my name is Tom DeBlase I'm over Cardo made a black belt I've been training for 15 years now 14 or 15 years been a black belt for eight nine years I was always a very competitive kid like I grew up doing all kinds of sports in a cotton high school I did track and field I was much smaller and I was really good long jumper on with the college for it but I thought all the ligaments in my ankle and I needed to compete in something I could never just sit around and watch things happen I want to be in the mix and I was always an aggressive kid but I never would fight for no reason like I would always need a reason to be aggressive no I was never bullied I always stuck up for people listen I'm not perfect I was never perfect but I was never a bully I figured what better thing to do then jujitsu and mixed martial arts right you have an outlet you have something that you could do aggressively in a positive way and I found your tool and I just been addicted ever since I wanted to be a part of that like culture it's funny cos looking at that now I don't want to really be a part of the mixed martial arts culture I like to do too much better but at that time I wanted to be I was young hungry to compete I just wanted to learn what I love about two dudes who now is different than what I love about when I first started so when I first started I I love the competitive aspect it's affected you could always become better there's always gonna be somebody tapping you there's always gonna be somebody pushing you and coming back for more coming back for more now what I love about you so much is the fact that it could really be for everybody you know and some people associate juice is not for everybody well a few sage church is not for everybody you're teaching the future the wrong way you know you come at our competitive room and it doesn't get much tougher than that but at the same time you come into our everyday class it's we really a people from all walks of life so the fact that I could touch people's lives through in jiu-jitsu so it brings me back the fact that I can touch people's lives there is something that I love is what makes me love it I'm just not about more Mars and chokes you know there's a lot more to me than that I don't walk around to smile every day I'm not the happiest guy in the world every day but even on my bad days I'm trying to inspire and I want to share all of who I am you know and much of Who I am is trying to motivate and trying to help trying to inspire that being said the fact that I inspired people inspires me so it's like a domino effect like I inspire them they inspire me I inspire them they inspire me when the fact that I can do that through agents of something I love in Aggie wrestling around teaching martial arts teaching tropes and self-defense and still help people and still make people better better individuals to me there's nothing better to be a part of all that gives the most as the absolute was complete thing that you can be a part of my view I am NOT a perfect guy I have made many mistakes in my life way I've helped a lot of people and that's something I pride myself on you know being available to people as much as I possibly can sharing my story with people as much as I possibly can helping people understand that my voice gets better no matter how bad it is or always gets better and you would stand those time on the mats those talk training sessions like there's nothing worse than being physically exhausted being mounted by another human being that was not exhausted once you realize it's not always that bad it's really not that big of a deal is when the rounds gonna end and if it doesn't end where you get that but if you live to fight another day once you learn to deal with these problems out of Matt's I feel every other problem in life becomes that much easier and I've dealt with some really really big problems in life so I'm not speaking from someone's perspective that's never suffered before like I've suffered a lot and definitely teachers help my mindset to be able to live a half life and that's essentially everything that we're looking for in life right is happiness success is happiness what a success if we're not happy right so jiu-jitsu helps me to become I think the Saints will change my life is an understatement we need to reward that is my language it didn't change my life you is Who I am it's my existence I think I'm most proud of now there's just having a really strong impact on teachers world and it makes me happy with the fact that people who have way my name's something positive sure not everyone's gonna love me and that's fine right but I truly do have good intentions that I truly do want to help as many people as possible so the fact that my impact is so strong on the new church world something I love so much and I have such a big importance in the digital community in the world as a whole to me that's my greatest achievement and I believe this is just the beginning I believe it's really gonna keep spreading and I believe I'm gonna touch more than just fame is not something I look for but I believe fame is a consequence of doing the right things fame as a consequence of living the right way and helping as many people as possible can you know like I shared a video the other day of my last fight were knocking out and I helped him out man I got like $250 in news truly after I knocked him out like in the rain like I was just not happy you know I just felt bad for him I felt like I don't know this is a hard feeling to explain because my hard work paid off but at the same time it was hard to celebrate when I know that his whole world just came crashing down at that moment that his wife and his daughter had to see him get her I mean listen you got to do you got to do it's MMA and it just wasn't for me anymore in the beginning it was towards the end it wasn't so it wasn't like something negative that 250,000 people saw 250,000 people saw something positive something compassionate in this world that's so crazy today that could possibly you know make people happy and make people feel good about their self and to me that's that success right there that's what I live for now I'm doing so many seminars and and I'm I'm literally you know I traveled around the United States and and sometimes you know the world and it's always very very important to me and it's such a good feeling that my I always know my kids are you know what the loving mother and my wife takes such good care of them but I am traveling to teach seminars and and stuff like that and you know it's no easy job you know my kids my two kids are crazy Isabelle's gonna be six in February Thomas is gonna be two in January and they're very very active extremely active like there is zero downtime there's never downtime and my house one for my kids so you know they got 12 are alone I'm away three weekends I'm giving seminars I give a seminar in Detroit I'm giving a seminar in Pittsburgh and then I'll be at Maryland you know I don't have to worry about my kids because I know you know a lot of things such a good care of things so for me that's just it was always very important to me you know when when I got married to marry someone who was a would be a wonderful mother definitely found that I'm thankful for that for sure life for me growing up was a interesting very loving family my father I love her very dearly it was an alcoholic and drug addict so I was exposed to a lot you know but we always stayed tight and it helped me to understand that he was never a bad person you just had an addiction and a disease and it helped me to be very compassionate you know I was an only child and growing up around that and seeing that it just made me I think appreciate certain aspects of life a little more you know every good time that we had I would definitely hold onto it and really appreciate it I don't want to say life was ever easy you know but like you could always been much worse and like my parents made sure I had the best everything I have a great support system in my parents and and and it's such an irony because my father was a drug addict an alcoholic so for when he wasn't drinking he was like the most supportive guy ever you know and then when he was drinking of course thank you different with the house but it helped me to mature at a young age and to become me like I don't regret anything because it made me so much stronger I feel I don't have any anger towards him whatsoever I'm actually thankful that it was him because it wasn't him acquitted me I have an addictive personality as well and I turned to jiu-jitsu the first time I actually started drinking like socially just like I happen to have a drink it was like a few years ago so I went through all eyes for all of college most of my adult life but never touching alcohol I hated it I despised it there was a reason for any kind of pain that I had I was always afraid of who I would become if I was drunk right because I saw how my dad could be and I believed that I could have been worse than my dad you know I don't fear any man you know I don't fear any circumstance don't think I fear now is something god forbid happening to my to my kids other than that there's not a thing I fear in the world so I'm afraid if I were to be dropped that I would may be backed on some of the things that I may want to do sometimes yeah everybody said all my spirit is unless go today I'm really not scared you know I'm not afraid of death so I always aborted alcohol at all costs I hated it because I associated alcohol you know in a negative light to where it's not necessarily the case right people have great times drinking socially and you know it could be something positive it's just not something that I thought was positive now of course I'm looking a little differently 34 years old I'm more mature and I see things a little bit more clearer now with that our family stood together my parents are still married we do family stuff my dad is like he'd been sober now for two and a half years and he's like the greatest grandfather that my my my children can have you know so I'm so proud of him you know live for that right now because perhaps sometimes that he and I had missed together he should get back to his own grandkids like every family we had our problems but I believe we're closer than most families because we've overcome so much together as a team a simple quote that I love the most that I always turn to is just trust and guide I think it speaks volumes no matter how tough life gets put your trust in him everything works out most people say hi you know maybe you shouldn't have been exposed to things you were supposed to well you know what I think I did okay for myself and I would have wanted any other way you
