2019 - A Year in Review
2019 was a wild and adventurous year for me. One that was full of traveling and life transitions. It started off with an almost nonstop of tournaments, the team and I even did 5 tournaments in 6 weeks. Then I accomplished a life long goal of graduating the Army's Combatives Master Trainer Course to become a certified combatives instructor for the Army and run my first BCC and TCC classes, both of which were incredibly rewarding and memorable. May I transitioned from being a full-time civilian to wearing a uniform full time, and the Army took me from Washington to NC -> GA -> CA -> TX -> Kuwait -> Germany -> Back to Texas in a six-month time span.The year in numbers:
Number of new schools visited- 38
New stripes on the purple belt- 1
Tournaments attended- 10
New Countries visited- 3
The Highlights
This year held a ton of memories for me. I think knowing that I was going to be leaving on deployment and would lose control over my time, I tried to squeeze out every moment that I could while I could do whatever I wanted to. In no particular order these are some of the first things that pop into mind when I think about 2019:
-Hanging out with Braulio and the CSG360 team at the Gallegos affiliation meet up. Hanging out with JiuJitsu people that feel like being with family, a 🔥 open mat that felt like the clashing of two armies, great food, and sunny beaches. This trip had everything that makes me love travel training.
-Hostel Shenanigans in Portland. Yeah the team went down and crushed it at the Portland NAGA, but the real memory from this trip was hanging out in the hostel room that had two bunks that fit the four guys from the team that went on the trip. It was 0300 in the morning, and we were just howling laughing about something dumb that no one would be able to remember. We laughed until tears streamed down our faces and our abs ached in pain, then someone would say something and we'd explode into a fit of laughter all over again. I'm laughing about it now as I think back on it again 😂 The tournaments get all the highlight pictures and videos, but it's really the hanging out around the tournament that is the best time.
-The Denver layover. This is probably one of my proudest globetrotter moments. I was flying from Washington to North Carolina every month to attend National Guard training. I'd always pick the cheapest flight possible, and this one had a ridiculous 8-hour layover. Rather than lay around at the airport though, I rented a car, jumped on google to see what was local, and ended up dropping into two different schools, one at lunch and one in the evening. It was an expensive layover, but it was well worth the experience.
-Graduating Master Combatives. Becoming an Army combatives instructor was a lifelong accomplishment for me. The month-long course was an opportunity to get paid to do what I love to do. It taught me to become a better teacher and was a blast to go through. I didn't sit idle on our weekends off either and jumped tried to spend each Saturday at a seminar or open mat, constantly looking to improve.
-Fighting in the Dirt. Where there is a will there is a way. The two months at mobilization in Texas we showed that our motivation to train and improve wasn't limited to the comforts of mats and air conditioning. We rolled and sparred on turf and would continue to train even after the sun went down. For me, this was not just an opportunity to teach and pass along some of my knowledge, but it was my happiness in a pretty crappy place. The general mood that prevailed in the place was one of misery, after getting a few rolls in though I'd get my mind refreshed and feel recharged to take on the next day.
-Teaching my first Combatives class. All the years of getting smashed, crushed, beat up, and punched in the face were beyond worth it to get to teach this class. My students enthusiastically approached each day and eagerly trained all of the course material. I simply could not have asked for a better group of soldiers to go through my first class with. Probably the highlight from this class was towards the end when the class was running their multiple rooms, multiple team room-clearing graduation requirement. The students did a great job of creating scenarios for their classmates to run through. They implemented and executed the techniques they had learned over the past two weeks brilliantly while I stood overhead on the ramparts beaming with pride as the battalion and company commander smiled in approval watching their soldiers in action. It was an incredibly proud moment for me.
-Hitting the Trinity Triangle in NYC. Getting to train at the legendary Marcelo Garcia's school was something that I've wanted to do for years. Unfortunately, he wasn't teaching in either of the classes, but still really cool to step inside those walls. I also visited the other big three schools in NYC Renzo Gracie's and Unity. It was wild to see so many big-name competitors there at Renzo's like the Ryan brothers and Craig Jones, and I even got to roll with Jake Shields! Unity had the hardest rolling that I've ever experienced in all of my time training. It was wild to feel the hunger that existed in that room and it was awesome to get crushed and sent out to reset my JiuJitsu ability barometer.
-Winning that "World Championship" Title. Okay it's only a NAGA, but it is still rather fun to get to say that I'm a 3-time world champion 😜 The real goal is to one day to win an IBJJF Worlds, but I don't see having a serious shot at that until 2021, and I'll be hanging out with the old guys in the Masters bracket then 😉I am for the most part pleased with the recent performance at this NAGA. I haven't had a primary instructor since May, and have only worn a gi maybe a dozen times over the past five months, but I still came out and had a dominant performance in the gi.
What I could have done better in 2019
This year I kind of had a "live like your dying" type of lifestyle. I squeezed a lot of living into this year, but I put a lot of future investments on hold. I dropped a lot of money on rental cars and airplane tickets for traveling (buying that monthly flight across the country was wild), competitions, drop-in fees and fine dining. I knew I was going into a place where I could save up money, so I allowed myself to live loose and free.
I also put my civilian career on hold by not continuing my college education and studying for industry certifications. Reflecting on the time during pre-mobilization, I allowed the environment to influence my free time, and spent too much time waiting around instead of pulling out a CompTia book and putting in work studying. JiuJitsu is my passion, but traveling all over the place isn't cheap, and improving my income only increases the opportunities that I can create for myself.
What I did well in 2019
I made a lifetime of memories this year. I jumped at every chance I could to compete, attend a seminar or drop in at a new school. I fought hard to improve my JiuJitsu despite my environment and did things like rolling in pretty much the dirt or skipping lunch meals to get extra mat time in. I believe that my JiuJitsu has improved a lot as a result and I think my competition results are a direct reflection of that.
I haven't fully dived into it yet, but I also got back into strength training again. Something that's easy to do when you're in the military and there's always a gym nearby. Being a tad bit older, I've been able to put my ego aside, and instead of chasing big numbers, focus on just doing correct form and focus on weak links that exist within my body. I have found that lifting again not only makes me stronger on the mats, but also helps to keep it healthier while training. I'd definitely recommend incorporating strength training to anyone that trains JiuJitsu just for the benefit of keeping your body safe.
What I'm looking forward to in 2020
I'll be headed back to Kuwait here soon for about half of the year, so most of my focus will be on improving my soldier skills and the skills of the soldiers under my care. Once I get back though I will be spending a couple of months in either Japan or Brazil doing nothing other than training, treating myself to a once in a lifetime type of training experience as a reward for completing the deployment. After that, I want to finish out the year competing as much as possible while settling into a more permanent location to attack 2021 from.
Summary
2019 was a phenomenal year for me. I want to thank everyone that took their time to train with me, for all the schools that welcomed me into their doors, and for great friends and a family that has supported me in pursuing my dreams. Ya'll are all truly amazing.
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