Staring at Death too long can blind us to the possibilities of living —Randy Couture

As one of the founding members of Team Quest and Xtreme Couture MMA it is with great sorrow that we say good bye to Robert Follis. Robert was a friend, coach, mentor, and philosopher of martial arts to many of us. It is with a very heavy heart that I write this tribute to a man that touched so many. Death is like the sun. There is no escaping it. It infuses every part of our lives, but it doesn’t make sense to stare at it too long. That becomes a real challenge when someone you know, love, and respect ends their life. This is where Robert has been since his brothers passing a couple years ago and where we are left now. It is very easy to get caught up in the urgency that comes from the limited span of our lives. It can push us to obsess over life’s meaning in the time we have. But obsessing over it, and staring directly at it too long can blind us to the possibilities of living. Robert was a Hero to many. Heroes have the whole earth as their tomb . . . There is, enshrined in the chest of every person he touched, a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it. It’s that which he imprinted on our hearts. What lives on is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what he has woven into the lives of others. Those who have lived with us become a part of us. We honor the dead by living their values. Through our efforts, we ensure that the good things they stood for continue to stand even when they are gone. Robert stood for many good things. Let’s let Our actions become a living memorial to Robert Follis. R

A post shared by Randy Couture (@xcnatch) on Dec 17, 2017 at 3:34pm PST

"In some way I felt I was never good enough until I started fighting. I was always striving to show my worth and value." —Randy Couture

"How do you know if fighting is for you? Without question, it boils down to a burning desire, a passion in your heart. Do you have faith that this is what you were put on earth to do?" —Randy Couture

Our motto is: "Leave your ego at the door" - Randy Couture / Xtreme Couture Gym

More phrases from Randy Couture

I'll take a guy who will work hard over one with natural talent any day of the week. I consider myself one of those guys—one who sweats and toils at his craft -Randy Couture

Randy Couture on sleeping before fights

Jay Glazer in this UFC roundtable with legends speaks with Randy Couture before about how he took a nap before his fight with Mark Coleman. Couture makes an interesting point about how conserving energy, relaxing, and "unplugging" can be a great way to save all your force for fighting and not waste any mental and physical energy beforehand with nerves and anxiety and overthinking:

We get there so early, three hours, we were there early. Sit there in a little room. You've got to relax and unplug; if you're keyed up that early you're spending energy you're going to need when you have to walk out there. You learn to unplug.

Jamie Varner on Sharing his Gift with the World

When you do a job just for the sake of doing a job and you hate it, you have a certain energy which goes into it that which is flat. There's a passionless expression which is translated into sub-par work. Basically you're functioning at a real low capacity and not scratching the surface of your potential. The opposite of this is doing something you love, where you're energized, motivated, excited, and really in the zone when you're engaging in your work to the point where it doesn't seem like work at all. Taking this up another notch is when someone believes that what they're doing was what they are meant to do and feel compelled to share that gift with others.

That's something that UFC lightweight Jamie Varner has experienced in turning his life around and moving in more positive directions. He considered stepping away from fighting and shifting back to a "normal" job and living a "normal" life; but decided that he was gifted at combat sports and felt it was his purpose and responsibility to share his talent, expression, and art to the millions of MMA fans worldwide. You can imagine the type of consciousness and quality of work which emerges when someone takes that type of approach to the work they do. 

Someone else who this reminds me of is Randy Couture. Couture was able to fight to the age of 47 against the elite in the UFC. This is a rare feat and something that was achieved by Randy through taking care of his body, being smart with his training approach, good dieting and genetics; but also a very strong sense of purpose. There's a Sanskrit word Dharma, which translates into English as purpose of life; and for Randy Couture fighting was his purpose in life. So when Couture mentions in his book, The Way of the Fight, how much he loves and appreciates fans, he's being totally sincere. "When fighters say they couldn't have done it without the fans, they do mean it", writes Couture in his autobiography. "If not for our crazy, hardcore fan base, mixed martial arts would have died during its dark years, and I might never have found my purpose in life."

