BTG 38 - Tom DeBlass

[Music] hey guys what's going on I'm David Ave on with my co-host Robert Drysdale and today we have a very special guest three times a TTC national American champion I believe you're the only one to have accomplished that UFC veteran belt or veteran and soon to be and one FC Tom their loss Tom thank you for joining the show thank you for having me man - I would say one America actually two American legends right I mean I guess Robert it's like half and half but two legends nonetheless you know I'm a hybrid you know I went to start off Tom because I followed you on social media for quite a while and it seems one of the strong themes that I've gotten from you is that you're fiercely an unapologetically loyal to your your family and I'm not just talking about like blood like children or what them but to like your inner circle you know and to me that's something that I respect a lot I like people who are very loyal myself I've been with the same team coaches and people around me for my whole life I've never really had to switch camps or anything and I think that's something that kind of lost in today's generation that's always looking now for like what's in it for me you know like and moving around a lot so I just wanted to pick your brain a little bit and why you came up that way the merits to that you're right man I am you know I I think one of the reasons is like I've gone too much to respect with the people that I'm close to so they're very loyal to me so in return up you know I'm loyal to them back but I also like you said like I think it's like kind of like in an older way of looking at things like my professor recorder like we haven't always been eye-to-eye on everything but he was just my teacher you know and I saw something today do I forget what show it was from it was like a world-renowned professor in college and he was like listen if you miss one class or if you're late to one class I'm dropping you agreed relate to kook two classes I'm dropping you to grades and like the kids were like oh this is not how we learn nowadays like you need to understand you know mental health and this and that and another student that was there like raise your hand I said listen you're standing among like one of the world's best just shut up and listen you know and I think now like that's what I did coming up through the ranks the my teacher said jump you know I said how high I'm not saying that's the right thing but that's just how I was and I always knew my day would come if I stuck with it long enough you know and and I was able to build that loyalty from my own students but uh yeah I think nowadays is pretty crazy you know it's just like I get attacked on social media by blue belts like every day you know it's like like I couldn't imagine like when I was like coming up through the ranks like just like you know making a status like talking [ __ ] about like Ricardo or like hands-on but like you know everybody has a voice nowadays it makes things entertaining I am very much more old-school in that sense where I don't like so much I'm kind of like it's different because you know I do talk a lot about respect but I'm also like you see some of my poster like man this guy like who is this guy is he a nice guy or is he a maniac and I think it just depends on who I'm dealing with no uh sometimes I'm I'm very kind and sometimes I'm not but I I don't like the [ __ ] talk and that's why I like one Fc cuz I'm not really into the trash talk and stuff like that that's not who I am you know yeah I definitely like the one Fc angle and I was pretty cool that I saw that you decided to jump in there I think well we were talking to Mohamed yesterday Muhammad Ali and you would say he don't want to be in the UFC and he dropped his other mask croatians partly because he didn't like the [ __ ] talk culture I was like maybe one us he might be for you because I like the like you said it's a different environment I hadn't read actually a story from Eddie Alvarez you know he got picked up I went to see and on his first fight in there he ended up losing and he was used to I guess Western culture and you see where have you lost they tossed you aside and Jeannette was up and he was expecting that but instead he got invited to retreat with all the 1fc fighters and he was touching a taut tree and all the other guys and they treated him still like he's actually a human being he's like to him it was such a foreign experience and I'm reading that I'm like that's so sad that that's the way it is right now you know we're the fighter the commodity in the u.s. where you're only as good as your last fight and the moment you lose it's like hit the road pal or you got to prove yourself again you know and I hate that part of fighting where like particularly you have someone powerful like they know ye who he has done great things for the sport I get that but at the same time there's certain things that sours me like if you watch some of his shows like the fight you want to fight with Dana White that series that they want you to essentially to [ __ ] yourself and do anything you can to impress at the boss instead of focusing on like winning the fight and to me I agree and man like the American fans are really mean you know it's like it you know it's crazy because all the people who talk a lot of [ __ ] like the fans after a fight or losers or whatever like they really never done it their self you know what I mean and until you understand the heartbreak of not even like meant for me personally like if I have a bad training day like if I'm sparring and I have a bad day like that affects me like it really it ruins my day you know and it's like I just never found pleasure and kicking someone when they're down you know it's just not who I am and 1fc isn't like that mainly even in the crowd it's like it's quiet you know like when the athletes are fighting in Chachi he's the one we developed a friendship and he's the one who invited me personally like he messaged me and and it's just they're just an amazing organization that even after I'm done fighting I I hope to work with them still you know like I run a TCC North America I would love to do something with them figure something out and uh you know I believe in my brand I'm always building my brand and always trying to become better somehow jiu-jitsu is like a tool for me to have a voice you know and I never thought I'd want to fight again but this quarantine really like man it got me so upset you know like over the last few months like people's lack of compassion for businesses failing and and and people losing their livelihood I just you know it it it upset me you know and it just brought back a fire that I didn't know I had so we'll see I'm not going in there saying I'm gonna do this for that oh I'm just gonna fight hard that's all I can promise you know when lose or draw I'm gonna give my best that's awesome man like that's how old are you Tom I'm 38 you know and ironically I I feel I was always more of a stand-up fighter when I fought him I may believe it or not and uh I got that old man strength I'm cracking pretty hard you know it's uh it's interesting I never took too much punishment you know I never been knocked out so I mean the two fights I've lost in my career were tough decisions my training sessions were probably where I took most of my my have most of my Wars and I don't plan on having gym wars anymore I'm too old I don't feel like in cussing anyone and I don't feel like getting concussed one of the reasons I stopped fighting in the past because I would knock out a lot of training partners and these were my friends that I was knocking out and and one day I woke up on that man what you're hurting people that love you you know what I mean and it just I didn't like it you know it it affected me but now no one believes me yet my training partners and I'm a different man to spar with but I'm I'm doing things differently this I just want everything to be positive I'm not getting involved in the drama the [ __ ] talk I don't want anything nothing but positivity I'm kind of picking and choosing and creating my own camp like I talked to Lovato talked to Rashad Evans talked to King mo you know these guys are all willing to help I got some monsters of my place and we'll see what happens you know well you mention like I always wanted to fight and pride that was always my dream and now one of taken they're not originally from Japan but you know they still share a lot of the same fanbase I believe and above all they share that culture and I couldn't agree more with you guys about the the air of respect you know that you get in the place like that we're talking with Muhammad Ali about this so he goes in the West it's always view as a bar fight you know a fight is a bar fight honor percent met it's a ceremony no matter how you try to win lose or draw you're gonna get so much respect and love from the fans and I don't think you should be fighting for that you know I don't think that's not that should not be the reason why you get into a cage and fight but it is nice to know that the person and they who are you are trying to entertain and you're risking your life for doesn't actually hate you you know I think that's always been like the average UFC fan is that you get actual hate from them and I'm like it's like how dare you speak how do you think you are to attack that person in there who's risen what are you and what have you done and what are they then normally and you don't have to dig very deep it's always like you know it's it's like wish he had it you know he's he is admiring you but he doesn't know how to admire you with nice words he only knows how to admire you by insulting you but it is a form of admiration even if it's we don't always take it that way but I think it's I think that you know as much as I dislike the Western crowd and that sort of noise and crash talking I think that we have to also develop the maturity to see that that's the only way they understand it's the only way they know of saying I admire you because at the end of the day they're talking about you all right so it is a form of that's that's one to be indirect that's one thing you're right about like ah you know one thing I realize is like the more like when we had that we posted I posted a training session as soon as a quarantine started and it was like 10 people there right five of the people didn't train they just lifted and five of the people lived together bro we got mauled and attacked online by like people lost their mind you know and that month my DVD sales were the highest they've ever been and it was very ironic that that was the most hate that I've I literally that was the first time I wasn't ready for the hate it was like man was crazy like I've been I deal with haters daily but this was like out of control you know and I was like wait a second there's other guys posting training pictures the same day as we did but we're the ones just getting obliterated you know it was probably cuz Gordon was in the picture to be quite honest but I I don't know I was confused you know and it's like at the same time after talking about you they're keeping you relevant you know but for sure like I've never had anyone yet in person you know see you know III every I'm pretty sure a lot of the people who talk bad about me in person they take pictures with me or they just put their head down and walk by but you know I I hope that they could find some sense of self-worth or happiness or just to remove the hate that they have in their life because I know me personally I don't hate on anyone like even my enemies I don't hate on them like I don't care who accomplishes anything like I'm never watching somebody fight and wishing that they lose I just don't do that because I feel accomplished you know I'm happy with who I am and I hope that people who find pleasure and kicking people and they're down you know hopefully they could find the same sense of accomplishment so they don't have to do the same but it makes it feel better whatever man I don't care it's pretty it's a pretty miserable experience if your highlight your day is watching somebody lose you know or a team lose their easy yeah it's a it's a very negative outlook on life and we says a lot about yeah I mean in the way but you know I went to get back to the one Fc thing to what you guys were talking about with the crowd that's one part of it to me the other part that I like about it is that the the values being promoted by the organization are congruent with what we should be promoting as martial artists right honor you know shocky doesn't even want you saying that I have well this is what I heard you didn't tell me personally here's even want us to call it a fight he wants us a call it a competition you know like I've never met a promoter like this guy you know like I have like he's just a good dude man you know and you're right he's the one that creates the culture right because people are gonna follow his lead and I'm sure how hard would it be if like the fighters started coming out and acting a little bit brash I'm sure that it will be fairly easy to get the fans behind them and to kind of change the culture but if the leader keeps the culture the way it's supposed to be the people will follow and I don't really like to follow anybody I marched on my own beat but I'm gladly proud to follow Shari's vision and I'm gonna just saying this because I just signed I just love what he's doing he's a man that I could learn from he's a man that you know he he's accomplished so much in his short life and he didn't come from anything and and he still say it stays true to himself you know he wears his g-shock he drives with Toyota wears jeans and a t-shirt and that's it man you know and it's pretty awesome to see it carries through to the fighters and then it carries through to the fence yeah I just like that they're espousing what I consider the virtues of martial arts you know honor integrity and respect because it