just a guy trying to live the Dream of having my own school…hope you "Follow" and enjoy!

Archive for December, 2012

Peaks & Valleys in Jiu Jitsu & Life…

So here I sit after successfully making a move across several states to a place where I had absolutely no friends, any form of employment, and no home to speak of (other then an ad I responded to on the internet). It’s been 4 months since I got in my car and made the trek up north to this majestic mountainous region known as Colorado:) For all intensive purposes my trip is an absolute success! I have a full time job as the Head of Security for the largest bar in Denver, I have a great group of go-to friends, I have a Great Gospel-centered church and meet with my Jesus peps weekly, I have earned my name on the mats here in Denver, and finally I have been able to pay off some financial stuff and am on my way to being 100% debt free! So I am going to call this move a Complete Success!!!

Now comes the tricky part, which in Animal-speak means “not the ideal” or “short of the projected goal” I have not found a place or venue to teach my favorite art form, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:( I have trained very little as well and I know that my Jitz game has suffered immensely, due to my horrible display of Jitz competency during my last two training sessions:( This is partly my fault for spending very little time on the mat but it is also partly the fault of my crazy schedule the last few months which keep me off of said mats. I have been in pure “survival mode” up until now and to be quiet honest I am still a hovering in that “just pay the bills” mode here. It is almost impossible to get a regular schedule that allows me to dictate when and how often I get to roll when I am in this mode. Ok so enough of my excuses and to the premise of this Blog post…

“Jiu Jitsu is full of Peaks & Valleys Brotha…”  These Amazing Words of Wisdom were spoken to me many years ago while sitting on the mat after some serious training. My Jiu Jitsu Brother Misho Ceko is responsible for this statement, which has stayed with me throughout the years and remains with me even to this day! I am not sure if he even remembers uttering that profound sentence to me? I am fully confident he has no idea that those words have carried me through the many of  years of ups and downs in my training and through some of my life’s most difficult moments. You see I use Jiu Jitsu as metaphor for life, which is Exactly the point of this whole Blog and the reason I am putting these words down on paper/internet now:)

I have done Horrible! on the mat as of late and I have 2 choices with the way I “feel” about my performance. I can either quit completely or work through the “Valley of Jiu Jitsu” that I am currently wallowing in now. I choose of course to persevere and come back yet again for another Horrible display of my Jitz skills and honestly I will do it over and over again b/c I will NOT quit and walk away from anything. This is my approach to Jiu Jitsu and also my approach to issues, problems, barriers, and obstacles that present themselves in my life.

Now to be completely honest I am emotionally and physically beat down from all the work and stress of this move. I have prevailed but at a tangible cost to be sure! Just b/c I say I will not quit doesn’t mean that I don’t dread the “Valley” I am in right now…I am of course referring to my Jiu Jitsu in general, and my emotional state as well! My point is that regardless of how I “feel” I choose to realize that life and training both have “Peaks & Valleys” and I make a conscious decision to drive through the Valley b/c I know I will not be in the Valley forever, there is Always Hope:)!!!

So Thank You Misho for your words of Wisdom spoken to me on the sacred mat that day in Mountain View, California! I have not quit training and will continue to drive forward towards the goal of being a Jiu Jitsu and Life Pimp:)

As always I hope you enjoyed my post and I ask you to Please! Please! click the “Follow” tab and help support the crazy life’s journey of a dude called Animal;)

December 27, 2012 | Categories: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, Health & Fitness, Inspiration, Jiu Jitsu, Low Back Pain | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shift Focus and Drive Forward…

 

 

Me & My Crew Chilling

 

This is one of my favorite pictures since I moved to Denver! It is me and my crew chilling at work after a long night of keeping people safe and hurting bad dudes:) I am Blessed to be surrounded by a group of such solid Bro’s!!! Everyone of these guys is a trained Fighter and/or Special Forces Operator…basically some Tough Ass Dudes:) I wanted to give props to my Bouncer Family on this here Blog…to many many more nights of safety and fun Boys!!!

Ok here we go…looks like it’s time to Shift Focus and Drive Forward!!! I am working so much at this new bar/club so I can establish myself as well as put together money for bills and paying off all debt. I do NOT buy into the lie of having debt so I am almost completely out of debt…just a few thousand to go:) Point is I am working a TON and trying to shift my focus at work from doing purely Security work to doing both Security and Bartending. Bartending is better money and is more effective for long term employment. Another thing is that this brand new bar is going through so many changes with staff and procedures. This means I am having to be extremely flexible on my days/hours worked, which keeps me off the mat and away from getting my school up and running. Point is I am going to have to Shift my Focus…temporarily.

What is it you Truly Love Doing? What do you find yourself thinking about when you are stressed at work or when you are getting some well deserved time off for a few days? How do you connect with the world in your own very private and special way??? Think long and hard about this b/c I want to know what you LOVE doing! Reply on this here Blog and let me know!

