Exploring Combatives with UFC Fighter Cole Miller

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On today's episode of the Performance Explorer Project, I have 20-time UFC vet Cole Miller.
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He takes me through combative concepts of striking, grappling, clinchwork, groundwork, but also how he coaches and bridges all of this as a fighter to now being a coach.
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We talk about leadership, we talk about mindset, and we talk about being an ultimate victor and how you get your hand raised at the end of a match.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
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Let's get into it.
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So we were talking about leadership, and you said it's about picking a word, and yours was emboldened.
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And I don't want to mess this up, but you said the best leaders in my life didn't demand of me or motivate me.
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They got me to demand more of myself.
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I think as a coach, other than education, my job is to try to pass that along to others.
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Where does that come from?
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You know, I I read the book Leadership in the Shadows by Kyle Lamb, and I got to that chapter, and it basically said that you there's no wrong leadership word.
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And your word is your word.
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And when I was reading that book, it got me to think about okay, what do I value as in a leader?
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And so I just like you were just saying, we we were talking, and I I said, you know what?
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They all got me to demand more of me.
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And that's a little bit different than a coach demand demanding more of you.
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If you can instill in someone else to demand more of them, it really comes down to what self-discipline.
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That's really what we're talking about.
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But I think most people believe that you have that type of discipline or you don't, and it can't be given or inspired.
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It's completely false.
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There are people who have uh a natural tendency toward that, having that type of self-discipline.
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But if someone is short on something, they can always be coached to have more of that something, if that makes sense.
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And I noticed that every trainer that I respected, uh, teacher that I respected, parent that I respected, um, that the one thing that they all, the the the thing that I noticed anyway is the one thing that they all had in common was that they all emboldened me or they got me to demand more of me.
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If I think about your career, I think you've kind of embodied that that self-discipline.
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I mean, from professional fighter, 20-time UFC veteran, third-degree Brazilian jujitsu black belt, and now MMA school owner, combatants instructor, you've kind of walked this whole progression all the way through.
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That discipline that you had instilled in you, did that come naturally?
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Did you have a coach that pulled that out of you?
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What where did you where did that come from?
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I think that I had a brother.
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And that's kind of like where it started.
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You know, you I grew up in a fun time.
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We we, you know, I'm I'm 41, so I grew up in like the the early 90s was like the formative years of, you know, we had Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers, and yeah, Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, Steven Segal movies.
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There's like Desert Storm Trading Cards and like Army men and everything was about fighting.
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Watching uh it used to be called WWF, now it's WWE.
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And everything in my life that I was attracted to involved some type of fighting.
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And I had a little brother, so who do you think we tried stuff on?
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Yep.
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And when you have that someone like that who's like pretty much a peer and you're gonna be competitive with that person all the time, you're always trying to do what?
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One up one another.
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So I had had a little brother, and that's what got me to a certain point.
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And I played um a little bit of hockey and I played a lot of bit of baseball.
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And if you know anything about baseball, it requires a lot of discipline.
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And there's certain attributes that you can have in baseball, and not everybody's the same.
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But one of the things that stood out for me was uh vision, like hand-eye coordination and things like that.
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I was one of the slower people on the team, but I could start moving when the ball was coming out of the pitcher's hand.
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I could tell by the stance and how the batter had swung before and the kind of pitch that was coming from my pitcher that if it was going to get hit, it was going a certain direction, I'd already be taken off that direction.
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So if that's the attribute you have, it requires a lot of what paying attention.
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Okay.
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So I watched a lot.
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And so kind of like, and I had coaches that inspired me.
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I had uh parents that believed in me.
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Um, and I think that that's also very important.
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Like if somebody's gonna be emboldened by other individuals, you have to have people that believe in you too, for them to be able to instill that type of discipline or self-discipline in you.
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When you say the detail thing, I I'm I mean, as a coach, I reference that all the time.
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Like, I'm not the best demonstrator of exercises, I'm not the fastest coach, the strongest coach, but I will pick up all the breadcrumbs that everyone steps over.
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Like those details, I obsess about those.
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How do you think that bridged the details of fighting?
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Because obviously the longevity of your career.
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What is the longevity of a UFC fighter?
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I believe it's about seven months.
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So is the average UFC fighter's career?
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And how many fights do you think you would have within that seven months?
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One to two.
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So how do you get to 20?
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Uh, you just keep sticking around.
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You know, like that's kind of how it is.
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You know, I I didn't have one of those, you know, amazing careers where it's like I was, you know, 1901 or something crazy like that in the UFC.
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But, you know, when to drop one, when to drop one.
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When it's like that kind of thing over and over again.
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But, you know, those losses, they're gonna teach you a lesson, right?
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For the most part.
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They're gonna give you an important lesson.
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And you can either say, nah, man, those judges had it wrong, or yeah, but my shoulder was hurting me, something like that.
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You can make an excuse, or you can look at the footage, your coaches can look at the footage with you.
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We can go, no, you have a weakness, and we need to work on this.
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And then you get to work and you get to work, and then you come back your next fight after kind of repairing that a little bit, and then you get the W and you just kind of keep that cycle going.
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How do you convince yourself to stay on that?
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So, I mean, you said mentioned being a professional fighter with American top team, like that.
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I would imagine there's a lot of people that are in that pipeline, just like dreaming, like hoping you get to that point, wishing you get to that point, and you talk about self-discipline.
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I feel like you have to be because even though you may have coaches or training partners, like that's all on you.
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That's right.
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Like to take care of your body, to take care of your mind.
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Like, how do you stay in the fight for that long, no pun intended, so that when that opportunity does present itself, you're prepared and and you're you're willing, like you're capable of performing.
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Yeah, I think that the fact that I was at American Top Team and the other uh men that I was surrounded by, uh, you know, you put them, you know, a little bit on a on a pedestal, or you got like your your mount rush more of guys that you look at like, oh no, like uh he wouldn't be a bitch or whatever, he wouldn't back down like that.
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So you see these guys, they come uh in training day after day.
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Of course, they're gonna have family problems too, or they're gonna have, you know, uh injuries and things like that too, or they're gonna have moments where they're down in life too.
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You don't see that in the gym.
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So um maybe I wasn't always perfect, but I had uh we can just call them role models.
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You know, I had guys that I could look up to, whether they were a coach or whether they were uh an active athlete at the time.
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And, you know, that was just kind of like the team aspect or the team element.
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And if they were they were gonna hold the line, I had to hold the line too.
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And that's the benefit of coming from a larger team like that.
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You have a certain uh standard.
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And it's not just of the the great ones.
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That's what's gonna be expected of the whole team.
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And that's where you see like the leadership from the top down from those uh individuals that are special.
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Then you're gonna have people that maybe come in uh not special.
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When I say not special, I mean not world champion, not you know, someone who's gonna be in the hall of fame.
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But like you have those people, and it's oh no, you're expected to hold that too, because that's what being a professional is.
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Does that, is it just known?
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Because I look at that almost like um a concept of culture.
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Like it's hard to identify, but when I see it, I know it.
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Like when I walk into a room or a team and I feel that palpable energy, I'm like, oh, that's this is the culture of the team.
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I and I can't describe it, I can't coach you through it.
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Is that something that when you walked in, you just you're like, oh, I'm in the presence of these people I want to be like and you just adapted?
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Or is it something you guys talked about and or is it just came natural?
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In the beginning, it was you just walked in and you knew that there's a certain line and you're gonna hold that line.
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I mean, because you you walk in as like a new guy and you see these guys that you watch fighting on TV all the time, and you see these world-class coaches, and people laugh, of course.
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It's like you can still have a good time.
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It's not like everybody's just in there serious and they're they're trying to not get killed in practice every day, although although it did happen like that sometimes.
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Um you you see just a level of serious, like, no, this is for us to make a living.
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And and this this game, this fight game, like these punches can hurt you, hurt you for real, short term and long term.
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So when you go in, you have to have a certain level of seriousness or professionalism about you.
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And uh not that I came from a bad team or anything like that.
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We came, I came from a small team when I first started in uh Macon, Georgia.
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So when you go from a team where maybe I was like the bigger fish in the smaller pond, and I knew that I didn't know exactly what I wanted, I just knew that I wanted to uh find out more about myself and I wanted to push myself to a new level, but you don't know what that level is unless you can see it.
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You understand?
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You can see it on TV, but you don't really know what that means when it comes to the training.
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Okay.
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And so when I first stepped foot in that gym at ATT, you knew, oh, this is a different level.
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And I just knew, like, oh, this is this is where I want to be.
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I'm gonna have to figure out how to stay here.
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Do you remember what that was like when you were like, this is a reality?
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Like, like I am close to this, like uh this isn't just something I'm recreational doing or an interest or I enjoy fighting, where you're like, no, I am close enough on the fringe of this to make this a career.
