2011: The Year of Action

Well this year is coming to a end and i am glad to stay I am happy it is almost over. Not say this year was horrible for me but I had some good moments and not so great moments. But hey what can I say I'm alive right. In terms of my NY resolution for 2011, If God can manage to keep my sorry ass alive for another year, I tend to make 2011..The year of action. In 2010 i sat on my bum and chilled in more ways that one so in 2011 I want to be as active as possible because hey life is to freaking short.

Anyway hope 2011 is a great year for everyone friends, enemies, and friend-imies ( whatever that means)

and

A speacial thanks to all my supporters for the montablog and my otm articles.

No "Best of 2010"this time. Happy New Year folks

monta

My Thoughts- Arrival of Cobrinah

This picture was taken over a year ago when I went to go train with Ruben “Cobrinah” Charles at the Stronghold academy in San Diego, Ca. It kind of unreal that he is moving and starting an academy out here in my city (yeah I thought you knew I Run LA :-) ). With all of the stuff that is been going on as of late in regards to me (shit talk whether it true or false) and with one of my favorite bjj players moving out here to start a school ( especially with everyone having mixed feelings about the whole idea). I decided to give my own opinion about the whole Cobrinah starting a school out here.

This blog is not going to bash cobrinah because for one he one of the few Brazilian bjj players I look up too and I ain’t with that punk online dissing shit. However what amazes me is the people who jump the gun and talk about his coming so negatively and the people who are leaving their academies to join. I know sounds a little bit bipolar but let me explain.

For those that talk negatively about his academy, I know a lot of people are skeptic over this new arrival especially after the Leo incident 3 years ago, however as the old saying goes. Unless your contemplating joining..who the fuck cares !!!! It crazy how jiu-jitsu t has gone from being more worried about someone else progression instead of their own . People that bash other people for joining ( especially when they didnt like them in the first place), what is it to you...how is someones leaving or cobrinah academy coming to la affecting your progression ..Let me answer that 4 you NONE WHAT SO FUCKING EVER !!! so as the jailbird rapper T.I would say " Keep your mind on your grind and off mines". Yes it may be frightening because Cobrinah may be stealing guys from academies but the way I see it is hey..one less guy gone the more possible attention I get from the instructor.

When it comes people leaving their academies to join, I only have one thing to say..only leave your academy becauase you are unhappy with you current situation (whether it is money, problems with other teammates, and just you feel your not growing) but if your leave because you see a better situation in front of you “you are an ungrateful ( fill in the blank)” and I have no respect for you. That’s like being with your wife 30 years and you see a hot chick walking by n ditch your wife for a new piece of ass..why risk it when you got something going so good (your continual growth at your academy & your friendships). Why go into a situation that you have no clue what your getting into. In all it’s stupid !!!!

In terms of my opinion on it all i have to say is this It could be one of the best school in the area or the biggest flop.. Its all in Cobrinah hands how the school will turn out.

I could say a whole lot more on this matter but I'm gonna leave it at that and for those that keep asking me pleaseeee stop asking me am I joining. At this time I’m not in any mood to train at any academy right now. I’m working and trying to finish off the year with a great OTM article with a overseas sensation.

Anyway I’ll end this blog by saying Happy Holidays

monta

Discouraged BJJ Students

For the past couple of weeks there as been a huge amount of individuals who are contemplating leaving their academies, unsatisfied with their training, or even quitting the game. Although this seems outrageous, don’t be too quick to judge. As shocking, quitter like, traitor style this may seem this is a common occurrence that happens today in our sport. In this blog I will enlighten you on why bjj students fall in this very depressing stage in their pathway.

Leaving your academy- For a student to leave it academy it has to be for 4 reasons.

1. False advertisement- this is probably the shadiest form of why people leave academies. Lets say a world champ moves into town, students flood in and sign that 1 year contract in hopes of being developed into a world class athlete, only to find out that he is a flake, cant teach, or simply put “you” cant be them. I guess some instructors finally are catching on that the sport is growing and use it as a way to exploit people and get their money while not giving a damn about their progression. (Note: don’t get me wrong there are some great schools out there that don’t do this and have made their students into world champs).

2. Students expectations are too damn high- Although some instructors simply don’t care much about a students progressions. Sometimes it’s the student’s insecurities that get in the way of their evolution. Why aren’t you making me into a world champ like your student so and so, the move set doesn’t match what I do, I’m losing every time I compete and other issues. Students that walk into bjj now days need to realize that being a world champ is a lot harder than it was 10 years ago. Why you ask simple the sport is growing. More schools, new moves are being created & larger divisions at tournaments. To sum it all up it's a tougher road.

3. Student isn't motivated- this is when a student leaves an academy but even worse the individual ends up quitting. This is really more of a mental thing for most students. As good as they may be they may get tired of not getting help from their instructor, tired of seeing others rise in the ranks while your stuck at this same rank for god knows how long, or worse you feel your not growing and feel you reached a stage which I like to call “the Flat line Stage” in your bjj progression...

4. Other- this just consist of off-mat life things like your job, money, personal issues, or your family ( which should not be criticized in any way). Handle your business

Although this problem will continue to happen 3 things need to be improved ...................

1. Instructors need to be more dedicated to helping their students. If students are putting money in your pocket the least you can do is..put 100 % effort into making their money worth it.

2. Academies (owners, managers,-etc-) needs to lessen their promotion schemes unless they can follow 100 % through with it. A customer hates to be lied too. That’s like going to a used car dealership and the dealer tells you the car is OK and come to find out it is a “lemon”. NOT GOOD

3. Finally students need to be more open about the issues they have at the academy because of course how would anyone know there is a problem if it wasn’t brought up. Another option for students would be to build friendships outside the academy or visit other academies. This is give you the opportunity to not only make new friends but also learn something new as oppose to what your normally learn. All about building your blocks sorta speak.
In addition don't rely too much on the instructor. 1 man can not focuses his attention on 1 individual. Seek help from your brothers (training partners) on the mat because those are the ones that you are bleeding & sweating on the mat with.Shees in my experience i get more pissed when people don't wanna train way more than an instructor paying me attention.


THE END

monta

Training Hard vs Training "Hard"

Sitting back I always reflect on different shit that goes on in my mind whether it is past situations in my life or things I see on a daily basis. So in this case over the past couple of hours i been really thinking about something that i saw today at my bjj academy.It's not so much what happened its more so of what happen afterwards in terms of no one wanting to really training with the poor guy. So it got me asking myself

" Is everyone you train with a good training partner" ?


Tonight I'm going to discuss the difference IMO of training hard with your training partners vs your training partners training hard. Yeah you may look at the title and be like WTF am i talking about but let me explain the difference in "MT" ( monta terms)

training hard with your training partners- it is simply getting a great workout, going all out while at the same time being aware of your surroundings and actions. Its kind of like driving a car. You are aware of traffic and peoples movements so you are able to react if a situation does arise such as avoid hitting another car or stopping at a red light to let pedestrians cross the street. This theory can be applied in training in bjj in situations like escaping an armbar or realizing your bout to go off the mat. In all it about doing your thing and being aware of the person your training with. Sure a small accident may happen but at the end of the day no one comes out hurt.

vs

Your training partners training hard- In the case which is common (well not that much really) at almost every bjj academy. It basically describes an individual who has no regards for the people they train with. They constantly injured people, not being aware of their surroundings, and only care about destroying anything in their path toward showing their skills and dominance on the mat. I like to call those type of people metro rail blue line trains ...because if your in its way(male, female,child,cat,or dog) you are getting your ass ran the fuck over. In all in this case it "All about them".

If you still don't get what I'm saying let me give an example of each.

training hard with your training partners-For instance in my case I like training hard with people that I don't get hurt by. It a great feeling to go all out giving it everything i have and being able to walk out with nothing wrong to me or the person I'm training with.

Your training partners training hard- doing a double leg take down and taking your training partner into the wall knowing damn well a wall is nearly 2 ft behind you. in short "tunnel vision"

hopefully you get the message if not I dont know what to tell you :-)

In some cases I feel ( that is very few) people feel the need to show their dominance not on in competition (which of course you better do so) but on the training mat (which is unnecessary). Its a competition within the academy. Because if you really think about sometimes it is when your hoping to please everyone or be that next guy to get promoted to whatever belt. All goes back to self- preservation. I just feel people have the wrong idea of not how good you are when your training bout how to train to be good in the long run while minimizing the casualties along the way -haha-

monta

p.s- this is not directed at anyone but if you are reading this and you feel insecure about what I said. Get your act together because it will get you nowhere. It will end up being in a situation where you hardly get people to train with and even worse people will end up not liking you.
"A man without friends is the most serious form of poverty."

