{"id":392,"date":"2026-06-07T21:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/?post_type=news&p=392"},"modified":"2026-06-07T21:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:17:03","slug":"6-8-whos-in-your-corner","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/news\/6-8-whos-in-your-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"6\/8: WHO’S IN YOUR CORNER?"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having the right people in your corner can make all the difference….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"article":"\"\"\r\n\r\nThis weekend I did my first every Muay Thai competition.\u00a0 It was something I had been wanting to do for years, but other priorities took precedence the other times students went to events.\u00a0 One of the things that had kept me away in the past was the concern over injuries.\u00a0 With my responsibilities to my family, the gym and work, it is something I have had to weigh very carefully.\u00a0 The structure of this IKF event and the fact that other students had gone there before gave me the confidence that it was a controlled environment and worth the risk.\u00a0 It was a great experience and one that I hope other students embark on as well.\u00a0 While I have plenty of experience in grappling competitions, there was plenty to learn about a striking competition, and even this one experience taught me so much.\r\n\r\nI was extremely happy that I won my match against a competitor \u00bd my age.\u00a0 I was once again the oldest competitor of the entire event.\u00a0 I lost the first round but won the final 2.\u00a0 I can tell you without a doubt that there was no way I was winning that match if it wasn\u2019t for having my friend, and former student, Ahmed Atia, in my corner.\u00a0 After the first round, I will admit I was much more tired than I expected.\u00a0 Given that this was my first striking competition experience, I did not have a clear understanding of what I needed to adjust for the second round.\u00a0 I listened to Ahmed as he instructed me on what to change.\u00a0 In the back of my mind, I also remembered the story of when Royce Gracie fought Kazushi Sakuraba.\u00a0 Royce said he stopped thinking on his own and entirely trusted what his corner team was telling him.\u00a0 He simply became the vehicle to execute the strategy his team told him.\u00a0 I knew I needed to do the same.\r\n\r\nThe entire second round I simply tried to execute what Ahmed instructed\u2026\u2026and it worked.\u00a0 Going into the final round I was absolutely exhausted.\u00a0 Ahmed adjusted the strategy one more time and I executed to the best of my ability, and along with my determination to fight past my exhaustion, it was enough to win the match.\u00a0 Ahmed was able to see what was going on in the match and help me capitalize on the tendencies of my opponent.\u00a0 Without his instruction, I do not win.\r\n\r\nAfter the match, the organizers asked me if I wanted a second match.\u00a0 While I was tired, I felt good and agreed.\u00a0 Ahmed was next to me when they introduced me to who my opponent would be.\u00a0 The individual was a 24-year-old with MMA experience.\u00a0 I knew it would be a very difficult challenge, but I am not one to shy away from challenges\u2026.as you might know.\u00a0 Ahmed pulled me aside and showed me some of his footage and suggested that I skip this fight.\u00a0 Having taken his advice in the match, I trusted his judgement and went back to decline the fight.\u00a0 While I would have loved to have seen how I fared against someone at that level, I was still in Royce mode and turned over my decision-making ability to Ahmed because I trusted him completely to make the best decision for me.\u00a0 While I definitely would have liked the opportunity, when I woke up this morning to my first ever \u201cday after\u201d experience from an intense striking competition, it was 100% the right decision to skip a second fight.\u00a0 The software for the organizers kept putting my name up on the fight board as if I had a second match with 2 different opponents, so I kept having to repeat to them I was done.\u00a0 I truly believe it was God testing me to continue to trust in my corner.\u00a0 My day would have been completely different, and definitely for the worse, had I not had a cornerman that was looking out for my best interest.\u00a0 It was honestly one of the most impactful experiences of my martial arts competition life.\r\n\r\nWho do you have in your corner giving you advice?\u00a0 It is incredibly important to have the RIGHT person in your corner, not someone you feel obligated to have.\u00a0 The people in your corner may not be the people you initially think about.\u00a0 The people in your corner will most likely change given the circumstance you are facing.\u00a0 While I love my wife, she would not have been the right person in my corner during the fight.\r\n\r\nWhoever is in your corner can make you or break you, so choose wisely.\u00a0 Only have people in your corner that want the best for you, those that are even going to be excited for you if you surpass them.\u00a0 The moment you doubt your corner is the moment to need to replace them, as difficult as it might be.\u00a0 Choose wisely and start the process of finding the right cornermen for your life.","featured_image":"","featured_image_id":"","featured_article":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-392","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n6\/8: WHO'S IN YOUR CORNER? - Northville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/news\/6-8-whos-in-your-corner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6\/8: WHO'S IN YOUR CORNER? - Northville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having the right people in your corner can make all the difference....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/news\/6-8-whos-in-your-corner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Northville\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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