Just got back to the states; Costa Rica was pure rest and
relaxation. I'd have to say that
sleeping well is one of the keys to winning at poker day in and day out (I
bought a temper-pedic memory foam mattress and pillow this year and highly
recommend it…more on sleeping well in future blogs). I plan on returning to CR after another 2 or
3 months of hard-nosed poker playing.
Attending Ju Jitsu classes in CR this trip was interesting
and I took away a couple of important lessons from the classes that I feel
relate well to the daily grind of poker.
My first class was very hard on my body to say the least; getting
slammed to the ground repeatedly was a far departure from my Kung Fu private
lessons in Vegas where my Sifu and I work mostly on techniques, forms, and
theory. I was so bruised and beat-up
after my first class that I almost ducked out of attending the second class two
days later. ALMOST is the key word
here. I knew that I would be cheating
myself by not attending the second class… so, minutes before class started, I
finally decided to attend.
During my second class of the week I was paired up with a
comparable student and all was going well until about 15 minutes before the
class was to end; that was the point where my partner told me in Spanish he had
to leave class early. Right away I knew
the implications of my partner leaving...my Sensei motioned for me to move over
and work with Diego (who Sensei had been working with until then). Diego is a very experienced Ju Jitsu fighter,
easily 40 or 50 pounds bigger than me, with the functional strength to go with
it. Diego and I worked on drills for
about 5 minutes until the class was told to line up and have a seat.
Sensei pulled out his stop-watch and had each pair fight for
a full two minutes while the rest of the class watched. The catch was we couldn’t strike at all…only
work on takedowns and ground fighting.
If it was an “open” fight where I could strike to the eyes, throat,
groin, and other pressure points (which is basically where my Kung Fu expertise
lies) I think I could have handedly defeated Diego in literally seconds (assuming things went my way). If it was a fight where striking vital points
was off limits, but normal strikes (punches and kicks) were allowed…it would at
least be close. I knew from the get-go
that only being able to takedown and grapple on the ground was a serious
disadvantage for me.
Diego and I circled each other several times, clenched
tightly and I used every morsel of leverage I could muster to keep him from
taking me down immediately. After
holding out for maybe 15 seconds…Diego finally grabbed me just right and
proceeded to slam me straight down to the mat (thick, hard blue mats…not the
soft mats used for gymnastics etc)…did I mention I broke the fall with the side
of my face!!! As the blood trickled down
my chin and down my neck, Sensei called a stop to the bout and asked if I was
alright. I was a bit in shock and too
proud to allow the bout to end before the two minutes was over…I told him I was
fine and to please continue. Long story
short, Diego made me tap out 3 times in two minutes and obviously was the
victor in the sparring match.
I know…I know…what does this have to do with poker? I could have skipped the second class, but I
didn’t. I could have given up during the
sparring match, but I didn’t. Well…How
many times have you had a bad start to a day (especially on Sunday) and
unregistered for later tournaments? How
many times have you been matched up against players better than you and became
frustrated? So many players are so quick
to give up…DON’T GIVE UP!!!
I’m a big believer that we learn more from our failures than
our successes. You have to put yourself
in harms' way sometimes to get the most out of life. We define ourselves by what we have
overcome. Life is too short to cling to
the sidelines. As I mentioned in my past
blog, you're far better off being the worst of the best rather than the best of the
worst. Enter the arena, try your
hardest, and let the chips fall where they may.
Feed yourself to the lions…it’s the only way you’ll live up to your true
potential.
D