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Like I can make money, like I can be a a professional.
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Like, do you remember that moment?
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Yeah, it comes to like was there a certain fight, a certain exchange, a conversation where you're like, oh no, this is a reality.
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I'm close.
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Yeah.
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I uh I I had been at American Top Team, I think maybe about a year, maybe, maybe just under.
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Yeah.
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And I uh one of the the individuals on a on a card that was happening in Japan on this organization called Shuto, and it was uh the organization more for like the smaller guys.
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I was a featherweight at the time.
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And um someone had pulled out against the world champion, uh Lion Takeshi, in a way at the time.
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And they called ATT for somebody to step up on short notice.
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And I think that I was the second person they mentioned because the first person that they had mentioned was too good, even on eight days' notice.
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Fair, you know, and uh they they saw like, oh, this guy's just a blue belt in Brazilian jujitsu.
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And I had been submitting black belts and stuff like that because I had a good education from the team that I was at, and I had a certain level of uh skill when I came to the team.
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And my record was like eight and one or something like that.
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And I think that they were like, oh, this is the perfect guy.
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He comes from American top team, but he's not a Brazilian or Brazilian jujitsu black belt, uh, not a high risk of submitting our uh Japanese ball.
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Which thought you were gonna be a win.
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Yeah, and and an easy win.
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Yeah.
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You know, something that, especially with eight days' notice, would be like somebody that, okay, we'll walk through, make the champ look like a highlight.
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And I it went the distance, and I still think I won two of the three rounds, but with almost no trainers, had to uh expedite the process to get a passport.
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I've never I'd never, you know, traveled outside of the country, but you know, fighting the world champ, going the distance and not being offered a chance to come rematch, and I was like, oh yeah, I'm on the right track.
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Do you find that that that quickness of having to do that, did that with that being your first big one that helped with stress, like if you had more time to sit in it or prepare?
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Or was it just like a unique moment of like, I'm ready for this?
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Like I have like you rose to the occasion, I guess, from training?
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I think the the activity level that I was fighting at was really high.
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I had had 10 amateur fights, and amateur back then just meant you didn't get paid.
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Okay.
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We didn't have any special equipment like the amateurs have now, more protection, more rules.
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It just was like, oh, you're maybe not super good, so you're not getting paid.
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So you're amateur.
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Okay.
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So I fought 10 fights.
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I don't even remember, it was like a year and a half.
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And then as a pro, I fought nine fights in, I think that was a year and a half or 10 fights in a year and a half.
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So the activity level that you're fighting that I was fighting at at the time to get to the point where I felt that I would make it was um unique, probably.
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Like nowadays, you hear about guys fighting two or three times a year, and I was like, nah, like I'm on this path.
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And I didn't know where the path was going.
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We didn't have all these um high-level guys that had millions of dollars and things like that.
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There was like maybe two guys making money, you know, fighting at the high level at the time, and they were all 205 and up.
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They were not smaller guys, so I was just on a it was a personal quest.
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And um I'll just say, like, I've I knew I knew whenever I was on that path and I was fighting with that level of activity that when you I got that offer on that that you know uh short-term notice, I was like, oh no, this is what we do, like this is just what it is.
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Because I didn't I didn't care about eight-week or 12-week train camps.
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Shit, I never had had one of those in my entire life, anyways.
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It was just like next fight.
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I was one of those people that was like like a journeyman.
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The phone call came in, oh, let's go.
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When it comes to that almost destination unknown, you're just kind of like, I have a little bit of a direction, which it seems like you had.
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I think that's most people, not just fighting, but fitness as a journey.
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I think athletes sometimes they don't know where they're going.
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And they how do you trust a path without knowing where that destination is?
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Kept it simple.
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I think it was easy for me to trust the process or however you want to say it.
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I didn't have a vision of what the the destination would be, meaning like a championship belt, or I didn't have anything like that.
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And I think that because I was able to keep it simple and it was, I'm focusing on the next fight.
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I'm trying to find someone that can break me to show me the kind of uh person I am, to show me what my weaknesses are, so that way I can repair myself as a man and come back stronger.
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Um, both from a technical uh skill set uh portion, but also the kind of person that maybe thought they had courage or the kind of person that thought they didn't have fear.
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I wanted to face those things and find that man across the ring or the cage for me that could make me second guess even the type of conviction that I had.
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And when I kept it that simple, I trained with, I would say, more purpose.
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You know, isn't it so nice to think, oh, you're gonna be a millionaire or, you know, like you're gonna have some shiny belt or cars or whatever it is, the stuff that people care about.
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But for me back then, it was just a little bit more uh primal.
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And because I had a more simplistic approach to it, um what we'll call a martial arts approach versus like professional athlete who has this idea of uh limousines or whatever, you know, it's like I think that that was the way that I made the most amount of progress in the shortest duration of time.
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How old were you when when this during this time frame?
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Like what was that age?
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I was 19 to 23 years old before I made it to the UFC.
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Genuinely.
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How the hell did you have a mindset, a mature mindset of that?
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Like, because that's I feel like that's a mindset most people have 20s, 30s.
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Like, how did you have that so young of leaning into that fear and wanting to discover it?
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Like, it sounds like you were searching for someone to show you what you were missing or prove that you were missing something.
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Like, where did that come from?
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Because I had a brother and we because we pushed each other to the limits, we were we were always doing stuff that would not be considered safe, like some dangerous, right?
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And I was always obsessed with this idea of never giving up.
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I was always obsessed with this idea that uh like what would it take to make you quit?
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And you like to think about yourself as a person that won't quit.
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How romantic you'll never quit.
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But I wanted to actually be pushed to that limit to where I was second guessing.
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Like I wanted to find out how far I really could go to see if I had that level of conviction.
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And I don't know where that came from.
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:55.920
Maybe it was genetic, maybe it was how I grew up, maybe, you know, that maybe the environment uh added to something like that, or some people just have things, you know.
00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.240
I uh I was no stranger to danger, you know.
00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:05.279
Like again, uh my mom says that like the people in the emergency rooms knew us by our first name.
00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:11.920
Like that's not no BS, you know, so we make quite a few trips, but me and my brother were always pushing it.
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.559
I don't know, so I don't know, you know, exactly where it came from, but I I always had it.
00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.599
That that taste for it's almost like a taste for adversity.
00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.839
Like, you do you want that challenge?
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:27.839
Are there moments where that that adversity maybe was too much?
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:38.480
Or it it kind of like, whoa, like this is more than what I was expecting, because it is nice how you say romantic to always come out on the good side, like, oh, I faced adversity.
00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.559
All most of the stories you hear regarding adversity are championed, right?
00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.200
Like I faced adversity, look at what happened.
00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.720
Were there moments where this taste for adversity kind of bit you in the ass?
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:49.839
Like you were like, whoa.
00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:51.759
Yes, and no.
00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:59.119
Um I've got when someone fights, as long as I fought, you're gonna have all the stories.
00:18:59.359 --> 00:18:59.920
Yeah.
00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.240
And this I'll tell I'll I'll share one here.
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.799
Um, I was I was I won a cool fight.
00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.000
Cool, had like the performance of my life again, very nice.
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.000
And I broke my hand in the fight.
00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:24.640
Okay, so I had a time to heal, and then I was supposed to fight Conor McGregor, and in the training camp for that fight, I uh injured my thumb, the ligaments, tendons, the bone.
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:45.759
I had to get casted for another X amount of weeks, and then I was going to fight or I did fight Max Holloway, and but I got injured in the uh uh the training camp, but I could not back out because by the time the fight date was gonna happen, that would have been 13 months with no income.
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:55.839
And I started the training camp, and my son was born five and a half weeks premature, so I had to leave I had to leave American top team.
00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:13.200
I go uh back to Macon, Georgia, where he's born, and he was in the NICU for three weeks, and then as soon as he got out, uh, you know, and we got home, uh basically I was kind of like, here you go, to his mom.
00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.880
And I had to go back to train because it's like the bill's got to get paid.
00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:23.200
And I think it was the second training session, so we're closing in close to the fight by now.
00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.079
We're we're probably like three weeks out, you know.
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.119
Oh, and the fights in uh uh Denver, Colorado.
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.640
So at elevated, of course.
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:31.200
Why not?
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:32.240
Of course, add more.
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.559
You've only had one training session, let's go.
00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:42.319
So the second training session, uh, I had an injury in the labrum in my hip and my groin tore.
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:47.680
So from the front wrapping all the way around to the the butt shake tore, I couldn't walk.
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:49.519
Not like, oh, he's saying he can't.
00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:55.359
No, I was in bed for weeks and I couldn't do hardly anything.
00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.759
I was it was excruciating pain.
00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:02.400
About a week before the fight, I think I hit pads twice.
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:08.400
So no grappling, no strength training, hit the pads twice and was just like, all right, let's go.
