Latest / The Whitfield Report / TWR Monday | The Journey of Ty Rowe: Martial Arts and Mentorship.

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TWR Monday | The Journey of Ty Rowe: Martial Arts and Mentorship. · The Whitfield Report

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  The right to offend is not some pesky little part of freedom of
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  speech that we have to put up with.
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  It is the heart and soul and lungs of freedom of speech.
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  It is the coursing lifeblood of human process.
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  It is the instigator of liberty and modernity and science and
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  understanding. What a laughingstock today's
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  student leaders are that they can so casually dismiss the
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  right to be offensive without realizing that their lovely,
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  enlightened lives are the gifts of individuals who gave offence.
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  Offensiveness is not just something we have to
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  begrudgingly accept. Offensiveness is the motor of
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  human progress. Now broadcasting from the Right
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  to Offend media studios in sunny South Florida, bringing you the
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  latest in politics, current events, art and pop culture.
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  This is the Whitfield Report live with Sam Whitfield.
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  But giving offense is good. In fact, it's essential.
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  And good day to you folks. Welcome to the Whitfield Report
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  Monday edition. I know we're posting a little
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  bit later in the evening and then we usually do, but
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  appreciate everyone coming out and watching the podcast.
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  Hope all is well and happy holidays.
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  It is Thanksgiving week so my guest today is a long time
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  personal friend of mine going back almost 20 years at this
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  point. I've I've known this man almost
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  well, pretty much as long as I've been doing the show,
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  believe it or not, so almost 20 years.
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  But I've also mentioned him a lot, my good friend Ty Ryo, who
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  is still in Denver. And Ty is one of the most
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  interesting characters I've certainly met in my life, and my
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  life certainly would be more dull if he weren't in my life.
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  And I have a lot of stories I could tell him that maybe I'll
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  put in a memoir down the line at some point.
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  But Ty's he does a bit of everything.
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  He he's done mixed martial arts in the past.
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  He's done some coaching for high school wrestling, and now he's
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  competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and he just won his first
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  tournament. So he's a pretty remarkable man
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  in my view. But I'm also biased because he's
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  one of my oldest friends, much like our one of our other
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  favorite guests, Mr. Luka Nicholas.
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  Hi, welcome to the show. How are you, Sir?
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  Hey. Hey, I'm good.
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  Thank you for having me on, Sam. Really appreciate you buddy.
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  Yeah, I, I it's always a pleasure to talk to you.
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  So, yeah. Anyway, Well, you know, I know I
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  gave you, I know I gave kind of a brief introduction, but just,
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  you know, for the folks, what is, you know, just tell us a
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  little bit about yourself. Anything I didn't cover and you
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  know, anything like that. I think you covered it great,
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  but I'll reiterate on some of what you said.
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  Yeah. So, you know, I'm Thai.
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  One of Sam's good friends. I consider Sam a brother.
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  Yeah, you were. You weren't lying, man.
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  I did. Didn't.
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  Mixed Martial Arts for All. Started in kickboxing back in
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  2019. You know, did that for a while,
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  kind of got tired of getting hit and kicked in the head a lot.
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  And then I decided to go the jiu jitsu route one day.
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  So, and I definitely don't regret it.
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  I got into mixed martial arts through jiu jitsu.
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  I love jiu jitsu. I think it's one of the better,
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  more effective arts. I started out doing nogi jiu
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  jitsu about a couple years ago and then about 6 to 8 months ago
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  I got into the ghee portion of it and got my white belt.
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  So it's definitely been a journey man, definitely been a
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  journey. It's not an easy one, especially
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  on the path to become a black belt.
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  So I just really can't wait to see how what God has in store
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  and how it all unfolds, you know?
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  Certainly. And So what motivated you, I
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  guess to start First off in and then jiu jitsu in general?
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  Yeah, So, you know, I, I think what got me started was just
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  scoring up, being bullied a lot, you know, I mean, you remember
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  back in middle school, in high school, like people made fun of
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  us a lot and kind of gave me a lot of grief for being a bigger
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  guy, you know. And honestly, like what got me
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  into mixed martial arts was, you know, I just got tired of being
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  punked around, you know, got tired of being punked around.
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  I got tired of fake friends. I got tired of being a almost
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  £300 dude at the time, you know, like I just, I was tired of
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  things. And you know, a buddy of mine,
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  Isaiah 1 day, he was talking to me and he's like, you know, Ty,
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  I think you should get into martial arts.
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  I think it'd really help you. I think it'd be best for you.
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  And at that point, my things were just going so SI was like,
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  you know what? I don't see any other reason not
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  to, you know? Yeah, and I don't want to kind,
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  I don't want to put words in your mouth or anything, but I, I
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  was listening to A to one of Joe Rogan's podcast the other day
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  and he was talking with the guests.
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  He had he he said that he had a lot of, you know, pens of anger
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  as a teenager because his father abandoned him.
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  And so that's kind of why he got into, you know, mixed martial
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  arts initially. And I should have probably told
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  you this over the phone, but it, it kind of dawned on me the
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  other day that, you know, you had you had issues, you know,
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  growing up kind of in an unstable household a bit.