seems to me like it's very like it's jarring to me when we have the UFC and they promote all the trash talk and it's very like you know Robert said it's like a bar fight WWE style promotion which obviously works right like we can argue that it doesn't work but it's kind of conflicting with what we're supposed to be doing with martial arts right because if we want these people to train you know I don't want them to train with anticipation oh you know to be a good father you got to talk a lot of crap you know good tattoos all over yourself you know and you know always think all people like that's not what the martial arts was about you know to me and you get people like when I announced that I'm I'm sorry I signed like a man I had like some guys that like they're like all on one or like never even father I want to fight you like bro like who are you like like don't talk like prove yourself earn your spot you know and get there if you want to fight get relevant enough like through actually winning right to where yeah okay then we could stand across from one another until then like just that's the thing man everybody thinks they it's you know I'll compare trash talk to a he look right everybody thinks they could he'll hook their way to the top so nowadays you find blue belts not working on fundamentals because they're never gonna fundamentally armbar a black belt but they can catch that he lock right so instead of winning multiple titles instead of earning your way to the top if I just pissed someone off enough or bring enough attention to me maybe I could get that big money fight but do you really want to be the guy that is known for running his mouth and doesn't win you know it just makes a mockery of himself like for me personally I cannot sell my soul you know like III know that there's I know I'm not always listen I'm a big Jesus fan and I love Jesus because I need Jesus I fell daily I make mistakes daily I'm a maniac you know and that's one of the reasons I have a lot of loyal people to me you know because they know I'm a good guy to have in their corner but I I do my best to try to become better and a lot of people don't you know like I I know there's kids looking at me that like I'm an example to them you know what I mean and I have my moments but overall and I don't think you could say like I've done anything I've never like talked bad about an innocent dude or like attacked somebody for no reason like I just that's just not in me man you know like but a lot of people they don't care you know it's just who they are and all it is is the like we said right any any talk of relevance is just it makes you relevant so some people don't care if they're hated or loved you know it and it is what it is but sometimes people like you get guys like Dylan that yeah I don't know he's in his own world you know whatever I'm not talking about about him but like she still doesn't get like tons like he gets hate but not tons of hate which I it's mind-blowing you know I could I could never imagine saying or do it like if I did some of the [ __ ] that he did I couldn't even if the internet would explode I couldn't even imagine you know well we're living at a time where people confuse information with formation you know I think two things conflated so you get these internet experts that I can talk trash and they like to try to put other people down and they think they can tell you it's the blue belt that yeah I just said he wants to skip the fundamentals because he's got it down right he's got a phone that has a YouTube app so in his mind he's an expert and and I think it's a reflex of of Millennials and a young generation in general whereas you know we I don't I don't think that having information makes you an expert is being able to digest information and be critical of it makes you an expert right like I pick a video I can watch a video you guys can watch a video you can pick it apart like this guy knows what he's talking about I can listen him for 15 seconds and I know this guy's thought would know if he knows what he's talking about if he's a fraud where is the blue belt is watching that video and he's going I like this guy I'm gonna repeat what he says because he speaks it with confidence it sounds like he makes sense and anyone who knows anything about martial arts is like man you have no idea what you're talking about yeah and the internet that has that power to do that to make everyone in an expert in it's it's kind of like it's a detriment of critical thinking you know which is really what experience will give you don't get this without you know experience and fans are fans man like they don't have that so they just want to pretend that they do you know it's the it's the it's the zeitgeist you know it's a it's the current age we're living in and it's it's unfortunate but I don't think it's gonna get better man I think it's just no bro it's not you know your worst it's the age where you're driving down the street and kids don't move out of the way on their bike because they think that they don't have to that's the age you're living in they they're there's not very much respect you know they don't respect the time put in they don't respect like it's crazy man like I remember actually like Robert I believe I was with 2007 I believe I actually placed the money I was a brown belt and I think you were in the finals or Hajer and then before that David you were like I was a white belt like I brought like like a nobody and you were just like killing everybody in like grapplers quest and grapplers quest super fights back then like all the big dogs like everybody like drama C's Shan ji ricardo Almeida probably you Robert I'm not sure everybody like how grapplers quest super fights by saying you know so I remember thinking like like even for me not to be in this podcast is like wow like this was pretty awesome you know what I mean because I always just have that unless someone like disrespects me right I'm always gonna have that respect for the ones who came before me that's just how I am you know so I you know you guys like people look at me as an OG I'm a baby compared to you guys you know what I mean and it's like you guys are women and [ __ ] before I even want anything you know they'd be like literally before I even started training like Rob you were a world champion let it go baby you were like competing in a DCCC when i was like a blue belt this crazy man you know and that's something that i appreciate but now it is like you you and they all the ones who talk should kind of all look the same like it its course it like i just know what they're gonna look like when i click on their profile like and it's just like man like where they train I feel like I couldn't imagine one of my students doings you know and we you know we could say Gordon this Ned quarter is not my student let's let's not get it you know I love Gordon is like a brother I scratch my head and we've had many many many disagreements about how he goes about things you know but