00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.160
We're gonna go to this fight.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:23.680
And I go to Denver, do the thing, went the distance and got out unscathed and I lost the fight, you know, lost, lost the decision.
00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:30.799
But that's a failure, but it was also a success to know that like I my skills were able to support me.
00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:41.920
And due to the high level of education I had, due to what my coaches instilled in me, that I was able to summon what it took to even make it through that fight to still stay standing.
00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:50.000
So that's a win, but it's also pretty sad when you take home half a paycheck to, you know, you know, your kid who's waiting home for you.
00:21:50.240 --> 00:22:05.759
When you say skill set, so I think in the strength coach world, which a a lot of people that uh probably listen to this strength conditioning professionals, um, coaches, there's just like Bravado with like fighting, where it's like just hard and it's just the stronger and faster.
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:07.039
Explosive too.
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:08.400
I mean, fighting is explosive.
00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:27.200
But you've kind of beat on just talking with you, the skill set, the skill set that you have, the skill set of fighting and your skill set, improving your strength, talking about your weaknesses, and your skill set carried you in those moments where maybe your physical preparation wasn't as high as it should have been because of life got in the way.
00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.559
How does that translate to development?
00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:44.880
So when you start out now working through your career, if you were to work with a young fighter or in your MMA school, how much are you focusing on strengths versus trying to make them a well-rounded fighter?
00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.440
Or where does that fit when it comes to development?
00:22:48.079 --> 00:23:03.039
I well now, because I get I get kind of like a top-down perspective now from a coaching standpoint, if you have a an athlete or student or whatever, I think that you should take a look at what their natural attributes are.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.759
And you need to let those things bloom.
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:26.240
So you need to take whatever the skills that are necessary for whatever sport that you're participating in, if it is a sport, and you need to focus on what is the most important thing, what is like the most scary type of thing that could happen for this individual, what's the most likely, and then what is gonna ultimately pay their bills?
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:26.720
Okay.
00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:33.200
And if we're talking about like an MMA fighter, what pays the bills is winning fights and finishing fights.
00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.799
So what attributes do they already have?
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.200
What kind of prior training do they already have?
00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:48.319
What's gonna be the most likely thing to guarantee not just a win, but an exciting win, the kind of thing that can propel them up the ladder.
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:56.559
And I think that you need to focus on those, spend almost all the time on those, especially in the beginning, because like wins are gonna be very important.
00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.039
Now that doesn't mean neglect the weaknesses.
00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:13.680
While you're doing that, you have to start fortifying the weaker areas and doing like a more of a slow buildup and a slow progression on those things, so long as that hole, that weakness, isn't a very easily attacked thing, if that makes sense.
00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:22.000
So it's like if if somebody's got like the capability to be a really good striker, but they have no takedown defense.
00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:22.799
I mean zero.
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:28.480
No, we're not gonna be spending 90% of the time on striking and very little percent on takedown defense.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:38.640
If it's a massive hole, of course we have to make that not so easily attacked, but we still want to be focusing on the thing that's gonna give them the highlight reel finish if we're talking about MMA fighter.
00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.680
I I think that transcends not just MMA, if I'm being honest with you.
00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:42.319
I think so too.
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:51.119
It's like identifying strengths because if you were in a professional sports setting, whether it's football, basketball, you are already a very small percentage.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:54.319
And more than likely, you didn't get there because of effort.
00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:58.079
You got there because you are unique, you are gifted, you are special.
00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:03.519
And as coaches, there's this weird nuance of like, well, I want to bring up all their weaknesses.
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:06.559
What got them there is their specialty.
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:09.200
So it's like, how can we create robustness around that?
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:10.480
How can I help that?
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:12.559
How can I help them do that longer?
00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:14.160
That's kind of my thought process.
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:20.160
Is I mean, you are an elite pass rusher, you are a explosive around the edge with your with your speed and your hips.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.839
How can I build your hips and feet up so that you can do that for 10 years?
00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:26.160
Is now generational money.
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:27.519
Now you you set yourself up.
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:46.240
Verse, it would be very uh, I would say, myopic of me to just be like, well, that's really great, but you know, you you you're really weak in your upper body or you're really weak in your core or something, or just trying to point out problems that they have is like, well, does that is that am I really pushing the needle with this more here?
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:51.359
And to get back to MMA, I could be speaking out of line, but it's very nuanced.
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:54.720
Like, like it's it's like teaching a baseball player how to swing a bat.
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:56.480
There's so many ways to swing a bat.
00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:56.960
That's right.
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:01.200
So, how as a coach do you come in and be like, hey, I'm gonna remove my ego here?
00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:11.440
Because I'm not, I don't what made me what made you a good fighter, which I think a lot of people that go from professional fighting to coaching, it's like, hey, remove you because what worked for you might not work for someone 100%.
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.640
So, how how do you pull that jacket off?
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:26.960
Because I think a lot of athletes that get into coaching, which in in sport in my world is very common, like college football, get into college strength and conditioning, very because if they're used to it, they like it, they still get to be a part of a team.
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:34.799
But how do you remove that and be like, hey, what worked for me might not work for me, but let's identify yours, you what works for you.
00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:48.400
I think for me it was easy because my uh game or my pursuit of fighting in uh MMA came from like a martial arts mindset, not a professional athlete mindset.
00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:52.880
So I don't want to just keep the time, I want to know how the watch works, if that makes sense.
00:26:53.440 --> 00:27:02.480
So because my game was built around being very technical, and of course I had a certain level of mental fortitude.
00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:03.920
Okay, let's not talk about that.
00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:09.039
It's like, but what made me good at finishing fights is like technical proficiency.
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:33.440
So now that I am being a coach or I want to work with uh a specific group of people, I'm gonna be focusing heavy on the content that I feel that they need because when I put myself into something, I'm not putting uh somebody that had a high vertical leap or somebody that had a really awesome bench press or a fast 40-yard dash.
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:35.759
I don't even know what it's like to be that kind of person.
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:43.279
So when I get to work with somebody that does have like actual attributes like that, I'm like, man, this is an easy kind of job.
00:27:43.359 --> 00:28:00.400
It's like because I'll just go through the Rolodex of skill set and content that I have saved to be not only in case I needed uh a valuable tool in my toolbox for when I was fighting, but also someone who is going to be uh an educator and a dispensary of information uh for what my life's passion is.
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:04.640
And so I'll just go through that and be like, oh, here's you know, something that's good for you.
00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:06.480
And maybe I was wrong in my initial assessment.
00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:08.559
I'll go, it wouldn't take me long to figure that out.
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.759
And then we would input something in there to kind of change that along the way.
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.640
So I thought for me it was a little bit easier.
00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:19.759
But not you know this, not all phenomenal athletes are gonna make great coaches.
00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:30.720
A little bit of an opinion here, but I find, no offense, the best transition from athletes to coaches are the athletes that weren't the most superiorly gifted.
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:31.119
Okay.
00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:38.319
Because it's like they had to rely on adversity, technic, technical abilities, they had to get coached up.
00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:47.039
So they learned all the X's and O's, I guess, and then they kind of built them in versus that guy that can just you watch and be like, man, he is so explosive.
00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:54.799
He is so fast, and so fast, so explosive, are very hard to teach uh because that's just a gift that they've had.
00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:56.480
They didn't have to work through that.
00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:05.839
Was there anything along your way that now that you're trying to bridge that gap with individuals that have that, that it does it make it easier to coach?
00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:08.960
Because you just like, man, you you I'm just trying to fine-tune a Ferrari.
00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:10.160
Like you're so powerful.
00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:12.400
Now it's just like, hey, come over to my side.
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.559
This is where I spent my entire career was this part.
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:22.880
It's the easiest thing to do because it's it's like playing a video game if you're good at playing video games.
00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:29.759
Okay, you know, it's like, oh, I I have this uh avatar or this character in the game, I push the button and they just do it.
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:30.960
Isn't that nice?
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:55.279
Yeah, you know, so like when you get to work with like an actual high-level athlete, and and once someone makes it to a higher level, they have uh the right kind of mindset typically, not always, we all have problems, but it's when you have that type of individual, if and they trust you as an instructor or coach and you develop that kind of rapport, that relationship with that athlete or individual, then it's the easiest thing that there is to do.
00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:01.119
It's like you they just filter through all the BS and all the hard lessons that maybe you had to learn as an athlete.
00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:04.160
You just give this to them and they just run with it.
00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:10.000
And then they can take it to a different thing that you didn't even think was possible or never even thought about before.
00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:11.839
And now you're just honing in on that.
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:12.720
So you're growing too.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:17.440
And that's where it becomes very much a relationship between the the coach and the athlete.
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:26.880
Being someone that was in that for so long, like the those 20 fights you mentioned, um, and then professional fighting before that, is there like an instant buy-in with people?
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:43.359
Like they see you and they just go, oh, like in that world, they're like, Oh, I'm gonna listen to him, or is it still reliant on you being able to express that technical expertise of like like you just said at the beginning, like I'm trying to empower you, like don't just listen to me.
00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:45.440
Like, I'm trying to bring the best out of you.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.960
Like, is that is that easier because of your background?
00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.039
Or I mean, obviously it helps.
00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:51.519
Yes.
00:30:51.680 --> 00:31:02.160
I think that when you're getting somebody from nothing, so maybe I have a student at my school and I'm the first instructor or coach they ever had, it's a little tougher.
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.559
They don't know what else is out there.
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:12.880
And of course, the the age of the individual um may play a factor in that too, as far as like maturity or being able to soak the information in.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:34.960
But I have found that those that maybe had some experience where they maybe did not come from a giant team, or even if they did, but they already had some level of professional experience, they'd already maybe paid some dues, they'd already maybe learned some hard lessons and uh maybe they didn't listen to someone that may have been important earlier in their career, those are usually the people that I hit it off with right away.
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:43.039
So if I go uh back to American top team and I'm on the mat with all the high-level uh professionals and individuals, they're going to listen.
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:53.119
If I have uh a guy that moved to my school, and maybe he's at coaching at my school and he wants some help on his professional training, oh, he or she is going to listen.
00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:00.240
But you catch, you know, uh from the aspect of me uh teaching someone for just self-defense.
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:04.000
Of course they're listening, but like, but I like to do it like this.
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:04.559
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:05.440
You know what I'm saying?
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.359
So it's like, and that's that's on the small end of uh convergence.
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:19.359
But you know, if if you have a younger person, you're their first coach, they might not always be the best listener, but that's part of the growth, and that's fighting the good fight for somebody doing what I'm doing.
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:29.759
Do you think because I mean we we're we're close in age that it allowed you to focus more on fighting and the process and the path?
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.880
Because, like you said, now all the distractions, now kids are getting into it for the money.
00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:39.599
And not saying that's the wrong reason, but they can see like, oh, this is a profession I can make money with.
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:43.279
With back then, I don't think you were thinking that you you enjoyed it.
00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:53.039
Like, so do you think that may have changed your path uh regarding like now if that was a thing, or do you feel still think you would have still had that same mindset?
00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:55.279
You mean from athlete to coach?
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.119
Yeah, like or no, athlete, just athlete.
00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:05.839
Yeah, fighting because I almost feel like there's like this uh naivety of like, I just love fighting.
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:07.519
I just want to get better at fighting.
00:33:07.680 --> 00:33:12.240
Whereas now it's like, oh, this is my I'm a pro this is my career, I'm a professional.
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.720
I have to do certain things and go to certain interviews, and I I can make money.
00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.720
Whereas then that doesn't seem like that was at the forefront of your thoughts.
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:24.400
Yeah, that and there was there really wasn't any money in it at the time.
00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:34.640
That kind of thing, that transition was happening in the sport right as I was making it into the UFC where guys didn't have to have another job and things like that.
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:42.480
So honestly, if it was like how it is now, I think I probably would have got burned out a lot sooner.
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:47.279
I think that just the structure of fighting and then people need money.
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:49.440
People need to be able to pay their bills.
00:33:49.680 --> 00:34:01.599
And if I had started in this current environment, and then you hit a little bit of adversity, I think that there's maybe part of me that might have thought the juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze.
00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:09.599
I I did learn some important lessons about myself, which was what my goal was to find out how far I could take it, or some some of those hard lessons.
00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:14.800
I think if I would have found some of those things a little bit sooner, I probably would have switched over to something else.
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:19.280
I have to ask, what are what are what are some of those lessons you've learned?
00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:20.639
Like who who is Cole Miller?
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:26.639
Who did you define who who did you discover that Cole Miller was along that journey?
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:30.000
I do have conviction.
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:35.760
It is very hard to make me quit, but um I am a flawed person.
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:37.119
I have fears.
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:53.760
I do know what it's like to um get beat down and stay down in a uh not in the actual fight, but like from the point of like what life can bring you in this uh sport world that is.
00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:58.960
Um, I do know what it's like to not say down and come right back roaring with a vengeance.
00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:09.519
I'm um not the most consistent, you know, but when I have a singular focus, that's where I'm gonna make my most gains.
00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:14.480
I don't do very well when my uh mindset is pulled in multiple directions.
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:28.480
So uh, and now that I know that about myself, I'm trying to find ways what we were talking about, like I want to, I do want to focus on my strengths, but I said we can't let our weaknesses be exposed, especially if it's a major weakness.
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:39.360
And I think that like that for me can be where if like if my distractions are something that pull my brain in a couple different directions, this is a multitasking world these days.
00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:46.159
To have something of singular focus is very hard to achieve in in the working world, especially in the world that we're in.
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:48.800
So it's like, but that's where I make the most gains.
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:56.239
So I have to know, okay, instead of doing three things at once, do one thing, but know when to cut that off and transition to the next thing.
00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:58.000
Well, how did you do that?
00:35:58.159 --> 00:35:59.599
Like still figuring it out.
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:01.679
Still figuring it out to be honest with you.
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:02.639
Okay, okay.
00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:11.119
Is is there was there a moment where you realized that maybe you were prioritizing on the wrong bucket during that process that brought that to light?
00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:12.239
Because I think that's a moment.
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:23.039
I mean, I've I've personally realized that like you get close to burnout, you know, you're you're you're it's I give it the thing of like I'm juggling balls and like I'm juggling like light balls, which is like work.
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:24.800
And did I get my content done?
00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:27.119
Did we record this in time so I can edit it?
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:40.159
But then in that juggling is like my wife, my kids, my like my life, my own is and those balls are heavier, and I'm juggling the heavy balls, the light balls, and before you know it, like that heavy ball, you lose grip and it hits the ground.
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:49.360
And then it's like, man, how do I how do I now I'm trying to pick this thing back up, which is me professionally in the past couple of years, the thing I've struggled with is like prioritizing work.
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:53.119
And it's like, man, I I can't forget about like my family and the things that are most important.
00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:58.800
And I'm trying to like lift this ball and think, man, it would have been a lot easier if I just kept this thing in rotation a little bit more.
00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:10.639
Yeah, I think that come from the same spot, I think I've already hit that like that low point where I realize like when you're all in on one aspect of work, not just the work suffers, but the family suffers too.
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:34.800
And then when you when you have a job of coaching individuals and you have staff and people that rely on you, if you focus on something else that's giving you um some level of, I guess I would say it's boosting you up, but you you've the other people feel like they're getting forgotten about, or maybe they actually are.
00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:38.559
So it's like you're kind of juggling all those balls, one of them's gonna hit the ground.
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.039
And so I think I've already had that point hit.
00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:46.960
So I don't know exactly how to communicate what I've learned.
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:51.920
I can just communicate that I've learned it and now I'm starting to learn how to balance uh a little bit more.
00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:59.039
But I think the same way a coach can coach an athlete, like they don't have to learn the same lessons that you learn.
00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:10.159
Now I'm just at the point where if I begin to mentor maybe a younger individual, I'll be able to kind of pass that along before they have to learn those hard, hard lessons.
00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:13.199
Do you do you enjoy the mentor side now?
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:27.679
Like, do you enjoy being able to, you know, I it's probably not the same as being in the ring and that excitement and that adrenaline, but is there a part that still gets to fulfill that bucket as a mentor, seeing the growth of people, seeing that excitement from them?
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:28.880
Very much so.
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:39.360
I think that the transfer of the information that I give to somebody, and it doesn't matter what they're doing or why they want to use it.
00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:57.360
If I'm working combatives with like military servicemen or woman, if I'm coaching an uh amateur or professional fighter, or a guy who's 50 who's just doing Brazilian jujitsu um sport matches, or someone who just wants to learn martial arts for self-defense.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:58.719
Okay, it doesn't matter.
00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:12.320
When I give that uh information to them and that transfer occurs and I see that light go bing, that not only do they get the information, but that information is directly in line for their purpose for what they're doing.
00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:17.519
That's where I get the most uh sense of validation and I feel really good now.
00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:22.719
Like I've I've had my my hands raised and I've had my head dipped down plenty of times.
00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:24.880
I don't need that stuff for me anymore.
00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:34.320
I really start to enjoy the uh problem-solving aspect of my job and being able to give that to other people so that way they can get their hand raised in their in their minds.
00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:36.639
I used, I've used this quote.
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:46.079
For me, it's a people a person will never forget how you made them feel, and a person will never forget something that empowered them or inspired them.
00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:50.000
And I'll use the phrase a stretched mind can never return to its original size.
