Post by Ed Lauzon on Jan 26, 2015 3:47:10 GMT -5
What was once the longtime base of operations for former IMMAF middleweight champion has since gone out of business, after retiring from MMA Martin has struggled to find a sense of purpose in his life, an existential crisis of sorts. The internet cafe provided that sense of purpose, to serve the community of Newark, many memories begin to flash by Martin. During college he used to play Dungeon Siege and Heroes of Might and Magic IV on computers that at the time were gaming beasts. It was around this time that he discovered BJJ which seemed to provide answers for what he was seeking. Martin used to be the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor ever from the state of New Jersey, now most of those titles mean nothing because he is forgotten. Martin doesn't compete much in BJJ anymore because of taking a stand against corruption in the IBJJF. Martin even became IMMAF champion, man what an incredible ride that was. To think that a seemingly nerdy, unathletic guy could be turned into the exact opposite but what exactly has Martin become? He is still nothing but an anorak that practically lives at the gym, by definition Martin doesn't have the body of a nerd anymore but the mind remains the same. These days he lacks inspiration except there was the story of that Greek kid Gumdrop Cristoforidis from the PitFighting scene who intrigues Martin greatly. Martin questions whether Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu really is the best style, does it even matter anymore? Have we officially reached a post-style world of MMA? Martin fancies himself as a staunch specialist in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and we have seen that this is effective in MMA through men like Jake Shields or even Ben Askren. The difference though is that Martin has shown himself to be more of a pure BJJ stylist. Sure he crosstrains with some wrestlers and Sambo stylists but the era of BJJ first and foremost is starting to die out a bit.
Freddy Martin: I don't know whether I made the right decision to choose BJJ, I believe that it is a style that captured my imagination, but the question is how can I make fighting fun again?
Standing beside Martin is Carlos Dos Santos, his wealthy benefactor realizing this golden opportunity to bag such an amazing talent for his organization to give him credibility in the fighting world.
Carlos Dos Santos: You made the right choice to close down this internet cafe for starters, hell I won't even answer your question of whether you made the right decision to make BJJ your style because I don't believe in analyzing the past. I'm always looking forward you see. I want to bring you to even higher levels of greatness Martin, leave behind a legacy of sorts, become a hero for all of these people who I know will be inspired by you. You can say that serving your community of Newark has provided you with some benefits, made you feel good and so forth but hardly anybody around here knows you. Their image of you is of that nerdy guy who used to run the internet cafe in Newark not of a man who lets it all hang out, blood, sweat, and tears in the gym.
When it comes to grappling Martin you are like a duck in water, chaining your Jiu-Jitsu moves, really flowing on the mat but your mind has hit a bit of a roadblock. In fact I'm jealous of your skills and am glad as well as proud to have you a part of my team.
Freddy Martin: People say that I'm a technical marvel but I can't help feeling like a fraud when the style that I chose is starting to fail more and more in the pressure cooker of full contact competition. Back when Royce Gracie was around nobody knew about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and so all the traditional martial artists fell. Now we see that with everyone these days crosstraining in all styles as well as relying more on strength and conditioning it has become a battle of better athletes. Isn't it strange Carlos that after traditional martial arts failed against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu now more than ever people are talking about incorporating more traditional martial arts into their games, what is up with that?
Carlos Dos Santos: Martin what you need to learn is to not be defined by what you do, your style, see your problem is you have installed years of developed instincts from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into your brain that frankly don't always work outside of that very specific ruleset. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has stifled your creativity so naturally fighting is no longer fun for you. That is why you need to call out this Gumdrop Cristoforidis guy. He's young, a far superior Boxer, and moves a lot better. Plus you outweigh him by a lot so weight classes don't apply in PitFighting. If you do end up going against this guy Martin you have to unlearn everything you think you know about fighting. This guy is going to be pretty unpredictable and will show you things you have probably never seen before. What I've heard is that he tends to go more for traditional Boxing when he is pressured too much, so if you want to become a better martial artist don't do that. Surprise him, beat him at his own game.
Freddy Martin: Yeah but I'm not going to strike with him that is silly.
Carlos Dos Santos: You are putting words into my mouth Freddy, I said beat him with a surprise move you know like a flying scissor heel hook or something. No casual person is going to be amazed by your ability to use pressure to defeat your opponents. We are going to put together a video and send it to Cristo's gym, if he has any concept of self respect he will accept your challenge.
Freddy Martin: I feel like I'm being some kind of a bully, like someone I'm not. Gumdrop is the last guy that I'd want to bully because I see a lot of my past self in him.
Carlos Dos Santos: Call him out, respectfully but not Jon Jones respectfully. Be earnest. Tell Gumdrop that if he thinks his martial arts training is so great he should be able to overcome the supposed advantages you hold, just like what Royce Gracie did. Gumdrop thinks he knows what you are going to do but does he really? This is part of you becoming a better person Martin, like defeating your past self now get to making that video.
Martin is apprehensive about this whole situation but ultimately agrees with Dos Santos and gets to work with calling out Gumdrop Cristoforidis