my own students right like if I had a blue belt and and one thing we say about Gourley he listen and a good what he does but the kid he wins I had a blue belt who's never done anything like just viciously attacking like Carlson Gracie online I'd be like bro what are you doing right now like stop I would be a perso apologetic I would like I would message it I'd be like man like it's just and you're right it's not gonna get better it's not you know it's it's unfortunate I think well we have and as time goes on we have less consequences for making mistakes right and that's a bad thing you know a lot of people think oh the more lenient you are people can learn from their mistakes it doesn't really work that way right man the more lean you are it means the more people gonna get away with things you know it's like it's a try to give a kid a long leash and see what happens you know like they're gonna go and go wild because they're always gonna test the boundaries and if the constant quest is mild it's a good it doesn't really even matter you know like just to give you an example from my own life I know like and you know when you put those road signs on the street for like advertising you're not supposed to do that right but when you find out please back like when we were doing this like 15 years ago for my gym is that they would warn you like five times and then the penalty was like 10 bucks an hour yeah it's cheaper than advertising so like we'll put these things up anywhere and you know we just live in the streets of it we would go we had teams at midnight there was just planting signs everywhere you know and it was cool because the consequence was minimal but uh it's the same thing now like you know I feel like I think sometimes I get into it my girlfriend because we have arguments and I'm like if you were a dude you would have your ass beat so much you've been getting away with that's a guy you say sometimes to get your ass kicked you know but nowadays that's not even true you know like no like you slide well here's the I had somebody come on my post yesterday it was a craziest thing and he just viciously started attacking me and accusing me of taking steroids and then he wanted to drop a contract that we bet each other that if he if I got tested for steroids like he gets 5000 of I lose they're like you wanted to make this contractual agreement and just calling me names attacking me and then I had some of my followers attack him back when he got attacked back this guy was Tom this is the kind of man you are you let your followers talk to me this way it's like bro you just attacked me for 30 minutes and and literally like it's crazy like people can literally say I remember one time somebody pirated my DVDs right and I know a lot of people so I was able to get this dude's IP address and get his address his phone number and everything and I posted it online I said listen this guy is a thief I was the bad guy for posting this how dare you post his information I'm like bro this guy literally like pirate and five thousand dollars worth of my DVDs and now I'm the piece of garbage you're like I just don't understand this way of thinking but this is the world we live in you know it's people could say whatever they want do whatever they want and then if there's any consequence whatsoever oh they're offended you know it's like you started this war like don't don't start this you know just let me let just let me let me be be nice why are you busting my Chinese you know you know you guys just reminded me of an idea I had for a TV show like every time someone talked trash about like a fighter on line we would track the guy down show up with the TV crew to his house and knock on his door playing video game all day opens the door I would too I would I would pay for it too like it's something that I've learned to accept them and that's sad that I've learned to accept this because this is just the way people are you know I just just like I want to jump in because this I can kind understand what I was a teenager I just talk a lot of [ __ ] online I I couldn't understand the mindset because I think when I was like 16 there were these forums the odd noise that no holds barred 400hp here sorts of snap and really they were it was about people that I admire you know I deep down I admired them and I'm thinking man that guy's a badass but he's not my friend so I talk [ __ ] about him and all I was looking for was some love I think that's what it came down to I just needed someone I admired to say hey man you're you'll be okay man just train hard and you're gonna make it right but at some point you snap out of it you go it's only two ways to go about this I'm either gonna become like my hero or I'm just gonna die a hater for the rest of my life you know so it's like it's a make or break and I think a lot of these people are just disgruntled and unhappy because they have an expectation to be someone and they just don't they just don't pull the trigger you know so like I get attacked every now and then you know like you know it's something you deal with I actually messaged them privately like hey man you know I try to send him a positive message and just be cool with him instead of like giving him hate back and talking trash which I'm not good at to begin with you know just try to give them a positive message okay man hang in there you'll be fine you know just train hard you'll be surprised like 90% of them are like yeah man you're really cool I apologize yeah and the other 10% don't respond yeah they're filing because they're too embarrassed respond but 90% of them just wanted some attention that's all he wanted I know it's uh you're right I had someone message they I remembered he emailed me really positive like a few months back but I I didn't get to it and then today he teeth out of nowhere like attacked me so I screenshot I went back to his email and I screenshot her like wow there's such a such a contradiction and what you had to say about me two months ago compared to today you know on some time it's like you know people also get their feelings hurt if they mess it could be surprised like sometimes people hate on you because maybe like you were at an event and they wanted to take a picture with you but you just didn't realize that they did and you ended up walking right by them and they create this issue in their mind that doesn't even exist I have I had students before I would be on my phone they walked through the door I didn't say hi and then you know they think I'm upset with them or mad at them and just me being like me I don't think like that as a dude but a lot of guys are very very sensitive you know and in little things that you don't realize like they're like there was one hater in particular that I had I like him his name is Hank and we follow each other now and he hated me bro and and I'm like what did I do to make this guy hate me so much but then I realized he trained at the last no you worlds there was a really really bad call with