If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one. -  Dolly Parton 

After a long time off, I'm training BJJ again at Atlanta Budokan in Acworth, GA, learning from some great Alliance BJJ instructors!

Motivation to All, No Barriers

Down's Syndrome can't stop Garrett Holeve's UFC dream   by Eric Kowal | source: uscombatsports.com 

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude." - Scott Hamilton 
.

 

Garrett "G-Money" Holeve was born with Down's syndrome, a chromosomal condition that that affects about one of every 691 babies born in the United States each year.
However, this awe inspiring young man refuses to let anyone tell him he is any different. After watching professional mixed martial arts Holeve wanted to become a fighter himself.
With determination and the strength to follow his dreams, the Florida native turned to American Top Team in Davie, one of the premier MMA schools in the country.
Holeve also suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, a painful disease that leads to inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues, yet that too has not stopped him from training.
While he is yet to compete professional Holeve has entered several exhibition style competitions. His story has been told over and over again and has gained the attention of professional fighters and even the likes of UFC President Dana White.
UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar recently went on Spike TV's MMA Uncensored and announced that he and other supporters have started up a non-profit organization called Garrett's Fight to help support Holeve and others like him who have a dream of making it big.
The mission of Garrett's Fight is to provide opportunities for athletes in the special needs community to participate in the Martial Arts through promotion, support and advocating the successful inclusion of individuals with varying degrees of need.
Martial Arts provides an outstanding and welcoming environment for confidence building as well as increased physical fitness to those who study it. Educating instructors on how to modify training for these individuals is paramount.
Garrett's Fight will advocate and promote competitive opportunities for these martial arts athletes; including, but not limited to, advocating for inclusion of Martial Arts into the Special Olympics.
To find out more about Garrett visit garrettsfight.org.

Take the Path of MOST Resistance!!

               "Adversity is the diamond dust that heaven polishes its jewels with. " - Robert Leighton

I got this from Poncho, so I thought I should share.

Take the Path of MOST Resistance!!

"In The Compound Effect I explain how the results in your life are rooted in one single factor—your choices.

Like it or not, good or bad, your accumulated choices have added up to your current waistline, business success, relationship strength and bank balance.

Your choices created your problems and the only way out of them is to start, and stick to, making new choices.

But then you ask, How do I know what the right choices are?

Here’s a simple formula:

When in doubt, choose the harder task or what you don’t want to do—that’s usually exactly what you should do. Take the path of MOST resistance.

Put it this way: If you are disappointed in any area of your life, whatever choices you have been making aren’t working.

Definition of insanity: Doing the same things you’ve always done and expecting different results.

Here is the force you are fighting: You and your brain are creatures of habit. You simply talk yourself into taking the easy, low resistance and comfortable route. Like the pull of a rushing river, your unconscious habits continue to take you downstream in the wrong direction. To change your direction you will need to swim upstream, against the resistance of the rushing river, against your habitual tendency.

Low Resistance:

Going along with the gossip
Surrendering to peer pressure
Saying yes to needless obligations
Submitting to the crying demands of your children
Starting your new program on “Monday” (instead of today)
Reacting in anger
Holding a grudge
Giving the ‘silent treatment’

High Resistance:

Going to the gym when you don’t feel like it
Forgiving someone who wronged you
Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
Admitting you were wrong and apologizing
Ordering the salad when you want the burger
Saying no to (yet another) shot of tequila
Calling that big, scary big prospect (again and again)
If you want to finally obtain what’s missing from your life, you need to stop always doing what you feel like doing and start doing the things that make you uncomfortable, the stuff you avoid, and the things that you think are hard.

If you dedicate yourself to only doing the things you don’t want to do, all day long, your results would shock and amaze you and everyone around you.

Make a list of the things you avoid, postpone and hate doing, but you know you should. If you attack those today, your life will change. What’s uncomfortable is good. It only feels wrong at the start because you have an automatic bias toward the easy. Fight that tendency. Swim upstream. Take the path of most resistance.

Declare it and take action. What three things do you NOT want to do, but you will commit to doing today?"

No Excuses!

             "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis

This is Ed from the gym that I work out at. He is 68 years young, blind, and deaf, but makes the gym every day...He is benching 155lbs below. You can see his cane on the floor in the last pic.

Staying Busy...

"As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion." - Michael Johnson

Fri 6/24/11 - I'm back...

"We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves" - Eric Hoffer

I am done with school for the summer, so my brain can rest.

I told my son the other day that there is no reason why he can't remember stuff he learns in school when he can remember the name of every gun he sees on Call of Duty.

This goes that same for me, I can remember fights, Martial Art styles, and a vast number of techniques I learned years ago, but ask me about Pavlov's Dogs or factoring and I am lost.

My son told me that he likes Call of Duty, that is why he remembers that information. This is true for me also, I remember what I am interested in; but I told him that this proves that he can do it when focused and right now it is important he remembers.

This reminded me of one of my first instructors asking me why I never practiced the knife hand strike with the rest of the class. I told him it was because I didn't like that technique and wasn't good at it. He smacked me on my head and told me that we can't just practice the techniques we are good at/like or we will never grow as Martial Artists. This proved true when the only technique that stopped a better black belt from making me apart of the brick wall was a knife hand to the throat. After the fight was over, my instructor came over to me and smacked me on the head and said "See, I told you that you needed that move!". I wish he could go to school with me.

I'm going to start smacking my son on the head...

