Episode 144 The Fighting Mentality – How Failure Becomes Your Greatest Success Watch Now https://youtu.be/GWlqOBgOXUI Listen Now Description

In this episode, Chris Burns welcomes Jiu-Jitsu Professor and Coach Daniel Calvert onto the show to talk all things mental strength, discipline, and the value of failure. From looking at what martial arts can provide during developmental years to how self-confidence can flow through a committed and determined training regimen, Daniel and Chris engage in a powerful and energetic conversation. Thank you, Daniel, for joining the show and sharing some of your story and wisdom with us!

Talking Points Introduction to the Show Why Jui-Jitzsu? Movement and mental health The importance of your community Showing up during development The influences around you Accepting opportunities The attraction of martial arts Foundational moments for Daniel Final Thoughts Quotes “What we do most days matters the most.” – Chris Burns Episode Transcripts Episode -144- Transcripts

we can we get stressed by so many different things you know what I mean for finances relationships everything else throughout life and you can’t turn it off And that’s in fact why I was kind of scared to join in the first place I like we’re just going to go here and fight and all the things And then I learned in my first like 6 days oh this is all about mental health Yeah Cuz I feel better every time I do this Oh yeah I mean just for me like the the amount of mentors the amount of examples that I’ve seen just of people just being good fathers being good husbands you know what I mean being good in their career being hard workers It’s it’s stellar It’s transformative you know [Music] Hey everybody and welcome to another amazing and exciting episode of Finding Peaks Yours truly founder and president Christopher Michael Burns Being joined today by a good friend professor and coach Daniel Calbertt Thanks for being here sir Of course Thanks for having me Absolutely man And we’ve just kind of been on this journey together over the last few podcasts where we’ve just been exploring different variations of mental health and how to inform that and wellness and connected communities And um you know we had a great episode last week with Matt on talking about his experience at Prime Jiu-Jitsu And I’m just really really grateful to have you in the studio today And I want to just start with just a real simple question around jiu-jitsu because I kind of know my why but what was it about that that drew you into it why did you sign up for jiu-jitsu so that’s a good question Um I was it kind of boils down to I was bored So I was right out of I know real riveting right but um I was right out of high school I didn’t have a lot of plans Um so I kind of went to a school with a bunch of bunch of kids who had their plan and they knew what they wanted to be when they grew up or whatever And I was uh after high school I was delivering pizza just trying to figure it out And uh I was an MMA fan growing up so you know watching Uriah Faber and the WEC and whatnot And uh I always thought you know what it’d be cool to try jiu-jitsu And I was just real bored So I was making more money than I was used to because I was working more And um and I just looked into jiu-jitsu and I found out Prime was the closest spot to my house thank God So I just signed up for a free trial class and I did it and I was hooked from that moment Yeah I was like “This is this is awesome.” You know what I mean and I was I mean I was a skinny kid I wasn’t an athlete you know and uh just to go in and like do something that I felt like I could get better at And I it it just scratched the itch you know what I mean it scratched the itch I didn’t know I had And so yeah I just started training That was in 2013 and then never quit So yeah Now jiu-jitsu black belt recently promoted at Prime Brazilian jiu-jitsu by fifth degree black belt professor Marcel Moto That was a huge deal And the way that you speak to that journey is most certainly a mental health journey Yeah absolutely So for me like I said I didn’t have a lot of plans you know what I mean and I didn’t have a lot of confidence and I didn’t have I wouldn’t say that I was like a at rest at risk person necessarily or anything like that but um just to find a discipline and find a community full of people just trying to get better and find ideas and networking and everything else like I don’t think I would have anything that I have if I hadn’t walked through those doors I mean or at least it would be very very different so just it’s a it’s a powerful powerful communitym Mhm to be a part of And so you were you got there at 20 or 19 18 How old uh to prime Yeah Oh I was 19 years old 19 years old Yeah I think so You’re just a kid Yeah I mean 19 years old And I think when you came in was it was it the connection within the gym was it professor himself was it was it a multitude of people that believed in you i mean how did that work for you yeah all of the above honestly You know cuz everybody you know how it is in there And and I will say like I’ve been around other jiu-jitsu schools like I did some time in Toledo I uh and teaching a gym out there The culture of Prime is unique It’s not like not every jiu-jitsu gym is like that They’re not all they don’t all come that way Like the culture of Prime and the instruction and the people it is unique and it is remarkable Uh anyway that being said it was all of the above It’s the discipline It’s the fun of a grappling sport It’s just kind of the raw like primitive uh desire that we have to fight you know what I mean that kind of keeps the people there But it’s also just the quality of people there And it really does start from the top You know I can’t speak highly enough of Marcelo I mean he’s just he’s been a mentor for me since I was a very young man So um it he just attracts good people around him So that’s been a big part of it But um on top of that though I would say an outlet to just improve as much as I can do As much as I can As much as I want to work I can work As much as I want to get better I can get better You know what I mean that’s something There’s something unique about grappling Yeah It’s it’s it’s interesting because we were chatting before the show You make such a good point It’s like because it keeps you coming back There’s no finish line Yeah You don’t you don’t finish Yeah you know whenever you get around that lap there’s another person that’s ready to stop you You know that’s true And so a lot like in in my early stages of recovery a lot of the early stages of people who struggle with substance use they’ll enter into 12step programs and they’ll intentionalize things like integrity and honesty and self-love and respect and these things that you can never fully attain Spirituality connection right and so people are like you never meet the person who’s like I was so integrous today But I could draw into more strength and integrity It’s like and so it keeps you coming back if you want to get better And you want to have this growth cycle similar to jiu-jitsu is like you know I was rolling with a guy the other day and he’s like you’re not that good yet Burns I’m like damn I needed to hear that and needed to feel that you know on a freaking Wednesday Yeah for sure And he’s just messing with one of my good buddies Yeah that’s a that’s a good point you know Um as far as I’ve never thought about it as far as like how character goes but you know if you the easiest way to tell if somebody’s not an honest person is if they’re that guy who’s going to be like you know I’m really really honest If you were you wouldn’t have to tell right you know what I mean like that’s Yeah that’s that’s uh that’s really interesting connection It’s just like you you have to keep doing it keep practicing it And it’s true of jiu-jitsu too I mean to a little I would say to a lesser extent because you could definitely train for a couple of years and then life happens You go off and you know do your thing for however long It’s not like you start over when you come back It’s still there for you But it’s it’s not the same and people pass you and that can be really frustrating The guys who train like you guys you know and some of them train like 10 times a week Mhm If you leave for 10 days you feel that Mhm It’s like a two week thing You’re like damn dude For sure What happened to you you know it does Yeah which is it’s really really cool And I’ve been talking to a lot of people up at the facility Like tonight I’ll go up and I’ll run a a women’s pure group Last week week before last I was doing a men’s pure group and they asked “What do you do for your recovery?” And I talk about grappling and this idea that we’re going to go in and we’re going to share something together Um and it’s going to go one way or another but at the end of it we’re going to slap hands We’re going to talk about life We’re going to talk about communion We’re going to talk about getting better We’re talking about being better fathers husbands boyfriends all of these things that I never thought was going to be a part of it Yeah And that’s in fact why I was kind of scared to join in the first place I like we’re just going to go here and fight and all the things and then I learned in my first like six days oh this is all about mental health Yeah Because I feel better every time I do this Oh yeah Well and and bringing up just talking about life with everybody like it is the the quality of people that are in that gym it’s it’s stellar You know what I mean you can’t you can’t buy that You can’t find that in most places I mean just a uh it’s just a concentration of people who are all there to improve on something And if they’re all there and dedicated to improve on that one thing you got to imagine they’re there to improve They’re in the rest of their life they’re improving in what they’re doing So I mean just for me like the the amount of mentors the amount of examples that I’ve seen just of people just being good fathers being good husbands you know what I mean being good in their career being hard workers it’s it’s stellar It’s transformative Yeah Yeah There’s been so many people to your point where it’s just you know people know that I don’t drink and you know I’m kind of mental health guy I talk a lot about it and Sure Um but I’ve had the opportunity like sit with people like “Hey man they just come up be like “Yeah I haven’t drank in 150 days.” Like dude this is sick And it’s not that anybody said or knew you had a problem It’s just this stuff informs quality of life and growth and thinking about things a bit differently with an exceptional amount of humility you know Absolutely Yeah It’s hard to be It’s hard to be prideful when you’re just getting beat up Yeah absolutely Why do you think you didn’t join i mean obvious when I was a kid like to do jiu-jitsu would have been like this really expensive thing I mean maybe it would have been like one gym in town They probably would have done like mixed martial arts more than anything Uh why do you think you didn’t join jiu-jitsu a little bit earlier like in high school or as a Um I I wouldn’t have had the money for it and I don’t think my parents would have had the extra cash for it either Or I think if most parents knew what they would get out of an environment like that developmentally for their kids I mean the way that my boys look up to you guys and professor like I get to just be a cheerleader Like the consequence in our house is if if you don’t do something we don’t go to jiu-jitsu and I and I’m going tell professor that never happens Yeah Because they’re just like no dad like this is so important to me So important And it’s so important to be able to show up in there be of service to others uh and make them proud man And and and you bring up something so dynamic too They call it um in behavior health they call it child adult relationships but I think young adult and adult relationships are just the same Is that what changed when you got to Prime did you begin as a young man to have really good young adult adult relationships that maybe you didn’t have before that fostered what I can see today which is like a completely different human yeah I think it’s a huge part of it You know what I mean i mean I I attribute it to not really having a plan not really having a direction Um but you know I I without those things without the plan without the direction I walked into a gym where there are all of these people who are you I mean we’re at the end of the day we’re just fighting We’re just grappling each other But you know uh Tim Verala for example is a doctor you know what I mean he was there on my first day in my trial class And it’s funny uh just to kind of segue to a funny story about that uh I was about to throw up Like I was I went hard you know I didn’t have a great lunch I went real hard and on my first day he was excited about it and I was like and I was feeling it You know what I mean and he was in front of me explaining to me what I could do I in fact I think it was he was telling me if I underhook from the half guard I could stand up but I could not focus on that cuz I was just trying not to throw up And I had to stop him and I had to be like “I’m sorry I got to I got to go throw and he was like “Oh okay Go ahead.” But anyway that being said like Tim Tim is a truly like a high level character person you know what I mean just a great That’s a horrible way to say it was but anyway he’s just a great dude you know what I mean and he but he’s a doctor And so an idea that I had shortly after I joined Prime was like well maybe I could I don’t know if I want to go to school to be a doctor but maybe I could work on an ambulance or something And so I looked into that And that was my first career That’s right I was an EMT I rode an ambulance And I mean to have his just to you know pick his brain talk about that with him a little bit Um and have that confidence of okay I do know people who have done this before I do know like I can just go this way and do it And it was great I mean that wasn’t a direct result of Prime but it was huge for my confidence and it was huge to be able to run that by people and talk to them and get an outline and like a career path that I could take potentially Yeah So um I guess I’ve lost track of the question at this point but no but that’s I think what what you hit on there is is is so valuable and so important Professor Tim is one of the most authentic dudes I’ve ever met I mean what who the who am I like he’s always like “Hey Chris how are you?” I mean professor even before like uh worlds like I’m the only white belt night before hey man how you feeling i just want you to know I’m proud Like what all this stuff and like what it does it builds a tremendous amount of confidence in myself you can see in me what I can’t see in myself And I appreciate that That feels good And that’s the team aspect Like it is individual You go out like when you compete especially you go out there on your own to compete and yeah your corner’s there but it is an individual sport But because it is so individual and because you are so hyperfocused on yourself you usually get hyperfocused on your mistakes and your shortcomings And so sometimes it takes somebody else to say “Hey no that you looked really good in this situation You looked really good in this position You’re getting so much better.” You can’t always see it I know It’s the worst when you first start Oh my gosh You just get the smack this snappy out And then you’re like “Great job.” You’re like “Whoa.” Like how And they tell you how Yeah Exactly But no Tim is Tim is a he’s he’s funny as far as like you have to earn it with him a little bit but he’s he’s a pretty good judge of character in my experience So he’ll once he knows that you’re like real and you’re like good and you’re a good person he’s he’s got your back He’s in your corner I mean last you competing what are you doing how you doing you know that kind of thing But before that I think he he doesn’t love it when uh people like expect that right away or they they are feel entitled to that And so you’ll see him maybe not have the best relationships with some of those people But he is Yeah he is he is an authentic dude for sure And then you got you know his counterpart Professor Alli I mean all of you are just absolute leaders in that gym and and foster just a an ecosystem that really anybody can feel a part of Yeah And that’s what’s really really special And the fact that like I wish we had pictures man And we’re gonna get them when professor comes on on the 24th Beach was showing me all these pictures of like old prime It’s like this book in the morning like a few weeks ago and you’re all over it So we want to get for the next one when he comes we want to get some because this really is a developmental life-changing journey for you Oh it’s huge Yeah Now you you spoke about you know moving from kind of delivering pizzas into driving ambulances Mhm What are you doing now so now I teach at Prime and I manage my forplex Yeah So now you’re into commercial real estate Real estate residential real estate Yeah And that’s something that you’re looking to that’s something you’ve taken on as a result of connections at Prime that really helped you get to that position Yeah So um I I started to ah how far back do I have to go to um I thought it would be a good idea to get some kind of a multif family home when I was coming back from Toledo So just to give you a quick uh in 2019 I moved from here to Toledo to teach at the jiu-jitsu school out there um to try to do jiu-jitsu full-time Uh about two and a half years I did that and then I came back And when I was coming back I was coming back off of an injury off of some financial hardship And so I was making plans For me I’m not and I attribute this 100% to jiu-jitsu but I’m I’m not a wallower I’m a progressor What’s next what where are we going what direction are we headed in so I was making a plan I was thinking to myself you know what it might be cool to put away some money and then when it’s time to buy property buy a multif family home I was thinking duplex at the time Um and I just in fact Angelo who’s also at the gym who I roommed with for a little while I ran that idea by him and he was like you know you should talk to Jay who’s another morning class guy at Jiu-Jitsu who’s a lender and an accomplished real estate investor himself And so I talked to Jay and we came up with a plan to not and we he suggested go forplex instead of duplex Okay you know what I mean higher returns higher cash flow higher equity building Um and we came up with a plan and about a year and a half later we executed it And in that time I’ve known the Mills family for a long time because their kids have trained forever Um but I did not know that Matt was an accomplished real estate investor and I didn’t know he was finishing uh his real estate brokerage license I just happened to be talking about it with him after a Sunday training one day and he was like “Oh I’m just about to finish my real estate broker or my uh real estate broker’s license Uh maybe I can help you out with it.” And I was like “You know what i trust this guy.” You know what I mean i don’t have a realtor lined up so I I’ll give this guy a shot is what I thought Which is so funny because that guy knows more than he he I know like 2% of what that guy knows about real estate You know what I mean so but he was a instrumental resource as far as that And so a about a year and a half after coming up with a plan with Jay we’re closing on a forplex We did close on a forplex and now it’s like floating me you know what I mean and now you’re back to doing jiu-jitsu mostly full-time Yeah I’m doing jiu-jitsu pretty much full-time and then um managing the forplex Trying to get some other um opportunities through real estate here too But you know I mean when you kind of like just I’ll do it like I’ll reverse out of that story and like look at it for what it is man It’s a at 30 years old to be sitting here you know it’s a testament to family community and culture most certainly But to see that growth journey in that period of time is often synonymous with what I talk about the greatest recovery tool for anybody struggling with mental health or just looking for quality of life improvement It’s community It’s community And I’ll tell you what that’s just the financial side of things I think it’s Billy if you ever get to talking to him another morning class guy another just paragon of a human Just incredible incredible dude Um business owner himself but he talks about you have to be right financially physically spiritually Like that’s those are the thing And he may have one more I’m trying to remember Yeah Those gems he just gives you on the side Yeah randomly you know what I mean because he’s your goofball Y but he’ll just he’ll spit some real wisdom U but yeah No So and just the I mean that’s that’s financially that’s how it’s affected me has been just through that process Physically it’s probably more dramatic if you can believe it When I started training I was same height about 6’2 150 pounds little bean pole you know what I mean like I said I was a skinny kid and I mean through jiu-jitsu and the habits that I’ve built having to have had to build to to uh just survive in this sport I’m like 205 210 something like that Like those pictures would blow people away man Yeah Whoa For sure It’s not the same guy It’s dramatic Yeah it’s dramatic I had one of the guys I don’t think he trains there anymore Um his name was John Harten and I believe he’s moved since but okay He was he was a staple of the gym for a while but he about I don’t know a couple of years ago I saw him I was talking to him and he was like “Yeah I remember you walked in just a pencil neck nerd.” I was like “All right All right man Come on We don’t have to hurt my feelings.” Yeah It’s interesting you say that though because I was talking to somebody the other day about their experience with grappling and they’re tall guy They’re like 6’2 6’3 They were talking about like you know I didn’t know that I could stand up this tall you know like I was always kind of live life a little bit hunched over you know a little bit down When I started jiu-jitsu I realized well I can actually see over everybody because it does this thing that’s informed by community that builds a level of confidence and there’s a level of confidence that like you know that you can take care of yourself too And a lot of the folks that come through our program have been hurt by people that should have taken care of them and been hurt by people that are close to them or have been hurt by people in community and experienced traumatizing events because unfortunately they were vulnerable and couldn’t stand on their own two feet And so I think there’s a level of presence that can be created through being where your feet are And I think one of the greatest ways to do that is to get into a community like Prime because if you’re not where your feet are you’ll know it so fast you know and and I think that’s that’s like the game of life is like if I cannot be stuck in the past or way off in the future I can get [ __ ] done today you know and I think jiu-jitsu more than anything more than any recovery tool I’ve ever learned Like the other day I was stressing out Monday I was like I got to go I got to get choked today It’s got to happen for sure You know because I mean for as powerful as the community is and it is I the in its essence jiu-jitsu is combat It’s fighting And if you are if you’re fighting you can’t be anywhere else You know what I mean i think that’s why people love it as much as they do And and it’s kind of it’s kind of shocking when you try it and when you do it like for the first your trial classes you either can’t handle it or you’re like hooked You know what I mean like it’s dramatic And I think that’s why I think it’s just we can we get stressed by so many different things You know what I mean finances relationships everything else throughout life and you can’t turn it off You know what I mean like you’re hooked up You’re you’re just attached to this all the time You know what I mean and the the world is just moving more and more that direction But to be able and I think that’s powerful to put that down even if it’s an hour and a half or two hours Yeah is great But and then you have to be really present You can’t think about much when you got Adam Wheeler trying to pass your guard You know what I mean you can’t think about too much when you got big Jake putting you in a triangle choke You’re right there You’re there You’re present You want to talk about present that’s present You need to be So I think I think in its essence that’s why it can be so healthy mentally It really is And it’s interesting you say that because you know I I’d watched UFC for years and you see how many people get into mixed martial arts that have like these really crazy stories And there’s something about the sport MMA jiu-jitsu that takes these very intense stories and just allows