apply to just fighting or training. Enjoy your life. Set goals and devise a plan to meet them. Do not let age or being set in your ways be an excuse. Do it now not tomorrow or next week.