Training in the Shadows

When I started Wrestling I had no ideas and nothing to look forward too...I needed Wrestling as a way of self preservation aka self defense.

At 51 years old there's a lot of "Used to Be's" and "Could have beens'"........

A lot of my old training partners have given up on life and resemble a bag of milk or a bowling pin.

When I started Wrestling you just had to be good enough for the neighborhood or as good as the other schools around you.. You competed against the local schools or the competitions you could drive to. In the New England area we had what was called the Bay State Games so you could wrestle year round. I was never a great wrestler but I was a tough night out when my mind was right due to my conditioning and physical strength.

Nowadays you gotta compete with the BEST in the World on YOUTUBE!!!!

You're expected to be as good and look as good as the guys on Instagram....Students wanna know why you're not as good as that school in Belgium or have as many students as that school in Ohio...

Students think that the highlight reel of that school in California should be every night here! There are so many teaching combatives/self defense via social media with huge subscriber numbers yet many have no real world validity or experience...

But they sure know how to market themselves and work the alogorytham.

Thank you YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and REELS for making us look less of a Coach due to those mesmerizing videos you guys post capturing that moment in time when you looked and performed so perfectly. That moment in time you are at the top of your game...

Or my favorite!!!

Acting like you found or created an NEW MOVE or RARE SUBMISSION...Sorry we were doing that crap in 1992.... and as for CROSSFIT type stuff... LOL... WE WERE CROSSFIT BEFORE CROSSFIT WAS COOL.. SORRY THAT'S THE TRUTH.

Nowadays everyone's competition is a click away on various social media platforms...

My advice is to just DO YOU as best as you can.. Stop thinking that a coach in Australia (using a filter) is your direct competition. If you continue to listen to this media shit you will kill yourself trying to out do these other people... Stay focused..

Some key words:

Train, Learn, Discipline, Consistency, Work Ethic, Patience, Humility &

DONT BE A DIRTBAG!!!

I hope this sheds light that just because a Coach may not have a huge platform doesn't mean that he doesn't have a proven track record/resume while training daily in the shadows.

-Coach Machine out.