them to fit into the stream of life you know so much better than before you know whether it’s um I think Kane Velasquez was in recovery too I think he’s actually going through a big thing right now But yeah I think he just got sentenced Yeah that’s sad That is sad Very very sad But a lot of these people have like given up drugs and alcohol and pursued this thing And some of them are some of the best in the sport some I think uh Potan um Oh yeah I think he was I think he was an alcoholic and now he’s like I mean I guess he’s not a UFC champion anymore but he was two division UFC champ Yeah What what is it about it attracts so many people and it doesn’t have to be addiction It attracts people with just such dynamic stories I mean everybody I’ve sat I didn’t even Everybody I’ve sat down with has like this this thing that they can draw on that they bring into them with the gym and has to do a lot with why they show up and who they are They’re big stories you know and I think you hit the nail on the head I think a lot of times it has to do with trauma especially at a high level Yeah Now with the kids who come in you and just get the tools that that they need to succeed at life where you’re getting ahead of it Yep You know what I mean you’re getting ahead of it before they have to experience something before they have to like go through hell You’re giving them the tools to succeed at life which is great That’s what we want to do But I think um I think some people are just and and maybe it’s through environment or maybe it’s through um just how they how they’re wired but I think some people’s brains just work a little differently than than a lot of people’s than than the majority of people’s And I think some of them are highlevel professional athletes fighters whatever else I think some of them are in prison and I think some of them are homeless Yeah I think those people have their brains are just wired differently Again maybe a lot of it I’m sure is trauma Um but combat sports jiu-jitsu MMA all these things can be can be a healthy outlet for that Yeah you know and some sometime or a coping me mechanism I usually call it you know what I mean it’s they’re not necessarily dealing with it They’re not necessarily dealing with whatever made them the way that they are but if they have the right community around them the right coaching around them the right outlet they can do something productive with it Yeah You know what I mean but I and that that environment I to your point is everything And I love what you said about the kids because that’s that’s my whole thing I I at some point I want to get into like adolescent treatment or nonprofit high school stuff cuz like my right leg was tapping I couldn’t sit still and I kept hitting people before I ever touched a substance Sure Somebody had been like “Hey bro I think you’re a little bit wired funky We can help you with this.” Yeah Then we would have got in front of it And to your point about prime and the developmental stages and kids I have never met such welladjusted 16 17 and 18 year olds Then kids have come out of prime Brazilian jiu-jitsu and have been there for the last 5 to 10 years Yeah I didn’t know kids like that existed I mean it’s incredible Like drinking they’re like I can’t drink I gotta train It’s not that you know whatever It’s just It’s so cool It is cool It is cool to see It’s cool to see And we’ve we’ve seen a couple of crops at this point of of those teenagers transitioning into adulthood Um and not all of them stick with jiu-jitsu which is okay Yeah You know what I mean because they get the tools They learn to be bad at something and to get better and they learn to set a goal and to be happy when it works out and disappointed when it doesn’t and to sit with that You know what I mean and that’s that’s a life skill that a lot of people don’t have Yeah And so much easier to learn that lesson with like a something outside of your home I mean what a cool thing because I was talking to Matt about it last week It’s like a lot of what’s happened is um kids in our environment don’t know how to fail And when you don’t know how to fail and then you have these big failures at 18 or 19 or 20 we just put our head in the sand and we can’t move forward and it really detracts from our mental health And so if we can introduce failure every week Oh yeah And so there’s not a lot of ways you can do that But now we have this thing and like again it’s just man people are taking their kids to counseling at you know 10 11 12 I’m like and we have therapy I’m like dude take them to jiu-jitsu Mhm You know get them moving and grooving If they got ADD or something like that I think it’s an awesome opportunity for sure to expel some of that energy For sure And you I mean the the results are just you know we see the results in the morning class all the time but yeah it’s it’s good It’s good to see them It’s good to see how how well they develop Um and we as coaches you know what I mean sometimes we get disappointed We get disappointed