Mike '2K' Hanrahan: Victorious in Golden Gloves Debut!

Mike Hanrahan- Photo from N.Y. Daily News 1/21/12 

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."   --  Theodore Roosevelt   Within the Codella family, one of our fearless young warriors is striving to excel in not one but three different forms of combat arts.  Mike Hanrahan, a blue belt at Codella Academy and a San Dan (3rd degree black belt) in Goju Ryu Okinawan Karate, has been training in the "sweet science" for less than a year at Gleason's Gym under boxing coach Raul Frank. Just as a select few of us compete in jiu jitsu and grappling tournaments to test our skills, Mike, with the support of his coach, has felt the urge to apply his knowledge in the granddaddy of amateur boxing tournaments, the N.Y.C. Golden Gloves.  Here is the video of his debut on January 20th, 2012: Following his fight, he sat with Cageside at Codella's and discussed his experience that night, the comparisons to his first MMA match, his preparation and his overall mindset both before and after his bout. (Dramatic background effect provided Prof. Mike Codella & Mike "Killer" Katz!!) As mentioned in the video, Mike's next fight will be on:   Tuesday January 31st at 7:30PM at the  Justice Sonya Sotomayor Center 1000 Rosedale Ave. Bronx, N.Y.10472 I'll continue to post the results and avilable videos as Mike progresses through the tournament. Again, Mike thank you kindly for your time and we all at Codella Academy are rooting for you and wish you all the very best!! *** In keeping with the boxing theme, I wanted to highlight two links I added on the left that are dedicated to the sweet science.   Bad Left Hook is an excellent boxing news resource that always provides play by play commentary to all the major fights on TV and PPV. The blog Fights Gone By is an insightful site that breakdowns major fights and analyzes striking techniques not only in boxing but other stand up styles. Finally here's a video of the UFC's Sugar Rashad Evans getting some outstanding pointers from boxing legend Bernard Hopkins. Yes, I know he's been known for hating on MMA in the past but I think he redeems himself here somewhat!!

Congratulations to Our Newest Purple Belt, Greg Marotta!!

Prof. Mike Codella & Greg Marotta

This week Prof. Codella promoted long time Academy veteran Greg Morotta to the esteemed rank of purple belt. Greg has always been considered one of the most hard working and nicest guys on our team. There's no doubt he'll continue to train hard and honor his new rank and make Codella Academy proud! Congratulations on your much deserved purple belt, brother!!

Motivational Monday: "Putting The Team On Your Back!!"

Ok so we're heading into the final third of the football season and unless you're a Green Bay Packers fan, the rest of us fans, Jets, Giants and my beloved Dallas Cowboys especially,  have most likely been driven to cussing up a storm and  drinking ourselves into oblivion with all the inconsistencies on the gridiron!  But being the level headed disciplined martial artists that we are, we know better to stay the course, focused and prepared for whatever challenge or football fiasco lies before us.

For some of us this may prove more difficult. Distractions, obligations, commitments or just downright laziness become formidable foes to overcome. The above video hopefully, will not only make you laugh but remind you that you're not alone, we're all in this together, in the Marine Corps we referred to this as, Espirit de Corps!!

So the video is from last season's playoffs, when the Seattle Seahawks  dramatically upset the New Orleans Saints with Marhawn Lynch's ridiculous touchdown run. The added commentary is quite colorful yet hilariously insightful. Below are more videos I found that were poignant, inspiring and just simply, in the case of Frankie Edgar's training video, badass!!

  

I also wanted to give a huge shout our cage warriors who without a doubt had their team on their backs. Big Al Medina, was like our version of the Crippler Chris Leben, this brother was unstoppable!! He fought two weeks ago in his MMA debut against a kid who was getting hyped big time and must of thought he was going to notch another highlight knockout off our boy. Al was not trying to hear that nonsense. He took his opponent to the deep end, caught some shots along the way but was unyielding in his efforts to turn the tide. He lost an unanimous decision but the Cyborg- like performance earned him Fight of the Night honors. Congratulations brother, the courage and tenacity you displayed was awesome!

  

Also, this past weekend Mark Feliccia fought in Rahway, N.J. for  the KAP MMA organization. Unfortunately for me, this event was not being tele-casted via Go Fight Live, so I did not witness the match firsthand, but he defeated his opponent via arm lock in the second round! Again, another demonstration of putting the team in his back with 100% BJJ! Congratulations to you as well, Mark! I do know how hard you trained for this victory.