00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:59.039
Like once you've experienced something, once I delivered a message or coached you away, like you may forget the whole, maybe forget pieces of it, but you'll never forget that whole part.
00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:02.719
And once you've experienced that, you can't not forget it.
00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:07.199
Like, uh, so I think that's a truly powerful moment as a mentor.
00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:09.360
I like to give people their flowers.
00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:15.440
Um, and it seems like you are doing that to others, inspiring them, embolden them.
00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:24.559
Um, was there anyone along your journey that was like a pivotal piece for you that kind of corrected your path or lit your path along the way?
00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:56.639
Yeah, aside from my brother Micah, um I have my first coach, Cam McCarg, my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Sensei, uh Paumpa, um Dan Lambert, uh Richie, who's the GM, American top team, my great friend and mentor Jim, my good friend Dave Dernell, Greg Thompson, um there's a lot of people that I'm leaving out.
00:40:56.719 --> 00:41:12.719
Uh Mike Brown, just I'm sorry, I'm leaving a ton of people out, but it's when you're surrounded and and you're fortunate enough to be surrounded by so many uh great minds, great thinkers, uh influential people, it's easy to forget a couple.
00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:14.400
And I was I've been gifted with that.
00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:31.599
I I had a really good education in martial arts and not just the aspect from um the professional fight side, but that what lifelong martial artists find out from something that's uh beyond that, I've learned a lot of valuable information from those individuals.
00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:37.199
When people ask me that same question, it's it's almost like I have to like go back in the Rolodex.
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:38.480
Like, who was at the beginning?
00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:39.920
Who am I forgetting?
00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:42.239
But one of, I mean, I have a lot of pet peefs.
00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:49.519
We don't need that to list them all now, but when people say like I did it myself, or or like I, you know, they take all of it.
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:55.039
It's like, there's no way, there's no way you did it all yourself, even something as simple as your brother.
00:41:55.199 --> 00:41:58.559
Like, would you have been here if you didn't fight and wrestle with him?
00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:03.360
Like all that, all those times and like all those things, like it's you didn't get here on your own.
00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:09.360
Your self-discipline may have like propelled you and kept you in the fight, but like you didn't you didn't do this alone.
00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:10.239
That's right.
00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:10.880
That's right.
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:13.519
And and people think fighting, it's an individual sport.
00:42:13.599 --> 00:42:14.880
And I already remember who I forgot.
00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:18.000
I forgot my boy Blake, I forgot uh my best friend Bubby.
00:42:18.079 --> 00:42:25.039
You know, there's so many people, but it people think fighting is an individual sport because it's just you that's inside that that cage.
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:30.239
It's you, the other guy, and that third man, the referee, who's supposed to do his job and leave y'all alone, right?
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:32.079
That's like that, that's how I perceive it.
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:34.559
But um, it is much bigger than that.
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:44.320
You got to have your tribe, you got to have your team, you got to have those people that do believe in you, but will check you if you're doing some dumb stuff or not thinking right.
00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:46.800
You know, so you got to have the people that are gonna look out after you.
00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:48.960
I got I got two questions on that then.
00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:56.159
Knowing that a team is relying on you, because I know as a coach, I can only do but so much.
00:42:56.320 --> 00:43:01.119
Get them faster, get them more resilient, improve mobility, strength, power, all these things.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:04.880
But when it's time for them to go play, I can't do anything.
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:14.320
I'm just hoping they do well and they stay healthy because then that's a maybe they have a good reflection of man, that worked, or that that was helpful, or the training was valuable.
00:43:14.559 --> 00:43:22.320
How does that sit with you being in that ring, knowing all those people are behind you and your success is their success?
00:43:22.639 --> 00:43:26.880
Like, no offense, if you do well, then that means they did well, right?
00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:30.159
So, how does does that does that give you more stress?
00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:31.840
Does that give you motivation?
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:34.400
Like, do you do you even think about that?
00:43:35.519 --> 00:43:36.719
I don't really think about that.
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:50.719
Like when I was in the cage, I was only thinking about was I going to be able to do my job and was I gonna be able to do the things that my amazing uh mentors and instructors trained me to do.
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:56.320
Master Cattel, there's another one that I left out, my striking coach, and Howard Davis, who's no longer here with us.
00:43:56.400 --> 00:43:59.679
You know, um, I I was like, I want to do right back.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:08.159
By them, I want to, I want to prove that the time that they spent with me was not worthless, that I was worth investing in.
00:44:08.239 --> 00:44:28.159
And now the way you pose the question, it makes me think that maybe, maybe I'm a little selfish sometimes because like knowing that they felt that level of um pleasure in seeing me succeed, it makes me think, do I feel that same way that they felt?
00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:29.280
We'll never know.
00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:31.119
You know, I do enjoy seeing those succeed.
00:44:31.199 --> 00:44:31.840
We just talked about that.
00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:50.239
I enjoy it, but now that I look back on it, the way that those people were in my corner, literally, but also maybe just the people that were on the match with me or giving me the life lessons and the serious talks, like, do I really um value the successes of the people that I am able to touch the way that they did with me?
00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:52.719
That's gonna be something I'm gonna think about for a while.
00:44:52.960 --> 00:45:01.840
It it's interesting because I've had mentors and I've always there's been a couple of them where I've been like, dude, why did you, why did you care?
00:45:02.079 --> 00:45:03.519
Like what did you see?
00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:06.400
What was like what did you pick up the phone?
00:45:06.559 --> 00:45:07.440
Why did you invite me?
00:45:07.519 --> 00:45:09.039
Why did you allow me to learn from you?
00:45:09.119 --> 00:45:17.599
Like, why did you give me access to you and your information, knowing that I'm not, I'm not like in the coaching world, I'm not paying you for that, unfortunately.
00:45:17.679 --> 00:45:24.639
And if I if I become a great coach, it's not like I'm gonna, you know, have you on my team, it's not like I'm fighting in the wing.
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:30.079
So that to me, I feel like that is a heavy, like a heavy burden almost.
00:45:30.159 --> 00:45:36.880
Like maybe in the moment you were young, you didn't think about that, but now as a coach, do you see that in the people that you work with?
00:45:37.039 --> 00:45:39.599
And now it's like, oh, I I see something.
00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:44.239
And and maybe you've even I've said to athletes I've worked with, like, you don't even see what I see.
00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:46.639
Like you have no idea what you're capable of.
00:45:47.679 --> 00:45:51.199
Do you have that with uh people that you're working with currently?
00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:52.239
I do.
00:45:52.639 --> 00:45:53.119
I do.
00:45:53.360 --> 00:45:55.119
And it it's not always who you think.
00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:57.360
I mean, it's it's not always an athlete.
00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:03.679
It could be like um somebody that you're it's they're just training for self-defense.
00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:13.280
But it's like, no, man, like you, you could really um you can really be a protector of your family, you know what I'm saying?
00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:21.599
You could be like a figurehead in our community with the knowledge that they have and and just the how good of a person they are.
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:32.719
And like when I see that an individual like that needs my my my space or my place, not just my information, but like that my uh academy might be like a sanctuary for that kind of person.
00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:49.199
And I see that like, oh, they need me to keep them uh some level of peace so that way they can continue to be a good uh father or a good mother, or uh that this stuff really is actively saving them from a mental health perspective.
00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:51.280
But I can see like, man, you're special.
00:46:51.360 --> 00:46:55.039
And it does make it even still more worthwhile to invest in them.
00:46:55.360 --> 00:46:59.440
Are you able to connect those dots because you did it and you've had those feelings?
00:46:59.679 --> 00:47:00.320
Yes.
00:47:01.360 --> 00:47:13.519
How obviously mental health is a topic that many of us uh talk about, especially men was becoming a little bit more open in the fighting space in that fighting world.
00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:16.719
Yeah, I know, I know.
00:47:16.880 --> 00:47:20.079
And back then when you were fighting, that wasn't a conversation.
00:47:20.639 --> 00:47:22.239
Like, how does that now?
00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:24.079
Like, are do you create that space?
00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:31.280
I mean, I think it's honestly I I love the fact that you said creating space for those people and and providing space, a sanctuary.
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:34.960
All of those things I think are mental health adjacent.
00:47:35.119 --> 00:47:36.159
Are we therapists?
00:47:36.400 --> 00:47:50.079
No, but I think as dudes, we understand how we feel, we understand how other people, other guys feel, and understand like maybe I've experienced this and I see you kind of trending and I know things that have helped me.
00:47:50.239 --> 00:47:52.639
Um, how has that space evolved?
00:47:54.960 --> 00:48:00.639
You know, I don't know because I'm conflicted with with my approach to this.
00:48:01.039 --> 00:48:10.079
In the fight world, martial arts world, the the coaches, um, yeah, the coaches specifically, they become they wear too many hats.
00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:18.320
Their father, their brother, their psychologist, they are religious advisor.
