The API facility was a buzzing nest of giddy students as we walked through the stations, guided by Scott. As he explained each station, it seemed that each one was progressively harder than the next, and it was intense. When we had progressed around the gym, Scott walked us outside and said “Then you will run out,” he paused with a menacing smile, “and run around the entire complex where you will conclude the test right back here!” My jaw not only lowered, but my eyes must have popped out like Homer Simpson’s, as it was a really large complex. It was a killer long run that we had to do after the biggest, baddest circuit we had yet to be put through.
At that moment, I had mixed emotions, as I knew I had a tough road ahead of me, but I was going to go all-out to prove to everyone that I had it in me and most of all to prove myself that I was indeed a warrior. I was paired with a U.S. military soldier who was built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is why we had nicknamed him “Arny.” He was one of the most conditioned in our class, aside from an ex-navy seal. I thought it was great that I would pace myself with him, as we would bring the best out in each other. We were paired together because some of the exercises such as dead lifts were determined based on our body weight, and because we were the two heaviest guys in the class, we were paired together to lift the heaviest weights ... lucky us!
The time had finally arrived for us to dig deep, block out any pain, and go to war. Throughout the long circuit, I was pacing myself at a high rate. I knew I had to maintain that rate throughout and all would be good. I remember blasting through the pull-ups with ease, as each station had an instructor or pro fighter counting our reps. I blanked everything out, I just kept pushing and pushing without a distracting thought, which helped.
My muscles were aching and my lungs felt like they would pop, but I took no notice. Arny and I were neck-and-neck throughout the circuit; it was a see-saw battle of wills. I would get a small lead at one station, then he would get the same at another. The last station before the run consisted of twenty squat jumps, and I was behind, my body staggered to the station as I wiped the sweat out of my eyes, to see Arny slowing down. Some weird jolt of energy came over me as I popped off twenty consecutive squat jumps like it was a walk in the park, then to run out first through the API doors, only to be assailed by the scorching sun on my face.
I must have looked like Big Bird running at that point, because my legs were behaving like Jell-O as I heaved to raise my knees with each step, but at least I was jogging fairly quickly. My hips wobbled side-to-side and my ears kept popping, so I experienced a weird muffled sensation in which the sound of my heartbeat was pronounced. Every time my sneakers hit the hard pavement, I could hear the impact from my joints through the muffled noise, which was an eerie sensation.
I think I had an epiphany shortly after, a realization of something bigger. It was my life I had just re-enacted, every part of my body at that point was telling me to start walking, take a small break at least, that I was not a machine and had just put myself through twenty hard minutes straight of taxing myself. My life has thrown me curve balls on a regular basis, but no matter how beat up I got I had to dig deep, have heart, and trudge forward. The prize was within my grasp, and in my typical self-talk I started with, “If I were to simply stop....” But, in mid-thought, I said “Fuck that!” I instantaneously got mad, thinking “If this shit doesn’t kill me, I am going to make it, and I will make it in life, damn it!”
I looked back and saw that my friend Arny was a long way back and that I was actually catching up to another pair in front of us. I closed my eyes as my zombie-like movements propelled me forward, saying to myself over and over, “I am never going back to the factory. I will succeed. I am never going back to the factory. I will succeed!” I turned the last corner as the distance to Scott, who was holding the stop watch, shortened. I tried to sprint the last few yards but my body honestly could not do it, and it was a strange feeling as I passed the finish line with a stagger. I made it, I did not stop once. I was hurting from my toes to the top of my head, and I could barely get my breath, but I was in sheer ecstasy. Life is fucked up that way isn’t it? True happiness comes through adversity, pain, and accomplishment, and as I learned, a lot of hurting muscles.
I owe a lot to Matt and Scott. They are excellent at what they do, but more importantly, they are amazing human beings who bring out the best in others. I really like their hardass persona, and they will kill me for writing this, but they are like big teddy bears once you break that wall down. They are good, genuine, hard-working people who look out for their families and friends. The best part was that everyone at API is family. Recently, they changed the name of the gym to Fitness Solutions, but it boasts the same atmosphere as before.
We stayed an extra couple of days after finishing the classes, as Matt and Scott had extended some extra routines for us on which they had been meticulously working. We were not going to deny the invite and would have been crazy not to stay.
We did some really fun routines that took us back to being in the great outdoors. We were running with heavy wheelbarrows, sprinting with parachutes, and pushing/pulling Scott’s pickup truck like strongman competitors with some of the newly inducted instructors and pro fighters. It was a blast, and I was still surprised at how strong I was. I never really realized it until I started doing the functional exercises. We took a full arsenal of knowledge with us, but we learned more than that while there; we took kernels of life experience and new building blocks to become better versions of ourselves in all aspects of our lives.
We also went next door to Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, which was the MMA home base for Brock Lesnar and Sean Sherk. The training center was part of the industrial complex and seemed to be even bigger than API. It had all the necessities of a world-class gym, the grappling mats, punching bags of various sizes, pads, gloves, contraptions, and a lot of eager students. Nick “The Goat” Thompson was preparing for his mid-day training session when Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk walked in. The two were about to start their training session when I asked for a picture and introduced myself. Sean was really personable, and I got the impression that he was genuinely a good guy.
I had to watch as Sean trained with Thompson and as they started grappling after some warm-ups. I was amazed at how quick and explosive he was in real-time. I managed to train a little while down there and picked up a great takedown technique. The double leg with a small variation added to it, when you shoot in bring your back leg in once you grab the back of the knees and explode through them to take down your opponent. GSP used it in his fights, as it adds an explosive element to the takedown.
By then, my body was taking such a hard beating that it started to feel good. Not sure how that worked, but I think my body was adjusting to the heavy workload. It’s amazing how our bodies work, isn’t it? I was like a kid in a candy store between API (Fitness Solutions) and the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.
I must admit, lying on the benches at the famed MMA institution, similarly to how Sean Sherk and Brock Lesnar spent their downtime, made me feel great. Living the life of a fighter for those few days was enough to make my blood flow faster. At the same time, I could see how unrewarding and stagnant that lifestyle could get for some. You put your body through hell day in and day out, you become mentally and physically exhausted, and then you wait until your body recuperates just enough before the next session to do it all over again, getting punched in the face while doing it. There are no cheerleaders or people applauding you along the way, and it is all done for such a minuscule amount of time in the spotlight: the cage.
Similarly to how Olympians feel after training for so long, for only a short amount of time on the world stage, if they had an off day at the event it seemed as if all of that tedious work was for nothing. As documented throughout history, a fighter’s life can get lonesome at times, yet for a young pup like me in the sport every little training session was a godsend in my eyes.
Life was good at that point. I was out of a job, far away from home, with not many future prospects in the career