Luger being fired in slow motion

This is a cool animated gif of a Luger handgun being fired in slow motion. The Luger was first developed by in the early 1900s. It was primarily used by the German army in World War 1 and World War 2.

Jose Aldo's Message to Fans

Always keep working. Keep working for your causes and for your dreams without ever giving up. That was the philosophy I applied in my life. Always keep your dreams alive and keep believing. Without stepping over anyone. Putting in a lot of effort and work, I knew I was going to get where I am today. That is the message I want to pass on to everyone. 
- Jose Aldo

Tito Ortiz comes out of retirement to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in Bellator

Tito Ortiz has come out retirement and signed with Bellator to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on November 2nd at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.

Ortiz retired from MMA after his last bout with Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 in July 2012. It didn't seem as though Ortiz was going to make any sort of comeback into the MMA world until teasing the potential earlier this month on Twitter:

Fighting is starting to sound fun again. 💪👍👊#Peopleschamp #comeback #Positive body is almost healed. @Punishment99 @ufc @Viacom @MTV @espn
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) July 7, 2013

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson last fought at UFC on Fox 6 in January, dropping a decision to Glover Teixeira. After expressing much discontent with the UFC, Jackson signed with Bellator/TNA in June.

Both Ortiz and Rampage are former UFC light-heavyweight champions, and have trained with each in the past. They made up the main two-thirds of "Team Punishment" in the early half of the last decade, which the third big member of the MMA team being former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez. Ortiz is 38 years of age and Jackson 35.

The bout on November 2nd will be Bellator's first foray into the pay-per-view market.



Click on the links for quotes by Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson

Ronda Rousey and Georges St-Pierre hug it out at UFC press conference

Ronda Rousey and Georges St-Pierre hug it out at 31:40 into this video. This was at the UFC World Tour New York City Press Conference

Quotes from the above fighters linked below:

Alexander Gustafsson
Jon Jones
Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre
Cain Velasquez
Junior Dos Santos
Ronda Rousey
Miesha Tate

 

 

 

 

Hooch - Scrubs

This is an animated gif of Hooch from Scrubs holding a lighter with a huge flame. Hooch was generally known for being crazy. He was portrayed by actor Phill Lewis.

Tania Raymonde

This is a hot animated gif of Californian actress Tania Raymonde acting in a scene from the movie Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013). Ms Raymonde is probably best known for her role in Malcolm in the Middle, in which she played the character Cynthia Sanders.

Cat pulling dog on leash

This is a funny animated gif of a cat pulling a dog along by its leash. How the cat figured out to hold a leash in its mouth I don't know.

Dam spill gate opening

This is an interesting / cool gif of a dam's spill gate opening. Water pressure is a force to be reckoned with! This is what it feels like whenever I've drank too many beers.

Dog jumping up on couch

This is a funny animated gif of a black labrador dog jumping up onto the couch to be with its owner, who happens to be wearing Donovan McNabb's Philadelphia Eagles American Football jersey. The way the dog sits back is hilarious.

Ronda Rousey on being a topic of discussion

 

Ronda Rousey is comfortable being a controversial figure in mixed martial arts because it's something that brings a lot of attention to her:

I'd rather be...a topic to discuss instead of just...a topic to dismiss and agree upon.

Dan Hardy on his health and if he'll fight again

UFC welterweight Dan Hardy has Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition which produces a second heartbeat. Hardy feels as though he's been perfectly fine his entire career and never had any problems with his heart, and does not want to undergo surgery to fight. However, it's not clear what other options he has to be allowed to fight. He is hoping for a way around getting surgery done to compete again.



More quotes from Dan Hardy

Georges St-Pierre being like an Ant and always working

Georges St-Pierre is someone who has a strong appreciation for the animal kingdom. He discusses evolution and efficiency and references animals from time to time to make analogies to his mindset and fighting. It's not necessary the big animals he admires though. He has a deep reverence for the cockroach, which has been able to adapt better than any other creature on the planet, and survive seemingly forever. And GSP has a great respect also for another insect:

"The ant is always working...that's how I am...I never waste a second of my life, I always do things that help me advance in my life."