Personally I feel connected to this planet and this life when I am rolling on the mat BUT my soul also feels connected to this world in a uniquely Beautiful & Special way when I am writing…when it’s just me, my thoughts, and paper/computer there is something magical that happens inside my head and Heart that calms my soul like nothing else can:) Sometimes I feel caged inside this body and writing allows me to escape to a place of Solice & Peace…it’s hard to put into words but hey isn’t that the point;)

So there ya have it. A small glipse into the Heart of Animal;) So how does this effect Animal Jiu Jitsu? Well the reality is that I am extremely limited on time right now and find myself with free hours from 3am-5am so what to do? I am going to be Shifting My Focus to writing more in my off time as opposed to constantly searching for a spot to start teaching Animal Jiu Jitsu. I have NOT given up on the Dream of having my own school…I am just re-shifting my focus towards putting more words on paper:) So with this new Focus I will be finishing my book on Low Back Pain this week. I will also be spending more time working on a Fitness Book, a Fitness website, and a Homebrew Beer website, all of which have taken a serious back seat to opening Animal Jiu Jitsu, but that will be changing as I Shift Focus & Drive Forward!

Thank You all for taking time out of your lives to read my Blog:)!!! If you can please make it official and join Animal Jiu Jitsu by clicking “Follow” and registering with WordPress. Thanks again for your support and Take Care Blogosphere!

 

December 19, 2012 | Categories: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, Health & Fitness, Inspiration, Jiu Jitsu, Low Back Pain | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Travel is a path and venue of True Growth…

How many of you travel? There are a good amount of my Blog readers out there that travel for work or travel to see friends and family BUT what I mean by “do you travel” is how far away do you go and how often do you get culturally challenged in a completely foreign environment and/or how often to you get to meet people that have a completely different idea of how to approach life then you do?

That is a tough question to answer! It’s tough b/c it’s usually an easy answer of “never” or “I dream of being able to go to a foreign land and explore but…” That is EXACTLY why I am purposing this nearly ominous question! I want to challenge you to GROW!!! Life is hard, very hard, and sometimes even extremely hard for some of us on this planet! And life sometimes seems like it is impossible and just “paying the bills” is too much…I get it, trust me I do! I have several tattoo’s on my body to attest to that very fact! BUT what I am asking you is very specific in nature…have you stepped out of the “life struggle” we all experience and taken a chance on being “uncomfortable” and/or gone to a place that you know is completely different then what you have ever experienced before? Point blank, have you stepped out of your comfort zone with the express intent of “trying something completely new geographically and culturally?”

I have done this exact thing several times in my life and to be completely honest it was Extremely difficult! and Challenging at first…heck for several days it straight sucked! I specifically remember my first trip to Brazil and being in Sao Paulo and boy was I excited, at first! but little did I know that my Brasilado friend that I knew from San Jose, California that told me “not to worry about anything when I got there” was going to COMPLETELY leave me hanging:( Let’s just say I am Blessed to have even gotten a ride from the Sao Paulo airport from him! He promised me that I had a place to stay and that he would take care of all my travels, nightlife, and accommodation worries while I was in his country…boy was I mislead! Turned out he had his girlfriend was there at the same time and this girl was 15 or 20 years older then both of us and a total bitch! (and that is putting it kindly) Thank God he had secured me a single room in an apartment in a relatively safe part of Sao Paulo…I mean the “cold only” water worked and I could wash my clothes by hand and the toilet worked sometimes! but hey I had a very very hot roof over my head…in the building I was staying in there was no air conditioning on the 16th floor and it was 100 degrees plus! outside (that’s in fahrenheit of course;) but other then that I had a place to stay:( Honestly I would have been better off staying at a hostel!

Point is my first trip to Brazil SUCKED! I do have to say that my 2nd trip there was AWESOME!!! I stayed with my girlfriend at that time, Bianca, and her family and honestly that was one of the BEST times of my life:) Bianca’s Mom, I call her “minha Mãe” was AMAZING to me as well as Bianca’s entire family:)!!! Point is I had a BLAST and felt Loved and Taken Care of while I was in Brazil with Bianca and her family!!! That trip was AMAZING and I felt Loved & Cared for the entire time…Thank You to Bianca, Minha Mãe, and her entire family!!!!

To the point of my Blog today…Do You Travel? Here’s my challenge to all you readers out there…set aside 2-3 weeks of your life over the next 3 months specifically for traveling to a place that you have never been to before, and honestly the more different the better! And just let go! I’ve done it before in other countries and it was very difficult at first but it was WAY worth it in the end!!! Just go and be you and connect with a part of you that you have never connected with before! Just “go with the Flow” as I say in Jiu Jitsu:)

Btw my next trip is going to be either to Thailand, Vietnam, or Brazil again…we will see soon enough:) There are several factors involved with that decision but I plan on being inside an international plane within 3 moths FO SHO!!! I will keep you all updated as to which destination I will travel to Fo Sho!

I Pray that you find the courage and wherewithal to give it a shot and if you do Please post your trip Awesomeness on here so we can all take a peak at your own personal Adventure & Growth:)

As Always I appreciate your support for and reading of my Blog!!! more then I can say on paper/internet, it means the world to me!!! If you can PLEASE officially join my Bl0g by clicking on the “Follow” tab and registering with WordPress b/c I would LOVE to have you on here and able to connect with me anytime you can!

