Deal Revealed -(Fresh New Start)

Well lets skip the dramatics and get down to business. On the month of September of 2011 after being apart of the academy for 2 years I left Hollywood BJJ ( aka Paragon Hollywood). Since that time i have been a free agent/ronin for the past 4 months. During that time I have had the opportunity of training with some great people (grapplers/fighters)  and even taken time to help out young guns here in my hood at Tapout LA training center.

Ever since this month began Ive been talking about me finally signing up with a gym and i am happy to say it has finally happened. Took me awhile to think positive going into the situation,reflect, and actually man up n do it. All i ever want to do in jj is grow and b happy. Never wanted to be a world champion..all i ever wanted was to grow and be in a positive atmosphere that allows me to do that and well i think its time for me to do that.

also not to sound negative but I will say this..if this does not work in the long run..i am making this announcement right now...I WILL NEVER JOIN A ACADEMY IN THE SO CAL AREA AGAIN.but I'm going to be positive about this new venture (so 4get i said that -lol-).

anyway without further delay this is who i will be training with starting Jan 3rd...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZCuM34A07A

L.W.N-(Like, Want,Need)

It seems as though the world main interest is the all mighty dollar. Might as well say it is a new form of religion. Setting all of my upcoming bjj signing and other plans for the next year aside. This blog will focus on how to invest your money in this tough economic time. I like to call it L.W.N ( like, want, need). I started developing this concept for myself when i was in college due to my poor spending habits i had when i was a teenager.Back in high school all i did was spend money on cloths, shoes,games, and anything i thought that would make me look "cool" for a short period of time. Always wanted to be the one with the most shoes or the best cloths against my peers. thousands of cloths and 100 shoes later (that i eventually gave away)when i looked back all i can say is ....Dang I wasted alot of money !!!

For the past 4 years I've developed a procedure to help me manage my money. In terms it has helped me to save big time and now i am able to afford jj training, go on plane vacations, walk away not stuck in any college debt amongst other things...SO let me enlighten u money spenders.When looking at item u want to buy ( excluding bills, food, and important life dependent things) ask yourself a question do u LIKE it, do you WANT it, and do you actually NEED what your are buying.

Like- do u like the product you are about to buy... if u cant get pass this step might as well save your $$$

if you can get pass.this stage then its on to the next phase.......

Want- do you really want what you are buying. what is it about the product that attracts you to getting it. (by this time if you can answer this question then you can buy it) the next phase is for people who really want to invest instead of spend.

Need- do you need it...what is it about what your buying that will make you better. (financially, physically, or satisfying your daily routine). For instance i just brought a new computer because my old one was damaged after 10 years of use. The need for a new computer was to communicate with friends, do my articles, amongst other important things i need to do.

My personal advice to everyone reading this would be to get to the WANT phase because it is something worth spending your money on that will last for a lengthy period of time.

Overall this blog is meant  not telling you to stop poor spending but mainly invest on important things that really matter in your life.

No-Gi Mundial Moments ( The Great, The Strange, & The WTF)

Due to my article writing and other stuff going on it is hard to do montablogs nowadays but I’m back for a limited time only. Today I had the distinct pleasure of checking out the No-Gi Mundials today. As far as the action is concerned it was cool but for it that isn’t what summed up my day.So to make it short here are my No-Gi Mundials moments from today (no particular order)

1.Losing a beat to a friend and buying him a Acai bowel :-/

2. Rafael Lovato’s speech after his victory- it goes to show you no matter if you train with a world champion or not. As long as you work hard you can do anything in life. Guess that’s why he is one of my favorite Black belts.

3. Bumping pass a couple of black belts including a world champion to say wsup to a friend- not something to be proud of but hey I did say Excuses me 5 times before doing it.

4. Seeing old friends from way back in the days- great to see people still remember back when i was competiting.

5. Hanging out with the Mighty Tom Barlow- coolest dude u will ever meet

6. Mean stares I was getting from people whose names I won’t meant. (dang didn’t know I was disliked in the jj community now)

7. Meeting some people I did articles on ( James Brasco, Erik Anderson, amongst others)- great to see the people I did articles on are not only great competitor but also great people.

8. Try to talk to my BJJ crush (female) but didn’t look like she was interested.

9. Brandon Mullins post victory speech- USA f*** yeah !!!

10.Jeff Glover running into 3 people he knows at the exact same time-( me, kyle koeign, and tom barlow)

i sure there were a bunch of other stuff..but this is why im keeping it short

monta

What Now

Well im a little early than normal. Got get ready for san diego tomorrow but anyway on to the blog. I have had alot of people ask me about what my last blog "The End" truly meant and to be perfectly honest..it was in referring to the fact I left my academy Hollywood BJJ...no need for the online dramatic....all i can say I was just moving on. (so no need to get into details).

In terms of where Im at right now. I mostly on focus on building a better life for myself(not to say mines is horrible). Getting a job, being more positive, and continue helping out hard working people in grappling/mma community with my writing (i think that the only thing that makes me happy now adays when it comes to being in this sport ).