because we think there’s these kids that and we’re very focused We’re hyperfocused on jiu-jitsu That’s all we’re doing right all the other things is a side effect the uh development and everything else But we see these kids who have a talent for jiu-jitsu And we think “Oh man if this kid sticks with it you know he’s 12 years old and he knows all this jiu-jitsu If he sticks with it when he’s 22 he might be a world champion.” Yeah And it’s like the reality is when when that kid gets to 17 and 18 and he goes off to college or he goes and does something else or he whatever it might be we have this uh instinct to be disappointed because we’re like “Oh a wasted potential.” And it’s not at all You just taught that kid the skills to go do whatever he wants to learn whatever he wants And I’ll tell you right now there are way more productive things to be than a champion in jiu-jitsu Yeah You just taught that young person how to stand up tall in the world 100% I could leave even after just two years I I feel like I could leave jiu-jitsu which I won’t because I’m addicted But I could leave jiu-jitsu today and I would live my life completely different for the rest of my life Mhm I mean so many different ways For sure You know I think that’s true And and it’s even more dramatic for kids Yeah It’s like in their DNA Absolutely And it’s just that just that ability that’s lost We live in this world that’s moving more and more to this this uh mindset of you should just be given everything You know what I mean you shouldn’t have to work for anything You shouldn’t have to struggle with anything And I’m that as much as we want that to be the world that’s never going to be the world Yeah And I think it really and I understand environmentally why a lot of parents and people think that like that’s where we need to be but it is pulling away from the ability for kids to get their feet under them you know and if they don’t get their feet under them by the time they leave the house like me they’re going to fall in their face And so there’s not a lot of things right now that can really get your feet under your kids from a community- based perspective There’s a lot of intensity There’s a lot of fear depending on where you live this that and the other thing But there is some things that are really tried and true and authentic and uh prime Brazilian jiu-jitsu is absolutely one of those for sure you know For sure It really is What would you say your greatest moment um maybe we’ll end with this but what would you say your greatest moment at Prime has been maybe it’s in competition maybe it’s a story maybe it’s you helping someone else Probably the best moment at Prime was getting my black belt tied by Marcelo like just the amount of work that went into that and the amount of trust that I felt from him to for him to do that [Music] Um that was probably that was probably it I would say Um now as far as that was huge there and the way that you spoke to it that’s kind of why how I got you on the podcast was because it was like man that meant a lot to you Yeah Yeah It meant a lot It meant a meant a lot Like I said I trained in uh in Toledo I had I had worked out there and and ran a gym and everything and I could have got my black belt at some point from from Dante out there Um which would have meant which would have been meaningful Sure It would have been meaningful for sure but it wouldn’t have been the same um just in that like I know how highly Marcelo regards it and I’ve seen who Marcelo is for so long and just what kind of a human he is and how much I’ve looked up to him since I was barely not a kid anymore You know what I mean and so that was it meant a lot Yeah Um that was cool to be a part of and then Billy had this thing too Yeah It was it was good and it was and I mean just to your what we keep bringing up the community like to be able to look across the room and see these people that you know have been with me some of them since day one you know some of them just a couple of years you know what I mean but um yeah it was a cool it was a cool moment My whole family was there too which was nice That’s super cool Um yeah that that’s probably my best my favorite memory at Prime thus far But there’s there’s so many Yeah you were uh sharing with me one time too and I was grateful to be there for that But you you’re sharing with me one time I think I think it was you about drive home from somewhere and professor was there and maybe you were in the back seat and he’s like I think you can be a world champ Right