  

Team Codella was also in full force at the NAGA Championships in Newark N.J. last Saturday. The fantastic squad of four consisted of Joe Peteroy, Bobby Brown, Joe Terranova and  making his competition debut, Peter Lombardo. Four grapplers walked on to the mats, slapped their opponents hands, put it all on the line, and all four walked out of the arena with medals around their necks!

Joe P won two silvers, Bobby and Joe T bronze medals each in the advanced division, and Peter popped his tournament cherry with a shiny gold medal!  Outstanding job, gentlemen! 

Hope you enjoyed and were inspired by this Codella Service Announcement. We have the holidays coming up, so have a great time with your families, travel safely and let's return to the mats pumped and ready to put in work so we can put the TEAM on our backs!. 

To the haters, the meddlers, the mental distractions and  nagging negative energy, just recite out loud and let 'em know what you learned here,  

"Hold My D*****k!!"

(Crotch clutch is optional!)

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations,

we fall to the level of our training."

Archilochus- Ancient Greek Soldier

Ralek Gracie Visits Codella Academy!

Last week a select few got the pleasure of seeing Master Renzo as he stopped by our kids' class accompanied by one of the Gracie Academy brothers, Ralek Gracie. Some of you may know him from his victory over Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba last year or more recently from the awesome Gracie UFC breakdown videos. Here's the most recent one, a breakdown of UFC 137 Penn vs Diaz:                                           

                                     

(At about the 10 minute mark of this video Rener mentions an excellent nugget of wisdom about making your opponent tap mentally, by shutting down all avenues of escape, before he eventually taps physically...powerful stuff right there!!)

If you don't catch these videos regularly, you should because the do an awesome job of analyzing   and commenting on the techniques executed successfully and the possible reasons why they weren't successful. Subscribe to their you tube page and their newsletter, Gracie Insider (The email sign up is 1/3 down on the left.)  The impromptu visit was not scheduled and Prof. Codella would have preferred to grant him a more welcoming reception, but he did give him an as yet unreleased soft cover version of his book, Alphaville, as a parting gift. Hopefully next time he visits with us he'll grace our mats with some great instruction and training!!

In other news, our golden boy Will Couchon was victorious last Saturday in his debut with Dead Serious MMA. He submitted his opponent in the second round by ezekiel choke from the mount. He looked very calm and collected in the cage against a stand up fighter with some grappling experience and a amateur fight under his belt. All that was neutralized with his relentless takedowns and submission attempts. Congratulation Will on a well executed game plan and your first MMA win!!

Next up for MMA fights are Albert "Big Al" Medina making his debut on 11-12-11 for Evolution Fighting Championships in Rahway, N.J., also  Joe Peteroy and Mark Fellicia fighting for a new promotion, KAP MMA on 11-19-11 also at the Rahway Recreational Center. That same day there will a crew from the Codella Competition Team traveling to Newark to represent The Rock at the NAGA Championships.

If that wasn't enough Master Renzo has informed us that the Renzo BJJ Open (Invitational that is open to everyone) will be a part of the MMA Expo being held at the Jacob Javits Center, Saturday 12-17-11. Registration info will be posted soon. Looks like November will be continue to be an exciting month for our academy. Continue to support your teammates at the events and on the mats..TRAIN HARD, FIGHT EASY!!

Will Couchon: Feeling Good & Hunting for Win in MMA Debut!

A couple of days away from his amateur MMA debut and and Will is surprisingly in good spirits. He clearly has that just before weigh in gauntness but doesn't appear to be weak at all. While hitting the bag and rolling with Prof. Codella, the focus and attention to detail was evident. In fact, he was almost unrecognizable! There was no goofiness or signature BWAAHH!! to be found this morning, just the machine on a mission. Well, for brief moment, as you'll see in the video interview, the silliness surfaces but I believe it goes to show that he's got a good handle in balancing the mental aspect of his preparation.

Despite some prior missteps, this Saturday 10/29/11, will mark his MMA debut for the Dead Serious MMA organization. The fights wil be held at the Rahway Recreational Center, Rahway, N.J. Although it is subject to change, he believes his fight will either be the third or fourth of the night. His opponent, Joe Scanish 0-1 MMA, fights out of Goju Ryu Martial Arts in N.J. and seems like a game fighter. (Here's a link to his opponent's first amateur mma fight New Breed Fighters.) Will is the only fighter from our academy who is on this card. Unfortunately for Mark Feliccia, all his potential opponents are either accident prone or highly susceptible to contagious airborne pathogens and strangely enough, all have the same initials: TBA! This brother can't catch a break. I suggest he assumes the identity of our infamous underground warrior and guaranteed the opponents come flying out of the woodwork!!! 