Mon 3/14/11

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu

Warm up:

Stationary bike - 2 mins
Clinch fight - 2 mins

Workout:

Bench press - 5 sets x 5 reps
Incline bench press - 3 sets x 5 reps
Floor dumbbell press - 3 sets x 5 reps

Push press - 4 sets x 5 reps
Dumbbell press/Reverse fly - 3 sets x 10 reps
Lateral raise - 3 sets x 10 reps

Weighted dips - 4 sets x 10 reps
Close grip bench press - 4 sets x 5 reps
Skull crushers - 3 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Busy...

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” - John Lennon


I haven't been blogging in a while. Between school, work picking up, working out/training, and recently we went on a cruise to the Bahamas, I have been busy. Hope to get back to it.

Wed 2/16/11

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin


Warm up:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 round

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot w/bungee
Frogs
Bear crawls w/bungee
Shrimps
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Workout:

Arm drag to harness drill - 5 mins
Arm drag to rear naked choke - 5 mins
Clinch drill - 3 mins
Take down drills - 3 mins

Roll - 5 mins

Lat pull downs - 5 sets x 5 reps
Seated rows - 5 sets x 5 reps
Bar curls - 4 sets x 5 reps
Dumbbell curls/static hold - 5 sets x 12 reps (4 half up, 4 half down, 4 full)
Machine crunch - 5 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Mon 2/14/11

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." - Helen Keller


Warm up:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 round

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot w/bungee
Frogs
Bear crawls w/bungee
Shrimps
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Workout:

Bench press - 5 sets x 5 reps

Full sit ups - 2 sets x 20 reps

Plank hold - 1 min

Leg raises/scissors - 1 sets x 20 reps

Side crunch - 2 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Wed 2/9/11

"We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses." - Carl Jung



Warm up:
Stationary bike - 3 mins

Workout:

Bench press - 4 sets x 10 reps

Lat pull downs - 4 sets x 10 reps

Lateral raises - 4 sets x 10 reps

Curls - 3 sets x 10 reps

Tri press downs - 3 sets x 10 reps

Shrugs - 4 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Cactus?

"Maybe"

(Sick Puppies)

Maybe I'm a dreamer
Maybe I'm misunderstood
Maybe you're not seeing the side of me you should
Maybe I'm crazy
(Maybe I'm crazy)
Maybe I'm the only one
(Maybe I'm the only one)
Maybe I'm just out of touch
Maybe I've just had enough

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothing stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

Maybe it's hopeless
(Maybe it's hopeless)
Maybe I should just give up
(Maybe I should just give up)
What if I can't trust myself?
What if I just need some help?

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothing stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

Mon 1/24/11

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe." - Anatole France


Warm up:

Jump rope - 3 mins

Work up:

Bench Press - 5 sets x 5 reps

Full sit up - 2 sets x 20 reps

Plank hold - 1 min

Medicine ball twist slams - 2 sets x 10 reps

Dumbbell twists - 2 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Mon 1/17/11

"No one can really pull you up very high - you lose your grip on the rope. But on your own two feet you can climb mountains." - Louis Brandeis



Warm up:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 round

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot w/bungee
Frogs
Bear crawls w/bungee
Shrimps w/Swiss ball
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Workout:

Hang cleans - 5 sets x 5 reps

Squats - 5 sets x 5 reps

Bench press - 5 sets x 5 reps

BJJ:

Pass the guard drill - 5 mins

Open guard drill - 5 mins

Hold side control/get guard drill - 5 mins

Knee on belly/escape drill - 5 mins

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Wed 1/12/11

"We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it." - Abraham Lincoln


Warm up:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 round

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot w/bungee to partner lift
Frogs
Bear crawls w/bungee
Shrimps w/Swiss ball
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Workout:

Open & pass guard drill - 5 min

Keep side control (5 sec) drill - 5 min

Escape side control drill - 5 min

Defend pulling guard from standing - 10 min

Roll - 15 mins

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Mon 1/10/11

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable." - Sydney J. Harris



Warm up:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 round

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot on 100lb heavy bag w/bungee
Frogs
Bear crawls
Shrimps
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Workout:

Open guard drill - 5 mins

Pass guard drill - 5 mins

Anaconda choke drill - 5 mins

Darce choke drill - 5 mins

Pull guard and defense drill - 10 mins

Roll - 15 mins

Bench press - 5 sets x 5 reps

Hang cleans - 5 sets x 5 reps

Squats - 5 sets x 5 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Sun 1/9/11

"Optimism is essential to achievement and is also the foundation of courage and of true progress." - Nicholas Murray Butler

Warm up:

Jump rope - 3 mins

Workout:

Each exercise 30 secs, 1 min rest between rounds for 3 rounds

Sprawls on Swiss Ball
Shoot on 100lb heavy bag w/bungee
Frogs
Bear crawls
Shrimps
Technical stand up
Duck walks
Crab walks

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Sat 1/8/11

"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing." - William Feather




Warm up:
Jump rope - 3 mins
Agility ladder - 3 mins

Workout:

Bench press - 5 sets x 10 reps

Squats - 5 sets x 10 reps

Bent over rows - 5 sets x 5 reps

Full sit ups - 2 sets x 15 reps

Plank hold on Swiss ball - 90 secs

Medicine ball twist slams - 1 set x 10 reps

Dumbbell twists - 2 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower

Wed 1/5/11

"No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently." - Agnes De Mille


Warm up:

Agility Ladder - 3 mins

Workout:

Dead lift - 5 sets x 5 reps

Push press - 5 sets x 5 reps

Smith Machine shrugs - 5 sets x 5 reps

Full set ups - 2 sets x 15 reps

Plank hold/swiss ball - 2 min

Dumbbell twists - 2 sets x 10 reps

Stretch - Protein shake - Shower