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  And so I think, you know, I've certainly heard from other
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  guests that, you know, combat sports in general is kind of a
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  good way for them to channel their anger.
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  And if they didn't have that, they might end up in jail or
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  something like like that. Is that similar to your
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  experience of how, how do you feel it kind of how do you feel
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  like your experience growing up kind of molded you to get into
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  this I guess, if at all? Yeah, no, I get what you're
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  saying. Yeah, you know, it kind of like
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  my experience growing up. Yes, you're right.
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  I grew up in a kind of dysfunctional household.
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  Parents weren't the best, but you know, I kind of come over
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  time to forgive them and the love them more for it, you know,
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  But I sure this mixed martial arts has really channelled that
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  aggression where I'm taking all my anger out on the pads, my
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  trainers, my coaches. Kind of makes you in a sense
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  like more responsible as far as fighting goes and more
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  discipline. And by that, I mean, like, you
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  know, if there's a guy out on the streets and he's just like,
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  one time when I was out on the streets and this guy was talking
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  smack to me, was kind of drinking and all that.
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  And I was just like, you know what, dude, you're not worth my
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  time, man. And I, I told him that I wasn't
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  saying it to, you know, be cocky or nothing or be arrogant.
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  But so it's home. I said, dude, if we fight, you
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  are getting hurt. And I do not want that for you,
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  you know. Yeah.
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  Really, in a sense kind of makes it to where you don't want to
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  fight anybody because you know what you're capable of and, you
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  know, like what you're going to do to that guy, you know,
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  especially if they're not trained fighters.
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  And, you know, it's like, oh, go ahead.
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  I think it's also like, you know, the one thing that you've
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  you've said too is that like, you know, when you're when
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  you're fighting, you know, you expend a lot of energy, right?
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  And so kind of the way it's been, the way it's kind of, you
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  know, been explained to me and kind of in some of the stuff
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  I've done too, you really want to expend kind of your energy on
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  the fights that really that matter and you don't want to
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  expend your energy on things that don't.
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  Yeah, exactly. Because you got to keep in mind
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  I'm on these streets, man. If you're fighting people and
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  you hurt them bad enough, you can get into a lot of trouble.
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  And that's just something I don't want to have happen, you
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  know? Yeah, out of good conscience,
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  morals. I'm just like, I don't really
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  want to go around hurting people like that, you know?
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  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll defend myself.
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  I'll I'll fight back if I have to, but it's just something you
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  want to try to avoid as much as possible.
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  Yeah. So I mean, like I said, you've
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  done a little bit of everything. And So what made you eventually
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  pick like jiu jitsu? You know, like I said, I think I
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  got tired of kickboxing. Not that anything's wrong with
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  kickboxing, great art, by the way.
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  I just think I got tired of getting hit and kicked in the
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  head too many times, you know, and it was kind of taking a toll
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  on me a little bit. And, you know, I remember
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  growing up, I always loved wrestling.
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  And you remember I was a big wrestler in middle school and
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  high school. Yeah.
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  I, I, I just think like that whole wrestling aspect I did in
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  high school. And then when I tried jujitsu
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  for the first time, I was like, whoa, this is fun, you know,
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  like rolling on the mats, just getting submissions, like just,
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  it brought back that high school wrestling mentality, you know,
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  and that's what I liked about it.
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  So and then what also got me into it was I remember a couple
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  years back, I know this sounds weird, but I kind of watched
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  like the first UFC on YouTube because I was intrigued by the
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  old UFC and how they had art versus art going against each
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  other. So I watched the first UFC and
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  saw hoist Gracie submit like boxers, shoe fighters, vaate,
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  all that stuff. And, you know, I was kind of
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  like, whoa, like jiu jitsu is more powerful than people taking
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  for. Like, I was astounded by it, you
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  know? So I thought, you know what,
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  like kickboxing, I've been there, done that.
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  I was like, I'm going to try jiu jitsu.
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  And then, you know, did a couple sessions with my old trainer.
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  And then I saw one day they had a submission challenge coming up
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  and I hit up my trainer. I was like, hey, what do you
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  know about these tournaments? He's like, oh, not a whole lot.
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  Why are you thinking about doing it?
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  I'm like, yeah, I really want to go in and do it.
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  So ultimately I started training more and more jiu jitsu and I've
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  just loved it ever since. That that's awesome.
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  And, and, and what is it specifically about, you know,
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  jiu jitsu? I mean, I, I know you said you
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  were getting like kicked in that, you know, you were tired
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  of getting kicked in the head, but is there something about the
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  technique of jiu jitsu that appeals to you more?
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  Or what do you think works for you more?
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  One, I just like not getting in kicks in the head to jujitsu is
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  all about flexibility and movement.
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  So I've been getting some good stretches in feeling better
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  about my body. I lost some weight, as you've
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  seen, you know, I just like that jujitsu is a very effective in
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  pure art because in the street fight, like, you know, if I'm
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  kickboxing, I'm throwing punches and kicks out a guy and I could
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  get in trouble for that, right? Resident jiu jitsu, I'm not
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  really throwing punches or kicks, but yet I'm taking the do
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  the ground, submitting him to where he taps me out.
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  He's like, all right, dude, I've had enough.