one of the rest of my students and I try to compose myself but this was really bad and and I lost my [ __ ] a little bit you know I got super upset with this referee he trained with that ref so that was the reason why he hated me because he was loyal to the referee and I talked a lot of [ __ ] but one thing I respected about Hank is he didn't hide behind this keyboard like he his profile was public he showed his face in his profile and he wasn't really Tom they go [ __ ] yourself no I'm gonna see you one day I remember and I realized finally because I would look at his profile a minute I put I had his name and his face like imprinted in my mind you know but I messaged one day I'm like bro you're a coach or your your your training partner is a dude I like thrash that's a noogie world then I was like probably I got love for you like I respect your loyalty because I would do the same and now we're cool you know but yeah you know no matter what you do there's always gonna be somebody who has something to say like I always say right love him or hate him believe in him or not Jesus Christ himself was crucified right if Jesus could get crucified and murdered and betrayed what what does any man think that they have that they could do to not get crucified you know like we pale in comparison to the being that he was and he himself you know so I accept it and I it is you know I laugh at an i giggle now I used to get so fired up but now I just like whatever I remember the my best internet victory against the troll I have once posted already this was a man like 10 years ago maybe and I have put a picture of me at Serendipity's I went to New York I teleseminar afterwards I had the thousand dollar golden opulence sundae and then I had a bunch of people hating me oh what a waste of money oh I can't believe you would spend $1,000 in ice cream sundae you know you're a piece of [ __ ] this is a lot and I was okay not a lot of people do not like sundaes apparently one guy went deep and he's like if I ever saw you in the street I would stab you in the stomach and then rape your girlfriend right in front of you dying corpse yeah that's not a strongest threats Ashburn I've ever gotten you know and I just went home like man what did I do to you like why did I offend you and then he kept getting madder and it has a certain point I broke him he's like dude you know what I'm just had a bad day I'm I'm sorry man I take back what I said and he deleted all his comments and ended it there and you know it's wrong with these people because here's the thing in face-to-face you would never talk like that he would never disrespect you you know like I said listen I I go to all these big jujitsu events people I'm taking pictures non-stop and every time how are you and then I go in the computer and it's like oh you piece of [ __ ] like and I'd say wait a second I was just love the in person but I don't know you know like I said I wish them well yeah I was gonna say when you go back at them that's exactly what they want so the best that you just gotta let it's like a flame you just gotta let the flame by just ignore it like they don't exist you know one thing I would say it just goes back to over time earlier is about people get very brave on the internet and just people get brave in cars because they have this idea that there isn't a consequence it's a free shot I am NOT a good I got a good story yeah and it loops tonight I'd been in good my son is going crazy hold on I hear my tornado of a son yeah it was last week I was driving and I apparently I accidentally caught a guy I don't think I did cut him off but he was in a pickup truck and a beard like Robert flew up behind me lost his mind that I and I just put my hand up like bro like chill and I pulled in the Walmart and he did it oh you turned so hard he spun his tires out and like followed me into Walmart and for me this is fun you know so I I I pulled over and I'm I don't I don't ever want to get trapped in my car I don't ever want problems you know but if you're gonna follow me I'm gonna I'm gonna be the one to get out you know I just simply got out of my car and I'm like a fairly large man right now you know and in my town I'm very well-known you know and I don't know if you recognize me if you saw my ears or if you just saw my size and I was a he browsing you know what are you what are you planning to do you know like what do you want to do right now but I wasn't mad I was very calm and he's like wow what what do you mean what I wanted to do I was like well you just fought you just viciously spun your tires out and followed me into Walmart like are you planning and getting out or you you just want to you want to be cool what do you want to do it's okay I may not you know I don't want no problems but you don't want no problems you just attacked me so if I got out of the corn out the car and I was five foot one would you would you have attacked me you know like would things be different then it just goes to show man like people they're bullies you know and they really are and it's crazy but the beautiful thing is you can see how quickly someone breaks the second I see thank you boys I have a similar story someone I actually cut him off I can be a dick and road traffic sometimes because it was letting me in so I cut him off right and then he's following me same thing I got out of the car exact same story and then he starts like just looking at me next thing you know he turns around gets back in the car you can see how you know how tough people are on the outer layer like everyone see this scene the guide walks in the gyms a bodybuilder he's tatted up he looks like a mean murderer Viking and then he gets triangle by the fourteen-year-old greenberg comes back yeah it never comes back and you can see what a weak person he was you know the toughness and any martial arts you see this that's one of my favorite things about gym because what martial arts does is it exposes you to yourself you don't know who you are until you're put under emotional pressure and fighting is a way of putting you under a lot of emotional stress and then you see who's who are you gonna person it's gonna quit under pressure or are you a fighter you know and then you're always surprised it's always like the guy that's like nerdy with glasses that has a heart of a lion and the guy was like super scary on the outside and he's like you break down just yeah you're right bro that that is that is the God's honest truth you know it's like hey I had a bodybuilder to come on my gym and and he got he got beat up by my my brown belt who's about 160 pounds I'm not beat up but who he wanted to train alive I wanted to Train live and he never came back after that day and it's like you know he's still taking pictures online and he's making his mean face and he's flexing it's a pro but you look in the mirror you know who you are you know what happened that day you can't run from that you know and it's like I think that's what happens a lot of the people who talk [ __ ] online they're not exactly happy with who they are as an individual you know so they they have some kind of envy you know to where it makes them feel better you know and I don't know man people are funny it's very easy like I always say like a lot of times when people quit jujitsu they create problems with theirs their teammates or their their professor or their gym so they could justify them quitting you know so they could look in the mirror and say no I'm not a quitter this guy was a jerk no in fact you're a quitter just accept the fact that you quit you know and it's very rare like I've had people create me as an enemy because literally I believed in them more than they believed in himself and then they couldn't live up to that expectation from the bad guy somehow you know and it's one thing I learned is I don't put high expectations on anyone anymore I put high expectations on their goals so if somebody comes and they say listen I want to be a world champion okay well I'm gonna with attack you like you want to be a world champion cuz if you can't take it if you can't take it in the gym what makes you think you could take it under the bright lights what makes it think that you can lose and come back to the internet and get destroyed by people you don't know and live to train another day after that the emotional abuse that you'll suffer and then if they decide they don't wanna be a kinnor anymore oh I still love them the same I'll treat them like a civilian you know just a normal student who changed from nine to five I have one student you know he wants to compete he wants to compete and every time he gets tired he starts coughing like like but it's it's [ __ ] you know and I'm like he was in a competition and he started doing this in the middle of competition and it's like man like you're my student like man up right now you know what I mean just finished and it was a local competition so the ref didn't wanna like disqualify him and the opponent didn't know what to do and I'm I looked at his opponent I'm like a second like go after him right now and you gotta learn man you know like you can't just quit when things get tough because [ __ ] is always anything worthwhile is gonna be tough and I think we've all had up we've all had moments in our life that we wish we could play back and do things differently because maybe maybe would it necessarily quit but we know we could have done just a little bit more right and it's okay that these things happen and it doesn't mean we're a failure but we don't run from it we come back and we try to correct that we come back and we try to get better like I remember when I first started competing a five-minute match felt like an eternity like I would come off after five six minutes and the lactic acid buildup would be so extreme like I couldn't I felt like I couldn't do another match to wear as a black belt and the no time only match for 63 minutes and you're not tired because you just get used to being under the in the fire you know and again like I said does it always go your way no like III don't know if when I fight I believe in myself in my talents and I really believe in my my stand up but listen like if the only thing I could really promise is that I've been in tough positions before and I'm ready to fight hard you know I'm ready to do my best and give my best and that 15 minutes is gonna come and it's gonna go right and in our minds we start to create this illusion that man it's it's much I wish I was in the crowd right now like let's just get this over with you have to remember the hard work that you put forth you know the suffering that you've put forth so when the time comes and things get tough just know that that 15 minutes is gonna be gone and what you do within that time is gonna determine how you look at yourself in the mirror after that you know and I remember my my my Bellator my first fight in Bellator you know I had a very very tough decision loss in the UFC and I felt I could have done more I took the fight on short notice at 12 days notice I lost a very very tough decision and then my first fight in Bellator the first round was the first time I've ever been beat up on my feet I've ever lost around to my feet and I went back after the first round and I sat down and it and I just made a choice like we're gonna we're gonna find the way right but here's the thing if I didn't suffer that I want to fight I don't know if I would have had it in me to come back the second round and win but since i I've tasted defeat and I had to look at myself in the mirror when I felt maybe I could have done more I didn't want to feel that again you know so I think once people understand that their shortcomings like that bodybuilder who got beat up by the 160 pound there it's not bad it's not a bad thing make it a positive come back and find the way you know won't be get better and get better like that's the thing everybody wants the quick fix right in jiu-jitsu there's no quick fix there's none you have to put your work in you have to put your time in and even after you put your time in you're still gonna get your ass up sometimes and it is just it is what it is yeah I think sometimes the curse with people who are naturally gifted really like you say someone who is strong or a bodybuilder that they may have not tasted the feat before orange and then defeat in that way so they're not used to it and the first time they tasted they don't know how to handle it or and they just back out entirely and sometimes I think that's the benefit of being the guy who isn't naturally talented or who isn't an athlete because you probably tasted defeat many times before and you're kind of used to it and you know like I just got to grind my way through this thing you know I felt like I felt like myself I wasn't like when I started doing wrestling yeah I was really out of shape I was what Knight or 10th grade I was corner pounds at 5 a.m. I we would have to run like our coach tier so just came out of Lock Haven d1 school and he was young he was a 25 and he would run the Train sessions like essentially how he ran how his coach did his college practices because they are the the first day we had 60 people by the end of the season we had six like it's just weeding and all these kids out and every day this practice started a three mile Indian run and my brother and I the only time we would run a mile was like for the physical you know when they would tell you they didn't school they run to take your time and I couldn't run him out consecutively I remember we would do like half a block and then I have to walk and then jog and walk and that grind happened to like three months where it took me three months before I was able to complete the run without stopping once and the funny thing was after that I have never walked in my life ever again regardless of the shape I've been I've done 15 mile runs 10 mile runs in no shape whatsoever like my girlfriend or my ex-wife at the time she was training for a half marathon