Everyone wants to be a winner!!

Everyone wants to be a winner, right?

Winning is not just about one day of competition, but the consistent effort you put in every day leading up to it. From each practice, to making mistakes and learning from them, to pushing yourself in class, sparring, and physical training, every day counts. Each one of those days builds towards the possibility of a victorious day in the arena.

Now you might be thinking, wait a minute I thought this guy was all about FRESH PRODUCE!!! You're right, I am, but I also like taking care of my body and mind. Let me take you on a journey that started just over 15 months ago!!

My wife had just been released from the hospital for her heart condition and we quickly realized that we needed to not only take care of our kids, but also take care of ourselves. My wife enrolled in YOGA and as I twiddled my thumbs I quickly realized that my days of playing soccer were over! As much as I loved it, I didn't have the drive or passion to play anymore.

During this time I was looking at gyms to go to and my buddy wanted to get back into working out and get into shape. He said " have you ever thought about martial arts?" I said "No!" Well....... a couple phone conversations later and Facebook AI, Jiu Jitsu ads starting showing up throughout my feed!!!

I quickly called my buddy and said "do you want to sign up for Jiu Jitsu?" He said let's do it!!! I figured what could happened!!!! I had no idea what was about to happen!!! Well, my buddy never showed up for the initial lesson and let's just say the rest is history for me. I was bitten!!!!

From 2 days a week, to 4 days a week and sometimes even 5 I would get into the gym and learn the art of Jiu Jitsu!! Now today I am a 2 stripe white belt - that's right 15 months later this is where my journey brings me. I never thought I would compete in tournaments or even test myself to fail so many times over and over again!!

Empowered Martial Arts and Jiu Jitsu of Tampa is still fairly new as 17 months old yet our small team of 6 competitors took the tournament June 2023. It was a first-time experience for some, while others may have had 1 other tournament experience. We took two 1st places, five 2nd places, and three 3rd places, ultimately leading to us securing 2nd Place overall Team trophy for Adult Gi Division.

As we sit here in business and strive for perfection understand that it is okay to make mistakes, fail, try again and again, test new theories and build for a better tomorrow!!!

Taking 2nd place in the first tournament and 3rd place in the seance tournament, I realized my failures and mistakes (after watching the video) are just stepping stones to success!!!! Next competition December 2023!!