Red Hawk Essentials #61
My Place Of Happiness, He’s Going To Be A Problem, Tap Early With Joint Locks
My Place Of Happiness
I’ve been broke a handful of times in my life.
But even in those times, I still knew where my next paycheck was coming from. It did stress me out, but there was an inner voice that kept telling me to keep going.
Keep showing up. Money will come eventually.
It was weird. I just knew I was working towards something. And if I didn’t quit, it would pay off.
I loved training every day. I loved the grappling, striking, and jiu-jitsu.
I loved it so much that I knew I would have no issues being disciplined. I could keep showing up every day to do the hard things consistently.
My passion for MMA exceeded my financial problems.
If I’m in the training room, I’m happy. Nothing else matters. My bank account didn’t matter to me.
Even if the money didn’t come, I would’ve been fine. I would’ve found a way to live minimally and keep doing what I love, which is getting better with my skills every single day.
I think if you’re in that mindset chasing your goals, you’re going to succeed eventually.
And even if you don’t, you might find a different path along the way that will get you to where you want to go.
He’s Going To Be A Problem
If you’re coming from boxing to MMA, there are a few things you have to change.
The obvious one is your stance. A standard boxing stance leaves you open for easy leg kicks.
If you’re too flat-footed or sideways, you’ll be an easy target for takedowns. And the rounds are different.
But I think for someone like Francis who’s going from MMA to boxing, he’s gonna be scary when he comes back.
Yes, he hasn’t fought MMA for almost 2 years and he’s been focused on boxing.
But for heavyweights, I don’t think that’s much of a problem.
When you look at Francis’s past MMA fights, you can tell his technique isn’t quite there.
He’s sort of swatting at guys. But because he’s so powerful and explosive, he can still put guys’ lights out.
Now with the boxing experience, Francis knows how to punch properly. He can keep his feet with him and stay on balance.
He can sit in his stance nice and disciplined with good eyes. His timing is a lot better. He’ll know when to throw those right hands, hooks, and jabs.
Now he’s spending all this time with high level coaches on boxing. He’s learning good defense and how to turn over on his punches.
So when Francis does come back to MMA, he’s gonna be a fucking problem.
I don’t know who can actually beat him.
The UFC just signed a new heavyweight prospect named Robelis Despaigne.
He's an Olympic Bronze medalist for Cuba in Taekwondo. He’s 6’7 with an 87 inch reach. Coming off a 4-second KO.
That guy might be tricky to deal with. But still, Francis is such a freak of nature.
There are only a few heavyweights with good wrestling that could give Francis problems.
But with this boxing experience, Francis will know how to control the distance a little bit better.
So if he comes back, I think he’ll be better than he was before.
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Tap Early With Joint Locks
The more time you spend on the sidelines nursing an injury, the less time you spend on actual training and getting better.
Of course, you can still show up to practice and watch. I highly encourage everyone to do that.
But you’re not getting your reps in. So just tap early, especially with joint locks.
One of the most common injuries in the training room is popping your elbow.
I’ve popped my elbow more than 10 times during my career. And it fucking sucks. It’s so sore and you have no idea when it’s gonna heal.
For me, it’s usually somewhere between 10-14 days before I can get back at it.
In the meantime, just ice it and take it easy.
But the reason why this happens is because you’re spending too much time toughing it out.
Some people are a little more flexible and have gummy joints, so a little hyperextension won’t hurt them.
But for most people, you shouldn’t even get to that point. As soon as your escapes have failed and you can’t prevent your arm from getting extended…
Just tap.
When your arm gets extended and you start to tough it out, that’s when your elbow pops.
I always tell people to tap early with joint locks. Especially with newer people.
A few seconds too long in a sub and you’ll be sitting out of practice for 2-6 weeks.
I used to be this way. I’d fight so hard out of subs and make it hard to get tapped. And that's probably why I got injured so much.
But one day, Tanquinho told me, “Hey, instead of fighting out of those submissions, why don’t you figure out why you’re getting into those subs in the first place?”
Forget about feeling tough because you fought off a submission.
If you get caught, it’s because you made a mistake in the sequence earlier. So figure out what that is.
For chokes, you can try to tough it out and fight them a little longer. But definitely not with joint locks.
Trust me, when you’re sitting out you’re just gonna be pissed off. You just want to heal up quick so you can get back to training as soon as possible.
I’ve been through it multiple times. It pisses me off each time. So learn from my mistakes.
Quick Hits From This Week
Red Hawk Recap Ep. 122
McGregor Vs Chandler At 185lbs
I don’t know if this is true. But I remember talking to Greg Jackson when I was on Fight Masters. He told me that when you put on a lot of muscle, it takes a long time to get those muscles in shape. Chandler also tends to overthrow his punches, so we’ll see how it goes. I think Michael should make Conor go through some scrambles.
5 Types Of People That Can Ruin Your Life
This is a new book I’m reading, and it’s so good. It makes you realize that a lot of habits turn people into a high-conflict person.
Not Getting Too Comfortable In Life
Comfort is the number one thing that will kill your potential. Some people would rather be in comfort and cruise through life. I think with kids, you gotta put them through hard things. You want to set them up for later in life, but it’s easier said than done.
Looking For Someone To Blame When Things Go Wrong
I think this is a bad habit a lot of people do. If you look at these people’s lives, you’ll see the trajectory pretty easily. Hint, it’s not going up.
TimboSugarShow Ep. 267
On this episode of the pod, we were joined by OG YouTube Prankster VitalyZDTV.
Francis Ngannou vs Anthony Joshua!?
Another big fight. Sug didn’t think Francis could get these fights, but I don’t think anyone did.
What was Vitaly's Darkest Moment in Career?
Back in 2019, all Vitaly did was bust and make money. But he wasn’t really happy, he was just living that rockstar lifestyle. Now he’s on his road back.
How does he overcome social anxiety in pranks?
No one’s immune to the cringe and social awkwardness. Vitaly said he still feels nervous and has to walk around for an hour beforehand. He did all his pranks sober too.
Red Hawk Academy Patreon
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That ends it for this week’s Red Hawk Essentials.
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If you’re new here, welcome to the fam! We’re dropping gems like this each week.
Luv ya, talk next week.
Tim