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  And if you look at the old UF CS, like with Hoist Gracie and
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  all that, like he really proved that jiu jitsu is an art where
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  if you get into something, you use your technique and you get
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  out of it quick and as little damage as possible, you know?
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  And that's why I like the pureness of it.
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  Yeah. And it also, I mean, I, I've
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  heard some people describe as like a physical version of chess
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  where yes, you know, you're, you're either you're either
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  trying to like strategize how to submit someone or you're trying
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  to strategize how to get, you know, out of something.
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  So, so it is kind of also a mental exercise.
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  Yeah, jujitsu is definitely the test of grappling, kind of like,
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  you know, karate has its own chess, Kickboxing and Muay Thai,
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  they're like the chess of striking, in my opinion.
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  Yeah, there's there's definitely some factors.
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  You got play even when you're going against other jujitsu is
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  like you got to set up those submissions, got to think 10
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  steps ahead. It really is a chess game like
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  you said. Yeah, so you, you competed in
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  your first tournament this past weekend when we're.
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  No, it was a couple years ago. Oh, for.
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  Jujitsu Yeah, I competed in the first submission challenge Nogi
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  and then I competed in my second one for the ghee portion, the
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  white belt division. OK, OK.
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  And, and, and so that was into the 2nd.
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  And so you did this most recent tournament this week, this
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  weekend. So yes, what was your, what was
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  your experience, you know, going in?
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  What was what was your mindset I guess?
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  You know, I was a little nervous, little excited, little
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  bit of both. I really just wanted to get him
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  in a better fight and put a better performance up because
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  the first one I know as you know, I got submitted within
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  seconds, you know, but this time I actually went the distance,
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  went to the championship round, lost unfortunately via armbar,
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  but at least I got my silver medal, 2nd place.
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  Yeah, you know, I would. I definitely say that's quite an
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  improvement from the last one. So.
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  Yeah, I mean, I I definitely think that that's, you know, I
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  mean, obviously it's not first, but the fact that you made it to
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  the, you know, to the champion level and, you know, and got
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  second that that's still better than, you know, then some people
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  do, I would say most even. Yeah.
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  And so it, you know, and correct me if I'm wrong, but like you
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  know, you had you had kind of taken a break from jiu jitsu and
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  then gotten back into it more recently, recently.
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  Yeah, you know, I think I was kind of bummed out the first
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  time. And you know, it's just like
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  with any martial art you do, the first like 6 to 8 months, you're
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  getting your butt whooped, you know?
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  Yeah, I think that was kind of going on me at the time, Like I
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  ain't even. It was that same way with
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  kickboxing like and mixed martial arts like I kept getting
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  whooped on those first few months and I was just like Dang,
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  is this something I really want to keep doing, You know, cuz I
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  was letting all those negative thoughts get in my head.
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  Well, finally one day at the gym, when I was at the MMA gym,
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  I got Shark Tanked, right? And what Shark Tanked is is
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  where you get picked and you got to go against everybody
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  individually and try to submit as many people as you can.
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  You know what I mean? And I think that was a defined
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  moment because I submitted almost everybody.
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  I got submitted by one guy and he was a pro MMA fighter.
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  But, you know, I think that was a turn point where I'm like,
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  hey, like it's all starting to click, you know?
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  Yeah, so I was submitting people, like getting people in
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  my favorite position, Americana from side control.
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  And I was like, you know what, Like I got to keep going, man.
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  It's all starting to click. And even the higher belts in the
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  gym, they were like, oh dude, you're getting better.
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  Like we've seen quite the improvement from you.
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  It looks like it's starting to click now, you know?
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  So I prayed about it, thought about and I was like, you know
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  what, I'm going to go back to submission challenge and I'm
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  going to try to win this thing this time, you know?
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  Yeah, I. Didn't let the past tournament
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  define me. I was like, you know what, I'm
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  going to go in there. I'm a train hard.
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  I'm going to put in a better fight.
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  And you know, along the way the training was tough and I did do
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  things outside of jiu jitsu. Like I sparred with my buddy
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  who's the movie TIE Fighter, submitted him via rear naked
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  choke. You know, just really testing
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  the waters and testing my skills and you know, shout out to my
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  coaches, Ricardo Lewis and Dustin Somato.
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  I was very appreciative for Dustin being in my corner.
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  And I just, I really just thought it over was like, you
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  know what, I'm going to go back and like try to win this and put
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  on a better show. So I'll let that motivation get
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  to me, you know? Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of
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  looking at it from, you know, an observer's perspective, you
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  know, as your friend. To me, it kind of seemed like
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  you approached this. I mean, I, I, I know this isn't,
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  I know this wasn't your first time doing Jiu Jitsu, but this
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  go around, you kind of did approach as if you were a new
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  Comer. You kind of had that, you know,
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  curiosity, but also that hunger, you know, and I don't want to
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  say that you didn't have it before, but I think you were, I
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  think you were. I just think that you were kind
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  of in a way more eager maybe this time around and also maybe
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  a bit more warm and sure, yeah, I, I don't know.
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  No, I, I definitely grew as a fighter and got smarter and just
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  was like, you know what, I'm just going to give him my all
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  this time and really try not to get submitted within seconds.
