[Jacob Coile]

I have mentioned my training associations before and they have been sporadic at best...
I have moved around a bit and even tried some schools/gyms that were quite a drive; up to an hour away for one school. I have learned a lot from different places and it has all been good experience but sometimes you just get "lucky" and need to take advantage of the situation.
That happened to me recently: for I began my BJJ and MMA training split between my Capoeira Mestre who also happens to be a decent boxing and kickboxing coach not to mention a "natural born fighter" and a BJJ school 5minutes from my home. things went a bit awol and my Mestre and I parted ways and the BJJ school seemed lackluster (little did I know the big plans they were working on). So I went elsewhere and found a gym that had a strong reputation and a lot of quality students and teachers including their Head guy being one of the top 10 grapplers in the world (top three in his weigth class arguably). It was hard work and I did get tested daily there but something wasn't clicking. I couldn't understand it at first, but it was the drive there, the training felt off for me and my goals, and the differences in attitude and approach to training that just added up and I lost some motivation. Meanwhile I had a pipe dream that I'm sure any grappling student can relate to. My absolute favorite grappler and competitor of all time, Marcelo Garcia, was a distant "dream" teacher I would love to learn from. Then three chronological things happened that reignited a fire in me.

First My old school 5min from my home became Marcelo Garcia of South Florida (at this time it only meant we would be learning Marcelo's game and that he would visit once or twice a year, so I even got a free seminar out of this which i mentioned earlier in my log) this prompted me to try and train at both gyms, work to learn my hero's game at MGSF and then pratice it on the high level students of the other more distant school. then I started to notice that, though they are strong there (as I have stated before) they just don't roll as "nonstop" as my old school does. This further put my enthusiasm for them down.
Second At Marcelo Garcia South Florida my teachers and the owner announce to me that Marcelo is going to make this location his home school and teach full time for a complete relocation here to south florida! It is not everyday you get to train under one of your "heros" and my distance both physically and mentally to the other school sealed the deal as I decided to remain with my "original" bjj school and train with the man himself as much as possible instead of splitting time between the two. Let me just say that after 2-3months solid training with the more distant group it was wierd cause I never once rolled or even had the main guy look at me while rolling, now maybe I wasn't good enough in his opinion which is fair as far as I'm concerned and I have no problem with that, but I have been with Marcelo for 2 months and I can't count how many times he's personally watch me roll and correct me and I've probably rolled with him about 5 times. and he does this for all the students. I really feel improved and can see everyone getting better too. I am really excited to be part of His school.
Third My friend who took over Hollywood MMA in the absence of my Mestre invites me back to continue work on my kickboxing and back to my roots with some capoeira. He even is willing to work around my training with Marcelo's school. which is very unique, as I have tried juggling school schedules before and this is really a big help.
more updates comming after lunch (gotta get some strength and conditioning work in)