What’s up Guys?

I hate that I’ve been infrequent with my post lately so I wanted to get  something new  up here for all you guys to read. (if anybody does read this)  so, where should I start? Oh yeah, as an update to my previous post in a bit of BREAKING NEWS exclusive to Disabledgrappler.com.. The New judo rules…Still suck. Ha ha ha sorry, if I got anyone’s hopes up there just having a little fun   but  in all seriousness, it has been  a little over a month since the new rules were implemented  and things haven’t really gotten easier for me. I just feel so handcuffed.  There is really only one “fit in” I can practice when doing uchikomi because my other two techniques are sacrifices so, I can’t really “fit in” with them. I def understand that doing so many uchikomi will only help me get that throw better so I will def do it but I’d be lying if I said that sometimes practice didn’t feel a little monotonous and boring  it’s nobody’s fault,  that’s just the monster that these new rules have created for me

That being said, new rules or not, I’m getting the itch to compete again.  It was gone for a bit during a crappy ’09  but it’s coming back pretty strong.  The PA state championships are  coming up on March 27^th in Johnstown, PA and I think I’m going to fight. My weight is terrible right now at 164lbs (19lbs over my competition weight)  but I have already started watching what I eat and have never really had a problem dropping weight granted ,never this much, but I can do it. I’ll keep you guys posted

Let’s see, What else? Oh, I met with my BJJ coach Jeff Reese , the other day and we started putting a plan for my jiu-jitsu game  together that I have a good feeling  about. With the aforementioned pain in the ass new rules in place and seemingly not going anywhere for at least 2 years, I’ve decided to focus a good majority of this year on developing a  better ground game and to be honest, I’m sort of thinking jiu-jitsu might end up being my main source of competition..More on that when the time comes

Off the Mat things are going pretty good. I have  been putting in a lot more work on developing  my coaching skills.  Watching technique videos to make sure I can clearly verbalize all the elements of throws, watching  youtube   videos of old fights  from  various tournaments , picking a player, and coaching them trying to recognize opponents tendencies  seeing why his attacks were successful and why they weren’t. it’s important  to me to be a good coach.

I might be going into business with my best friend and “brother from another mother” Tommy that could be pretty cool if it ends up taking off, if it does you guys will def be hearing about it.

I’m starting to get more and more involved with the United States judo association (The USJA). They recently held elections of officers and the new board that was elected to office is Awesome. From what I have seen so far from them. They “get it” their main focus has been on the judo (imagine that) and how we can get better judo to more parts of the country. I totally support all of their efforts and will help whenever I can.

I have a few other things planned for this site as well, I hope to have more videos coming your way pretty soon hopefully, I can get that going.

Well, that’s all I got for today.  I’ll talk to y’all soon,

Hey Guys:

Sorry, it’s been a bit but things have been a little crazy around here. A couple weeks ago, my laptops motherboard crapped out on me and then the replacement motherboard that Dell sent, turned out to be dead. to make matters worse, when the NEW new motherboard came, I found out the original tech actually damaged my computer much worse   than  what  was originally wrong. Thank God, everything was under warranty, and now I sit here with a completely rebuilt laptop back in business but due to the time off, I needed to catch up on work and client stuff Hence, the delay in posting BUT that’s all in the past, lets get to the here and now:

A “White Hot” issue in the judo community right now, is the New IJF (international judo federation) rules. For those of you not in the community, not “In the know”, earlier this month , The IJF passed a new set of rules that banned all attacks below the belt with the hands, this outlaws all moves such as morote gari (“the Double leg” from wrestling) kata guruma (the firemans carry)  and a host of other techniques.

I haven’t been quiet in my opinion on these  new rules which is, they suck and they suck for two reasons:

• On a wider level, you have these people who champion  these  new rules and call the aforementioned banned techniques “ugly judo” and hasten for the return of “traditional” judo   but what they don’t realize is that Dr. Kano,  (the founder of judo who everyone seems to channel these days and knows exactly what he’s thinking) , put these   techniques  in the list of  official techniques for judo so they SHOULD BE “traditional judo”. It is my firm belief that the only reasons that these new rules are in effect is because countries like Mongolia, and Russia and other European countries were having so much success with developing variations of these techniques and putting together an unorthodox game plan  that some of the more  predominant countries for judo were losing so instead of counter game planning , they got together and decided to ban the moves. The best advice I’ve heard when dealing with situations like this came from an 11 year old and while the verbiage isn’t quite scholarly, the message is appropriate and   quite clear, “if you don’t like it, try and stop it, bitch”

On a personal level, the new rules have pretty much derailed my judo career at least competitively. Having physical limitations, there are only but a handful of techniques that I can do effectively…Morote Gari and kata guruma were two of them.  Even the moves that I had adapted to fit my needs as  I was “coming up” don’t apply, such as kouchi and ouchi gari (foot sweeps or trips ) using my hands are all out of play. I’ve been trying the best that I can but I’m not going to lie…it’s been pretty tough. In fact, there was a point last night where I got thrown in practice and for a second I was like “screw this” but I had to put it in the back of my head and keep going.