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  And that was the goal, you know? Yeah.
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  So how many rounds did you compete in at this tournament?
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  Like kind of explain the process?
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  Yeah, so there's not really any rounds.
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  It was a submission only tournament.
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  I did get a few fights in, submit a few people.
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  I won one by disqualification because the guy didn't show up.
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  So yeah, I got, I got some roles in the championship round.
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  We did twice though. The guy got me first in a little
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  kind of chokehold on the ground. So then they gave us an option.
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  We'll want to try to win best two out of three.
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  And then, and the old me probably been like, Nah, I got
• 20:11
  whooped on. But you know, I was like, Nah,
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  we're going to run it back again, I'm going to try to win.
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  And the second one went a little longer than the first.
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  You know, I was putting up a good fight, trying to arm bar
• 20:22
  the guy when he had his elbow up against my face, you know.
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  But ultimately he got me in an arm barn and that's when I was
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  coming up and I was trying to break out of it like I usually
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  do, you know? But he pulled on my sleeve and
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  he got me so good. I was like, you know, I just had
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  to tat, you know? Yeah, well, I, you know, I
• 20:45
  certainly think that, you know, you, you live, you learn.
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  And yeah, hey, you know, who knows?
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  You might, you know, have an opportunity to, you know, have a
• 20:58
  rematch with that guy at some point.
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  And so who know? Yeah.
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  No, he was a great fighter, very competitive.
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  After both matches, he's like, dude, you're a tough cookie to
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  crack, man. He's like, even the first time
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  we went, he was choking me. He's like, dude, I was giving
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  him my all and you weren't tapping right away.
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  I was kind of wondering if I was doing something wrong.
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  He was saying, you know, and then he just kept calling me
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  like how tough and strong of a fighter I was.
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  So, yeah, my coach was trying to tell me that, and I didn't
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  believe it until this tournament.
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  He's like, dude, you're like a grizzly man.
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  You're a tough, big, strong guy. You guys see it within yourself,
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  you know? I I, I like that that that
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  description of you. Yeah, you, yeah, you definitely
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  do have that kind of grizzly, you know, attitude in a, in a
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  good one strength. Yeah.
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  What is the jiu jitsu community been like in your your
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  experience? You know, it's got some good
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  eggs, some bad eggs, but it's been mostly positive in my
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  opinion. I just think jujitsu is just a
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  great positive thing overall. Like I think it's a very
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  effective pure art. Like, I mean, I'd say for the
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  most part it's been good. It's just like everything else.
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  So you got some bad eggs in the MMA community, but you know,
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  that's everything in life. You know, you got some good
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  ones, some bad ones, but ultimately I just, I love it,
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  man. I love the community, love the
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  people I roll with, love the sport, like the art, like it's
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  just, I love it so. Would you say it's like a a
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  closely nick in the community? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  I would definitely say that. So that that's hot, that's
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  awesome. And then you've also been like
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  coaching high school wrestling to a little bit from Winder from
• 23:05
  I understand. Well, from what you've told me,
• 23:08
  I don't know how much you wanted share or not share.
• 23:12
  Yeah, so I got into coaching high school wrestling.
• 23:16
  I coached for Overland, which I know you Cherry Creekers are
• 23:19
  bummed about, but I'm kind of excited because I get to go in
• 23:24
  there and hopefully beat the coaches at Cherry Creek, you
• 23:26
  know? And that's kind of what I was
• 23:28
  telling my kiddos. I'm like, you know what?
• 23:30
  I didn't really even like them. Coaches agree.
• 23:32
  Let's go in there and make it a priority to whoop on them, you
• 23:35
  know? And everybody from Kriegsman
• 23:39
  gave me grief. They're like overland.
• 23:41
  Really dude? Yeah, I mean, when I one of my
• 23:46
  physical therapist had a, you know, one of her husband was a
• 23:52
  was a football coach. Oh, bro.
• 23:55
  And so I can't, I can't hate on I can't hate on them too much.
• 23:58
  Yeah, you know, besides, like I'm more of a I'm more of a tyro
• 24:03
  fan than I am of any, you know, of any high school.
• 24:09
  I mean, that was that was a lifetime ago ago for for me.
• 24:14
  Oh yeah, it was like over 10 years ago for us.
• 24:17
  But yeah, no, I enjoy wrestling. I'm a volunteer assistant coach
• 24:22
  currently. But no, it's awesome man, just
• 24:25
  to go in there, coach the kids, pump them up like really kind of
• 24:29
  mobium. And some of those high schoolers
• 24:31
  they've actually practiced my jiu jitsu with.
• 24:34
  I went against 2 high schoolers, very good wrestlers.
• 24:38
  I got to show them some jiu jitsu stuff and even one day in
• 24:42
  practice I was kind of showing the kids like how to do a, a leg
• 24:46
  sweep. You know when you got them in
• 24:48
  the single leg and they're hopping on one leg and they
• 24:51
  won't go down. I did the curtain sweep, we call
• 24:54
  it in jiu jitsu, where I swept them off his feet and he went
• 24:58
  flying on that mat to the ground and they were like, whoa, coach,
• 25:02
  can you show us that again? That.
