NAGA

Soooo I just fought a very successful tournament, let's recap that, I was a nervous wreck the night before, pacing around in my room listening to Rise Against and sweating bullets, heart was pounding like a jackhammer, I ate and went to sleep. I woke up, picked up my favorite person in the world, my best friend and someone who I think of like a little sister, we went to the tournament, spent the whole ride shaking and listening to gangsta rap music. Nervous. As. Hell. I didn't know what to expect today. I got there, signed in, and immediately sought out Shark, I found him, felt a little better. Found the Twins, they reassured me, relaxed me, made me feel better about this. I relaxed, listened to the rules, and waited. First match up, heart was pounding, head was chaos, ref said go, that was all out the window, calm, level head. I pulled my opponent into my guard, listened to Jeff and Kevin, I got a triangle, I held it deep, adjusting and working for the choke victory, I had to let it go and attempt an armbar, almost got passed, replaced my guard, held, match over, won by points. I started riding the high from that, next I went up against this guy that won his first match with a triangle, pulled my guard, wrapped my legs around him, started listening to what Shark told me, play with the rules, he clamped himself onto me so I started fienting submission after submission, go for the guillotine, let go, go for the kimura, armbar, triangle, don't let him do anything, fight ended 0-0, they stood us up, the refs talked, they gave it to me by Agression Advantage. I chilled for a while, found out there were 3 guys in my gi division, one was a teammate, him and I talked, we didn't care who won and who lost, we fought, I played the game, pulled guard, broke posture, cinched in a kimura for the submission victory, and turned right around and cheered for him as he won his consolation match against the other guy for 2nd place. Got the awards, I was ecstatic, my first tournament that I won ever. I watched some teammates go and left. Had lunch, goofed off, went home and chilled.

So I'm writing these once a month now, it's a project Sensei Pineda suggested to me but now I got a surge of inspiration, hopefully I get better at this but here is my first article!

The Epics We Create
By Chris Fagan

Recently the word "Epic" has been used by a couple associated groups within the high school "Social groups" that those of us sometimes feel the need to classify ourselves as. I make it a hobby of mine to understand such things as slang and the odd handshakes and hand motions done by teenagers because I am still learning how to be social. But I have been thinking deeply about this word Epic. "Epic" used as a descriptive phrase by an "Anime Kid" or a "Rocker" or whatever you choose to call yourself seems to be synonomous with "Awesome" or "Amazing" or other such phrases. But I have been thinking, getting my inspirational juices flowing fast. And I have decided to be Epic, what I mean is that I read and watch and play through alot of stories that are called epics. Tales of heroisim and lore, tales of battle, of death and glory. And when I'm training, preforming, fighting, I live these epics. So what I'm directing at my fellow teens is don't say it, don't just use it as a phrase, become epic. Use it as a way to comprehend the messages that your role models are telling you. The mentors that you have, the people that you admire most, whether it be your parents, your relatives, teachers or for me Masters. They're HARD to get, believe me. I've been up scratching my temples at night. But use being Epic as a way to define the belief that you can be whatever you want. I've said it before, dreams are what make us great. Be Epic my fellow teenagers, be what you want. Be what you really are, the bright lights burn inside. Bring them out to illuminate the darkened skies, let this belief that you are great, no, this knowledge that you are great burn through all that would seek to chain you to the ground. Rise up, show the world that YOU ARE EPIC. This goes for anyone from the ages of 3 to 30,000. Don't just think I'm inspiring the teenagers today folks! Chris's insprirationalness is all age appropriate! (Yes I just made up a word, I tend to do that!)

When I train I lose my mind, literally, I go into another place. I don't see what normal people see, I see fire, I see flames. I see the broken enemies behind me and the new foes to be faced. I see the endless horizon. I live the epics, I envision myself as the Leading Man of a great epic (There's that word again) a Hero. We're all heroes, creating our own epics every day. We create our stories as we live life, every step we take putting our marks in the pages of time. Comedies, Tragedies, Epics, Love Stories, no matter what we write, what you want to write. Living in that fantasy world can erase the negativity of the world from your sight. Your girlfriend may have broken up with you, but you're the leading man of the story! It's not the end, it's just time to seek out the new horizon. You're not making the money for the bills, misery loves company, don't allow that to bring you down. Use the power of your determination and pull through.

Being Epic does not mean living in a fantasy world and being all about dragons and fire and swords like me, I'm just crazy. Being epic is being yourself, being epic is being the best of YOU. Daniel will be the best of Daniel. Chris will be the best of Chris, Jane will be the best of Jane. You get the picture, being epic is a way to tell yourself "yes I can" (To all in TMAC you will laugh that I bowed my head a little when I typed that...) being epic is being you at not 100%, not 150%, being epic is being you at ONE THOUSAND PERCENT. Tell yourself that the world in all of it's fury cannot bring you down. Who has the right to tell you that you could never be a rock star, sports star, or whatever you want? When I walked to class one day with my white belt on one of my "friends" saw me and started laughing chiding that I can't fight. Well, now I'm a Black Belt testing for 1st Degree in 2009, I think it's to be expected that I can fight just fine and dandy. Have a passion? Do it. Be EPIC. Or as those who play the online games say. Be 3P1C!