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:24.480
Uh to an athlete, you know what it is for that very special person that's going to be on your team or in your corner.
00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:28.559
They they wear way too many hats that no one told them that they had to wear.
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:32.880
But when you care about somebody, you're willing to do whatever you can for that person.
00:48:33.119 --> 00:48:39.199
So I think that with the athletes, the conversations these days are changing.
00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:46.400
I think that uh men today, uh young men today, are willing to talk about some of the things that they're going through.
00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:56.239
And I think that they understand that if they get that out, it's actually gonna be better for them, not just in the long run, but also while they're in the training camp for the preparation or whatever.
00:48:56.559 --> 00:49:02.559
So I'm happy to help people.
00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:03.760
Okay, let me say that.
00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:04.800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:10.800
But part of me is still kind of like, don't bring that fucking shit in here.
00:49:11.039 --> 00:49:14.000
You need to check in and you need to do your fucking job.
00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:18.239
And if you need some help, you need to go see a psychologist after.
00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:21.760
And that comes that also comes from a place of caring.
00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:25.679
Because, like, I don't have a degree in this.
00:49:25.760 --> 00:49:26.480
Do you understand what I'm saying?
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:28.719
It's outside of my soul of practice, is what I'll say.
00:49:28.880 --> 00:49:33.920
I can I'll I'll I'll be able to help you, hopefully, like and put a band-aid on whatever problem it is that you're having.
00:49:34.079 --> 00:49:36.159
But you need to see someone for real for this.
00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:43.840
You need to see a real priest or or pastor, you need to see a real uh sports psychologist or clinical psychologist or whatever.
00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:47.760
You know, you need to talk to your real dad or your real mom or your real brother.
00:49:47.920 --> 00:49:49.599
You need to mend that family thing.
00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:52.000
If I can help you in the short term, please.
00:49:52.159 --> 00:50:10.400
But I think that if someone's gonna be more open to uh um just seeking help, that they need to actually seek help, not just from their coach and put a band-aid on it, but do the real work and uh help himself in the long term too.
00:50:11.119 --> 00:50:13.280
I meant to ask this earlier.
00:50:13.519 --> 00:50:16.639
Um, I'm I'm considered like the mobility guy.
00:50:16.719 --> 00:50:17.760
Like that's a lot of what I share.
00:50:18.079 --> 00:50:21.679
But I wear a lot of hats, but that's my niche, I guess.
00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:32.880
But I deem it as like a durability coach, a longevity coach, because most of the people I work with are at the tail end of a career or holding on for dear life.
00:50:33.039 --> 00:50:34.880
Like you, like you, like you.
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:37.199
Like, hey, I just want to be able to feel good again.
00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:40.159
Yeah, and my I can't, my neck hurts, my back hurts.
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:45.760
What can I do to get to be somewhat close to a lifestyle that I would be happy living?
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:47.280
That you could still coach or whatnot.
00:50:47.519 --> 00:50:55.280
How the hell did you stay in a combative, aggressive, fighting sport for such a long period of time?
00:50:55.519 --> 00:51:00.079
Like, I mean, in dog years, you're probably you should you should be a long time.
00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:00.960
Thanks for reminding me.
00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:02.000
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
00:51:02.079 --> 00:51:05.280
But like that is such a long, arduous career.
00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:07.840
Like, how did you do that?
00:51:09.760 --> 00:51:14.719
One, I didn't have that that picture, that destination.
00:51:14.880 --> 00:51:19.840
I think that not having that also was a reason that I was able to stay in for so long.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:22.320
That that personal quest, that personal journey.
00:51:22.559 --> 00:51:24.400
Nope, I still got some fight left in me.
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:28.239
And I think that that kept me there, maybe even a little bit longer than I should have.
00:51:28.559 --> 00:51:34.000
But that that's why it was so easy for me to not quit and to just keep going.
00:51:34.159 --> 00:51:45.360
Because, like, that's that's kind of who how I've defined myself as a person that that has that perseverance, which is our September word of the month at my martial arts academy.
00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:52.800
Okay, okay, but I I had that kind of perseverance and that ability to just keep going.
00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:59.440
And so, because I define myself as that kind of person, you're gonna be unrelenting in in your quest.
00:52:00.079 --> 00:52:04.880
I know, and I know this next topic, little change, means a lot to you.
00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:07.679
How do you instill that in into your son?
00:52:07.840 --> 00:52:14.719
Like as a dad, I know you take a lot of pride in that, and I've seen the things you've shared and the stories you've told me personally, and I I love that.
00:52:14.880 --> 00:52:17.199
To me, being a dad, there's not a better job than that.
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:19.519
And I'm not perfect, mess up plenty of times.
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:27.679
But um, how has that journey been of being able to instill all of these things you've learned throughout your life into him?
00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:33.119
It's it's challenging.
00:52:33.599 --> 00:52:46.239
My son is um he's not exactly like me, and I wouldn't change him for that, but it's taught me how to be a little bit more patient.
00:52:46.960 --> 00:52:50.000
I'm trying to get better at having more empathy.
00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:53.199
I can see that he naturally has it, which good on him.
00:52:53.599 --> 00:52:57.199
But I take the job very seriously.
00:52:57.360 --> 00:53:00.800
I want to be able to give him the life lessons.
00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:15.119
I want to be able to prepare him and give him the tools that he needs to be um a good brother and a good son and uh a good employee or a protector of a future family that he may have one day, right?
00:53:15.199 --> 00:53:16.559
I want to be able to do that.
00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:26.320
And I think that sometimes I put a little bit too much weight on my own shoulders that that type of information maybe isn't sinking in on him uh with him only being 10 years old.
00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:37.039
Yeah, you know, but um sometimes I I maybe think that I'm not doing as good of a job as I should be uh doing, but I think that that's all of us as dads, also.
00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:42.159
I've been in I've been in therapy for quite a while, pretty intensive the past like three or four months.
00:53:42.400 --> 00:53:44.480
And that's something my therapist said to me.
00:53:44.559 --> 00:53:49.679
He was like, the second I said that, he kind of stopped me and he was like, That's all I need to know, Vernon.
00:53:49.920 --> 00:53:53.199
Like that you care as much to be like, I should be doing more.
00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:56.320
I wish I was doing more, or I wish I was better.
00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:04.960
Like, even just having that thought process of not being, I don't want to say narcissist, but like, I'm doing a great job, or I'm doing everything I can.
00:54:05.119 --> 00:54:07.760
It's like, no, I I see that I could be doing more.
00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:09.039
I know where I'm missing.
00:54:09.119 --> 00:54:13.760
And even though I might feel it in the moment and I'm like, damn it, I did it again, or damn it.
00:54:13.840 --> 00:54:17.280
Like, but it's like I notice it now, and that's growth.
00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:27.360
Yeah, I think that many of us, we can see our failures all the time, but we maybe don't always see our successes.
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:29.119
And I'm trying to get better at that too.
00:54:29.199 --> 00:54:51.360
And I I can say that honestly, in the past maybe like two years, I've started to see where those successes are actually happening, and I can see when they happen the same way I would say like when you communicate to whether it be an athlete or student or law enforcement officer or military serviceman or woman, it's like when they when they have the aha that not just the the move translated, but they can can connect that to their purpose.
00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:59.119
I can see when he's engaged with me and that kind of aha thing happens for what is important to him.
00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:13.920
And now I'm like starting to kind of like try to celebrate those little wins and hang on to those and not just see like how bad I have to catch up or how we got to get him up to speed, like for what I perceive the end product should look like, you know.
00:55:14.320 --> 00:55:25.679
It I don't want to speak out of term, but it sounds like a lot of internal reflection, like a lot of growth as a person, which I think is natural progression with our age, or we're very similar age.
00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:40.960
For me, it was like losing, not maybe losing who I was, but like forgetting who I was, getting caught up in the work, in the grind, in the growth of chasing of, like you said, I didn't really have a destined path.
00:55:41.039 --> 00:55:45.840
It was just like that finish line just gets moved a little bit more, and all I'm thinking about is that.
00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:50.639
Like I'm not looking off to the sides, I'm looking at that, going forward, going forward, going forward.
00:55:50.880 --> 00:55:56.159
And for me, it was a coach that asked me, Who is Vernon?
00:55:56.800 --> 00:55:58.320
Good mentor of mine, George Carl.
00:55:58.800 --> 00:56:00.559
And it was a pivotal moment for me.
00:56:00.800 --> 00:56:05.199
So I'm gonna pose that question to you who is Cole Miller.
00:56:08.559 --> 00:56:16.159
I would say uh maybe to a fault, he is who he's always been, in that he is someone who's going to uh uh persevere.
00:56:17.039 --> 00:56:36.400
He is going to be loyal to his brothers, he is going to be unrelenting in the uh pursuit of information with regard to the science of violence, and he's gonna try to keep it together and won't quit.