Thank You all for your support and now it’s your turn to take a chance and LIVE Life to it’s fullest and get somewhere Amazing & Cool!!!! Keep us all updated!!!

Animal out…

December 12, 2012 | Categories: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, Health & Fitness, Inspiration, Jiu Jitsu | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are you dancing?

Doing what I Love!

Doing what I Love!

If you don’t find yourself dancing at least 3 times a week then you need to switch something up ASAP!!! This Blog is about some of the things I LOVE most; Jesus, Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, & Inspiring people to live life to the fullest! I came up with the title of today’s Blog as I got out of my car and walked up the sidewalk into my house. I suddenly realized I was literally dancing my tough little Texas tail all the way up the street and sidewalk:) I had some good tunes on too and was singing far louder then I should have been at 3:30am…hahaha!

As soon as I realized I was booging in the street celebrating life without a care in the world at 3:30am I knew something was up…I was happy and it was just coming out in the form of my extremely dorky dancing;) I did a quick mental recap of the week and thought “how often am I doing this?” I realized that I was doing the exact same thing earlier today and also at least two other nights during this week, after I had gotten off of work!

My life right now consists of running a badass Security Team at Punch Bowl Social, doing a little Jitz (soon to be much much more), and lifting weights…pretty much an Awesome life for a single male that likes what I like:) Needless to say I feel Blessed beyond measure for all that God has given me!

My point with this post is to challenge whomever reads this to see how often they are out there dancing their tail off out of deep seated Joy for all they have! Regardless if you are a rich dude/chick with an Awesome family, a financially poor Pastor serving the Lord, a college student, in jail, in a broken marriage, a single person searching for that special someone…I want to know “Are You Dancing?”

Now your self-expression might be vastly different then dancing like a dork in the street, like I apparently do, but however you do it…I want you to sit back and reflect on whether you are excited about life and doing your own dorky self-expression version of dancing without thinking about it? If you aren’t then it looks like you will be making some changes in your life ASAP so you can start dancing again!!!

So there you have it…”Are You Dancing?”

BTW the pic above is of my elbow after I had to do some good Security work at my bouncing job:) It’s what I do and what I Love and I wanted to share it with you:)

And remember if you DIG reading my Blog please officially “Follow” it and register with it via WordPress by clicking the “Follow” button and following the directions…I would TOTALLY Appreciate the support:)!!!

Now get out there and START DANCING!!!

December 8, 2012 | Categories: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, Health & Fitness, Inspiration, Jiu Jitsu | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Failure & “Motion Creates Emotion”…

Here I sit at my favorite coffee shop after a week full of missed opportunities and failure. As it turns out opening your own Jiu Jitsu school isn’t as easy as pressing a button and having it happen;) I joke but in all seriousness this process is much trickier and more difficult then expected! I set out this last Sunday with very specific plans to visit and talk to 25 people a day about renting a small space in their business/home/apartment for $100 a month…more specifically I only need 500-800 square feet to rent for 6 hours a week. Well I am baring my soul here and being honest in letting you know that thus far this week has been an epic fail!!! I wish I could report differently but I made a commitment to myself in this Blogging process to be 100% honest and accurate in my accounting of this Dream, regardless of success or failure!

So here I sit on Thursday afternoon with only a couple of hours to kill before I have to go to work at the club tonight. As soon as I finish this post here, I will be getting online (www.craigslist.com) and will search for commercial spots to rent. This is going to be the most expensive route and one I am pretty sure will bare little fruit but I will leave no stone unturned and honestly this is the easiest way to search for spots to rent and thus it should be done first. So I will get that out of the way today and tomorrow, and finish this week off with a flurry of emails and hopefully phone conversations with commercial real estate landlords:)

I will always remember and I try to live by the famous quote from Ben Affleck  in the movie Boiler Room; “Motion Creates Emotion” Basically if I sit on my tail and expect things to come to me , then I am going to accomplish absolutely nothing. My goal this week was to be active and create emotion, excitement, and ultimately get in touch with someone who will rent me enough space so I can put some mats on the ground and start teaching “Animal Jiu Jitsu” The problem is that I didn’t move and/or have enough “Motion” to create this possibility. I accept the failure of the last few days and choose to move forward regardless of my  previous failure b/c my failure to win this time does NOT and will NOT stop me from trying again!!! I will NEVER quit!!!

Looks like someone got a little amped up there huh;) Well I am off to try and salvage some of this “lost week” of Entrepreneurial work. But before I go I wanted to say a Heart felt “Thank You” to all of you who read this Blog and are supporting this project:) I do have one favor to ask…if you are reading this and enjoy it PLEASE  click the “Follow” tab and officially Follow this Blog. Please register with WordPress so I can send you weekly updates about the adventures of Animal Jiu Jitsu. I have 38 people thus far that clicked the “Follow” tab and are registered. I am so Thankful that they did so b/c they all help keep me focused and motivated:) So please “Follow” my Blog and I will see ya’ll again online:)

December 6, 2012 | Categories: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Entrepreneurship, Health & Fitness, Jiu Jitsu | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment