“If it doesn’t challenge you, It doesn’t change you”
That was the quote I read as I looked up tired as hell, gasping for air after being beaten and thrown around like a rag doll by Wrestling Coach Leister Bowling for 8-minutes straight at the MusclePharm facility here in Denver Colorado. Reading that quote was just what I needed to remind myself to stand up and keep going. He was going to try to break me and I knew that, coming into my first wrestling practice. Not even 5-minutes after walking into the doors, he quickly reminded me.
“Remember all that shit you were talking on the TUF Show Hill?” as he was getting his wrestling shoes ready.
“Oh yea,” I said with a lil smile, but really hiding a big “gulp” and my stomache sinking.
“Brought my shoes just for you today bud, hope your ready!” as he gave me a lil smile, yet intense nod back.
This guy was one of the most intense humans I have ever met. After the show I knew I needed to be coached by him, or at least someone like him. We just don’t have that where I train or in British Columbia at all that I know of. Wrestling in B.C. isn’t as big as it is here in America, and it’s a HUGE part of our sport right now. It’s a very dominant part of the game, if not the most right now. Of course you need everything else in today’s game to succeed, but the training, the practices, the grind, the technique, the athletes who go over it everyday and the coach to push you past your comfort level is a must. Or so I’ve come to put together in my career.
I had to find a way. I needed wrestling, I needed the best wrestling coach I knew. Coach Leister was it.
Here it goes, all that crap I talked I was about to get it fed right back to me. I knew I needed to get through whatever it was he was going to put me through to gain his trust and more importantly his respect. Not just from him, but my future training partners as well. If the grind is not feared, but yet welcomed, who knows what you can accomplish.
Yup, I’m in Denver, Colorado. The secret is out!
I have been here for 5 days already and love it. I am very excited for my new journey and very happy with my decision so far. The plan was to head out to Albuquerque, New Mexico with Jackson’s MMA and help fellow teammate and Season 16 TUF winner Colton Smith for his upcoming fight. That was the plan for the last 3 months while I was up North working in the oil fields after my last fight against Ryan Dickson.
Very few people even knew I went up North to work. I told my coach, a few friends and off I went. 60 days straight in an oil camp.
Instead of taking time off, letting loose a bit, getting off my diet, you know all the things most fighters do after a BIG win, I was going to put myself through a different type of training. I would put my body through a different type of rest, a different type of physical, and mental toughness. I would keep strict to my diet and work on small training tools that would revamp my body. I was headed to what I heard was a very harsh climate. I was headed to work in icy cold temperatures, the snow and freezing numbing winds. I didn’t know anybody and all I ever heard about up north were horror stories.
But the money, that big pay cheque. That’s what drove people to this kind of work. That’s what I needed to go after the next chapter of my life as a martial artist. I respect anyone who can handle that type of work. It was the closest thing to the old days of being a man. The modern Gladiators, Spartans, and Vikings. They grinded in this type of weather, trained, worked, ate and man they were tough — FEARLESS! I knew being in an atmosphere like this for that long would make me even tougher; both physically and mentally.
To develop an even thicker layer of skin I needed to do this. To accomplish more goals of mine, to pursue my dream and to be paid while braving a new experience — why not? No work out, or training can provide this type of toughness. The main part to achieving this was to be repetitive. I needed to do a long stretch of work, with no breaks. If i heard of my next fight, any trash talk or stepped in Toshido MMA on days off, I wouldn’t go back. The atmosphere up there never holds up, it never gives you a break. It’s always there, and thats what was next for me.
I had enough of trying to find sponsors. Had enough of the financial stress playing a game leading into big fights. I wanted to travel the world, to train with the best and become a true martial artist. I was on a different level and I needed to continue to be a fulltime fighter. I needed to be around other full time fighters, that were going through the same daily grind as I was. You need that if you want to succeed right? To get better? So i took the hard way. Seems like I’ve always taken the hard way in life, but look where it’s gotten me. It’s made me who I am so far, so it wasn’t really my most epic idea, but it was the hard road, rather than the easier one. There was light at the end of this tunnel though. I would be even stronger, and more determined than ever. I would have what I needed to feed the fuel to my own fire, and finally take myself places I’ve always wanted to go. I would be comfortable knowing my home was safe in Kelowna, I wouldn’t have the worry in my next camp of the “what ifs” with financial stress and I’d get a chance to travel a bit to see how things are done elsewhere in the world.
