Life Lessons Learned From BJJ, Sug's Creative Sauce, And More!

Red Hawk Essentials #21

Mar 30, 2023

#1: Be Calm

BJJ will teach you how to react and remain calm during tough positions.

Imagine being tired, you can barely breathe, and you got someone trying to strangle you. Instead of freaking out, you learn to find some space to breathe. You lean to stay super calm.

I think this transfers to real life.

If your spouse or anyone is pissing you off, you’ll be able to stay calm instead of losing your temper. You’ll be able to follow your breath and make a clear-minded decision.

It’s a lot better than making an impulsive decision based on your emotions, saying something you didn’t mean to say. This will make the situation way worse.

#2: Battling Your Inner Bitch

You’re gonna get tired and be on the verge of gassing out.

You’re gonna be sore and won’t feel like going to practice.

These are all things your inner bitch is echoing in your head so you break your commitments and discipline.

You constantly have to battle this inner bitch in jiu-jitsu. But if you show up and give it your best, you’re gonna constantly win.

Each time your head tells you to give up and you push anyway, you win. And this is constantly going to build your mental toughness muscle.

Definitely something that carries over to all other areas of your life.

#3: Commitment

Training in BJJ has taught me the importance of commitment.

You realize how much commitment it takes to get really good at something.

The black belt is what everyone wants, but they don’t want to experience what it takes to earn it.

You gotta show up every day.

You’re gonna get beat up.

You’re gonna get strangled

Injuries happen, you get sore.

People sweat all over you.

BJJ is a hard sport and once you get a black belt, you know you can get good at anything. The reason is because the work ethic needed to earn a black belt is transferrable.

Once you’ve gone through the motions of committing for long periods of time to achieve a goal. That’s programmed into you. You know you can do it again.

Now you can pick anything in life you want to get good at and apply that same commitment and discipline.

There are definitely a lot more lessons that I’ve learned, but these are 3 of the most important.

People usually don’t usually talk about these subtle lessons when it comes to jiu-jitsu.

But hopefully by sharing these insights, I’m spreading the good word and encouraging more people to start training.

Suga’s Creative Sauce

If you’ve seen Sug fight, you know that he’s a creative and flashy guy. A lot of people watch his fights and think they want that style too.

But the reality is, it’s a very dangerous style.

The only reason why Suga is so good at it is because he’s very athletic. His balance is so good in both southpaw and orthodox. And he’s also great with his distance.

The balance is what reinforces the creativity. Because you can be fancy, but that strike is either gonna land or it’s not. So you need to land in a position where you can still defend.

You can’t just do super creative things and be off-balance. At a higher elite level, people are gonna take advantage of those small mistakes and make you pay. Just watch the Valentina Schevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso fight and you’ll see what I mean.

Sug’s vision is also top-notch. He’s got some of the best, healthy eyes you can have. This pairs really well with his great reaction time.

And to top it all off, he’s got great work ethic.

A lot of fighters have these physical qualities too, but they don’t have the work ethic to back it up and sharpen the iron.

But I think the one thing that makes Suga so special is his ability to stay in the moment. The moments where all the pressure in the world is on his shoulders, Sug stays in the moment and leans on his training.

He’s been in a lot of these big moments, and every time he’s been able to let go. Let go and let his training take over.

I think the combination of all these things is what really sets Sug apart from everyone else.

At the end of the day, every fighter has their own unique athletic aspects that stand out. Some people are really fast with really good reflexes, some are slow with below average reflexes.

So depending on that, the style has to change. It’s the coach’s responsibility to know what kind of athlete you are and appropriately coach techniques around your abilities.

Thorne Supplements

One of the secret sauces of a lot of UFC fighters is Thorne supplements.

I also personally use Thorne as part of my daily supplementation.

It’s third-party tested for the best quality ingredients so you know exactly what you’re putting into your body.

I personally use magnesium before sleep, fish oils, amino-acids when I’m training hard, and their VeganPro complex protein.

If you’re in the market for some good supplements, Thorne is the brand I trust. You can feel safe and good about what you’re putting into your body with Thorne.

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Updates With Me

Still being consistent with my good habits. I know as long as I’m consistent, my life is gonna keep improving. Might not happen today or tomorrow, but in the long run I know it will.

But the proof is in the last 7 years where I’ve had really good daily habits. I just need to focus on keeping that up and I’ll be making good decisions. My brain will be healthy and everything else too.

Something I am looking into is growing my own gourmet organic weed. This way I don’t have to go buy from dispensaries or rely on someone else.

I think by growing my own, I can properly care for it, make sure it’s done right. And be certain there’s no pesticides or other stuff in it.

I’m also searching for a new house. The landlord gave us an ultimatum - buy the house we’re in or move out by June. Pretty stressful process, but we’re getting it done.

What I’m Reading: Make Noise: A Creator’s Guide To Podcasting And Great Audio Storytelling

I really love podcasting, I can see myself doing it forever. So I want to make sure I keep improving and learning from experts.

I’m always trying to level up my podcast, keep it entertaining and keep people coming back.

Quick Hits From This Week

Some goodies from James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter this past week.

“If you want to be rich, then be kind.
It’s hard to create wealth unless you work well with others, and it's hard to work well with others if you are unlikable.
Even if you can build wealth without kindness, rich jerks end up poor in friendship. You can buy friends, but not good ones.”

Relationships are what makes life special. Some people are willing to sacrifice that for money and when it’s time to call in a favor, no one answers the phone. That’s why I’m big on getting a good group of people around you.

Is what I'm about to do today connected to what I'm going to value over the long-term?

Expand your timeline past today and tomorrow. You’re probably not gonna see any improvements tomorrow from things you do today. But you might months or years down the line as long as you stay consistent. Dial in those good daily habits.

Red Hawk Recap Ep. 82

On this pod, I was joined by Dr. Major. We sit down and talk about underrated drugs, diet, and ways to optimize health.

Montana Trip

Got to corner some of the boys in Montana and watch them get dubs. I love seeing the confidence zip up in amateurs after they win. One of the boys might’ve gotten some puss during the trip too, and that will take your confidence to a whole new level.

Underrated Drugs

Dr. Major is a big advocate of medical marijuana and even micro-dosing. He’s seen great benefits with patients with both of these treatments. He’s a big fan of using marijuana tinctures before yoga and massages

Dr. Major’s diet

Dr. Major does a version of the carnivore diet. Him and his 9 year old son start their days off with red meat and fruit. He pretty much does the opposite and have breakfast for dinner, vice versa.

Ketamine benefits

Dr. Major has seen ketamine change people’s lives around. From super depressed patients transforming to positive upbeat people. He even went for ketamine infusions himself and says one session can be the equivalent to 20 years of therapy. The biggest benefit in his opinion is ego dissolution.

TimboSugarShow Ep. 230

On this episode of the TSS, we were joined by UFC lightweight Jalin Turner.

Jalin vs.Gamrot

Sug thinks Jalin won his fight against Gamrot. You can never know what these judges are thinking or watching.

Hobbies outside of the cage

Jalin likes to train dogs for protection sports and skateboard when he’s not fighting.

Jalin wants to fight Dan Hooker

Jalin says Drew Dober is ducking. Drew is now fighting Matt Frevola, who beat Jalin. So Jalin wants that Dan Hooker fight back. Or even the Gamrot fight back.