• 25:05
  That's hot. That's awesome.
• 25:07
  Yeah. How do you let's see, I don't
• 25:15
  know quite how to well, I mean, I guess the easiest question, I
• 25:19
  guess the easiest way to answer this question is do you feel
• 25:23
  like wrestling is kind of, I don't want to say a necessary
• 25:30
  thing about, but more positive thing.
• 25:33
  And I, I asked this because there's been a lot of, there's
• 25:38
  been a lot of, I've been, I've been reading a lot of, you know,
• 25:44
  articles from quote UN quote experts.
• 25:47
  And I say that, you know, with heavy air quotes because what
• 25:51
  does that even mean anymore? But they say, oh, you know,
• 25:55
  maybe we should get rid of hot. Maybe we should get rid of
• 25:57
  wrestling because, you know, it's too violent or, or kids,
• 26:02
  you know, could get, you know, hurt or something.
• 26:05
  And I'm kind of like that. That worries me a little bit
• 26:10
  only because it seems like there's nothing really there for
• 26:16
  young men specifically, not in high schools anymore, at least
• 26:23
  from what I can tell. Everything has has to be Co has
• 26:27
  to be Coed, which I don't think is you know, I think Coed sports
• 26:33
  there can be a lot of good benefits, but I think wrestling
• 26:37
  and certainly like other sports like that, like guys need time
• 26:42
  to, you know, bond with other, you know, guys, especially at.
• 26:48
  Have that bro time, yeah. Well, especially at that age
• 26:52
  too, to like learn from, you know, older, you know, men.
• 26:58
  And I mean, I, I don't know you. I mean, I know you and I have
• 27:01
  talked. It kind of worries me because it
• 27:04
  seems like a lot, there are a lot of like lost young men out
• 27:08
  there today who I don't know. I, I was lucky to have the Boy
• 27:13
  Scouts and you were like, you were likely to have, you know,
• 27:17
  wrestling. And I think they kind of, I
• 27:19
  think those two things kind of individually gave us an anchor
• 27:23
  and a moral compass somewhat. But I am kind of worried if
• 27:28
  those things go away, that the, you know, the generation that's
• 27:34
  coming now is going to be even more, you know, lost.
• 27:39
  What are kind of your thoughts on that?
• 27:42
  No, I agree. And you know, I think it would
• 27:43
  be foolish to get rid of wrestling.
• 27:47
  It's like me and one of the assistant coaches we're talking
• 27:50
  about in practice, like Coach Adrian and I were talking and he
• 27:53
  said he seen people not get criminal records because of
• 28:00
  wrestling, you know, and when I wrestled back in high school,
• 28:03
  like even when I was going to Montbello for a semester, I saw
• 28:08
  wrestling do a lot of good in people's lives, young men's
• 28:11
  lives, you know, because I saw these kids that were running the
• 28:14
  streets, failing school, then they came to wrestling practice,
• 28:19
  all of a sudden became straight A students and went to, you
• 28:23
  know, do college wrestling and get their school paid for and
• 28:26
  get degrees because of wrestling.
• 28:29
  Right. Yeah.
• 28:31
  I mean, I think, yeah, I mean, now with like the UFC being so
• 28:38
  popular and whatnot, I think there's mode.
• 28:40
  I think there's motivation, you know, there too, too.
• 28:47
  It's, you know, it's not just, oh, you have to go play ball in
• 28:52
  college or something. You know, now there, there's
• 28:54
  more, there's more opportunity, you know, for, for young men out
• 29:01
  there. So yeah, and I totally agree.
• 29:03
  And like, keep in mind the UFC started their own BJJ division
• 29:07
  called UFC BJJ 1 Championship, did their own grappling
• 29:14
  division. And it was kind of nice because
• 29:16
  like I saw online, they had Jared Brooks versus Mikey Musa
• 29:21
  Mechi and Mikey Musa Mechi actually became the UFC BJJ 1
• 29:26
  champion. So and Jared Brooks was kind of
• 29:30
  like me, a wrestler in high school and that's what the whole
• 29:32
  fight was between him and Mikey Musamecchi was jiu jitsu versus
• 29:37
  wrestling. Ultimately Mikey Musamecchi won,
• 29:40
  Jiu jitsu came out on top, which I tell people I'm like, I think
• 29:45
  I just think jiu jitsu is more advanced because of the
• 29:47
  submissions and all that. But there's haters out there,
• 29:50
  but it is what it is. But, you know, it's kind of
• 29:53
  interesting to see like all these grappling divisions, like
• 29:56
  flow grappling, like professional grappling and
• 30:00
  wrestling, like not talking WWE, but the actual Greco Roman.
• 30:04
  Like it's interesting to see all these grappling divisions coming
• 30:08
  up, you know, And I think it's great because like you say, I
• 30:11
  think it gives these men in high school and college another
• 30:14
  alternative instead going for the NFL or the NNBA or MLB.
• 30:19
  They're like, you know what, like you say, yeah, I'm learn
• 30:23
  wrestling so I could go to the UFC or even 1 championship or
• 30:27
  you know, something, you know, it gives them a good outlet, you
• 30:30
  know, and a good motivation to want to go for something bigger
• 30:34
  and better so. Yeah.