he's like oh I need somebody to run with me and I was like ok I'll run with you and I didn't realize you were doing 10 miles I'm like son of a [ __ ] alright okay here we go you know I mean but like I never had to stop it's a it's just a mental fortitude but it's like you said it once you know what it's like you're able to push yourself but if you never give yourself that chance to lose and eat it and then okay how do I not lose next time or how do I do better than I did last time well that's the thing like you have to get used to being tired like I remember the first fight that I lost like bro like I've never felt an exhaustion like that like I was giving my face bashed in I could have breathed my nose is broken I'm choking on blood I haven't been there before and this was new it listen not at one point that I think of rolling over and quitting but at that time I also didn't think of winning and that right there is losing at that time I thought of goddamn I need to make it through this fight the moment you think like that you're just surviving you're not winning but now I've been there right like I remember my the last ADCC trials I did the first match I was exhausted and I actually laughed to myself I was like bro you've been here before this is your mind playing tricks on you but if you're not used to that feeling you're like it's like quicksand you panic right you get nervous you're not used to that suffering you have to get used to it like now like you know I'm ripping through pads and I'm not in that great shape right now but like like you said you just get used to being tired and performing when you're tired so where that has to that takes time you know if people take a break every time they're tired they'll never get to the next level you know they'll never know what it feels like to reach their own personal best and listen my middle aged students and stuff I tell them take your break take a round off whatever we're gonna be a competitor man like get your [ __ ] together you know like that's it yeah I think it's a secret like I always tell people that you and uh a lot of people especially Pro fighters they fear getting tired right like they're like what happens if I gasp you know and as a result they pace themselves and fighting which can end up causing them to lose because they don't score enough point so they try to coast on around that they thought they want they lost but like you said the secret to not getting tired is understanding you will get tired and you're okay with that and it just happened I mean like Frank yeah and you like that's how I've always approached it like when I would compete I would listen to breathing because when I would hear my compared or my opponent you know yeah he's tired now and maybe he's not used to fighting at this pace but I can fight tired you know I'm fine with fighting tired you know and people who push themselves like we if you're afraid to lose like even in training you don't push yourself hard because you know if I go too hard I'm gonna gas and then I'm gonna do I'm gonna lose to a guy I know I shouldn't lose too so instead I'm this gonna coast and not push hard I've always done like sharkbait rounds when I was like getting ready and I would lose two guys who are blue belts and whatnot because I'd be doing 45 minutes straight every time I tap somebody out a new person comes in eventually we're gonna get me yeah I mean but I'm fine with that because I'm getting to learn how to fight tired and the type of mistakes I'm gonna make when I get tired and how to avoid that in the future but you know it's just like he said if you don't expose yourself to that then you never know and you're gonna get surprised yeah you know one thing I always tell myself like I don't mind getting tired at all I actually like it it always sucks when you get tired and they don't like to me it's like if I'm dead and the other guy's dead I like it because I know I won't break you know I my strategy if I can wear you out and I'm going I know I'm not gonna quit I know myself right is though but it just sucks when you're like okay I'm getting really tired and you're not good they say fatigue makes cowards of men right and it's funny and I heard yeah is that one gable cowards of us all and then another great quote was make yourself tired because when you're tired your opponent's exhausted you know and man people like what a shame to go through life and never feel that that feeling of just you can't use what you think you can't do more but you still find the way like it is hell you know they brought it's funny I used I I put on a weighted vest today that's the first remember war weighted vest and I did five five-minute rounds punching the bag well like it was during a kid's class I was literally breathing like I was having a stroke right like I was embarrassed I was literally embarrassed but I was like it was gonna be more embarrassing if I stop and take the vest off or if I just finish right and it's like it it's still not comfortable but you just get used to being uncomfortable you know like you make a bed in hell and you sleep there and I think one of the things for me my life has been very uncomfortable like there's been many times that like you know [ __ ] man especially from a young kid and you deal with things that it's crazy so it's like and we've already been here before like we we've tasted uncomfort before whether it's emotionally physically you know we've suffered before right and I feel when we get too complacent when we stop pushing ourselves you know we we regress like there's no such thing as just staying the same we're either progressing or we're regressing we're never just staying the same and and you know I got a little lazy for a while not lazy but I was just so obsessed with teaching I wasn't training for like since August really I had a super fight and Kasai then I wasn't really child just teaching every day then I started training again and like a month ago and then I just signed with one and like man it's like I'm training seven days a week and my students that aren't used to seeing me do that like some of my new students I see them looking at me they're like is this the way that what should we be doing this you know what I mean like why is he training so hard like why is he literally look like he's gonna die every training session and that doesn't mean your sparring hard but you're just pushing yourself like we're hitting pads whatever it may be like it shouldn't be comfortable you know like because listen a fight is never comfortable right competition is never comfortable like unless we get a quick submission you know them while you're three minutes in four minutes in no matter how good of shape you're in you're tired I don't know why you're just tired you just learn to perform under that under that pressure and it's it's funny man it's it's it's experience for sure yeah I I think it's important just as a person to have that experience in your back pocket because it translates to