00:56:37.199 --> 00:56:38.400
You know, yeah.
00:56:38.639 --> 00:56:43.119
And and you think you have you been able to maintain that like throughout this entire time?
00:56:43.280 --> 00:56:44.159
Have you been tested?
00:56:44.400 --> 00:56:57.280
I have and I have fumbled and I have failed and I have picked myself up again, and I will continue to do it and hopefully not uh relive the same mistakes um and start to kind of dial in a little bit more.
00:56:59.360 --> 00:57:08.800
As a person that is so you know, here we talk about transferring knowledge, and I've seen you coach, I've seen you talk about coaching, and I've seen you talk about fighting.
00:57:08.880 --> 00:57:14.159
And I think there's like when you see someone that can do both, to me, it's like the it's like the the ultimate.
00:57:14.320 --> 00:57:19.360
Like I know people that are really good at sports are really good, and then they have to give instruction, it's like a lost art.
00:57:19.440 --> 00:57:20.559
Like they don't know how to communicate.
00:57:20.800 --> 00:57:21.199
That's right.
00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:23.119
They don't know how to communicate their specialty.
00:57:24.480 --> 00:57:40.639
For you, this process of bridging these these two worlds, I feel is giving you like almost like a sense of like when you came down as a fighter, not saying came down as a fighter, but when that ended, um, I work a lot with military peop personnel or and athletes.
00:57:40.800 --> 00:57:45.199
And when that time ends, it's like, who am I?
00:57:45.360 --> 00:57:47.039
Like what am I doing now?
00:57:47.199 --> 00:57:48.639
Like, what is my purpose?
00:57:48.880 --> 00:58:00.639
Like I have I like, especially my sports players, because they've identified their entire life for a name that's right across the chest or big across the chest, and they've completely forgot about the name on their back.
00:58:01.519 --> 00:58:04.320
How is that process of coming out of that?
00:58:04.559 --> 00:58:13.280
Yeah, to now almost like a different path where it's almost like that that name, the name on your back is almost now the name on your chest that you're leaning into.
00:58:13.519 --> 00:58:17.840
Yeah, I think that the this question has a lot to do with your last question.
00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:22.559
And, you know, I where were you talking about like I didn't really have a picture of like an end state?
00:58:22.719 --> 00:58:33.280
I think that this is where by having an image of uh who you want to be or what you want your life to be can actually be helpful in this specific uh area.
00:58:33.760 --> 00:58:48.239
Because if you have your desired end state and you or purpose and you're always working toward that, I think that you're probably gonna be able to make more gains in a shorter amount of time once you take the jersey off, so to speak, and you put on a new one, right?
00:58:48.559 --> 00:58:50.480
So I I've already been through that.
00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:56.719
I went through to where it was very easy for me in the beginning because uh I never was like, oh, I'm a fighter.
00:58:56.880 --> 00:58:59.280
I am a fighter, but I'm a martial artist.
00:58:59.519 --> 00:59:05.440
So for me, the transition into the uh business world was pretty seamless right away.
00:59:05.519 --> 00:59:09.599
I always knew I wanted to take the information and help people, what people?
00:59:09.840 --> 00:59:10.480
All people.
00:59:10.880 --> 00:59:18.480
Like, and the way my brain works is if you um need this for your job, right?
00:59:18.960 --> 00:59:30.880
Um, whether you're a fighter or whether you're military or law enforcement, or you just need this for your uh mental uh welfare, you know, or you want to learn how to defend your family.
00:59:30.960 --> 00:59:35.599
Like you either way you feel like you need this information, everybody should get the same information.
00:59:35.840 --> 00:59:36.800
That's my opinion.
00:59:37.360 --> 00:59:44.800
Like, I should not give more details, more details, hidden information to someone who's fighting professionally for a living.
00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:50.480
You should give the same amount of information or the same level of information to your entire populace.
00:59:50.639 --> 00:59:52.480
Let them decide what they want to do with it.
00:59:52.800 --> 00:59:57.760
You shouldn't tell anybody what to do uh with the information you give them.
00:59:57.920 --> 01:00:06.400
You know, so I thought that the transition was pretty seamless going into that world as like a martial arts school owner continuing to teach, teach, teach.
01:00:06.480 --> 01:00:08.719
It was something I had already been doing while I was fighting.
01:00:09.119 --> 01:00:10.800
It was like a natural gravitation toward me.
01:00:10.880 --> 01:00:13.920
And I always, honestly, I always knew that I was gonna do it.
01:00:14.800 --> 01:00:19.119
I've heard you say the science of violence a multiple times.
01:00:20.320 --> 01:00:26.079
Professionals that are watching this, trainers, coaches, I like to share a little bit of that combative nature.
01:00:26.239 --> 01:00:28.880
Obviously, I'm not a jujitsu person.
01:00:29.199 --> 01:00:31.360
Um, I have no experience in martial arts.
01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:32.880
I did take an Aikido class in college.
01:00:33.360 --> 01:00:44.320
Which was, which was, if I'm being honest, which was the most, one of the most difficult classes I took in college just because I wasn't expecting it to be so serious and I did not grow up in the martial arts.
01:00:44.559 --> 01:00:48.480
And I've taken so much of that into training.
01:00:48.639 --> 01:00:54.480
It's crazy how they talk about the body, absorbing energy, using energy, leveraging your body.
01:00:54.639 --> 01:00:58.400
I just thought it was, it was, it hit me at the right time with coaching.
01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:11.679
For coaches that are watching this that see combatives in my world, it's becoming a little bit more popular, like uh rolling around on the ground, body shaping, leveraging, especially in football, like collision sports.
01:01:11.840 --> 01:01:22.239
What advice would you give them for integrating combative type the combative field into their training safely, safely and effectively?
01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:22.800
Yeah.
01:01:23.039 --> 01:01:33.280
So uh I've I've seen this across my whole fighting career, high-level um athletes and coaches that were already trying to figure out how to do this.
01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:36.639
They could see the value in hard mindset.
01:01:36.960 --> 01:01:40.159
They could see the value in smarter, not harder, right?
01:01:40.239 --> 01:01:48.320
Like you you can always see the value in that when you're trying to help people who are trying to get the high-level individuals a little bit higher to be what Super Bowl champs or whatever.
01:01:48.400 --> 01:01:49.679
Like, let's get them to the next level.
01:01:49.760 --> 01:01:51.119
They're already up here.
01:01:51.360 --> 01:01:59.360
Um, so I think that we when we see fighting, uh, we see people who are combative.
01:01:59.599 --> 01:02:03.920
Um, we think, oh, those guys have hard mindset, and they probably do.
01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:05.440
So what can we borrow from that?
01:02:05.679 --> 01:02:10.159
Well, maybe there it's something technical, but maybe it's something uh as easy as like a keynote, right?
01:02:10.239 --> 01:02:11.840
It could be a couple different aspects.
01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:22.480
But once you start training in uh anything that's combative, you're you're forced to look through a lens that is not specific to the sport world.
01:02:22.719 --> 01:02:28.400
So you have to look where within, especially if you don't have like the technique, right, to be successful.
01:02:28.559 --> 01:02:30.559
You have to have the mindset to be successful.
01:02:30.719 --> 01:02:38.079
We saw guys at the Miami Dolphins who were uh hitting pads and stuff like that for the crossover of hand speed.
01:02:38.239 --> 01:02:40.480
Did any of them care about being pro boxers?
01:02:40.639 --> 01:02:40.880
No.
01:02:41.039 --> 01:02:42.239
Why are they hitting pads?
01:02:42.400 --> 01:02:48.719
They can see value that these people from a combative world are doing and how it might apply to them.
01:02:48.880 --> 01:02:51.039
Because even though they're on they're on the gridiron, right?
01:02:51.119 --> 01:02:53.679
There's probably a lot of hard mindset stuff that has to do with that.
01:02:53.840 --> 01:02:58.559
There's everybody perceives it as like, oh, man on man, especially on the the front line, right?
01:02:58.719 --> 01:03:01.360
It's like, or how can I get to that guy faster?
01:03:01.599 --> 01:03:03.199
And what can we borrow from?
01:03:03.360 --> 01:03:07.199
And I think that we as uh MMA fighters are doing that also.
01:03:07.440 --> 01:03:19.119
We're able to look into oh, what are these guys from wrestling doing, or what are these guys doing from specifically from kickboxing, or um what is this uh what is this like track runner doing?
01:03:19.199 --> 01:03:20.559
Like, how does he take off so fast?
01:03:20.719 --> 01:03:27.119
Because now that the MMA is as big as it is, we're starting to see high-level athletes in the sport as well.
01:03:27.280 --> 01:03:31.039
So I think that you always want to have an open mind.
