Fat Guy in a Little Gi
One big man’s journey of self-discovery through combat sports
Entry 2- Of Mentors and Teachers
Experience
Experience is slightly different than applicable knowledge. For me, it’s the stage between theory and truly applicable skills. It is important that a mentor has the experience of trying what they teach, out in the real world (or in our case the ring or mat). It is imperative. One of the reasons traditional martial arts lose public interest, is their combat applications have become obsolete: without real world experience, it is hard to equate the techniques to a modern populace. It is no different when talking about theoretical techniques. A flying triangle is great, but if your mentor doesn't have experience throwing it in competition, the chance of you being successful with it is going to be very slim. My good friend and corner man Harrison Bevins shares his experience with me. He helps me with transitioning my striking game to my ground game, helps me with when to throw certain combos or how to maneuver in the clinch. My MMA game improves tremendously every time we work, because he is able to explain why certain things work and how they work. His experience has helped me tremendously.
These traits ring true for most mentors. I am sure you all have a few traits that are more important to you or you feel I am neglecting, but in my world, these four traits are the most important. There are two mentors that have just joined my life that I would like to make mention of, Professor Marcelo Alonso and Professor Travis Reich. While I haven’t been a part of the MABJJ family that long, these two have given me the same attention and support they give all of their students.
Just one last quick thought!
Like I said before, training partners are also mentors, and I have some of the best in the world. JD, Jared, Ollie, Boom, Alex, Big Steve, Big Tom, JDog, Lemke, De-wreck, Ryder…just to name a few (in reality, pretty much all of AOBJ, MABJJ, and GCA). Training partners are just as important as dedicated coaches.-Till next time! Ken
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