And I don’t think it was about being a world champ I think it was about where you’re sitting today Yeah Like that message that belief that somebody’s like I can go somewhere that I can’t even see but you can see it for me Yeah And on that journey you just happen to be sitting here now Like that’s it’s so much bigger man Yeah For sure That’s for sure Yeah I remember that I still remember that Yeah Um Yeah it was cool It was and that was that was I wouldn’t say that’s the first time I felt like Marcela believed in me but that was like a big that was a big thing for him to say That was a that was a statement Yeah for sure And I was that meant a lot And it really kind of informed the next couple years of my life because I I after that I started competing I mean like 15 times a year trying to just trying to be the best I could be And that led to me getting selected to go you know go off and be an instructor and a competitor out in Toledo And um I’ll tell you about that too I got the call for that and I got I was driving I was on the phone with the guy who was recruiting me Um not Dante actually It was Gutenberg Pereira Okay Who ended up leaving shortly after I got there But um and then I and then I developed a much closer relationship with Dante and we you know we’re boys at this point But um anyway when Gutenberg was recruiting me I was on the phone with him I was driving to the gym I parked and I saw Marcelo getting in the gym and I got off the phone with Gutenberg and I got out of the car and I told Marcelo what’s going on I told him I was like “Hey I just got this opportunity to go be part of this team this team of adult like professional athletes.” And I remember him tell the way he worded it and this is something you learn about him kind of just knowing him and everything is sometimes he doesn’t say exactly what he means in the moment but he’s going to tell you he’s going to tell you what he means but sometimes in the moment he doesn’t quite have the words but he’s going to tell you something right and so I told him that and he was like okay okay if that’s what you feel like you need to do I support you know what I mean which is if you if you look at that at face value you think like “Oh wow He’s upset He’s mad right sure.” You know what I mean he’s kind of short with it But over the next couple of weeks that I was there before I moved he could not have been more supportive I was leaving his gym I was leaving his team I was kind of leaving like I would had been helping coach kids and everything else And I was leaving a little bit of a void in that way And he could not have been supportive That’s correct you know the depending on how you want to look at it I in a way I had said this isn’t enough for me What you have here isn’t enough for me And he was supportive Yeah And that’s cool That’s a big deal That’s a big deal I remember he rolled with me maybe a week after that or a couple weeks after that shortly before I was supposed to leave Um we got done with the round and he was like “Hey man I wish you all the best I know you’re going to go far.” And I was just like sick and to have his and every time I came back home I was I texted him I was like “Hey I’m gonna come train.” He’s like “Awesome It’d be great to see you.” You know what I mean every time I saw him at a tournament he was he was nothing but supportive Yeah Over that And and it ended up working out I came back and now we like work together more closely And it’s and it’s been good That must have been tough for you though too I mean having to go to someone like you know one of your heroes and mentors and say “Hey I’m going to go do this thing.” You know it’s a good thing I didn’t wait It was a good thing I got off the phone and was getting out of the car That’s what I love about it man is you were just clear honest authentic Generally that’s pretty pretty received well Yeah Yeah That’s the best way to do it I think Yeah And even if it’s not you know what I mean even if it’s not received well it’s worth being that way Mhm Absolutely Yeah I think the way you know I um I have this quote and I don’t know if it’s like a quote of someone else but I always say it in my head I always say what we do most days matters the most you know and not to like sit in shame on some days what we do that isn’t the greatest you know I didn’t wake up on time but what because what I do most days matters the most and you’re a great reminder of that Not only uh professionally but personally in community at Prime you’ve been a huge help to me I mean even bro I know I said it like in kind of passing but even like I literally leave the gym one day on a Friday and when the class is over you’re texting me “You are all good you all good bro i’m like “Hey I’m in a music festival man I thought I told you.” You’re like “All right cool.” Like what that means to me man is is incredible And I thank you for that I thank you for coming on the show today and sharing so authentically with our viewers on like what wellness can mean in a little bit different context I’m going to continue to push that for people that are struggling with mental health and people that are really just looking for quality quality quality of life improvements through their communities So really appreciate you man For sure Thanks for having me I appreciate it Absolutely And we will be filming another episode We’re gonna bring professor on um the 24th April 24th So look out for that episode Until next time appreciate y’all Peace [Music] [Applause] [Music]