Passion and purpose can take you miles further than you could possibly think; and those miles which you travel along will be of the highest quality, and filled with extreme joy.

The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is actually something can enhance your performance in athletics and beyond. Gratitude can become a habit and can flow through you naturally after some time. Like riding a bike, driving a car, walking, or any other act that becomes unconscious through repetition, gratitude can become a default state which emerges effortlessly.

The one fighter in mixed martial arts which really embodied the spirit of gratitude was Randy Couture. He'd have a perma-smile on his face because he really was extremely grateful for living a dream, finding his passion, and living out what he felt was his life purpose. He had a very enhanced level of gratitude for what he did for a living and that was one of the reasons why he was able to fight until 47, and actually had some of his greatest accomplishments after the age of 40, on route to becoming of the greatest fighters in UFC and MMA history.

The following quote is from the book The Best Tennis Of Your Life: 50 Mental Strategies For Fearless Performance, but can be applied to any sport and any discipline of life:

Randy Couture camp on Bellator's Fight Master

Not only was Randy Couture an incredibly legendary fighter, winning titles in both the UFC's heavyweight and light-heavyweight division and fighting until the age of 47; but he's also a great coach. This stems from the depth of his insight into mixed martial arts, as well as the positive attitude he brings to everything.



More quotes from Randy Couture

Randy Couture on the Fear of Failure

Randy Couture's sage advice on taking things into perspective and not letting the fear of losing and all the other emotions which come along with that overwhelm your being leading up to and during competition.

3 MMA books worth checking out

These three books are worth checking out for any mixed martial arts fan:

1. The Way of the Fight, Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre is not only one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time due to his skill and hard work, but also his brain. He is highly intelligent and generously shares his secrets to success in his book The Way of the Fight.



2. A Fighter's Mind, Sam Sheridan

In this book, you really get into what makes a fighter tick and be successful. Samuel Sheridan interviews and gets great information from people such as UFC legend Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson, Ricardo Liborio, Marcelo Garcia and more. Very valuable and insightful information.



3. Laws of the Ring, Urijah Faber

Reading this book you realize that Urijah Faber is one of the most positive and inspirational people in mixed martial arts. He is the type of person you want to surround yourself with and in this book his gives tips and information on how you can incorporate your passion into your entire existence. In essence how to truly be living the dream.

Quotes on Appreciation and Gratitude

Gratitude exercises have been proven to have tangible benefits. According to a study by researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida, having participants write down a list of positive events at the close of a day—and why the events made them happy—lowered their self-reported stress levels and gave them a greater sense of calm at night.
—Arianna Huffington in Thrive

Quotes about Keeping things in Perspective

Losing sucks, sure. But one of the things that a lot of wise fighters and fighters who have been through a lot understand is, even if you lose a fight, in the grand scheme of things it has no real significance. The sun will come up tomorrow and you can handle it. In fact, having this knowledge can actually improve your performance because it can often allow you to put down that weight you've been carrying around worrying about losing. Losing won't dominate your thinking and you can just go out there and be free to compete and perform at your best.

Fighters Love for the Fans

Without the fans supporting the sport of mixed martial arts, fighters wouldn't have the chance to live out their dreams. It's touching to see how devoted and respectful guys like Wanderlei Silva are in loving their fans, and poignant to read about guys like Randy Couture say things like without the fans keeping the sport alive he wouldn't have been able to find his true calling in life.

 

The Uniqueness of MMA as a sport

Mixed martial arts is unique among other sports for a variety of reasons. One, there is no teammate to blame, and it's a lot more meaningful to lose a fight as opposed to a ping pong, hockey, baseball, or basketball game. It's almost as if other sports are a metaphor for MMA.

Respecting Your Opponent

There are always exceptions, but one of the things that is great to see in MMA is the level of respect that the athletes have for one another, which often comes out after the fight. They have an admiration of what the other had to go through endure in training camp and during the fight. Without your opponent you don't exist as a martial artist.