Kohai on the march: Matthew Tesla, kohai (junior) brown belt squad member, continues to make his push towards senior status. Yesterday at Grappling Industries NYC event he entered the open weight division featuring 25 athletes up to blackbelt, despite weighing only 175 pounds. He won 4 of his 5 matches via submission to win gold and an all expenses paid trip to Grappling Industries 2018 world Championships event in CaliforniaMr Tesla has been working very diligently in the gym on his skills. This has created a newfound confidence that was apparent in his strong run to the medal podium. Here he latches on to the leg of his black belt opponent with a fine ashi garami and controls the action from entry to finish. So often students ask me about developing confidence. I always say that confidence follows naturally from ability. If you develop the skills – confidence will follow. Some will get that confidence earlier, some later, but if the ability is there, one day it will come, and when it does, great things happen.
