The financial health of the American public has seen better days. While incomes seem to be okay in many parts of the country, spending has gotten out of control over the past few decades. With the rise of consumer debt and the availability of wonderfully tempting and attractive products to buy, folks far and wide have generally spent everything they’ve got – and what they haven’t got. They’ve used all types of consumer debt to achieve their goals, from mortgages to credit cards to loans from friends and family. The fact of the matter is, not only is this type of behavior unsustainable, it’s downright destructive. That’s what Dave Ramsey says anyway. I read his book titled, “The Total Money Makeover” and wrote a comprehensive summary of its contents. Click through to read a synopsis of this wonderfully thought provoking book. You might be surprised at what you learn. Continue reading…
One Big Jiu-Jitsu Family
There’s a heck of a lot more a person can get out of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu than mere exercise. When I first joined a club, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My plan was to learn some self defense and then move on. What ended up happening was very different. Yes, I learned self defense, but I also made many great friends and learned a lot about myself in the process. Learning and practicing BJJ is an all-encompassing adventure. Ask anyone who’s been training for more than a few years. On any given day, you’ll likely find them wearing a Jitsu t-shirt or hooded sweatshirt. Most of their friends are from class. Jiu-Jitsu has become an enormous part of their life. This isn’t uncommon. In this post, I write about training and many of the relationships that are formed because of that training. Click through to read all about it. Continue reading…
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki (Summary)
Rich Dad Poor Dad is one of the most popular self help books on the market. It was extraordinarily popular when it was first published and it remains that way today. I’m not sure I’d even call it a “self help” book though – it’s more of an educational treasure. How many people use its lessons to better their lives? I have no idea. Probably not many. How many people read it and realize that they’re currently doing it wrong? Probably everyone. The book is an eye opener, that’s for sure. It discusses how the average person lives compared to how the wealthy person lives. I read the book and wrote a summary of it in this post. Please click through to learn a little something you may not already know about money, taxes, and business. Continue reading…
Jiu-Jitsu Enlightenment
Since I began training all those years ago, I’ve had my share of demoralizing nights pondering what I did wrong. Overall, I’m a very confident and positive player, but to be blunt, there have been occasions when I’ve had my ass handed to me. And it’s usually after these occasions that I think, think, and then get better. If my experience learning Jiu-Jitsu were plotted on a graph, it would go something like this: level, big bump up, level again, another big bump up. And on and on like that. Still to this day, I think about what I’m doing wrong and what I can be doing better. The only problem is, I’m getting older and my body doesn’t want to cooperate nearly as much as it used to. In this post, I discuss an experience I had with an old friend during one of our matches. He taught me a few things. Click through to learn what they were. Continue reading…
What’s the Best Way to Learn Jiu-Jitsu?
The teaching of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been going on for ages. I’ve been involved with the sport since 2008 and I’ve seen my share of how instructors go about their business. I’ve seen both bad and good teachers, but to be honest, I’ve never seen great. In this post, I discuss this entire topic and I offer ideas for improvement. I’m not saying that my ideas are the greatest, but I’m convinced they’d help the situation of taken advantage of by some fellow instructors out there. Continue reading…
Tony’s Track Days
Sometimes in life you need to take the bull by the horns. It’s not an easy thing to do and oftentimes taking hold of that bull can be downright dangerous and inconvenient. It’s important though because if not done at the right time, something important and perhaps, dare I say, life altering, may never see the light of day. We all have ideas and dreams, yet few of us act decisively enough to take advantage of so many of them. That’s a shame. A tragedy. In the story that follows, I discuss motorcycles. I talk about how my friend and I used to ride when we were younger and how I grew out of the hobby. My friend never grew out of it and rides to this day. In this post, I share photos of him riding at a motorcycle track in New Jersey and doing very well at what he was doing. I am immensely proud of him for that. Continue reading…
What is Jiu-Jitsu Flow Rolling?
Flow rolling in Jiu-Jitsu has many more benefits than being simple exercise. It helps students learn how to keep the body moving and how to look for position and submission chains. Beyond that, flow rolling helps students work out of tough positions. Instead of having a competitor pin another down for minutes on end, only to eventually submit, flow rolling discourages stalemates and encourages escape attempts. And when these escape attempts are made, they’ll likely be made more technically and successfully because much of the traditional pressure won’t exist. In this post, I write about flow rolling in Jiu-Jitsu and I offer tips that may help engaging in it result in success. Give it a read. Continue reading…
Can You Live a Jiu-Jitsu Centric Life?
Can you make a living with Jiu-Jitsu? Can you engage in something that has to do with the sport every single day? Can you make it the center of your life? I have a feeling that more than a few people are asking themselves these very questions. Jiu-Jitsu is growing fast and there are more people than ever getting involved with it. In this post, I touch upon this topic and talk about a few of the greats who have taken advantage of what they love so much – BJJ. Continue reading…
How to Deal With a Bad Neighbor
If you’re about to read this post, you’ve probably dealt with the worst of the worst: bad neighbors. There are very few things in life as bad as having someone living right next to you who you despise. There are terrible people out there and when they’re close by, life can be downright miserable. In this post, I offer some advice for how to deal with a bad neighbor. But that’s not the fun part. The fun begins with the comments. There are hundreds of them in this post and trust me when I say they are entertaining. I wrote this post a very long time ago and it continues to thrive today. Click through to take a look. Continue reading…