Surgery

I know a lot of people have been surprised by the current post I just posted (especially those that saw me this week) but to get right down to the point Yes 5 hours ago I just had surgery and boy am I in pain!!! :-/ To describe the experience it was the worst ever.Due to the fact (it was local) I was awake while they did it, so u probably guess how it felt. Anyway I know a lot of people have been asking why I had to have surgery. So instead of answering everyone individually I decided to explain it in this blog.

Reason: The surgery had nothing to do with tattoo removal, staph infection, or anything training related. 2 years ago I noticed these 2 large lumps on the side of my chest. At first I figured they were just extra nipples & really didm’t pay them any attention. However as of late them same “nipples” having being causing me a lot of pain as of late (stabbing pain to be exact). Then I felt them and notice something was under them.which had me getting a bad vibe. So I went to the doctor to have them check out.

After two doctor visits the doctor could not give me an explanation as to what it was so…They decided to remove them.After 20 minutes of excruciating pain. Come to find out that they were tumors underneath my chest that whole time. YIKES!!!!

There are still more details to this story that I will not get into but the important thing is This ordeal is over.Right now i kinda feeling a lil bumbed out over the whole thing cause in all this may not be the "last" surgery i have to go through. But hey it is what is I guess.

As far as when i will be back to training the good news is I will be back in 2 weeks at most. As far as competing is concerned well that may never happen again unfortunately.

Anyway thank you all ( the people that showed concern) for you thoughts and concern over the situation it is really appreciated.

Monta

Monta Bucket List

Just recently I was watching some show about some guys traveling the U.S doing some outrageous stuff. These outrageous things consisted of helping a lady into labor while having a baby, learning how to krump dance, spend a night in jail, amongst other things. Come to find out that this show was about these guys who composed a "Bucket List". So being the open minded dude that I am, I said to myself.."hmmm that looks interesting, maybe I should make one too".So you can probably guess what this bucket list is about huh :-) But here's the caught I wanna do all these things..by the time im 30 years old.

Bucket list- (n)- a list composed of the things you want to do before your die.

As you can see the definition speak for itself. I believe in all of our cases Life is short and every minute we need to be making the best of it and not sitting around doing nothing ( unless we have a family or other major responsibilities). Being 25 years old I have been fortunate enough to experience alot of great things in my life..some of the things I still cant believe I have done. But there is still more I want to do. So here I have composed my own Top 20 Bucket List...Most of these reasons are self-explanatory so its no need to give a description of why.

BUCKET LIST

1. Get A Car : self-explanitory
2. Get My BJJ Purple Belt : it will showcase my near 6 years of dedication to the art.Because GOD Damit I deserve it !!! :-)
3. Climb The Rocky Mountains : self-explanitory
4. Learn to Play An Acoustic Guitar : as of late Ive been listening to a lot of music from guys like Dave Matthews, Boyce Avenue, Duncan Sheik. -etc- something about that tune just seems awesome and i want to learn it.
5. Visit many States in the U.S as possible (especially Colorado & Pennsylvania): To quote Sora from Kingdom of Hearts. " There are many worlds out there and I wanna see them all !"
6. Reunion with the USC MaST 03 Crew: would be great to see the original peeps again. I know everyone is busy with their own personal lives and stuff but shit more years is to long to wait to see you guys.
7. Get a Job : self-explanatory
8. Go to a Live Concert : them things seem so exciting when you see them on TV. So why not join the fun
9. One Day Finally Forgive some people in life (bury the hatchet) : not that I'm an angry person just that some people in my life are not worth my time at the moment. maybe one day...I will give them that time.
10. Spend the Night in Alcatraz Prison: ---don't ask--- :-)
11. Do 1 more Judo tournament: Been over 3 years since Ive done one. It would be nice to see where my stand up throws is at.
12. Meet Everyone on my facebook friend list ( the ones I haven't meet yet) : self-explanatory
13. Become a better photographer: self-explanatory
14. Do A Mud Run
15. Ride a Dolphin
16. Attend a live taping of a Steve Wilkos or Maury Show : to see the disturbing buffoonery first hand.
17. Attend a Daytona 500 event
18. Get my Master Degree
19. Sky Dive
20. Make a difference in someones life: If i havent done so already.