Speaking of legitimate warriors, here is a video interview with our golden boy  sharing his thoughts on his preparation for this fight and also a video of him and Prof. Codella rolling lightly at yesterday's open mat.

 

 

If you haven't already purchased tickets, check with Will or Prof. Codella to see if there are any tickets left. **This fight card will also be available on a PPV live stream through Go Fight Live for $10, but I have to share that my first experience with GFL was truly aggravating because the stream was experiencing technical difficulties for the first couple of fights and I missed Mike 2K's match. When it did come back online the quality of the feed was good but customer service was doo-doo: no apologies, no partial credit, nada! 

So buyer beware. When you do purchase the stream you are able to see the replays of all the fights in a day or two which is good since you probably won't find these fights on you tube. You can get the details for the stream here:

Go Fight Live 

also the address, google map and fight card info here: Dead Serious MMA

From my observations and the testimony of our esteemed Professor it looks like Will is prepared physically, technically and mentally to do battle Saturday night. But, when one of our senior veterans and MMA fighter, none other than our badass brown belt Chez Budgell, says the man is ready to do our academy proud, it means that warrior recognizes warrior!! So Will relax, follow your game plan, and leave it all in the cage brother, this is your time to shine!!

Team Codella Invited To Train at Renzo Gracie Academy!

Prof. Mike Codella has recently announced that that our members, blue belts and above, have been invited to train this Saturday 10/22/11 @ 11:30AM at the main academy in NYC. It is not an open mat session. This is one of their scheduled no gi classes so for the love of Christmas do not be late!! 
Prof. Codella is not sure who will be instructing the class but you can best believe all of Master Renzo's black belt instructors are certified badasses!! Those of us who are attending should wear our academy gear to represent "The Rock" and Prof. Codella properly. If you plan on going Saturday let Prof. Codella know by Thursday, if possible, so he can have an idea of how many guys the main academy can expect to be training that day. 
There is no group transportation available but Prof. Codella has suggested that those of you who are interested in carpooling to midtown should make arrangements to meet at our school by 10:00AM to provide ample time for travel and finding parking.  It's been quite a while since our team has had the privilege to train at the main academy so let's enjoy this opportunity to break bread with our BJJ family, get some great training and truly represent the Renzo Gracie Fight Team to the fullest!!   Osss!

Renzo Gracie Academy  224 West 30th St.  (between 7th & 8th Aves.)  #212-279-6724

***There is no academy sign on the building. When you enter, the doorman will direct you to the end of the hall, on the ground floor, and down the stairs.

BeltQuest.com Technique of the Week #2 featuring Prof. Mike Codella

Our good friends at BeltQuest.com present their Technique of the Week segment featuring Prof. Mike Codella. This is the second video where Prof. Codella demonstrates two separate moves from the knee on belly position, a slick step over collar choke and a powerful back take. Let's continue to show our appreciation to Belt Quest by subscribing to their You Tube Channel: Belt Quest and liking their Facebook: Belt Quest. FYI- these gentlemen train at the AMA Fight Club in Parsippany, NJ, home of  UFC fighters Dan & Jim Miller, head trainer Mike Constantino and BJJ coach Jaime Cruz who's a Renzo Gracie black belt. Much love for their support.

***Some members have mentioned to me that they have had difficulties trying to post comments on the blog, so I have made some adjustments that should facilitate the free flow of feedback. To post a comment: 

1. Click the comment link

2. Select Profile- Click "Anonymous"

3. Write your response..(try to leave your name within your comment if possible..agree or disagree, like or don't like, it's all good. Just be respectful, please.)

4. Click Publish/Post. You'll then have to type in a word verification in the box, and you're all set.
You can also opt to check off one of the reaction boxes: funny/interesting/cool. 
I truly appreciate the Codella BJJ Family support and all the positive verbal comments I've received thus far. I've recently added a visitor counter at the top of the page and I was pleasantly surprised, shocked really, that since June 1st there have have over 3,200 site visits!! My sincere thanks to you all for your collective input, efforts and  encouragement! Obrigado!!