Pierre takes a martial arts mentality to his entire career and works towards perfection. Little improvements on a constant basis, like the Japanese concept of Kaizen; which refers to making things better. And Georges St-Pierre isn't afraid to try new things to sharpen his skills and hone his craft. He will learn to refine his spinning-back-kick with Joe Rogan; train gymnastics to improve overall athleticism; and generally just seek out knowledge from all disciplines and try and see if that intelligence can be applied to his art.

Countdown to UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie

Quotes by Jose Aldo
Quotes by Chan Sung Jung


UFC 163. August 3, 2013 at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Jose Aldo vs. Jung Chan-Sung   
Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis    
Cezar Ferreira vs. Thiago Santos    
Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson    
John Lineker vs. Jose Tome    

Preliminary card (FX)
Vinny Magalhães vs. Anthony Perosh    
Amanda Nunes vs. Sheila Gaff    
Sergio Moraes vs. Neil Magny    
Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos    

Preliminary card (Facebook)
Rani Yahya vs. Josh Clopton    
Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde    
Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Francimar Barroso 

Mike Tyson, Roy Nelson and Mario Balotelli on doing their jobs

Roy Nelson was once asked what he did to pump himself up for a fight, and he said he didn't need to do that because it's his job. Just like one doesn't need to pump themselves up to go to work every morning, he feels the same way about fighting.

That attitude of just doing your job, and looking at an athletic competition as such, is something that can take the negative stress away from the situation. It's also something that just allows one to let the greatness they've trained for flow out of them easily. Like Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, who doesn't celebrate, because there's no point in celebrating doing your job:
“I don’t celebrate because I’m only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?”

Baolotelli just expects that foot to go into the top corner when he kicks it.

Mike Tyson, one of the great boxers of all time, had a similar attitude as seen in this video on Jim Rome's how. Tyson was inspired by his trainer Cus D'Amato, who felt it was ridiculous to celebrate because winning and achieving your goal was what you expected to do. It shouldn't be a surprise. That's not to say it's bad to celebrate your win or to not be happy, but in general, having a work-man-like attitude and treating the victory as just a part of the job which you expected to happen, can make that climb to the top seem like it's one that is out of reach; rather it's something you expect to occur.

 –

Staredowns between Ronda/Miesha, Jones/Gustafsson, GSP/Hendricks, Cain/JDS

Quotes from the above fighters linked below:

Alexander Gustafsson
Jon Jones
Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre
Cain Velasquez
Junior Dos Santos
Ronda Rousey
Miesha Tate

Kid lifting weights

This is a funny animated gif of a kid lifting weights. The confident strut he performs after successfully doing a deadlift makes this one a classic.

Mustache Trick

This is a funny animated gif of a man in a baseball hat pulling off a trick in which he wiggles his mighty mustache around. In the original video, he also does a trick in which it looks as if his mustache is crawling along his hand like a caterpillar:

Edwin Baptiste catch

This is an animated gif of American football player Edwin Baptiste with an incredible catch. Baptiste was playing for the Morgan State Bears in a college football game.

Enjoy the Process

The finish line, your hand being raised, victory, achieving the goal; that for the most part is what we tend to value: the prize. But at the same time, the process is something that can be an immensely joyful experience. Enjoying the journey, being in the moment, and soaking it all in; having that presence will make the achievement of the goal all the more fulfilling.

Some fighters who were on the verge of retirement and internally knew that they were on their way out of the sport, tended to have a stronger sense of enjoying the process. Guys such as Randy Couture and Matt Serra, had a real appreciation for the lead up to the fight in their last battles because they knew that it was not going to last forever, and that one day they would never make that walk to the UFC Octagon ever again. So they enjoyed it thoroughly with a big embrace of appreciation.

