Celebrating a Victory

After a recent post on http://www.graciemag.com/, I've decided to analyze a few different ways people celebrate just for fun, nothing too serious. It's funny to me how emotions can take over and you just do what feels natural or maybe you planned something out that you think looks cool, but in reality, planned celebrations tend to be pretty lame or come off as arrogant. Either way, do what you want to do, it's your win.

The Fail

Let's kick the post off with the celebration I saw on GracieMag. Back flips are cool, right? Well, as long as you land them. Things didn't quite go as planned for this Japanese fighter. He may have gotten the win, but that's not what his friends will be talking about when he gets home:


The D-Bag

This particular celebration comes about when one gets the victory and still decides to act like an ass towards his opponent after; it's called humility, you don't get in someones face and prove how much of a tough guy you are after you just beat him. This particular example comes from the 2010 World Championships in the brown belt feather weight division, in a long awaited match between Ary Farias of Atos and Michel Langhi from Alliance. This usually comes from people who are just all around punks and after some research it seems that way, a quick read at http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/ari-farias-bjj-wiki, tells us at the age of 16, the young Farias had a falling out with his instructor, Henrique Machado. Tell me, where does a teeneager get the nerve to argue with his fully grown mentor? What makes people this way? Who knows? Maybe he wasn't loved as a child, but enough with the babble, sorry, I don't like arrogance if you couldn't tell, here is the match, skip to 8:15 if you don't want to watch a boring match:



Dancing

This is either reserved for the ultimate jerk or when you're a big enough name to have your nick name thunderously chanted throughout the stadium, in which case, it is acceptable. Fernando Augusto, better known as "Terere", was one of these few exceptions. Groups cheered his name, and why not? He was a crowd-pleaser, fast-paced and always looking for the submission. He was a man among boys and when you have the legend that surrounds a guy like "Terere" does, you can pretty much celebrate however you feel is necessary. So, here is a highlight of Fernando "Terere" Augusto where he starts dancing to the crowd about 10 seconds in, it's actually pretty cool hearing all the people that are behind him, celebrating his victory along with him:



The Emotionless Killer

Only the toughest guys on the planet are allowed to use this one, the guy who goes on a streak for years and is feared by everyone in his division, i.e. Fedor or Roger. (Note: They have both reached the point of only single name necessity, such as Maddona or Sting. Yes, I compared two of the toughest dudes on Earth to Madonna and Sting, what of it?) This is when you just complete one of the most amazing feats known to man and just walk off like you just got done cleaning your room. Here's a pretty good example of Roger becoming a World Champ and acting like it was another day at the office:

Best of 2010

Year is coming to a close people, it's time to let you guys in on some of my favorite BJJ moments of 2010. This year was pretty exciting and it was hard to chose my top few, but here it goes in no particular order:

Abmar Barbosa and Kayron Gracie's March to Pan Ams (Yes, I still call it Pan Ams) Final

This year's intallment of the Pan Ams really showed us who the two newest contenders are in the most stacked division in the sport. Watching these two this year left me with a feeling of, "Holy Crap! These guy's are for real!" Barbosa had a tough road, taking out both of last year's finalist, dismantling Kron Gracie, 11-0, and taking out Lucas Leite via armbar. The young Gracie had no easy path either, running into 2008 World Champion, Sergio Moraes, in a very tight match. Not only did these two go to town in the preliminary rounds, they also put on a show in the final, with Kayron taking the championship home in an awesome match.

Caio Terra Bringing it for the Little Guys

Not only did Caio Terra (Rooster/Light Feather) compete in the open weight divisions this year, he won TWO of them. Terra kicked off his 'David vs. Goliath' show at the Las Vegas Open, defeating Robert Fonseca (Asle) in the finals. The Gracie Fighter athlete continued his open weight journey at the American National Championship, where he took out such beasts as Rodrigo Simoes (By flying triangle), Marcelo Mafra (6-2), and the super heavyweight, Bruno Bastos. Caio is definitely a guy that the big boys should not take lightly.

Cyborg in General

It seems like everywhere I looked this year, there was Cyborg competing again and again. The guy deserves a lot of props for constantly putting it on the line time after time. It didn't matter if it was IBJJF or Grapplers Quest, he was there. Cyborg showed tons of technique and heart this year, winning many super fights, a very memorable one against Rolles Gracie found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcPrnMkIuIY, and taking home multiple IBJJF titles. Cyborg is on tear and is one of the guys everyone needs to watch out for in 2011.

These are just a few moments I found memorable, let me know what stuck out to you!

Follow Your Dreams

It's funny how the attitude of your family and peers changes as you grow. In the beginning it's all, "Follow your dreams, you can be anything you want be!", but somewhere along the line, this all goes out the window. It becomes, "Get good grades, go to a good school so you can get a good job." What happened to all the positive support we once all got from our parents? Is there just a certain age where it becomes taboo to want to do what makes you happy? It saddens me when I look around at my family and friends and see them do something day in and day out that they hate, but for some odd reason they seem completely content with it. I don't know if I'm just weird or a social deviant, but I would much rather make just enough to get by doing what I love, than making boat loads slaving away at something that I hate. Why are material things so important to us that we are willing to give up all our hopes ande aspirations to make more money. I for one am fed up with all the go to school and make good money crap we're fed as teenagers; I decided a long time ago that I'm going full speed ahead towards my dreams.

Shooting for the stars was all it once took to make Mom and Dad proud, now that's just not enough. Well guess what, I don't care anymore and neither should you. Do what makes YOU proud. I for one have huge dreams that most probably think are childish and impossible, does that make them wrong? Not at all. I don't want to be "just another faceless nobody" in society, I want to be remembered 100, hell, 1000 years from now. When future Jiu-Jitsu players are sitting around the mats in the centuries to come, discussing Jiu-Jitsu, I want MY name to come out of their mouth. "Who do you think was the best ever?" "Oh man, 'Jacare' was great!" "Roger always smashed everyone!" "What about Ryan Heilman?" "That guy was amazing!" That's what I want for myself! And if that's too much to ask, I'm sorry, but I will die in pursuit of that dream. You have one life to live, why not make it the best? If you died today, would you look back and say, "I did all I could do and I'm happy with myself" or would you more likely say, "I just survived, living another meaningless life that no one will care about once my relatives are gone," probably the latter. I'm not saying you have to be Babe Ruth, but at least do what makes you happy, and if you fail, at least you did what you loved while trying.

Here's a song that I really enjoy that helps me to remember that I don't just want to be the guy that hates his job and that I truly don't want to grow up: