11/02/2023
***Probably going to p**s people off with this one, but I don't care***
It's been a busy year so far. Took on a lot of hard challenges. Sometimes with success, sometimes not. But definitely more than beat the odds on more than one occasion.
This would normally be the point where the obligatory "I couldn't have done any of this without blah, blah, blah" would come in, but it's not. While I do have my training partners who gave my back and I'm thankful for every day, and even messages like in this picture, the majority of everything has by and large been an uphill battle, with most people telling me it's not worth the time and that I shouldn't bother. If it were random people on the internet, it wouldn't be a bother, but overwhelmingly, it's coaches and people who act like they're your friends. This year alone, I've been told by black belts that because of my age, it's not worth working on the holes in my game (like my stand-up), I've been prohibited from competing in some divisions because they were afraid I would win and they didn't want someone my age to do so, every victory has been seen as a fluke while every loss is a confirmation that they were right and every achievement has been devalued. At the same time, these same people have been asking me for money, insist I need to come to their seminars just to get ignored and a host of other things they want me to help them with.
So, I just wanted to make a post to make my stance here clear. The people who have been on my side through all of this, you guys rock and I'm going to everything I can to help you out, no questions asked. But the ones who think I'm not worth your effort, you're not worth my time or money. I'm not going to your seminar, I'm not going to give you money and I'm not interested in helping you out. Oh, and don't talk to me about giving you second chances, either. You've all already been given a second chance. For that matter, you've likely gotten the third and fourth ones as well, while I'm still waiting on the first one. To sum up, in the words of our lord and savior Craig Jones, "You can get fu**ed."