Another fighter in the UFC, who is still competing at lightweight and tries to emulate this sentiment, is Gray Maynard:

You have to enjoy it all because it’ll come and go. Then you’ll be old and fat and retired and drinking a beer like, “Damn, I tried to hurry that up. Why didn’t I enjoy it more?” So I really enjoy the process.

Gray knows that he's not going to be competing in this sport forever and cherishes what he has and is enjoying the moment. Rashad Evans, who is a very deep thinker, also has that strong sense of gratitude instilled into his psyche:

I'm going to appreciate everything because before you know it, this will be just a memory...My time will pass. So I'm going to enjoy this moment, I'm going to have fun...And I'm going to thank you for making me who I am today.

This attitude is reminiscent of one of Tony Robbins quotes. Robbins has helped thousands worldwide, and also inspired some UFC fighters such as Diego Sanchez, and give tips to Chuck Liddell before one of his bouts. Additionally, UFC president Dana White and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan noted in the past that they found use from his cassette tapes many years back coming up in their careers. Robbins has a lot of wise words to say about enjoying the process and how it's the journey which is equally if not more important than the final destination:

“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”

Charles "Mask" Lewis on one idea influencing millions

The late and great Charles "Mask" Lewis continues to live on through his magnificently inspirational and motivational words. He encouraged everyone to follow their dreams and believe in them with deep conviction. I truly believe that Mask's words will keep his spirit alive in the world as they inspire people across the globe. It sort reminds me of one of the lines the legendary rapper Tupac Shakur said before passing away:  "I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world."

The words and actions that people do can plant seeds for future generations. And one of the things Charles "Mask" Lewis dreamt about was trying to spread his positivity to the entire planet. He thought big, but didn't think big in a selfish way. He was thinking about inspiring and motivating others to dream big so that everyone benefitted and the world became a much more positive space full of happy dreamers and believers. And felt was adamant that anyone could do this with just one idea:

It just takes one idea, one, to change the course of your history, you kids history, and influence many a millions of others. Just one. But you got to go up there in that one little part that you're thinking that's just so crazy, it only sounds crazy because nobody else is thinking about it. That's your special gift. You got to get up in that. Whatever it is.

Imagery / Visualization during competition

Visualization is something that a lot of athletes, including mixed martial arts fighters, use before competition. They visualize executing their game plans and oftentimes just visualize the goal; suchas having your hand raised at the end of competition or having the UFC gold placed around your waist, if it's a title fight. Making these visualizations are real as possible (feeling the feelings, hearing the sounds, seeing the faces and objects clearly) helps the process tremendously.

But aside from doing these sorts of visualization / imagery techniques before competition, they can also be done during competition; like in between rounds. There's a book entitled Imagery in Sports and Physical Performance, which was edited by Anees A. Sheikh and Errol R. Korn, which gives great insight into this practice:

 

So for a fighter, he or she can take the advice that the corner is giving them in between rounds, and simultaneously make a mental movie of executing said techniques. While drinking water and taking deep breaths, one can also multi-task in that minute break in between rounds to visualize executing the plan; whether it's landing the jab, throwing a high kick, or a certain set up to a takedown. Whatever game plan tips that one's corner is doling out in between rounds, those can be instantly materialized in the mind to make the practice of those techniques in the cage moments later, easier to execute.

GSP: The best fighter doesn't always win

It seems kind of elementary, but it's a concept that can sometimes elude fans: The best fighter doesn't always win, but the fighter who fights the best. Sometimes it's just who strikes first and capitalizes on an opportunity before his opponent. For Georges St-Pierre, he sums it up as follows:

It's not always the best team that wins the game in baseball, or in football, or in hockey. It's the team that comes the most well prepared and played the best match. Same thing with fighting. It's not always the best fighter. It's the fighter that will fight the best fight that will win.