As for my training, yes i still train (on occasion) cuz i can never leave the mat cold turkey. However it will be awhile b4 i fully take it seriously again. For now it just about keeping active and oh course learning new stuff.

monta

note: new construction of the montajourney blog is in the work !!!

9/11 Blog

Before I start my blog. i want to respond to the people that have been asking me about my last blog entitled "the end" and the answer is No this blog will not be closing down, but at the end of the month something else will most defiantly END.


Speaking of "the end" it what leads my to this blog. 10 years ago marked a very tragic day in our country,Wow how times flies..show how life has passed us by so quickly.For those of you that were around I know you all have your stories of where u were that day. I know where i was, i was at school along with my other classmates thinking the world was gonna end or it was going to be a world war 3...scary and sad time for everyone.

When i look at this tragedy)..I look at how precious life is n how it can end in an heartbeat. As my pal Devon Redmon said When we put our lives in perspective, we can learn to appreciate even the negative things we go through.

cuz nothing amounts to the pain and loss so many people went through that day. (that doesn't included the thousands of brave soldiers that lost their lives in battle for the past 10 years). Because after a decade the suffereing of a child losing this parent, mother/father losing their child..that will never end for them...sadness even me thinking about it.


What I am trying to say as this day comes to an end. Don't let this be the only day you pay respect or reflect. Always value life and those around you and never 4got the REAL HEROES (not your favorite bjj gold medalist or that cool rapper on tv) that put it on the line every single day (soldiers, you parents u kids out there, fire fighters, and yes even the police).

LIFE and the people in your life- LEARN TO VALUE IT.


I would like to end this blog by saying I pay my respects to everyone that lost their lives that day & the soldiers that lost their lives in the past 10 years. Your cause and sacrifice will never be forgotten.



peace
monta

Respect Card

After a full day of training today (noon & night) I've was sitting back think about something, so being the guy that I am I decided to share it with everyone.

When it comes to training with particular people..I can honestly admit I can be kinda bipolar sometimes. There a great amount of people who that i trained with over the years the I have a high respect for and when I go into training session/sparring session i go in with that intention..to train ( push myself and in term push the individual I'm training with).Then their that small percentage were i just wanna pull their H** card (if u know what i mean). -i have my reasons- :-/

In life your are gonna come in contact with many people. Some will you become peeps with instantly, some it may take some time to build, and their are some that will just get under your skin ( without them even knowing it), and some as times progress throug your friendship bridges will be burned causing complete chaos. So where does all this stem from simple -such things as someone did you wrong, clash of personalities, or the person resembles something that you cant stand due to your own past life experience.

Overall what I'm trying to say is this. This blog is not meant to say "We Must ALL Respect One Another" fuck that..if that were the case there would be peace in the world. However it is meant to enlighten people why people have conflicts with one another.

monta

No Younger

For the past week especially yesterday I am reminded of a famous quote by famous boxer Micky Ward. " I Ain't Getting No Younger".I remember back in the days when i was a kid i use to get totally excited that my birthday was coming up. I use to say to myself "I'm all grown up now" :-) Even actually count the days down waiting to see the toys, videos games, and the birthday cake i was going to get. Now as a 26 year OLD man I say to myself...DANG i getting fucking old. -lol-

Anyway what I'm trying to say is this... As we get old we sometimes realize time has certainly passed us by looking back on all the memories like sand running through an hour glass.
In other words we have no time to waste in life being bitter and stuck up.We should be living life to the fullest and be appreciative of the people and things we have done .Sort of like what i did with my trip to San Jose ( which btw was totally cool) and all the other experiences i have done in life and will continue to do.

Because hey i ain't getting no younger.

monta

p.s- special thanks to all my peeps down at San Jose for all the help you given me while i was down there. It means allot to me more than u ever know....and I SHALL RETURN !!!! :-)

Why Steriods Will Continue in BJJ :-(

Hey folks I know its been awhile...but I'm back with another montablog !!! :-) As of late there has been a buzz in the bjj community about the use of steroids. I seen an article the other day by caio terra on otm and uscombatsports about the topic. So I decided to give my own opinion about this very controversial but overlooked topic in our sport.As much as I agree with caio terra views, (unless caio word turns into action) the use of steroids will continue to occur. Want to know why....BJJ is not a legitimate sport that has gathered worldwide notoriety yet.

Let me explain before you jump the fences on me. When we compete in bjj we are not getting paid to compete. We do so at our own free will. For the most part the sport bjj does not offer cash, big time commercial promotions, and other things associated with marketing the sport or a fighter's profolio. Even companies like OTM or BJJLegends are small freelance companies who voluntary promote the sport of BJJ.Although winning events like the Pan Ams and Worlds is a big accomplishment at best the only thing a fighter receives is a medal and maybe a small sponsorship toward continuing to do what they love to do ( which is 25 % of the time). In all what I'm trying to say is the sport bjj is small time, not fully recognized, "under the radar". So it gives people the opportunity to do the things that caio mentioned.

Now you may ask yourself..why do people enforce strickter policies when an athlete get caught doing steroids in sports like baseball, mma, boxing,and even pro wrestling. Simple all about franchise. What i mean by franchise is the athlete is representing a brand which generates cash to that particular industry.

