Because I live in a gym
Photo by @vagabondarchive
That’s my disclaimer for the time being. I’m never home because I live in a gym. I know I’m dedicated to the MMA lifestyle because I live in my gym. I am literally the brokest I’ve ever been and so I live in my gym.
It’s been six months since I began training for an MMA career. It hasn’t been a breeze but it has been the most fulfilling time in my life. There are accomplishments in my past that are fulfilling, yeah. But in terms of the process, the day-to-day life I have while achieving this particular dream of mine, I am truly enjoying it more than any other times.
I find it hard to speak about this life without comparing it to my former lifestyle— my life as a jiu jitsu competitor. It completely prepared me for this moment and this new chapter. I owe so much to it.
I’ve never been great with discipline. It’s a trait one can develop, but it really doesn’t stick for me. I am fueled by my emotions more often than not so I have to get around those damn feelings without slacking or finding excuses to not work hard. And success in jiu jitsu accepted no excuses from me during the past ten years. I had to find the difference between self care and distraction, when I was giving myself time to recover versus when I was just being weak or lazy. It’s a very thin line.
Photo by @vagabondarchive
Cobrinha showed me a life of discipline and guided me even at my most stubborn moments. We don’t always see eye to eye but opinions don’t matter when we’re talking about hard work. You either do it or you don’t. As a blue belt he made me so confident in my abilities and my future that I abandoned my search for a job and threw myself into the hustle of full-time bjj competition. This meant a lot of training, a lot of drilling, and no distractions beyond what was absolutely necessary like, say, my college courses. If you want your dreams to come true, do the work. Do it consistently, do it wisely, and do it with everything you have.
People like Cobrinha dedicate themselves to their work and their craft. It is truly their first priority. I’ve learned from these kinds of people, I’ve dated them, I’ve trained alongside them. And I’m not entirely like them. You could easily argue that what they seek is fueled by obsession more than just dedication. That’s another fine line. All of these people with his quality have success and those that have spent their energy guiding me along with them for however long at a time, I am grateful.
Passion is unique to everyone. Some are fine with just enough self-fulfillment, while others would set themselves on fire for what they love. The problem with my passion is that it spreads itself throughout my whole life. It does not exist solely on the mat. I feel passion towards writing, training, competing, eating, connecting with people, inspiring people. ALL OF IT DAMNIT. So it’s very hard for me to focus entirely on one aspect without leaving time for anything else. That’s why MMA is awesome because it’s more project oriented and if all goes to plan, you have fight camps that set apart times where your complete focus is expected. And it’s easier to tell your other commitments to hold their horses so you can be selfish for an allotted amount of time.
Let me paint the picture of my life right now:
My commute from my house to Black House MMA is about 1:20 in traffic on 3-5 freeways (think “The Californians” skit on SNL). It’s even longer when I drive home. So in order to cut down on the commute and to have better access to all my training, my friend Rebecca moved her tear-drop trailer down to the gym parking lot for me to sleep in like she did all last year in San Diego. I spend all my time in the gym, until I sleep at night.
I don’t need a full kitchen because I’m sponsored by Michelle Caraballo and her company Meals by Michelle. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, all prepared for me during the week. This is one of the most important sponsorships I could ask for because I don’t enjoy cooking and when I did meal prep, it was the same recipe divided into ten meals.
My training is set up for 6 days a week. I train striking with Juan Gomez, aka Brazilian Samurai MMA, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I train wrestling with Kenny Johnson of Bolt Wrestling every Monday and Wednesday. Friday is sparring day. Every training session starts at 10 and goes to about 12/12:30.
I train strength and conditioning at Standout Performance, which is in the back of Black House and actually closer to my trailer. The facility has both Rene Estrada and Matt Cooper of Rewire Performance as trainers available to me. I work with either of them at least 4 days a week. I’ve posted a lot of the workouts on my Insta so you can check them out there. Weird shit sometimes but it works and it’s completely geared to my body, my strengths, my goals. I also work with Ron of Synergistic Health time to time for recovery injury treatment.
I have training partners who are already professional fighters:
And fellow amateurs:
On the weekends I spend time with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law, usually by watching fights.
My life isn’t as glamorous or adventurous as it once was, gallivanting around other continents for months at a time, sleeping on couches, training wherever I wanted, competing whenever I wanted, teaching seminars.
Photo by @vagabondarchive
My life now is so centered on this goal of fighting MMA and I found an amazing team that has currently staved off my appetite for wandering. I train hard, I see improvement in every training session. I train like a professional and I haven’t even fought yet.
Speaking of which, my first fight will be at Spar Star Promotions 44 at the Commerce Casino on July 6. I’ll have more details later. It’s an amateur fight and begins the journey in the cage.
So I’m loving my life right now, despite having no money, no boyfriend, no back up plans, because I live in my gym. Haaaaaaa.