Bas Rutten's 4 most important things in life

For Bas Rutten he was on record as saying in the past that the three most important things in life are respect, love, and happiness. Interacting with us on Twitter he commented that he will add a fourth to that list: Health

@nmwright21 @mmaquote ad a fourth, "health"
— Bas Rutten (@BasRuttenMMA) July 29, 2013

That's along the lines of what another fan-friendly and positive fighter, Urijah Faber says:

Good Health is True Wealth

For more inspirational and helpful tips and advice from Bas Rutten, check out the video below. It was set up to inspire and motivate the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, which at times has faced some crime through gangs; although the community does have plenty of amazing citizens and even the ones committing crimes and in gangs have greatness which lies within them waiting to be released. Bas Rutten tries to give some positive vibrations in this video to inspire some of the youth in the community to let that greatness inside them shine forth.

Feeding your subconscious mind with positive thoughts

"Nurture you mind with great thoughts". A quote from Icelandic welterweight star in the UFC, Gunnar Nelson. Doing the act of nurturing your mind with great thoughts can be likened to planting seeds; it's the seeds which are planted which allow the growth of the beautiful flowers, vegetation, and trees. The planting these great thoughts will manifest in the future, as you long as you continue to water them, so to speak: as long as you continue to repeat them in your mind.

It's about programming the subconscious mind. It is believed that 90 to 95% of the time we are operating on the software of our subconscious mind; so if we can program that mind to believe the things that we want it to believe, then the results can be astounding. One of the ways to do this is via affirmations, and really feeling the feelings associated with the affirmations and getting into these affirmations as much as possible. Having that ultra realistic feeling of sensing all the senses in the affirmations, visualizing them, and generating the emotions associated with them, amplifies their impact.

Rashad Evans, who holds a degree in Psychology, feels the power of affirmations can be strong. In the video at the bottom of this post, around 5:40 into it; he explains that he was able to gain a stronger conviction in himself and belief in his abilities via the nurturing of great thoughts in his mind:

"I am the best"
"I won't be beat"
"I can't be beat"
"No one can beat me"
These mantras are just words but after a while it becomes a conviction in my soul.

The last line is a key component to all this: after a while it's a deep conviction. No longer is it work to try and force these beliefs onto yourself; but rather it's just a fact. Just like when you slip a switch you know the light comes on, or when you turn a faucet you know the water will drip; you just know and accept these great thoughts as facts. All of a sudden it's a just a natural thing to think that you are great and can do great things.

The sky blue, the sun is hot, I am great.

It's just something that is part of our reality and requires no thinking at this point. That's when the subconscious mind just accepts this and you operate from that position 90 to 95% of the time without even thinking.

Jordana Brewster

This is an animated gif of Brazilian-American actress Jordana Brewster in some hot lingerie. Ms Brewster had her major breakthrough into the world of Hollywood when she starred in the original The Fast and the Furious (2001) movie.

Rustled Jimmies

Ok, how do I even begin to explain this one? This is an animated gif of a baby crying while a bunch of Gorillas dance and frolic around in the background. This is apart of the "that really rustled my Jimmies" meme, which tends to be used whenever somebody is feeling extremely annoyed and upset about something. The meme began with an image macro of a gorilla, so I'm guessing that the kid in this gif represents somebody who has had their Jimmies rustled, with the gorillas representing those who have caused the "rustling". Basically, its an extension of "troll culture". Ok, I think I'm done now.

Ubaldo Jiménez - Fist Pump

This is an animated gif of baseball player Ubaldo Jiménez putting his fist up in the air. Ubaldo plays for the Cleveland Indians as a starting pitcher. This one tends to be used as a reaction gif for whenever somebody wants to express apathy and lack of caring.

Cat having flashbacks

This is a funny animated gif of a cat staring off into space while it has flashbacks of the Vietnam War. Reminds me of this one.

Matt Brown on his feelings before a fight and 300 The Movie

In an interview with Extreme MMA News, Matt Brown describes his feelings before a fight akin to scenes the movie 300:

Explain the feeling you get when walking out to the cage and the moment the door shuts behind you.
It was described perfectly in the movie 300 in the wolf scene and again at the ending. “It’s not fear that grips him, but restlessness. A heightened sense of things.” I can’t describe it any better.

