Читать книгу The Fighter Within. Everyone Has A Fight-Insights into the Minds and Souls of True Champions онлайн

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Some days, we had “king of the mats rolling,” which meant that we were split into two groups in a tournament-style set up. If you lost against any opponent, you were disqualified and did not proceed. Winning let you proceed to the next round until one man stood out as the king. I regularly did well but never won. My day came; I won the first round with a guillotine, which is a type of head lock submission that puts strain on the neck and chokes you at the same time. My second opponent was a big guy, about 250 pounds, and he was strong! He slammed me on my back. I guess he wanted to win just as badly as I did, and I knew I was in for a hard round.

I had him in my guard, which meant that while on my back I had my legs wrapped around his torso. It’s not the worst place to be, but also not the best, and we both knew it. He was trying hard to pass the guard and lock me in a submission to gain the advantage. But the beauty of jiu-jitsu, literally translated from Japan as “the gentle art,” is that technique will always conquer strength in the grappling realm. I went for an arm bar, swinging my leg across his face while holding his arm, which put tremendous pressure on his elbow joint and forearm.