Have you ever had one of those random moments that completely change the course of your life?
At first, they seem random and inconsequential, but in hindsight, it’s like destiny played out exactly how it’s meant to.
Well, one random winter morning in late 2010, I met best-selling author and entrepreneur, Tim Ferriss, waiting for a plane at a small airport on Long Island.
This encounter would forever change my life.
At the time, I was a white belt and returning to California after seeing family for the holidays in New York.
I was gifted a copy of Andre Galvao’s, “Drill To Win” for Christmas, and was excited to improve my developing skills.
It was an early flight, the terminal was calm and there were maybe 100 of us quietly waiting at the gate.
Killing time, I cracked open my new book, ready to learn when I heard a voice across from me…
“Good book, who published that one?”
Looking up, while thinking to myself…who published it? Who asks a question like that?
“Uhh, it looks like Victory Belt.”
“Ahh, right, they’ve put out some great ones recently.”
Hmm, I thought to myself, weird question but maybe this guy knows something I don’t.
I kept the conversation going.
“Do you train?”
“Im a purple belt…but Judo is more of my thing.”
The conversation went on with the normal cadence of BJJ small talk.
How long you been training, where do you train, so on…
Then, he said something you wouldn’t expect to hear at 7am in an airport terminal.
“Let me show you a move I’ve been working on!”
I reluctantly agreed, as this shorter, but intriguingly confident man in a ski hat stood up in the middle of the terminal.
He then proceeded to toss me over his shoulder in front of a crowded room of onlooking travelers.
Who the heck is this guy?
I picked myself up, embarrassed and ready to melt back into the safety of my chair.
“One more?,” he asked.
“Ya know, I’ll have to pass, I’ve been dealing with this annoying shoulder issue the last few weeks,” rubbing my agitated arm just made worse by the fall onto carpeted concrete.
“Ah yes, very common in grappling.”
I nodded.
He went on…“Have you ever tried the Turkish Get Up?”
“The what?”
“Oh it’s phenomenal for shoulder health.
…actually it’s great for your entire body, especially as a jiu-jitsu fighter.”
As a lifelong fitness enthusiast I was intrigued to say the least.
Something I had never heard of that heals shoulders and improves your entire body for grappling?
What is this miracle exercise you speak of weird, Judo, ski hat man?
“In fact, I just dedicated an entire chapter to it in my latest book.”
Huh?
“Your book?”
Who the heck is this guy?
Ski hat man proceeded to pull out a copy of a thick, shiny, hard covered book.
He passed it to me.
“Yeah, it just debuted at number one on the New York Times best-sellers. Uhh, open to the section on reversing injuries.”
I opened it…
The first page I read…
“The 15 Minute Female Orgasm”
What theee….
Who the heck is this guy?!
“Oh yeah, that’s a good one too, but look, right here….Pre-Hab: Injury-Proofing the Body”
He continued on, “it’s actually a sequence of moves that’s a bit complicated at first.
The best thing you can do is find a certified Russian Kettlebell instructor to teach it to you correctly.
Have you ever used kettlebells?”
“Nope.”
“Well in that case, I actually recommend you just get certified yourself. They’re one of the best tools for martial artists, and you’ll master the Get Up, plus the swing, which is also incredible.”
And the rest is history.
Within 3 months I was HKC certified.
Nine months later I was fully certified in the RKC system, which later split into Strong First.
In fact, a year after my encounter with Tim Ferriss, I quit my high-paying job in corporate finance to become a full time personal trainer.
13 years later, I’m still a coach and never looked back at corporate life again.
13 years and a brown belt later and I’ve never suffered with shoulder pain again after learning the Get Up.
13 years later and I’ve taught the Get Up to countless grapplers around the world, and I still tout it’s amazing benefits to any grappler I meet.
It’s kept me relatively injury-free for years, aside from the freak accidents like two torn meniscus, and it continues to add to my BJJ performance and durability to this day.
In fact, I believe in the Get Up so much that I just dropped an entire course dedicated to learning and applying the sequence specifically for grapplers.
It should be standard for any jiu-jitsu practitioner.
They say that in old Japan, a new judoka had to perform 500 Hindu Squats before stepping on the mat for the first time.
I believe that every grappler should own a 53lb Get Up before stepping on the mat.
It’s that important.
Anyway, thanks ski hat man.
You changed my life.
