“I once asked Roger Gracie, the best jiu-jitsu fighter on the planet, what
made him so good. After thinking about it for a while, he replied: ‘I built my
game off a solid defense. I first made it almost impossible for anybody to tap
me out.’”
Daniel Mower of www.ArcanumBJJ.com

“You can’t be common because the common man goes nowhere. You have got to be
uncommon.” Herb Brooks, 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Coach – Olympic Champions

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four 
sharpening the axe.”
Abraham Lincoln

“Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it
enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the
temporary failures.”
Vince Lombardi 

“Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as
possible.”
Abraham Lincoln 

 ”My style is that when I get into the ring, I never assume that I will win
before I actually do. The only thing I am confident in is myself. I think to
assume that you are going to win before the fight even begins is an insult to
your opponent. I’ve always thought so and I always will.”
Fedor Emelianenko

“Forget about winning or losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your
opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your
flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his
life! Do not be concerned with you escaping safely – lay your life before
him!”
Bruce Lee

“We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. Yet it, sometimes
seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own
talents as well”
Bruce Lee

“It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner,
when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re
not a winner.”
Vince Lombardi

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
John Wooden

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
John Wooden

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.
When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” 
Arnold Schwarzenegger

BJJ Black Belt Brandon Ruiz on Goal Setting for Jiu-Jitsu
 by Caleb on January 19, 2011
 (Article Originally posted on The Fight Works Podcast)

by Daniel Mower
 
Goals have only been marginally successful for me in the past. I always saw them as
a list of wishes…nice things to aim for that could possibly happen if I was lucky
and didn’t get distracted.
 
The notion that goals can help you improve your
Brazilian jiu-jitsu sounds cool. But goals, like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, work based
on principles and techniques. Until you understand the techniques, setting goals
is just that…wishful thinking that will end in failure. 

Brandon Ruiz is what I would call a “black belt goal setter.” I was
introduced to Brandon through my coach, Dave Johnson. Both are BJJ black belts
under the Machado flag in Utah. Despite family and work requiring much of his
time, Brandon has been a very successful competitor, particularly in no-gi,
winning numerous tournaments (most recently at Pancrase and NAGA in 2010). He
attributes that success in competition to setting and reaching goals.

Continue Reading Here!

Honesty and Integrity

You may be asking what do honesty and integrity have to do with grappling, or
any other activity for that matter? 

Well at the heart of it they are two of the most important principles of
success in life and in athletics. In life when you purchase a product you expect
to pay the required price. You expect that you must pay for an item before you
can take it out of the store. Your level of integrity dictates whether you will
pay for the item, or if you will just walk off and steal it.

 When you ask an honest question you expect an honest answer. When you drive
down the road you expect that the other drivers will have the integrity to obey
the traffic laws. You expect that when you compete the other competitors will
follow the rules for safety and scoring that have been established and that you
agree to when you sign the entry waiver.

Honesty and Integrity are everywhere. Without these values there would be no
chance for much of anything in society. 

How does this more directly apply to you as an athlete? 

Honesty:
You must be honest with yourself and what your true goals are and
why you are pursuing them. You may be holding yourself back by hiding behind
situations and circumstances. You may be telling yourself little lies that you
aren’t able to do something because of family or because of work. You may be
making excuses to avoid putting in an honest effort physically. You may be
making excuses to avoid facing the reality of the pressures and stresses that
competition places on you. You may be hiding behind lack of coaching or
experience.

The honest athlete will learn to discern the truth from the errors, the
misconceptions and the lies both big and small that get made to excuse ourselves
from loss and disappointment. The honest athlete stares the reality of potential
loss and the opportunity of winning in the face and knows exactly which side
they are moving toward.

Integrity:
Integrity s when you come to grips with the need to be
completely honest with yourself and your level of commitment, desire and effort.
The athlete with integrity holds their self to a higher standard, one that
recognizes an excuse but makes the effort anyway. The athlete with integrity
gives forth their best effort and then builds upon it. The athlete with
integrity takes responsibility for their actions both on and off the mat. 

Honesty leads to better workouts and better insights into flaws and strengths
in technique and strategy. It is the beginning of development; it is the
beginning of understanding. Integrity is the inner strength to hold oneself to
their commitment to improve. Developing these two virtues in your life and in
your grappling game will lead you to greater and greater success.