Long days or work and routine are usually capped off by long
hours on matted floors. When majority of the people you know are either at
home, in the mall or some watering hole ending their evenings with a cold one,
you are in a large hot box duking it out with peers in the hopes of getting out
a little bit better than when you came in.
The BJJ/MMA lifestyle is a fun, enthusiastic and very much a
healthy one. Majority of the people who live this way are relaxed, more patient
and very friendly individuals. There’s probably little to no room for
aggression and pent up angst amongst them simply because they have the best
possible outlet ever created by man.
The longer one allows him/herself to be
immersed within the culture and the lifestyle of what they practice, they are
molded into creatures of habit. What used to be picking up bits and pieces of small
routines would later on magnify into major influences as the years go by.
Listed below are some
key changes that happen when one embraces the BJJ/MMA lifestyle.
You’re time line is
based on belt years.
Places, events and people are easily remembered when
associated with belt ranking and/or affiliation. Phrases like “He is a blue
belt from (so and so academy)”, or “Yeah I remember (insert name of
person/place) during my white belt years at (insert gym name)”. Sounds familiar
doesn’t it?
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| My brothers through the years (white to Black Belt). |
You equate large
expenses on tournament fees and Gi prices.
Buying a new gadget on the market? Looking at price tags in
the mall? Buying stuff suddenly/subconsciously entails comparing such item to
Gi or gear prices. Add tournament fees into the mix and you have all the
variables needed in order to asses if such item is worth the price. When the
newest music player is up for sale and it costs 3 Gis; you take the player? or
you buy 3 brand new Gis????
Travel dates/vacations
loop around tournament schedules.
Going to the beach or long trips require meticulous
planning. Transportation, accommodation, food and pocket money are staple
considerations. However, the BJJ/MMA fighter in you will schedule such trips
during your off season. Other available dates would be a month prior a big
tournament or a week after that event is done. This is to ensure that training
schedules are not interrupted, peaking will not be compromised and diet will
not be disrupted when weight cutting is needed.
It’s clean eating
during comp season and buffet lover during off season.
Comp season is composed of: oats, berries, kale, acai,
fruits, vegetables, super foods, apple cider vinegar and salads. This is
usually accompanied by #eatclean #cleanliving #fuelthechamp #(tournament
name)(year) #goforGold
Off season meals include: burgers, fries, buffalo wings,
cake, milkshakes, rice, chocolates, more cake, soda, pies, and even more cake. Followed
by #offseason #gainz #nocomp #rewardmyself #proteinload
#whatchagonnadowiththatdessert
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| Comp season food: Soup with eggs, veggies and a little bit of meat. |
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| Off season meals: more of the "See food Diet". |
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| More off season meal: A lot of the good stuff. |
The apparel brands in
your wardrobe aren’t off the rack anymore.
Suddenly here is an influx of internet based store brands taking
over your closet without you noticing it.
Brands like Inverted Gear, Shoyoroll, RVCA, Tatami,
Hayabusa, Venum, OriginPH, Gameness and many other martial arts related brands
have invaded your wardrobe line up and stacks of shipping receipts have piled
up out of nowhere. There are times when you have more Gis than polo shirts.
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| These take up majority of my closet space. |
There’s always an
extra set of gear at the back of your trunk.
For the more serious ones, borderline nut cases of the
martial arts community, they will always have some extra set of gear tucked in their
hoods. This “just in case bag” is usually meant for days when you thought you couldn’t
train however, there’s a gym nearby. Another scenario when this comes in handy
is when there happens to be a no-gi or MMA event and surprisingly the grappling
gods bestowed upon you an emergency knapsack of armor making you ready for
battle.
These are just from the top of my head.
Drop a comment on how it changed yours :)
Instagram: @francorulloda
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