For all the judo people out there, I just would like for  you to picture what I need to go through:

I fight under blind rules so I’m gripped with my opponent inches away from me, I can’t use my legs so all ashi wazi (foot techniques) are out and I cant attack his legs so now what really are my options. I have some sacrifice throws but I don’t like using them in competition because if I don’t hit them I’m in a bad position

This isn’t looking for pity or sympathy. I’m not about that. I just wanted to show what effect the new rules are having on me.

The toughest part is watching my boys, my teammates, going to tournaments and competing and  not being able to compete.  Granted, I’ll admit, I did take a break  for a while to sort of clear my head and maybe that was a mistake, I dunno. but at least it was on my terms.   Now, I have to take a break because the rules basically won’t  allow me to compete. Since day one, I’ve been all about competition.

I’ll never quit judo. Its my life  and especially now even though it’s never been the driving force behind my  judo being  one (or two however you want to look at it) rank(s) away from achieving  my black belt , that would be a major accomplishment in my life

I’ve always been a kid that followed the rules and will continue to be, I just wish that these rules would allow me a greater opportunity to play within them

I can’t remember ever looking forward to the end of a year as much as I’m looking forward to the end of 2009(and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with a New Years Eve party). I really don’t have a problem telling you that ’09 was probably the worst year of my life. The latter part of the year especially, I haven’t felt like myself, I don’t even feel like I’ve acted like myself. I’ve been down,  battled depression, I’ve missed more workouts in this one year than I have in my first 4.5 years of judo  so, all in all ’09 pretty much sucked. That being said, as much as I’ve been looking forward to the end of ’09, I don’t think I’ve ever had more optimism about a year than I do with 2010. I can’t really put my finger on it, maybe just because the last yr was just so bad,  but I have a feeling that things will start getting better in 2010 (hope I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that)

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions,  I think they’re pretty stupid but I do have a list of goals both grappling and non grappling  for next year that I would like to share with you  here they are for your reading pleasure:

Grappling Goals

• Get Back in Shape- I’m ashamed to even type this it’s so clichéd and dumb but unfortunately, its true. I took a break from competing, missed a bunch of workouts, and stopped eating real healthy and that all adds up to where I’m at right now : somewhere in the 160’s in the worst shape I’ve  been in for probably about 3 years. So, hopefully this is the year where I can get in some really good shape to help me out in my “career” after all, as Karl Gotch once said “conditioning is our greatest hold”

• NE-WAZA , NE-WAZA, NE-WAZA- When you spend as much time fighting off your back as I do, you better be good down there, and I’ll be as honest as I can be, I’m not.  It’s hard because I cant really perform the natural ne-waza/Jiu-jitsu movements like  hip escapes/shrimping  but I want to try and develop a solid ne-waza game because I NEED to. I would like to say become dominant on the ground but that’s not realistic. I’ll say proficient. I would like to achieve my blue belt this yr if that’s possible

• Become a better coach – with the advent of the new IJF rules about no hand techniques below the waist, I’m not sure how much I’ll be competing anymore. (I’m not a big foot sweep, osoto, leg technique kinda guy) so, while I’m still going to train and compete a bit) one thing that I want to do is really improve my coaching/ teaching skills. As a SR rank in my club, it’s important to me that I’m there for my guys. Not only for the lower ranks and the other Brown belts but Tom and Tim (the black belts and lead instructors) aren’t done competing, they’re not retired and it’s important to me that they get time to train like they want so they can reach their goals and I want to be there to sort of take the teaching pressure off them if need be

• Get  Kata Guruma- the fireman’s carry   is by far my favorite throw in judo. I’ve practiced it for about 2 years now and this is the year I want to get it down even if I gotta change it up to fit the new rules

• WIN- that’s it.  If its judo, bjj, ..I just gotta win. 5 years is a long time

Non Grappling Goals

• Drive- I haven’t talked a whole lot about this on my blog but I’ve been told twice that I can’t drive by driving evaluators and coming up pretty soon I have an opportunity to test out an alternative type of joystick control and I’m hoping wishing and praying that everything turns out well. Driving would change my life for the absolute best and the next time you guys are driving down the street, please remember what a privilege it is  because I would give anything to have this evaluation turn out positive. Wish me luck!

