Mike's Mixed Martial Arts / Team Venom

10/14/2024

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10/06/2024

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09/27/2024

Warriors drink from a different cup of tea than the average guy.

Warriors are a different breed of people. Warriors drink from a different cup of tea than the average guy. We see things in a different way and are able to read people better. We are able to look behind the veil and see what is truly happening, people's true intentions, if you will.

The warrior lives life a little more seriously than average people, as we understand that which most people don't realize. We know that not everyone is a good person, just doing the best that they can. We understand that the unexpected happens and that you had better be prepared for it; thus we prepare in every way that we can.

Warriors know that not everyone sees life as we do, that many go through life in an almost semi-hypnotic state, relying on luck to survive day to day. Most people are oblivious to what is happening around them. The warrior doesn't rely on luck; he makes his own luck by training, studying, being aware, and preparing for what may come.

When I used to teach school, I would put some strong kava kava in my green tea, and it would make this strange, suspended smoke in the tea, as well as coming out of the tea cup. My students would ask me what I was drinking, and I told them, "Dragon's smoke." It never came out as an image of a dragon, like this meme, but it was great for contemplating, and helping me relax while dealing with a classroom of gang members.

Warriors like to relax like everyone else, but when we are relaxed, we are still aware of what's going on around us. We see more and understand more than most people. Many times, people think they are pulling the wool over our eyes, but we know more than we let on, and simply watch to see how things play out before we respond.

The warrior's cup of tea is not for everyone. Most people see us as paranoid or uptight, but we know different. But when the s**t hits the fan and everyone else is in a blind panic, we are the ones who are quietly and calmly responding.

That is when the dragon's smoke rises from inside of us and our training and preparation takes over. That is when everyone is happy to have the warrior in their midst! Bohdi Sanders ~ excerpt from the bestselling book, WARRIOR: The Way of Warriorhood, available from Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ELWCALA
Signed copies are available from The Wisdom Warrior website at:
https://thewisdomwarrior.com

09/27/2024

What is a Fight Gym Like?
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First impressions: it's gritty and rough around the edges. The equipment is well-used, often patched and mismatched. If you don't know what you're looking at or for, it can be a little off-putting, even. Chances are it's held together by folks with long-running untreated ADHD (indeed, this is exactly the type of person that becomes fighters in the first place).

Then you see the training. The energy on the mats is intensely physical. Few, if any, of the students are just along for the ride. Everyone is pushing themselves and each other pretty much all of the time. This isn't to say that it's dour or militant. It's just this focused sort of "comrade-in-arms" expectation that you're there to work and through your work elevate your team.

Drop by on a sparring night and it might look a little scary at a glance. Like you've stumbled into some sort of fight club. You'll hear the periodic slap of shin guard on leg across the room and the whump of gloves connecting in earnest (but not with bad intentions). You might, for instance, see an athlete or two take a knee with the wind knocked out of them, only for their teammate that just dropped them to haul them back up with a quick "y'alright, brother?" and a groaned "yeh, I'm alright," and they get back at it with exactly the same fervor. You'll catch the occasional massive BOOM of two athletes crashing to the mat during a particularly spirited double-leg takedown.

Watch long enough, though, and the chaos resolves into something that makes sense. You see that the coach is not some disconnected overseer. They are in the thick of it as part of the action. Yelling at this fighter to pick up the pace, that fighter to get their ass up, running bear-pits on athletes with fights coming up. More a combination of drill instructor and football coach than a Mr. Miyagi. You'll see the same fighter who double-legged some other meathead through a wall last round carefully half-sparring and half-coaching a clearly much newer aspiring athlete because they are ultimately there to build each other up.

As fighters, there is always an understanding that our sports are more dangerous than most. Traumatic brain injuries can happen in lots of sports, but only in ours is it considered a win condition. This carries with it the expectation that participation at any serious level means an athlete has to be tested in the gym. Like...really tested. They have to be willing and able to pull their own weight, always pushing for that next level. A fight gym is built around the simple premise that no matter how tough a warrior may be, not one of us can achieve our next level alone - and so we pull and push each other up, shedding and sharing in the blood, the sweat, and the tears all along the way.

Blood - I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Sweat - Side by side. Every day.

Tears - Never met a fighter that hasn't shed a few of these in one arena or another.

You can find the stains of all of these things...down on the canvas...

At your local fight gym.

09/27/2024

11/06/2022

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You determine what losing means to you. If you lose and you declare defeat, then you are defeated. But if you you lose, learn from what you did wrong, and continue to fight until you win, no matter how long that may be, you are not defeated. Remember, you are only defeated when you declare defeat, everything else is just part of the process.

Think of it this way – a army does not lose the war simply because it loses a battle. Losing one battle does not mean the army is defeated; it simply means that they lost a battle, that’s it. After losing a battle, the army simply regroups and prepares for the next battle; the war is not over until they declare defeat or victory. You should live your life with this same outlook.

When things don’t turn out as you want them to, that doesn’t mean that you give up on your goals and declare defeat; it simply means you adjust your strategy, make the necessary changes, and keep working towards your objectives. No one ever achieved their goals by giving up when things get tough or when they experience a failure.

Think about this, Babe Ruth was known as the King of Strikeouts for many years. He led the American League in strikeouts for five seasons, and actually struck out 1,330 during his career. But he did not let those strikeouts sidetrack him. He also set the single season home run record in four seasons and held the record for the most home runs, 714, until Hank Aaron broke his record many decades later.

Don’t allow your failures to interfere with your successes! You are never defeated unless YOU declare defeat and give up; until then, everything is simply a part of the game. No matter how down and out you may feel, or how impossible things may seem, always remember that once you come back victoriously, you won’t care about those times that you came up short; you will only enjoy your victory. Never give up and never give in! Warrior up and keeping fighting until victory is in your hands! Bohdi Sanders ~ excerpt from, BUSHIDO: The Way of the Warrior, available from Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937884201 or from The Wisdom Warrior website at: https://thewisdomwarrior.com.