1 Backstory I

From a very young age, I find it hard to blindly follow the crowd & accept their way of approach. I find no happiness to allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, there was a great man who has a similar set of views on the World, and his name is Bruce Lee, my idol and the person I once desired to surpass one day in my childhood, and meet him in person.

But sadly, I was born in the wrong generation, by the time I matured enough to understand what death is, the dream of meeting a legend has become a far-fetched goal that cannot be fulfilled.

So, I moved my consciousness towards the goal I may be able to achieve and that is to surpass or if not acquire the same fame and credits as he acquired throughout his whole life.

Bruce Lee, his fighting skills, & the duels are mostly what attracted me to the world of martial arts, I still remember the day when my father showed me the video of this man decimating his opponents with such grace and mobility, that I was left awestruck by the level of skills this man possessed.

I remember the words that I told my pops after the video ended "I want to learn Kung fu! I want to surpass him." This small thing is saved permanently in my head, and every time I reminisced about that old but precious childhood memory, I burst out laughing. At that time I have no idea about his style, the little me thought it was Kung fu because from my perspective it was flashy and cool, but once I was at an age where I could masterfully search the web I came to discover that it wasn't entirely Kung fu, instead, he had learned various martial arts such as Wing Chun, Tai chi, boxing, and street fighting, he combined them with other influences from various sources into the spirit of his martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed as "Jeet Kune Do" meaning, The way of the intercepting fist.

So, I wasn't entirely wrong, Wing Chun is one of the fighting styles of kung fu, it is a concept based on traditional southern Chinese kung fu style and a form of self-defense, that requires very quick arm movements and strong legs to defeat an opponent.

Seeing me so determined and obsessed with martial arts my pops, a decorated athlete and a veteran of the US army focused all of his precious time on me, and under his guidance, I started strength training at the early age of seven.

Pops knew I was mature enough to follow directions & my crazy obsession for learning martial arts became the fuel to drive myself to the point of passing out.

You might think my dad would pull me, a kid, from such a hellish training resume, but let me tell you he didn't, he told me to never give up and kept me motivated through his words.

During childhood, kids improve their body awareness, control, and balance through active play, and my dad utilities this stage of my life to improve myself far better than any kids of my age, and under the tutelage of a decorated army veteran who had a history in judo, Krav Maga, Sambo, and lastly Eskrima.

I became quite the force at an age of 10 years, my skills are honed enough to decimate a teenager twice my size and even a noisy group of them. I was too agile for them and cultured in martial arts, I know their weakness, I know martial arts techniques that could knock out all those Mama's sweet little fairies.

Well, I would sometimes find myself in trouble and eventually, I would get suspended for my actions, but hey who cares, my dad was proud and even encouraged me for doing a job well done.

My mom was a little salty about my daily escapade with the older boys of my school but, hey, I have very talented pops a little sweet talk is all it needs to calm my mother.

In 2001, my family moved to Mexico, where I trained in wrestling at age 11, and Xilam at a local dojo, the latter is a new Mexican martial art created between 1980 - the 1990s, Xilam means "to peel away the skin" in Maya, & is intended slowly strip away the external barriers surrounding a person in order to find and transcend themselves, but it has one downfall in my eyes and that is Xilam is a fighting style meant to perform with blades and blunt type weapons since I prefer my fist over any weapons I wasn't that much thrilled to learn it but nonetheless it was an experience of a lifetime.

Then at the age of 14, my pops enrolled me at a reputed MMA training center, where I began learning Ju-Jitsu, combat Sambo, Krav Maga, and Eskrima from a much more knowledgeable & experienced master.

According to my pops, the transition from a little kid to a teenager was difficult if the said kid is doing strength training. My little body cannot perform some moves and techniques without a partner of a similar build, both of us knew that is impossible in today's generation, kids nowadays are too loud and brash, they will complain every fucking second and it will bring a lot of drama on the table, that's why father never paired me with a kid of my age when I was younger, and also because of my temper.

You see I have a bad temper... a very bad temper and a little hotheaded, friend or foe if you enter that ring with me, I will see you as a stepping stone, that I must defeat no matter the cost.

I had set that mentality from a very early stage of life, so it's not easy to completely change your entire mentality in a matter of a few days or even sometimes weeks, but I have crossed that threshold now.

Years of training in both physical and mental strength had given me access to control my emotions and temper. Right now, at the age of 15, I was fairly tall and could be mistaken as a young man. Although I wasn't as tall and so over muscular as some other fighters, I have an athlete frame, wide shoulders, and slimmer legs, my body is molded for only two purposes; First, agility, and second, endurance.

My father knew if an athlete dreams to conquer that ring, they need speed, power, patience, and the most important of them is endurance.

Power endurance is important for sports like MMA, which uses mixed aerobic systems during the action. Endurance is the ability to stand existing for an extended period of time- is what must be present in order to keep a pace to outwork your opponent. When combined, this is a combo that will take a fighter to the next level.

Few people push their bodies to the limit because their minds give out first. In truth, your mind can be trained to concentrate for such long periods of time that your body will collapse from exhaustion.

So, to train your mind there is a thing called Visual Stamina training, it involves the ability to quickly focus on an object. It also induces the ability to concentrate intensely on that object for a prolonged period of time. The development of visual stamina will enable you to experience the sensation of "Speed Retardation". This is when the fastest punch or kick appears to be moving in slow motion.

You have probably already experienced the "Speed Retardation" phenomenon. It usually occurs during an extremely stressful situation and it can happen in seconds. First, the adrenaline rush kicks in, then your eyes bulge, and your heart will begin to beat faster. You might get butterflies in your stomach.

In this particular state of mind, humans are capable of lifting cars, absorbing a great deal of punishment, enduring extended rounds of intense combat, and a host of other seemingly "amazing" physical feats.

During the adrenaline rush, you are absolutely and totally focused on the task at hand. Your body automatically pushes your concentration powers into overdrive. This eliminates every mental distraction and allows you to make maximum use of your physical capabilities

So, once my father enrolled me into that mixed martial arts training center, the masters' there taught me the higher-level techniques of Jujitsu, Sambo, Krav Maga, and Eskrima.

I would occasionally visit one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Mexico to get into street fights to hone my skills.

Ciudad Neza, is one of the poorest parts of Mexico City, having gone through economic hardship leading to high levels of crime and violence particularly related to gangs and drugs.

There in between all the violent street fights, I was able to fortify my mind and somehow mastered the steps to release the adrenaline rush to push my body to make the maximum use of my physical capabilities.

There are two steps to mastering the adrenaline rush. Step one is to develop the ability to release it. Step two is to develop the often-overlooked ability to control it.

Once mastered you can cut the adrenaline rush on and off at will. This is an essential skill for competition and self-defense. Combat sports participants and enthusiasts often refer to this intense state of concentration and physical climax as a moment of "Killer instinct" when you are going for the winning strike, combination throw, or submission.

Most martial arts athletes believe that control and use of the adrenaline rush is, in fact, the same inner power that is known in the martial arts circle as KI or CHI.

So, to harness this human ability I had to put myself in a dangerous situation, and street fights are one of them because of how chaotic that city is.

That's why I would frequently get into street fights in my youth, before entirely focusing my attention on learning mixed martial arts.