• Finally Find work that I can do from my home to make some good money –Whether its my web design business *cough*DisabledGuyDesigns.com *Cough* or something else I want to be able to do something where I can make good money and be able to do it from home. I know , I know, who doesn’t? but not being able to drive really buts a hamper on employment and working from home is the best option right now.  I’m also a believer that with the internet being what it is today, there is no reason why you need to be chained to a desk to do good work and I’m also a believer in living the life you want to live (to an extent) So hopefully, things will pick up in that regard. If it does, I can meet another goal which would be to move out of my parent’s house. I’m 26, Sorry mom and dad but I gotta go!

Well there they are…Matt’s goals for 2010. I hope things go well and I’m fortunate enough to meet them all and I wish you guys the best of luck in meeting yours as well.

Happy (early) New year!

Matt

Bring on 2010!

Hey Guys:

Well, I guess I should get this out of the way, something kind of cool happened yesterday @ Practice, I was promoted from Sankyu (third degree brown belt for my non Japanese speaking friends) to Nikkyu (2^nd degree brown belt) . I’ve never been too overly concerned with rank, my main concern has always been improvement and making myself a better judoka but as much as I can say “it’s not a big deal”, I gotta admit, there is a small part of me that feels good that I’m thought to deserve that rank. So, like I said “kinda cool”

Something even cooler happened yesterday that I thought I should write about today. If you live in the Northeast like I do, then you know winter is officially here. After a rather warm start to the season, Jack Frost is not only nipping at our nose, he’s throwing full on haymakers straight to the face as the temperature top out at a rather “brisk” 28 degrees yesterday in Scranton and our academy, while hands down THE nicest martial arts facility in the area, is an old warehouse which does lend itself much in the way of heating, to be more blunt,..It’s friggen cold in there.

So, when I arrived for practice yesterday, I knew I would need to probably get a good sweat going. I’ll be the first guy to admit, I don’t like traditional warm-ups. If the whole club is doing them, then absolutely I’ll fall in line, but because there is a lot of things I can’t do, I normally favor something like a round or two of ne-waza (ground fighting)  to get the blood flowing. With that in mind, I threw my gi jacket over my hoodie and went looking for a partner and I had the perfect guy in mind…Matty.

Matty is a 7 year old in the kids that goes on before judo he and I have struck up a friendship. I like Matty a lot because he is all about Judo, and jui-jitsu  if you even ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he says “UFC champion.” He actually came up to me one day and “challenged” me to roll. A 6 year old (at the time) challenging a(at the time) 25 year old?…I liked that. He also says “help me get better”. I like that even more

So, I grabbed Matty and we start rolling, I knew Matty ,being seven and having “fought” him a bunch, would be nonstop motion and just having to keep up with him would help me break the sweat I wanted. As we were rolling together , I would very gently and very controlled throw him with a throw I have been working on perfecting for a while and as I kept doing the same throw over and over and over. I started to feel the mechanics of the throw start to come together for me and while the throw wasn’t always successful for me when I did it in practice a while later, I felt it might  have been a little more improved than before.

To me, this just re-enforces what we at Gracie NEPA Judo, try to impart on the guys all the time and that’s “randori is Free PRACTICE, it’s not Free FIGHTING”  You don’t have to go out and just Brawl every time you’re   on the mat..get a good flow work on technique.

One thing that I do for myself and that I try to impart on other people in my club is to view every opportunity on the mat as an opportunity to improve whether it’s in  Tachiwaza, Ne-waza, coaching, studying opponents…whatever just try to improve some area of your game every time you’re on the mat, even if you’re fighting a seven yr old.

I’ll probably write again before then but if I don’t, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and remember even though gifts and presents are cool, take some time to celebrate the real reason for the season or if you’re not religious, spend time with your family and those who love you most that’s what the holidays are all about.

Well, I thought since I am going to be designing web sites  as a profession now, I thought it was only right  that I design a new theme for my own personal blog so I put this one  together.  I really liked the camo header of my last template so, I kept that background (which was made by falconer designs) and put the lettering in myself.

I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I think it’s a little cleaner than the old one, which I like. It’s also a little more organized. For example if you go to the “poetry and creative writing” tab  you’ll see that there is now a drop down menu for all of my writings, which I hope to add to in the near future. I guess I’m so used to the old design it’s just hard to get adjusted to. If you guys want, leave me a comment and let me know if you like or don’t like the new design or if you want the old design back. I would appreciate the feedback on my work.

