There were no mats. Just little pieces of rubber flooring on top of cheap carpet. I was the least athletic of the three of us, and we had never heard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu before I got on the ground that very day 4 years ago. Kenny, a top shelf athletic ex-wrestler I had just been introduced to, mounted me right away. He smothered my face, pushing my body into the ground with his hips. Just as I could take no more, he suddenly slid off my chest, giving me room to gasp for air. However, that momentary relief was immediately replaced with the sharp pain of my arm being hyper extended in an arm bar. I tapped as fast as I could, yelping…
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
- Aristotle
——————————————————————————————–
Personal Development is something we take very serious at Yin vs Yang. We have found the best way to approach something serious day after day is to make it as enjoyable as possible.
With that in mind, and our perpetual creative urges in need of a fix, here’s our 1st video post featuring 2 of the co-founders discussing what Yin vs Yang is really all about.
If only we could agree ….
——————————————————————————————–
“Don’t set compensation as a goal. Find work you like,
and the compensation will follow.”
-Harding Lawrence
A little while back, my aunt mentioned to me that she had a Yin vs Yang moment one day. My aunt is an avid reader of the blog, but I was not sure what she meant by this. She explained that she was running on a treadmill, about to give up at the same time she always does, when she thought of what I wrote in a post. She sincerely said it gave her the strength to run longer than she ever had before. I smiled, as the compliment immediately inflated my head.
Then again, the other day, a friend of mine mentioned to me….
‘Dude, I had a Yin Yang kinda moment the other day.’
YinVsYang was created to help shed light on the internal battles we all have on a daily basis, but usually fail to vocalize with others. We wanted to open up our souls, and tell all of the things we silently tell ourselves to the rest of the world. We figured if we think like this, than it must be that other people do as well.
By understanding the way we all function inside, it will help us to better understand other people’s reactions as well. This helps us immeasurably in our daily lives. Each time you interact with people, your emotion subsides, and your understanding takes over. It leaves you calmer, with a clearer mind, and able to think from different perspectives. Instead of being mad at someone for how they are acting, you turn it around, by understanding their motives. This gives you the edge. The person who gets the most emotional is the person who is the most out of control.
If you are not a fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), or the UFC, then you probably have never heard of Lyoto ‘the Dragon’ Machida. However, you do not have to be a fan to appreciate his story. He is a wonderful example of the unlimited power of the mind, and I learned a lot about the human spirit from the story of his life. Here is a brief synopsis of his background from Wikipedia…
Lyoto Carvalho Machida (born May 30, 1978) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial arts fighter. Son of a Japanese-Brazilian Shotokan Karate master Yoshizo Machida, Lyoto is a rising star in MMA. He is currently ranked as the #3 light heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.
Every Jiu Jitsu class starts out with warm-ups, then some drills, a few instructional lessons, more drills, and live sparring which is called ‘rolling’. Yesterday, right as we were about to roll, I was matched up with a 4-stripe White Belt. White belt is the initial belt in Jiu Jitsu. After that it goes blue, purple, brown, and finally black. There is only one ‘red’ belt that I know of, and that is the absolute highest you can go.
I am a purple belt, which is about 4 years worth of experience. This 4-stripe white belt is only about a year and 1/2 deep in his experience. However, he is pretty good for his level. I have taught classes where he has rolled considerably well against higher ranked opponents. We slapped hands and just as we are about to start rolling, he leans in and says….
My family always taught me there are 3 major ingredients to success. When I was younger I listened to the words, but they never seemed to sink in. As I grew older, and life opened up to me, I realized these elements had a direct correlation to my success in anything I partook.
The definition of success can be different for everyone. The important part is that YOU and YOU alone are the judge of your success. When you look in the mirror every morning, it is only you who knows if you are successful or not. There are so many ways to be successful and even more ways to get there. However, even with all these differences, it is the same three P’s that are needed on every journey. No matter what your definition of personal success is, it is important to understand these elements if you want to see the big picture.
About 6 months ago, I decided to give up on my miserable, failing mortgage branch. I could have got a job somewhere to try and pay some of my bills but I was saddled with so much debt, I figured I might as well go for it all now. Plus, chasing money got me into this mess in the first place. I needed a change.
I had graduated film school only to wind up in the mortgage business trying to pay my bills. Lucky for me, I met my future partner, Chris, through a fellow friend and broker. Chris offered me the opportunity to get back involved in video, something I always wanted in the first place but was not ready to go after myself. This was my chance.
Today, I happened to catch the first 20 minutes of an interesting documentary about the life of the famous boxer Rocky Marciano. Being Italian, I always heard stories about Rocky Marciano and his undefeated record of 49-0. I knew of the legend, but never anything about the real story behind it.
The documentary was interviewing family and friends of Rocky when he grew up in Massachusetts. They all talked about his great work ethic, and his love of athletics. But the one thing they said about Rocky that always stood out, was something their parents always repeated to them in Italian…
….