• 30:37
  And I think that, you know, I think the, I think the NF, I
• 30:42
  think the NFL and the NBA, there is that.
• 30:47
  And I mean, there certainly are talented players, but I but I
• 30:51
  definitely think that, you know, there seems to be more of a
• 30:57
  well, I want to I want to be in the NFL or I want to be in the
• 31:02
  NBA to become, to become, you know, famous and see myself on
• 31:07
  television when I was something like that.
• 31:10
  Whereas like every every like martial artist that I've known,
• 31:19
  yourself included, they do it more for you know the passion of
• 31:27
  you know of the art itself. Yeah.
• 31:32
  As opposed to just trying to become Uber famous or something
• 31:36
  like that. Yeah, no.
• 31:38
  And I definitely agree. And I think like, like you say,
• 31:41
  the NFL in the NBA is more about the money.
• 31:43
  UFC, yeah, they don't get paid as much, but I mean, they really
• 31:48
  do try to go out there and win and put on a show, you know,
• 31:51
  like they try to have that champion mindset, you know?
• 31:55
  Yeah. And that's your thing I like
• 31:58
  about mixed martial arts or individual sports is the end the
• 32:02
  day. Like on a team, you could blame
• 32:04
  someone for the loss. Like all the kicker didn't make
• 32:07
  the field go, the quarterback threw too many interceptions,
• 32:12
  you know what I mean? However, an individual sports,
• 32:16
  it could just be one of those things where it's like, no, I
• 32:19
  messed up, I didn't compete hard enough, I shouldn't, you know,
• 32:22
  it's just like it's that self reflection of oneself, you know?
• 32:27
  Yeah. And that's, that's kind of
• 32:31
  another thing that I really, you know, appreciate about, you
• 32:36
  know, martial arts too, and also like meditation and some of the
• 32:40
  stuff I've done is the whole, you know, aspect of self, you
• 32:45
  know, reflection and, you know, how has that aspect help you
• 32:54
  know you? It's really helped me out
• 32:58
  because like I say, like just even winning second place, you
• 33:01
  know, it gets me into this motivation.
• 33:03
  It's like, OK, I got to keep going.
• 33:05
  I got to keep training harder. I I definitely want to get gold
• 33:08
  next time instead of silver. So it just makes you, it just
• 33:12
  like really pushes you to want to be a better person and a
• 33:16
  better fighter than you were yesterday, you know?
• 33:19
  Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
• 33:23
  So going forward, like what are your, I guess, what are your
• 33:29
  next steps is the best way of of, you know, asking like where
• 33:36
  do you see yourself in the future, you know, more
• 33:40
  immediately and then like what are your more like long term
• 33:44
  goals, I guess. So yeah, some of my goals and
• 33:49
  where I see myself, definitely see myself still coaching
• 33:52
  wrestling, maybe coaching and getting into a paid position
• 33:56
  down the road. Definitely want to keep up with
• 33:59
  jiu jitsu, go for the gold medal in these tournaments and they're
• 34:03
  coming up. And you know, I was talking to
• 34:06
  my trainer because he's got the connection like pro grappling
• 34:09
  leagues, like maybe even get into a pro grappling fight once
• 34:13
  I really develop, you know, because I just, I love the
• 34:17
  grappling arts, jiu jitsu, wrestling.
• 34:19
  Definitely want to get back, definitely want to keep
• 34:21
  promoting those. So yeah, it's kind of where I'm
• 34:24
  seeing myself just promoting the art, going into a pro grappling
• 34:30
  fight, maybe down the road teaching jujitsu, hopefully
• 34:34
  getting my black belt. And, you know, I really want to
• 34:37
  get that gospel and grappling faith-based grappling program
• 34:42
  going. So I was talking with one of my
• 34:45
  buddies about doing that this summertime where maybe we all go
• 34:49
  to a park and we just let everybody in for free.
• 34:52
  Like all kinds of levels, belt skill levels, whatever.
• 34:56
  Just come in and learn grappling and have a free fun open man you
• 35:00
  know. Yeah, that, yeah, that certainly
• 35:04
  sounds, you know, good. And I, I certainly think
• 35:09
  certainly the way, you know, you're sharing your story, I I
• 35:12
  certainly think it opens, you know, people's, you know, eyes
• 35:16
  as to what, you know, what the expectation versus versus
• 35:22
  reality is with jiu jitsu. So so you know, and then I I'm
• 35:32
  sure down the line the walls be like another, you know,
• 35:36
  tournament you can compete, you know, and two so.
• 35:41
  Yeah, definitely going to get in more competitions.
• 35:44
  And like I say, this isn't the last for me.
• 35:46
  And submission challenge, I'm definitely going to go back to
• 35:49
  that thinking about going into not a, which is the North
• 35:52
  American Grappling Association, that this ain't the last of it.
• 35:57
  Trust me bro. Yeah.
• 35:59
  That, that's another thing. So are there different like
• 36:04
  organizations within like you know, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu where?
• 36:12
  Yeah, different organizations, different tournaments, you know,
• 36:15
  things like that. So.
• 36:18
  Like, which one would you want to get into?