Dog sliding on its back

This is a funny animated gif of a dog sliding down a hill on its back. I have no idea how this little guy figured out a way to make gravity scratch its back.

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.

Joe Lauzon on getting over losses

Joe Lauzon, regardless of whether it's a win, loss, or draw, always puts on an exciting fight. There's something special about a fighter who is willing to give everything he has at the risk of gassing out and having to fight two more rounds with depleted energy; but Lauzon is a fighter who is actually willing gamble on that at times to please fans. I have tremendous respect for fighters who take on that self-service action and many feel Joe Lauzon is the most exciting fighter in the UFC, which has translated to somewhere around half a million dollars in bonuses for him as a result.

But when it comes to losses, Lauzon also has a healthy attitude. He is able to overcome  the drowning negative feeling which can overcome fighters when they lose. Fighting is more personal than losing a tennis game because of the pride and egotistical elements involved. If you lose a tennis game it's not as devastating a blow to the ego as losing a fight. However, at the same time it's worthy to note that the ego is a construct of the mind, so the thoughts which can torture a fighter after a loss are actually figments of the imagination. It may not be the easiest thing in the world do to past conditioning, but one can train the mind to not take these thoughts that seriously. Somewhat akin to someone on the street who is babbling incoherencies in every direction to no one in particular; you don't take what that person is saying seriously at all; you can also treat negative thoughts in such a manner. They are only as real and serious as you wish them to be.

Joe Lauzon is a good example of getting over losses pretty well. He takes the mentality of treating the mental angst which arises from losing as holding a hot coal:

It's like holding a hot coal in your hand, it just burns you, it doesn't do me any good.

That quote was from an interview with Ariel Helwani from MMA Fighting, after Lauzon's loss to Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, and right before he was to take on Jamie Varner. This viewpoint is borrowed from Gautama Buddha's stance on anger. "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned", stated Buddha about 500 years before Christ. That attitude of dropping negative emotions is a wonderful tool. These afflictive thoughts can creep up on us out of nowhere, but it can be a unbelievably valuable skill to be able to drop them ASAP and not suffer the burn which comes with hanging onto them. We can acknowledge the emotion but don't have to identify with it and hold on; just drop it and let go.

Georgia Salpa

This is an animated gif of Greek-born Irish model Georgia Salpa eating a chocolate bar.

Visualization and Success

A quote from Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning, states the positivity of visualizing success:

"Winners say, Of course I can do it! I've practiced mentally a thousand times"

The thousands of repetitions in your mind end up paying off when it comes time to perform. You feel like you've done it a thousand times because you have in mental rehearsal. It's a very comfortable spot to be in and that comfort really relaxes your muscles, your mind, and allows peak performance to flow forth.

UFC light-heavyweight James Te Huna takes similar stance to his fighting game. Visualization of hundreds of techniques going well improves the odds that they do when the Octagon door shuts. There's no surprises and fears, and the brain is used to the scenarios which pop up in a fight because they have already been rehearsed mentally. There's less stress and anxiety regarding your performance when it's a familiar situation.

Octopus jumps onto cat's face

This is a funny animated gif of an octopus jumping and latching onto a cat's face as the confused feline wonders what the hell is happening.

Nope Badger

This is an animated reaction gif of a badger saying "What the..." before running away and shouting "Nope nope nope!" Typically used whenever somebody online sees something that freaks them out.

Cliff Collapsing

This is a crazy animated gif of a cliff collapsing. This footage was caught in Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, which is a small commune in the north of France. Video footage below:

Christ Air

This is a cool animated gif of Brazilian skateboarder "Big Bob Burnquist" doing an amazing Christ Air. In case you didn't already know, the Christ Air is an aerial skateboarding trick where the skater holds the board in his arms as he strikes a pose that is similar to depictions of Jesus on the cross.

Pole Dancing - Expectation Vs Reality

This is a funny animated gif of Pole Dancing - Expectation versus Reality. In the first shot, you see a woman pole dancing expertly. In the second, you see a cat humping a pole.