Sep 20, 2019
Here's where NEVER giving up took me. I'd been chasing my goal of qualifying for the ADCC World Champion since I was 20 years, and it always seems to elude me. I tried and failed to get into the most prestigious grappling tournament in the world for 18 years. I took 2nd and 3rd multiple times at the qualifers, and, as time passed, my dream seemed to distance itself from reality. Yet I kept training, I kept teaching, and I kept trying to become the best version of myself that I could ever become. Now at 38 years old, well past my physical prime, with two kids and a wife, I was unexpectedly invited to compete at the 2019 ADCC World Championship. Let this serves as a lesson for you and me: never let failure, others' opinions or your own disappointment prevent you from chasing your goals. DON'T EVER GIVE UP.