• 36:20
  You know, you're kind of like a, you know, a free agent, you
• 36:24
  know, so to speak. Like what do you mean as far as
• 36:28
  like pro or amateur goes or? And well, well, I suppose let me
• 36:35
  ask that question too. Like do you think, would you
• 36:38
  want to do this professionally or are you happy to do it
• 36:42
  amateur? Yeah, I think definitely down
• 36:45
  the road I want to get into a pro fight, whether it's
• 36:47
  grappling or MMA, just some way to promote it.
• 36:50
  So yeah, definitely want to get into a pro grappling.
• 36:54
  Like I say, my trainer Dust and he's got the plug for a
• 36:58
  professional grappling fight, so definitely want to get into some
• 37:01
  of those. Yeah.
• 37:03
  So would there be, so would there be like a specific group
• 37:07
  or organization that you would want to, you know, join if you
• 37:11
  were to GoPro? Either Flo grappling or maybe 1
• 37:15
  championship hopefully down the road, you never know.
• 37:19
  Nice. So and then is there any like
• 37:27
  you know, specific like figure you know, someone in the MMA
• 37:32
  community who you real look up to?
• 37:37
  Yeah, definitely look up to my coaches, Ricardo Lewis, Dustin,
• 37:43
  gym owner Brian Marinac. Like, you know, huge shout out
• 37:46
  to those guys. Professor Don, I can't, can't
• 37:50
  forget him at Denver Modern Jiu Jitsu.
• 37:53
  Yeah, there's all kinds of people I look up to.
• 37:57
  So yeah, I just, you know, I just want to go out there, get
• 38:00
  show out and, you know, put up a fight.
• 38:02
  Really. That's all I want to do.
• 38:04
  Yeah, well, that that's awesome. And you're suddenly, you know,
• 38:09
  doing it. And I mean, man, I think, I
• 38:13
  think you know, the other thing is, you know, you're, you're 30,
• 38:19
  you're 31. Yeah.
• 38:21
  And I think a lot of people, a lot of people think that, you
• 38:27
  know, in order to do something right, you have to start when
• 38:29
  you're in your 20s. But you know.
• 38:35
  I technically did. I started in my mid 20s.
• 38:38
  But yeah, I mean, sometimes people think even younger than
• 38:41
  that, you know? Well, what I mean by that is
• 38:44
  people think you have to like, you know, make it pro or
• 38:47
  something by the time you're like, you know, 25 or.
• 38:51
  Yeah. And suddenly in something and
• 38:54
  suddenly in something like, you know, football or something, it
• 38:57
  definitely is better to get in, you know, when you're younger.
• 39:00
  But I think, you know, like I said, you're 31 and, you know,
• 39:06
  you're kind of, I don't want to say you're starting out, but
• 39:09
  you've still got that beginner's hunger.
• 39:12
  And yeah, you know, so I think that more than even, you know, I
• 39:19
  think that is definitely going to take you far.
• 39:22
  So. Thank you.
• 39:24
  Yeah, yeah. And you know, an MMA, there were
• 39:26
  some guys that kind of started late to like some guys from the
• 39:30
  WWE like Brock Lesnar, who else? Bobby Lashley started late and
• 39:37
  they were pretty good. There were also a couple UFC
• 39:40
  fighters that started late and got pretty good.
• 39:43
  So, you know, hopefully that could be my story.
• 39:46
  Hopefully. Yeah, yeah.
• 39:47
  I, you know, I certainly don't think you have the determinate
• 39:51
  the the determination. Thank you.
• 39:54
  Really appreciate that. Well, anyway, I really don't
• 39:58
  have any questions. Is there anything any more
• 40:00
  questions? Is there anything I haven't like
• 40:03
  covered that you would like to share about your experience?
• 40:08
  Anything I've kind of overlooked?
• 40:10
  No, I think we touched base on it pretty well.
• 40:12
  And I just want to once again say thank you for having me on
• 40:15
  the show. Really appreciate you man.
• 40:17
  And yeah, hopefully next time I can come on with a pro debut or
• 40:22
  something. Or maybe I won gold, who knows.
• 40:25
  Yeah, I mean the other thing too is if you have one to come on,
• 40:29
  you know, with like, you know, your coaches or some of your,
• 40:32
  you know, people that, you know, you might be friendly
• 40:36
  competitors with or something. I mean, I would love to have
• 40:39
  like a round table discussion maybe or something.
• 40:42
  I'll. Definitely talk to my coaches
• 40:43
  about that, yeah. So, yeah, I think that could be,
• 40:47
  I think that could be interesting.
• 40:49
  I've done a couple of, you know, usually as you know, we have
• 40:53
  like authors, you know, on the Monday show and that's
• 40:57
  interesting. But it's it's also interesting
• 41:00
  when we can kind of get like a round table of people.
• 41:02
  So I think maybe, yeah, that might be interesting too in the
• 41:06
  future. But.
• 41:07
  Yeah, and Speaking of authors, definitely, I'm still working on
• 41:11
  that Jiu Jitsu book, man. Definitely want to do
• 41:14
  motivational inspirational martial arts books I sell out
• 41:18
  there. So definitely looking to get
• 41:20
  into that, you know? Yeah, well, you know, you, you
• 41:26
  have a friend in publishing and you know who also who also knows
• 41:31
  a few people. One of them actually is, I know
• 41:36
  dabbles a bit and and the mayor at least did so nice.