So I got back home after a long stint of work and after helping a good friend of mine prepare for a fight. Traveled to Vancouver directly off the plane to renew my passport and travel documents. Traveled back to Kelowna to help my teammate Matt Dwyer in his final preperation for his BFL fight. Packed my training gear, a bag full of clothes and waited for my Visa. The Visa was the last piece I needed before I was off to Albq, NM and for some reason it was late. The day I was suppose to get my Visa, was the day I got a phone call with a wonderful lady named Francesca Parker. It was a phone call that changed my life and not just that but my whole travel plans.
Francesa Parker is the wife of Scott Parker. Parker (Parksy) as us hockey boys would call him, played in the NHL. He played for the Colorado Avalanche and the San Jose Sharks. Parksy was a Stanley Cup Champion here in Colorado with the team in 2001 and his whole career he was one of the most feared enforcers in the game. They Called him “The Sherrif”.
Before the NHL, Parksy played his junior career in Kelowna, playing for the Kelowna Rockets. His best friend from those days, and still continues to be, is also a good friend of mine, more like a BIG brother figure. He has helped me throughout my career and always seems to have the answers. I like to call him BIG L. It was BIG L’s birthday and I had put a picture up on my facebook wall thanking him for everything and saying goodbye. That picture was the reason I got a phone call. Parksy and his wife had seen that picture all the way in Denver and she would have to tell you herself. But from what I got from talking to her is that she felt something. Something amazing in me and that her family here in Denver could help me reach my dreams. We spoke and it just so happened Francesca has been great friends with Performance Specialist, elite strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow, who was also Parksy’s trainer, and coached on Team Carwin. Again, another trainer I knew I needed after being on The Ultimate Fighter. He has been the one trainer I look up to when it comes to specializing in athletes. I have followed all his blogs and been dying to take some of his courses. But to be trained by Loren, oh man, that would be a dream come true!
Both these great coaches and Denver Colorado had one thing in common — TEAM CARWIN! The team on TUF that coached opposite to my team. How would that go over? I thought to myself. I was already off to Albq, NM with one of my teammates from the show already, I had the next 3-months planned out. Easy, all said and done — or I could choose the hard way. Face my fears, and head to be with two coaches and many great athletes out in Colorado that I’ve always wanted to train with and learn from. The chance of rejection was a chance I was willing to take. A risk not many would. I had this wonderful opportunity to live under the same roof as a professional athlete, a Stanley Cup Champion, an enforcer and one of the baddest dudes on the planet. A mentor to many young athletes in the Av’s organization and a huge role model and hero to many not just in Colorado, but all around the world. I got goosebumps, very nervous, but so excited at the same time. I knew this was the right thing to do, or at least I had to give it a shot. I would regret it if I didn’t, it was my path.
I flew to Colorado two days later on a Sunday and ever since I arrived I have been loving it more and more each day. The Parker’s are such a wonderful family and it’s nice to have a support system in such a big new city. They are truly amazing and the late night talks with Parksy about his career, or the morning talks about life with Francesca already have taught me so much. The doors they have opened for me with the coaches here, I am truly blessed. It goes to show what positive thinking and dreaming can actually do for one. The athletes have been nothing but great to me. One fighter more than others, Neil Magny, from Team Carwin, him and I had that little beef on the show and he was the one guy I needed a yes from or else I would of turned myself around and find somewhere else. He has been absolutely great with me. Always helping with directions, pushing me through workouts and helping me up off the ground with positive words when I’m down and out after a tough wrestling practice (this elevation in mile high city is no joke). He’s made me feel welcome, by talking to me about his move out here and it only shows with his success so far in the UFC. I’m still settling into my new home and always love waking up knowing I’m going to train with studs like Nate Marquardt, Magny, Cody Donovan, Elliot Marshall, Brandon Thatch, Cat Zingano and others. I forget their names because there are just so many studs out here. I count down the minutes until I get to go see Coach Loren for a hard conditioning session, sparring with these guys, or my next wrestling session. All I want to do is learn, learn, learn. Coming home to hear more stories about Parksy’s career, the help or words I might need to hear about my own life questions or just hanging out with such an amazing dude talking hockey or fighting. I am so thankful for this opportunity so far.
I can’t wait to share some of the stories the family has shared with me or the crazy signs of the spirtual side I have already encountered. The training I am going through and when my next fight will be. I can’t wait to fight again. To put on for my family, friends, fans and all my true supporters. Until the next blog, I’M OUT! Work hard, dream big, don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t do something, hold that rope, and NEVER GIVE UP! – The Messenger Follow Michael Hill on Twitter@mmamike and keep up with him on Facebook.