Well that is my list(note its not my full list) this wont be to hard but I know it wont be that easy.In addition Im challenging everyone to make a list like this.

monta

Will Power (aka Dedication)

In my last blog, I gave my opinion on “What is Loyalty”. This time I’m going talk about a word that pushes us to achieving our dreams & goals in life. Today I will give my opinion on the meaning of Dedication.

Definition: Dedication- the quality of being committed to something in your life.

As you can see in the definition it is all about having a focus toward completing a set mission in life. It pushes us to achieve our full potential in regards to the goals we want to accomplish in life. Don’t believe me, think back to the hard work your parents did to raise you to become a good person in society, think about them people who bust their asses on their jobs, or even (which I know a lot off) that bjj/mma/judo practitioner which hope to be the best at what they do. It may not be an easy road and sure may encounter some problems along the way toward achieving your goal but in the end if you work hard enough you always find a sense of high satisfaction of the road you took to get to your destination (being your goal).In all its about having the courage of your conviction and living your life with passion and perseverance to learn and put 100 % effort in what you do.

When it comes to me the word dedication has been around all my life pushing me to be the best individual I can be. My dedication has been devoted toward me being a student. Being a student of learning things not only for knowledge but also learning new traits about myself I did not know I possess. For instance when I 1st started grappling nearly 6 years ago at CSULA…I would have never thought I get to the point where I am today both in skill and personal growth. Or take me learning to drive for example when I 1st started learning to drive it seemed hard but after some practice, hard work, & determination I was able to learn not only how to drive but also get my driver’s license in the process. I don't have to rambling on & on but you kinda get the picture that this all goes back to what i mentioned earlier.

In closing I would like to say to all (especially everyone including myself), who may be competing in Mundials this year. To quote Lloyd Irvin you can be as talented as hell but with not putting hard work and dedication you will not get anywhere. Think about that in your training and anything you do in life whether its being a student, working to better your relationship with your spouse, or whatever when your facing that challenge in life that you want to accomplish just ask yourself one questions “ Where Your Heart At Yo ?” :-)

Monta

What is Loyalty ?

Well Folks it my 1st blog of 2010 and instead of talking about wsup with me, I’m gonna talk about a situation that is affecting lots of the peeps now a days & even all over the world. Today’s topic is Loyalty.

Loyal- (adj) - Faithful; steadfast (in other words)-steady in allegiance or affect or true a particular standards of one individual.

Loyalty whether you recognize it or not has been practice throughout the dawning of time from peoples religious beliefs to political parties to neighborhood street gangs to even being apart of a bjj academy. It is something that instills values in a person so they can have something to believe in which in terms shapes their character to react to a particular situation. In all when looking at loyalty it ask 3 main questions

Where are you going? , Who are you riding with? , What do you believe in?

When studying up on the word loyalty. I read that it is a double edge sword in many cases whether you’re loyal to something or not. For instance take being in a street gang for example you are taught rules and regulations by the OG’s of the gang, how to conduct yourself, what other gangs are your enemy, helping out your homie in need, and all that good stuff. However sometimes the loyalty card is not followed for you got guys that will not follow the rules, snitch on their homies , & go so far as to kill their friend 4 their own reason. which in term KILLS loyalty.

Another situation is something I’ve been caught up in as of late. There been a lot of people that been asking me “WHO AM I WITH” & to answer that question at this time I dunno. At one point I think about loyalty then the other side I think about “ME”. As mentioned in my previous example u can remain as loyal as you want but in the end in most case (especially in past situations I’ve been in) “u will get fucked” no one care about your feelings as long as their ego or feelings stay in a positive mode. So in term you have to do was best for your & not what other want you to do. Cuz in the end “Its you vs me” “plata o plomo” “eye for an eye.

The moral of the story is LOYALTY IS DEAD. Unfortunately for all of us, even though there are some caring people in the world SELF-PRESERVATION is the key focus for us all for we are looking out for our best interest. Sad to say but in all I feel we as humans at some point in our lives care about nothing but ourselves. It’s a dirt f***n world people and we are living in it.

Good night everybody.

Monta