From Nov 13-15, 2004, I trained at with Team Quest in Gresham Oregon. It was an experience I will NEVER forget. The Team Quest Sept cam filled up before I could secure a spot, my trip to Militech's in got Iowa postponed, and I wasn't able to train with Erik Paulson in CA because of scheduling conflicts.
It was frustrating, and I wondered if I would ever get away from my home state and be able to focus on some intensive training. I had to order my plane tickets through Cheaptickets.com at the last minute due to some other problems, and had to accept the arrival, connection flights, and departure times they gave me if I wanted to pay the price I gave them. I'm never doing that again. I actually missed a connecting flight, and had to spend Fri night sleeping in the waiting area of San Francisco airport! It's very hard for to get any rest when you're trying to sleep with one eye open. Luckily, United Airlines was able to get me on a flight to Portland, OR at 6:45am the next morning. I had to miss a training session, and felt ill from the turbulence and jetlag (PST is 3 hrs behind EST). But after all the delays, detours, and bumps along the road, I was FINALLY at Team Quest!
Randy Couture and Matt Lindland coached us themselves, and both of them are very well spoken and outstanding instructors. We learned using strikes (punches, elbows and knees) to set up entering into underhooks, and takedown options from there. We also did drills against the wall (to simulate the cage), and some kicking drills. What was great about the material was not just its uniqueness (Randy and Matt blended wrestling and boxing into new), but that the men teaching the moves had actually tested the techniques in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and world class wrestling against high level competition. We weren't asked to just take their word on the effectiveness of the material, there was actual proof that what they taught worked. Chris, the Team Quest member who was videotaping the seminar for us, commented to me, "I saw the look on your face. Isn't it outrageous that a consummate wrestler would advocate doing that?" (I was surprised when Randy showed me a unique way to enter into a double leg takedown for MMA.)
Matt Lindland can be VERY funny. Because of the debaucherous nature of his humor (I don't know if any minors read this board), I won't repeat some of the analogies Matt used to remember to keep your "head up, hips in" when wrestling from a clinch or lifting someone. Some things I can say is that when Matt lifted Randy up with a high single off an underhook, Randy said, "I got my Christmas goose early." When Matt went over grabbing the hips when moving to a high single, he stressed the importance of "being real secure in your heterosexuality when you wrestle here."
At the last training session, Matt, Randy, and Robert fielded questions about technique, wrestling, and absolutely anything else. When I asked about follow ups to a snatch single, Randy noted that "different wrestlers do different things." Matt like to push forward once he got the leg, and Randy showed that he liked to pull away. Here are some responses and comments (paraphrased) by Randy Couture:
Atkins is terrible.
I eat greens even at breakfast; I don't get sore as much and my recovery time is faster.
I don't run outdoors; it's bad for the knees. That video clip of me running over the bridge was staged by the UFC. I run on the treadmill.
I don't care to see Tank fight again.
I think Chuck got into Tito's head before their fight. Tito wanted to stand up with Chuck, that wasn't a good idea. Chuck has earned a rematch.
I'd fight Silva, but it's a long shot. The UFC and PRIDE wanted to create a third belt for us to fight for, kind of like the Superbowl of MMA. I don't know if it'll happen. I'd only fight in a tournament if I got Vanderlei in the first round. I don't want to have to go through 2-3 other guys to get to him.
You have to pace and time your intensity and your warm up& if you fight is fifteen minutes, that should be about the length of your warm up time& I can joke and relax before a fight because I'm careful about my mental prep and warm up time&Before one UFC I shared a dressing room with Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman. I was lying on the floor with a towel over my face, relaxing. Then all of a sudden I hear them yelling and screaming and banging their heads against the locker, and it's still two hours before the fight. I thought, "What the %^&* is this?"
I bring my entire family to watch me fight. If the worst thing that happens to you in your life is you losing a fight, you're doing pretty darn good. Of course they want me to win, but my family will still feel the same way about me if I win or not. The people who love and care about you are what really matter; not if you win or lose.
Dan Henderson and I bought a gym (in another area of Portland, OR). We didn't know what we were doing, and ran the place into the ground. (laughing). That Smith machine (in the back of the room) is the only piece of equipment that we didn't auction off.
After the last training session, anyone who wanted to was allowed to stay and wrestle during their open mat/ training session. What was funny was that right before this, I had a conversation with Chris-
Chris: Were you at Grapplers Quest? Me: Superman.
Chris: Yeah! I knew it! I thought I knew your face from somewhere! I saw the video of you&
Chris and I and the other guys then wrestled. Before I wrestled one of Chris's teammates, Chris pointed to me and referred to me by the same nickname that was given to me by training partners and teammates (on the other side of the country) over two years ago!
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