Hopefully, this fresh design is also a little bit of a fresh start for me both on this blog and in my practice routine and schedule.

First with the blog, I already mentioned that I want to add more writings and things to the “PACW” section. I also want to add more videos/  video  blogs to the site. I feel they are more versatile and I can bring you guys a variety of different things.

As far as practice goes, I haven’t been  at the academy for 2 weeks , which is by FAR  the longest I have ever been away from a mat but in a way  being away  has  been a good thing. This time away has allowed me to clear my head and realize how much I actually miss and love judo . It  has also given me  some thoughts on things I can do to improve so, maybe the time off has done me some good? We shall see.

Also, I have been talking to my friend Lance Wicks (of planetjudo.com  and judocoach.com fame)  as well as Mike Darter and we have been talking  about getting together and doing something pretty cool.  That’s  all I will say for right now but I will say that if this thing comes together it will be a cool thing for me and possibly help a lot of other people possibly Worldwide…Stay Tuned.

Oh, and if you do like the New design and you or your company needs a website, please stop by www. DisabledGuyDesigns.com. I’d be happy to design a site for you

Till Next Time

Thanks Guys,

See that little guy in the right hand corner right there? That is a black cloud and, for whatever reason, he seems to be like a permanent fixture hanging above my head lately. The past few months of my life seem to be some of the roughest I have ever encountered.  As comfortable as I have been my entire life with having a disability, I have come to realize that dealing with this disability and the limitations that come with it might not get easier as I get older.

Not being able to get a good job, not being able to drive, having to miss practice, not having success at judo/jiu-jitsu. These things have all sort of congealed together to form the black cloud.

First, let me say right up front, my family and my friends are the best. They are always there when I need them but they have their own lives too and they can’t run me from place to place. Plus, I’m 26 years old, I hate always feeling like I’m someone’s responsibility. I’ve tried the county transport thing and that was alright but they are so inconsistent with times either their  really early or really late and they don’t even run after 4:00 so, forget using them to get to practice. That is, if it’s worth going to practice.

A couple of weeks ago, I was coming home from a clinic with Tom and I started telling him about all the frustrations I’ve  had with judo lately (not seeing improvement, after all the losses not really wanting to compete anymore because I don’t want to have the bad feelings I’ve been feeling) and Tommy said “you have to decide what you want out of judo” and even before the words fully left his mouth in my head I said “to be a champion” and then as the conversation continued he said “you can definitely train judo without competing”  and my response was  “I’m not sure that I can”

I understand that there are many reasons people train judo and competing doesn’t have to be one of them but for me, competing was a huge reason I got into judo,  they wouldn’t let me compete when I wrestled and I need to find an outlet. I can’t get into judo for all the “metaphysical, spiritual enlightenment” reasons that others do. I view judo as a sport and if I don’t compete there’s really no end goal for me.

Judo is my life. It’s really the only thing that I do, and it’s one of the things I love the most in life and for me to have to admit that I may have to switch my focus, hurts. The ugly is truth that I have a competitor’s mindset in a “rec player’s” body and that’s a real tough pill to swallow

And to top it off, without going into too much detail, this past weekend after feeling so shitty, I just wanted to relax and have a good time and something happened to cause me to feel even worse about myself and I’ll just leave it at that.

So, as you can see, things haven’t exactly been sunshine and lollipops around here lately  but they might start getting better. Tomorrow I have an appointment for my 3^rd try at a driving evaluation and hopefully that test goes well and then I can start my road evaluations again.

I just need to put all my faith in God and hope that he can help clear those black clouds out of my skies.

There’s an old saying that says “Tough times don’t last, tough people do” I sure hope their right.

Thanks Guys,

I never really thought I’d get a tattoo. Sure, I’ve  thought about getting one before, thought  about some cool design, where I’d put it; things like that but I never thought I’d actually get one. Well, as you can see  by the picture on the right, I had a new thought and this past Saturday I went to “Mental Mayhem” on Linden St. in Scranton and I got my first tattoo.

Even though I never thought I would get one, I always knew that if I did, I would want one that somehow tied into judo. I also knew that I didn’t just want to get the word “judo” tattooed on me because that’s too simple. I also didn’t want to get two guys throwing because to those not in judo, it just looks like two  guys wearing pajamas, wrapped in a firm embrace  and I for one, didn’t want  to explain that to everyone.

