This is a great TED talk by Chatri Sityodtong, who is the founder of Evolve MMA in Singapore. He examined how training martial arts has been beneficial to his own life and why he believes martial arts is the greatest platform to unleash human potential. Even with the sport of mixed martial arts becoming mainstream in many parts of the world, fighters and combat sport athletes are still being stereotyped negatively and the life-changing benefits of learning martial arts remains out of reach for most people simply due to negative preconceived notions.
As Chatri mentioned in his presentation, the true essence of martial arts is not about fighting, it is about developing self-confidence and striving to be the best one can be. Check it out.
A picture of my BJJ match at the 2014 New York Summer Open. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has definitely changed my life positively.
Have a great holidays and let's look forward to 2015.
-Oliver Sha