I remember my first day of Jiu Jitsu pretty well. Super Heavyweight, ex-NFL lineman and all around monstrously large person, Rex Richards, let me borrow a gi top. Keep in mind that I am 6'1 and weighed about 190lbs. So, it looked a little like this.

I'm standing on the edge of the puzzle mats wondering what the hell I got myself into and how much I'm going to regret it.

I stepped onto the mat.

That one step would direct the next 10 years of my life and, from what I can tell, the foreseeable future.

I got destroyed.

Throughout the entire ordeal I was frustrated; mad even. I remember Jaime Lara hitting a flying triangle from his knees, on me. Jaime was about 150lbs and I hated him. I left not knowing who I was but, I knew for sure that I was going back. I had to.

I had such an ego. I couldn't let someone be better than me and HAD to show them I wasn't a push over. My next few classes were just as rage filled and self destructive as could be. I went home & to work with fat ears, black eyes and a swollen face on MANY occasion. My parents, straight up, thought I was stupid. I remember my mother seeing me after my first broken nose. She looked at me dead in the eyes and said, "What the hell is wrong with you?" My reply was, "I dunno. I like it."

I did. It was something EVERY kid wanted to do. They want to be a superhero, GI Joe, ninja, crime fighting, Bruce Lee wearing a yellow jumpsuit looking ass. "HI-YA", mother fucker!

Hell yeah I liked it!

The first few months of training were a blur of punches, kicks, stinky gis and new friends. All I could think about at night was getting through work at a hazy machine shop to be able to go learn something new. I hadn't had this type of excitement in my life and NEVER had I been interested in something like I was with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA. Then I learned you could make money from fighting.

It was time to escape the collapsing room of normal life and find my pathway to personal freedom! (Or highway to hell. Whichever view you'd like to take.)

My life was now a fight to get out of the 6am-6pm hamster wheel work cycle and get myself to a place where I could do this full time. So, I began.