So, I had to come up with something that was meaningful, and just the tiniest bit creative….Which led me to get the Kanji for the word “Ganbare” which is a command meaning “to persist” or simply “never give up”(and is also the overall title of this blog. Clever, no?)

I’ll be the first to admit, I think that the whole kanji tattoo thing is a bit overplayed. Primarily because a good majority of the people who get them, get them because they want to look tough or they want to look cool, they want other people to believe that they possess the quality that the tattoo implies  they’ll get Kanji for words like “Warrior”, “Aggression”  “Ninja” and “Strength”  tattooed on them and don’t get me wrong, some people do deserve these and so many others  but the vast majority are just posers who are just following a trend. Now, I know that might sound hypocritical coming from a dude who just got some kanji tattooed on him  but I know for a fact that I won’t give up and I’m just  talking about grappling either.

If I had given up on my rehab after every surgery, I wouldn’t have made the physical strides I have, if I had quit Boy scouts, I would have never made it to Eagle, and if My parents had given up on me, I would be in a home somewhere. So even though I might not have always known the word, “Ganbare” has always been a part of my life.

Another thing is, I have been going through kind of a tough time lately where I haven’t been able to make practice, while that might not seem like a huge deal, you guys don’t really understand how much training, getting better, and  being with my friends actually means to me. As corny as this sounds, I can look at my arm and think “keep pushing things will get better”

The tattoo really didn’t hurt at all beyond the initial plunge of the needle. I really love it. Someone told me that I should have gotten the characters up and down instead of side by side but regardless, I know the characters are correct, and I know what they mean so that’s all that matters.

Well, this has turned into a longer post than I wanted to about this tattoo. Thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you guys soon

Later,

Matt

Hey Guys:

I have written a few times about how hard it has been to get a job. Well since, for whatever reason, no one seems to want to hire me, I have decided to take a  leap of faith and “hire” myself.

I have started by own web design company called “Disabled Guy Designs”.We specialize in designing Wordpress templates.

Wordpress has become much more than a blogging platform and has involved into more of a portal where a wide variety of applications and plugins can be added to your site for maximum functionality.

I’m 100% self taught and learning more everyday. Hopefully, this is something that will take off for me but you never know if you don’t try.

If any one is interested in getting a site done please feel free to go to www.disabledguydesigns.com take a look around and if you see anything you like e-mail me: Marcinek66kg@gmail.com

Hey Guys:

I’m still here. I just haven’t had a lot of time to write or film videos lately. Things have been “OK” with me since I last wrote. We had Rick Hawn up for a clinic and it/he was awesome. Big thanks to him for coming up and putting that on for us.

My training schedule has changed a lot. My best Friend Tim has started training people in the afternoons so,  We have stopped training Jiu-jitsu in the mornings and there has been times where he can’t come and get me in the afternoon/evening  and my parents have been so busy getting my brother’s building ready for his new personal training studio to open that I haven’t been able to get a ride and I’ve missed more workouts in the past few months than I have in my first 5 years of judo. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry with Tim or my parents, they have do to what’s best    for their lives, I’m angry at the situation. I would give anything to be able to drive, but I’ve been through the evaluations twice before and I’m not able to do it apparently because of a peripheral vision problem caused by the CP that won’t let me keep the car straight. It’s just so frustrating if its not my balance, its my left arm, if it’s not my left arm now it’s my eyes seems like at every turn there’s some kind of road block as I get older with CP.

Since I haven’t been working out as much, my weight has gone up. I checked my weight yesterday and I’m 160lbs about 15 lbs over my normal weight. Which doesn’t make me feel good.

I don’t mean to sound so negative or down. I’m Just craving something I can’t seem to find…independence.. I just want a good job, which pays me a good salary, and will allow me to get out on my own.  I mean I love my parents and am thankful for all they have given me but I’m 26 years old and I’ve been in the same house, in the same room for 26 years  and its getting a little old. I do have some options on my plate, My strength and conditioning coach asked if I would want to get my trainers certification for crossfit, which I would, I’d love to train wrestlers, grapplers, fighters  but even though he told me I was an idiot for thinking this way, I’d feel weird having the same certification he does.

I’m thinking of starting my own web design business, I’m just having a real problem figuring the best way to set rates and services fees

My friend wants me to manage a potential business for him but I know that I don’t have a head for numbers and I don’t want to do something if I’m not  confident in my ability to do a good job.

I guess if this blog were Sesame Street, it would be brought to you by the words “confusion”, “uncertainty” and “frustration”

I know I’ve said it like a million times but I’ll try to write more if I get the chance

Later,