• 41:43
  But anyway, real quick, since it is Thanksgiving week, we're
• 41:50
  going to be doing a Thanksgiving panel on Wednesday.
• 41:53
  But I kind of want to ask you beforehand, you know, it is,
• 41:57
  it's the holidays. So what are you thankful for,
• 42:01
  Sir? You know, I'm just thankful,
• 42:03
  first of all, for God, my relationship with him and just
• 42:07
  really kind of turning my life around from where it was 10
• 42:10
  years ago, so. Awesome.
• 42:15
  What about you? Well, I'm thankful for.
• 42:20
  I'm thankful for a ton. I'm thankful, you know, first
• 42:23
  and foremost for my award and saver, you know Jesus.
• 42:29
  Yes. I'm, I'm thankful for, you know,
• 42:33
  my mom and you know, my dad and my, and my stepdad.
• 42:40
  I'm thankful for, I'm thankful for friends like you who I've
• 42:45
  had, you know, for a long time and then friends who I've met
• 42:49
  with in the past, you know, even year or so just getting to know
• 42:54
  through the podcast, you know, and I'm, I'm thankful I, you
• 43:01
  know, I don't want to get too sentimental here, but I'm also
• 43:04
  thankful that I've made it to 30, you know, relatively healthy
• 43:09
  and relatively unscathed, you know, because, you know, not
• 43:18
  everyone made, not everyone makes it to, you know, to 30 or,
• 43:27
  you know, unfortunately, in the case of, you know, trolley Kirk
• 43:30
  Heave, he, you know, he was killed at 31.
• 43:35
  So you just, yeah, you never know when your time is up, man.
• 43:39
  And, you know, I'm just, I'm thankful that, you know, I'm
• 43:45
  still able to do what I do. You know, I've kind of, I think
• 43:51
  I've found my calling with, you know, podcasting with and with
• 43:54
  writing in it. It seems like you found your,
• 43:58
  you know, calling with mixed martial arts and coaching.
• 44:02
  So yeah. And I'm and I'm thankful for,
• 44:08
  you know, the USA of course. So I know, I know we're not
• 44:13
  perfect, but I will. I will literally die on the hell
• 44:18
  that we're still the best, you know, civilization and human
• 44:22
  history, so. Yeah, yeah.
• 44:26
  And and that's probably as political as all get for this
• 44:30
  episode. But anyway, well, man, I want to
• 44:36
  thank you for coming on. And you know, you look, First
• 44:41
  off, you look great. I know I said that when I saw
• 44:44
  you in person, but really, I mean you, you know, you, you
• 44:53
  know, you seem to be in a lot better place than you were even
• 44:58
  even five years ago. And I just think you're doing,
• 45:03
  you know, you're making moves, man.
• 45:05
  And I'm proud. I'm proud of you so.
• 45:08
  Thank you man, and I'm thankful for you in my life as well and
• 45:12
  I'm proud of you too, man. And really, thank you again for
• 45:15
  having me on your show bro. Oh, not a problem.
• 45:19
  Always happy to have you on. And folks, I am thankful for you
• 45:26
  all who, you know, continue to support the show, TuneIn every
• 45:31
  week. You know, donate to the show
• 45:35
  when you can and also buy the books.
• 45:38
  Appreciate that. So I appreciate all of you for
• 45:43
  tuning in. I'll be back Wednesday night,
• 45:47
  10:00 PM Eastern for the live show.
• 45:50
  But until then, God bless. God save this great nation.
• 45:54
  God for an electricity in the order.
• 45:57
  And if you're traveling out there for the holidays, safe
• 46:00
  travels to you all. So I'll talk to you all down the
• 46:05
  road. And so take care, folks.
• 46:09
  Thank you, everyone, and thank you, Sam.
• 46:13
  The right to offend is not some pesky little part of freedom of
• 46:17
  speech that we have to put up with.
• 46:19
  It is the heart and soul and lungs of freedom of speech.
• 46:23
  It is the coursing lifeblood of human progress.
• 46:27
  It is the instigator of liberty and modernity and science and
• 46:31
  understanding. What a laughing stock today's
• 46:35
  student leaders are that they can so casually dismiss the
• 46:39
  right to be offensive without realizing that their lovely,
• 46:42
  enlightened lives are the gifts of individuals who gave offence.
• 46:48
  Offensiveness is not just something we have to
• 46:51
  begrudgingly accept. Offensiveness is the motor of
• 46:55
  human progress. Thank you for watching the
• 46:58
  Whitfield Report live on The Right to Offend Media Network.
• 47:02
  Make sure to check out Sam's books on Amazon, Audible, and
• 47:07
  Kindle. You can follow Sam on X at Sam W
• 47:11
  under score, NGC and the Right to Offend Media Network at RTO
• 47:17
  Media. Like, comment, subscribe and
• 47:21
  share with your friends. And until next time, God bless.
• 47:26
  God save this great nation. God, freedom, legacy, in that
• 47:33
  order.