For example: The Chris Beniot Situation- once that situation occurred the WWE's image went down significantly. 25 % of its wrestling rooster ( some being the wwe's top talent) in 2007 were removed from the company because of it and in its entirety it has left a bad image on the pro-wrestling industry to this day.

Example 2 : MMA in the present- back in the old days fighters never got tested for drug use ..due to the fact that mma at the time was not a legitimized entity that it is today. Now MMa has reached main stream. You can't turn on your tv without seeing a promo of a upcoming fight, mass media attention, and other aspects that create HYPE for the fight. Fighters are expected to train hard (without any "medication") and put on a good show..because for 1 they are getting paid ( 5 digits salaries) and 2. they are making the company/industry more money.

I can go on and on & give you more examples of this but what I'm trying to say is until bjj reaches mainstream status...this situation will continue to occur.

It is very sad that the integrity level of bjj players has been put into question because of this. We don't get paid to perform we do it to better ourselves and add experience to our journey through life.... and .So what is the point of using steriods for ?.. ...( as El Atnom would say) a "50 cent goal medal ?" over your health..come on !!!

the end

Competitor Type

Awhile back ago I had a side conversation with someone I interviewed for the otm website about what types of people that compete. It was a very interesting conversation and I totally agreed with a lot of things he said. So in this blog I'm just gonna share what I learned from him along with my own opinion concerning this topic.

Types of People that compete

Goal Driven- these are people who have goals that they wishes to achieve in the sport. They realize the hurdles and hardships that may run into on their journey but no matter what happens they are not quitters and will do anything it takes to reach that goal whether it be getting a black belt or world championship status.
Ex: Look at guys like JT Torres he realizes what it takes to be a world champion. he understands the sacrifices and the hard work he has to put in to do it. In others words he is goal oriented.

Fighters- those are people who just love to fight or compete. It can be because they are ego driven guys who just want to smash people or people who just love putting their skills to the test in battle. Combatants is what i like to call them.
Ex: competition teams like paragon (my academy), C-Quence , and Alliance are solely competition teams schools where competitors compete anywhere between 3 to 4 times a month.

Martial arts lovers- These are people who although they have don't have any specific goals, Just love to experience what the sport has to offer. They want to add to their experience and things to look back in their stay in martial arts.
Ex: Guys like myself ( at least back in the days when i use to compete) just like to get out there and have an experience.

Other- people who fall under this category are simply kids, teens who either need have a focus in life or as a hobby to keep themselves active.

As for those who don't compete it doesn't mean they are weak, pussy or scared, they just have no interest in competing. Some of the best guys that I've trained with are people that don't compete. The reason may be they have other focuses in life ( work,family, -etc-) or just don't show interest in competing. It should be no pressure for that person to do so.

In all the purpose of this blog is just to show you what type of people you see gracing the competition mats. In all whether you have goals in the sport or not the main things you want to remember is to have fun and enjoy your experiences in the game.Sure you have some hard instructors who may stone you 4 the way u did in competition or you may have a bad experience here and there..but the main goals it to have fun.

Fernando Terre said in a recent interview that if competition is not fun then don't do it.

Set your own pathway you wish to pursue and Enjoy the ride !!!!

monta

Ideas for the Website

Well I guess this is my first montablog of the year. So you are probably wondering what I'm going to say especially after my very....outspoken blog on "The Arrival of Cobrinah". However instead of blowing up on people i decided to write about ...how i choose people to write about for the otm website (since some people have ask me and I have told them "NO" or I just igNOre their request).
A lot of times in bjj you hear the same stories of top bjj stars over and over again. This person won worlds for the 27th time. Exclusive interview about this top bjj guy for the 100th time. In other words it becomes repetitive and sometimes boring. So i decided when I started writing i wanted to do something different and write about people who are trying to get to the top in some fashion that people need to read about. There are alot of great and talented people out there in bjj land ( I should know since i study the underground scene) and its a shame that their story of blood, sweat,tears, and sometimes achievements are overlooked by someone else. So what better way to help them out by giving them some exposure.

The way i choose the people to write about is simple........

1. Your attitude toward the sport- you have to have a love for the sport. I tend to stay away from "know it alls", douchbags, and people falling into similar categories. I like to write about people who have a lot of drive, passion, and most of all having something going for themselves. Mainly because I can get the best answers out of them.

2. what separates you from other people- I won this medal (SO WHAT) I'm a bad ass in bjj (SO WHAT).I am the next big thing ( SO WHAT)..IMO none of that is interesting because they're are a million people that think and have done/thought the same thing. I like writing stories about people who have a story to tell. People who can give me a story of how they got from point A to point B and beyond and draw people into their life almost.

3. Personality is also a big trait to have

You have to remember folks I dont get paid to do this. So in other word Im pretty much helping people out of the kindess of my heart. Thats why I dont just write about anybody or anything.
Especially since I dont get paid to do this.
In all its about can you attract the audience because at the end of the day don't blame me if no one finds you interesting.


The End