01:03:31.440 --> 01:03:35.440
Um, there was an old saying, it was on a Ninja Turtles episode, by the way.
01:03:35.599 --> 01:03:42.480
I love this reference that uh that Master Shredder said, I don't know who actually said it, but it was uh or no, Master Splinter said it.
01:03:42.559 --> 01:03:43.599
Master Splinter said it.
01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:49.119
It was uh the man who is too old to learn was probably always too old to learn.
01:03:49.679 --> 01:04:00.800
So I think that people who are closed-minded to maybe a different sport or an uh individual that did something different from them who has something to give, they're gonna be low-level individuals forever.
01:04:00.960 --> 01:04:04.400
It's like you always have to be able to and be willing to learn from someone else.
01:04:04.719 --> 01:04:05.440
Damn.
01:04:05.679 --> 01:04:11.119
So I think with a lot of podcasts and things like this, I guess what this is it's very hypothetical.
01:04:11.199 --> 01:04:15.679
It's very, oh, these are my big ideas, but how the hell do I institute them?
01:04:16.079 --> 01:04:34.320
Is there something that you think that coaches or people that are interested that is a easy way of just kind of easing into being in my mind when I think about martial arts, it's just awareness of your body in space, using your body, being aware of your body, using someone else's body against them.
01:04:34.480 --> 01:04:45.039
Like, is there things that you think could be uh ways of entry points for coaches to to explore, for a lack of a better word, the art of combatives?
01:04:46.000 --> 01:04:46.639
Yeah.
01:04:46.880 --> 01:04:53.440
Um, if as long as we have the right uh target audience, because it this is hard stuff.
01:04:53.519 --> 01:04:53.679
Yeah.
01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:58.480
So um there is an inherent risk of injury when practicing this stuff.
01:04:58.559 --> 01:05:03.039
We can still do it safely, but you want to make sure that you get them with the right kind of people.
01:05:03.199 --> 01:05:05.119
Uh we can do stuff.
01:05:05.760 --> 01:05:09.679
There's like three different uh realms or ranges that we can talk about.
01:05:09.760 --> 01:05:14.639
Let's say you have like a striking type of range, and that's where we're doing the punching and the kicking.
01:05:14.880 --> 01:05:26.719
We have a clinching type of range, and that's where we're we're gonna be locked up in like more like a body lock kind of position where we see uh wrestling or judo, uh, maybe some Sambo other grappling martial arts occurring in.
01:05:26.880 --> 01:05:37.039
And then we have the ground, and that's where we're gonna be doing whether it comes from judo or sambo or Brazilian jujitsu, catch wrestling, wrestling, like again, grappling martial arts on the ground.
01:05:37.280 --> 01:05:41.599
And then the hardest part is what making those seamless and integrating all that stuff.
01:05:41.679 --> 01:05:45.519
And if you want to take it to the next level, doing all of that with weapons.
01:05:45.679 --> 01:05:46.000
Okay.
01:05:46.559 --> 01:05:59.760
So I think it's really just up to the coach or who like what's the target audience, what what athletes that we're talking about, the leadership to kind of dictate like which uh what's gonna get the most.
01:06:00.079 --> 01:06:01.920
Amount of benefit for that group.
01:06:03.760 --> 01:06:12.320
So you mentioned another quote to me, Cole, and you know, in martial arts, I think it's it's fascinating how how we talk about violence, how we talk about control.
01:06:12.880 --> 01:06:20.400
And you said this quote you sent to me, you should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon or anything else for that matter.
01:06:20.639 --> 01:06:22.480
Too much is the same, is not enough.
01:06:22.639 --> 01:06:27.679
Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you.
01:06:28.639 --> 01:06:30.400
That's powerful.
01:06:30.639 --> 01:06:32.079
Yeah, there's some depth in there.
01:06:32.239 --> 01:06:32.559
Yeah.
01:06:32.719 --> 01:06:34.800
What what resonates with you with that?
01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:46.239
Well, one is the importance of do not imitate somebody else.
01:06:46.480 --> 01:06:48.559
You can I cannot do what you can do.
01:06:48.880 --> 01:06:50.400
You cannot do what I can do.
01:06:50.639 --> 01:06:50.960
Right.
01:06:51.119 --> 01:06:59.519
But we can we can see, we can be inspired by others, but to try to imitate somebody who's great at one thing, you'll never be able to do what they do.
01:06:59.679 --> 01:07:11.199
And I think that when that lack of originality occurs, that's where people ultimately they can get to a certain point, but where they're gonna fall pretty drastically at that point.
01:07:11.360 --> 01:07:23.199
Because it's gonna be obvious to everybody in the room, whether we're talking about fighting or we're talking about uh personality, that that's not authentic and that's a costume that you've been trying to wear, but it doesn't suit you.
01:07:23.920 --> 01:07:24.400
You know?
01:07:24.639 --> 01:07:31.760
So I think that that part about the imitation, but also the part about as much weaponry as suits you.
01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:38.880
When we talk about, when we talk about content specifically, it's let's say you have a boxer.
01:07:38.960 --> 01:07:40.320
This is gonna be an easier analogy.
01:07:40.559 --> 01:07:44.400
You have a boxer, and he is a power puncher.
01:07:44.559 --> 01:07:44.880
Okay.
01:07:45.360 --> 01:07:51.199
He is there to do one thing and one thing only: big uppercuts and big hooks.
01:07:51.920 --> 01:08:03.599
And then you start telling him how he can be a little faster and he can be a little bit more precise, and he needs to attack the body a little bit more after he's just bludgeoned everybody in his rear view mirror.
01:08:03.760 --> 01:08:07.360
That may be where um more is not always better.
01:08:07.519 --> 01:08:12.079
Giving that guy or girl more tools is not the thing that's best for them.
01:08:12.159 --> 01:08:16.640
That what is best for you as you tried to give that person the information.
01:08:16.960 --> 01:08:29.359
So for me, I like a lot of toys, a lot of tools, because I'm very obsessed with martial arts and I like to I like to play with all of them.
01:08:29.520 --> 01:08:36.800
And that maybe is like what made me good, is that I could do a lot of different things, but none of them maybe really well.
01:08:36.960 --> 01:08:43.840
When I say really well, you see like world champions in like combative martial arts like Brazilian jujitsu or boxing or kickboxing.
01:08:43.920 --> 01:08:50.880
It's like they do, it's like, of course, they have an idea of how to do a lot of stuff, but the things that made them the most amount of money are what?
01:08:51.039 --> 01:08:56.640
Just a couple things and a couple of key positions for that specific uh realm that they're working in.
01:08:56.800 --> 01:08:58.399
So maybe more is not always better.
01:08:58.560 --> 01:09:01.359
I think that's important for an athlete or per any person.
01:09:01.520 --> 01:09:07.039
But since we're talking about more of like the transition into athletes, an athlete needs to know that that more is not always better.
01:09:07.119 --> 01:09:11.359
And if you try to do too much, the weight of it, you're not gonna be able to hold.
01:09:11.439 --> 01:09:14.479
And that's probably where you're gonna start to see some uh failure occur.
01:09:14.640 --> 01:09:17.520
Maybe you just need to have it as much as suits you.
01:09:17.760 --> 01:09:24.800
And because you look up to somebody who can kind of handle more tools and more weaponry, maybe you just need to focus that less is more.
01:09:25.119 --> 01:09:26.000
Dang, dang.
01:09:26.640 --> 01:09:29.119
Cole, um, pleasure, brother.
01:09:29.279 --> 01:09:35.840
Yeah, you from when we first met at that KTC, was that two two years ago, three years ago, two or three years ago?
01:09:36.079 --> 01:09:37.439
It's been a pleasure to watch you, man.
01:09:37.520 --> 01:09:38.800
I followed you on social media.
01:09:38.960 --> 01:09:41.279
I would encourage everyone out to follow you.
01:09:41.520 --> 01:09:43.279
Um, your journey.
01:09:43.840 --> 01:09:45.760
The stuff you've shared with me is amazing.
01:09:45.920 --> 01:09:48.479
As a father, the stuff you shared is amazing.
01:09:48.640 --> 01:09:58.720
Um, watching you coach now is just uh for me as a coach, I love to see other people push the profession, leave it better than they found it.
01:09:58.880 --> 01:10:04.479
And uh the way you've walked it and now you talk it, it's uh it's it's truly inspiring, man.
01:10:04.800 --> 01:10:05.680
I appreciate you, brother.
01:10:05.760 --> 01:10:06.079
Thank you.
01:10:07.359 --> 01:10:07.600
Cool.
01:10:09.039 --> 01:10:09.680
Let's do it.
01:10:11.039 --> 01:10:12.000
Fire it up, dog.
01:10:13.680 --> 01:10:14.479
That's good stuff.
01:10:16.079 --> 01:10:16.319
Yeah.