all sorts of areas in your life that makes you work harder than your family their relationships and your work you know whatever it may be I know for myself one of the most uncomfortable situations I've been in before which was I was scuba diving I don't know if I told you the story Robert this might be anyone's dream but uh I wasn't that Galapagos and my girlfriend had booked the trip and I thought you know we're going to this place which is like once-in-a-lifetime type thing I should scuba dive there so I wasn't trained so we went in a quick course like two days learn how to scuba dive and then went to like a lapa ghost and did a diving and the maritime instructor I'm like look we're newbies I got like three dives on my belt make sure we don't hurt ourselves or do anything stupid I don't worry I got you and there's only like four of us in the group and it's a very less dive of the trip everything's been going great and we dive the equipment were using is crappy it's like rental stuff so my depth gauge is broken I don't know how deep I'm going I'm just trusting the dude like where he's going it's okay we're getting like there's a little like cave and we start to dip in there and my vision just starts to blur how's it whoa what's going on and then when I went to dive in again to follow them my vision starts to fade to black oh wow I start to reach for my girlfriend but I miss and then pull it's just pitch black complete darkness I can't see anything I'm still conscious I'm totally blind and I didn't know at the time but I was ninety five feet underwater you know and we're like 25 minutes into the dive so that's probably about like five to ten minutes left of air and then I think okay compose myself I get my flashlight I start trying to flash signal people you know hit my tank after two minutes no response so I'm still blind two minutes and then I start weighing my options I'm like well what I'm gonna do here all right I'm like wow I could try to swim to what I think is up which is tricky when you're underwater and there's a lot of current I tried that a couple minutes I felt the ocean floor there was too much current I didn't know where I was going I kept getting stuck in the bottom so I was thinking well I either fill up my tank she's [ __ ] terrible it's like it's in my head it's so easy to know where up is but you're right underwater you lose track of where up and down thanks Dave never I think I have to fill my BC which is your buoyancy control device right you could put air in it and then what happens is you start shooting up but the higher you get the faster you go so your end up going like a rocket which does all sorts of damage to your ears and the barotrauma and all that so I'm like this that's a last resort option because I really do that I have to be taken to a decompression Center and I'm in the Galapagos Marines [ __ ] around here right so it's a good chance I'll end up dying later but at least I won't drown underwater I'm like well what's my other option like well wait a little bit more but I don't know how much air I have left so at a certain point I'm like you know what let me take my mask off because I'm blind but I'm still conscious I took the mask off put it back on cleared it and I ended up restore my vision by doing that I apparently had too much pressure in the mask I wasn't equalizing properly but I was seeing like double vision I was seeing everything double my eyes were all [ __ ] but I was enough where I could safely I sank I was able to come up be covered when I looked in the mirror I looked like from Total Recall when Arnold's on Mars and that I started pop out because the mask was actually sucking my eyeballs out only that's one that's what caused the blindness but after that experience I remember when I went to sleep I would hear the sound the ocean hmm and they would trip me out he says like I remember being stuck at the bottom of the ocean without Smeagol to see and that's sad that's a romantic and that's crazy well like what would I learned from it what was the first thing I did I booked another trip like I'm not gonna let my last experience deter me from overcoming this because I'm not gonna live with this BS fear because I made a rookie mistake and now I have like 150 more dives under my belt I haven't had problems and I retrain so I got better you know but to me like no but tell you what if someone told me because I have a student who's a rescue diver he's like most people I know would be dead even professionals because that's such a rare thing that happened to you like I've never heard of someone losing vision because of a mass squeeze he's like the only thing that saved you was your black belt because you've been into stuff the tough spot in those you've been there before and I have been in plenty chokes that I've held out long but I'm still able to think how am I gonna win how I'm gonna get out of this you know yeah and that maybe saved my life you know so I feel like you you have to put yourself in that position and I feel like the martial arts is the one thing that can bring you as close to death as possible without maiming you you know I mean like you don't you don't have to worry about losing an arm or anything like that you can go out there and be a warrior even if you're not competing just in the gym you know you can have a gym war and test yourself absolutely no but it's like I feel like it's a shame especially in a VR man and we need to challenge ourselves physically like if you don't actually go out there and and learn the limits of your body you know I agree totally Dave anything else I got my kids I gotta get going they're they're pretty cranky mu right now you have anything you want to plug or let people know where they can find you online yeah just Tom DeBlase I appreciate you guys for those of you guys are listening all if they're listening to this they obviously know where you guys are you know definitely to two men that I respect very much and appreciate all that you've given back to the digital world you always have my my respect and admiration for sure and you know true legends men you know so much love for me anything you guys ever need you let me know if you can join me and I'm waiting for my old man strength it's gonna kick in and then we should see masters camp here just for shits and giggles so I would love that you're doing great things and yeah man keep it up thank you so much for being on the show I think that we did really enough out I think we should do this again sometime soon right Dave yeah for sure you know I always liked hearing from you Tom and I follow you on social media like is I like that you're very frank and straightforward you're not apologetic about your positions you know I don't necessarily agree with everything you say but I you know I like that you're there you're not fake yeah I mean so I appreciate the realness we all agree yeah I appreciate you guys everyone till night fellas thank you so much again okay love you guys thank you guys [Music]