Writing

The mat and the meeting room

Precision under pressure From combat sports to product leadership — why high-pressure clarity, adaptability, and discipline are the ultimate tools for today’s builders. I’ve spent enough time on the mat to know this: Fighting teaches you more than how to fight. It teaches you how to listen to pressure. How to move with intention. How to stay calm when chaos closes in. Over time, the lessons become muscle memory — not just in your body, but in how you show up to life and leadership. And strangely enough, I’ve found myself carrying those same instincts into a very different arena: the meeting r...

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Pressure creates opportunity

Precision under pressure It’s not the absence of pressure that creates greatness — it’s how you respond when it hits. Pressure doesn’t care if you’re ready. It shows up uninvited — in training, in product launches, in leadership moments you didn’t plan for. In Muay Thai or BJJ, pressure is how you test real skill. It’s easy to look sharp on pads or drill moves in a quiet gym. But when someone’s trying to take your head off? That’s when your technique, your mindset, and your character show up. You don’t rise to the occasion. You fall to your level of preparation — and fight from there. But her...

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Sharp tools and simple moves

Precision under pressure Mastery isn’t about complexity — it’s about clarity, efficiency, and executing with intent. When you’re new to martial arts, everything feels complex. You want to try flying armbars. Spinning elbows. Complex transitions. You throw too much. You move too much. And more often than not, you miss. Then you train more. You watch how the higher belts move. And suddenly you realize: They’re not doing more. They’re doing less. But they’re doing it perfectly. They’ve sharpened their tools. They don’t waste motion. They don’t force the fight. They wait, and when it’s time — the...

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Breathe in the chaos

Precision under pressure Composure isn’t a luxury — it’s a competitive advantage. In chaos, your breath is your anchor. One of the first things you forget under pressure is to breathe. And that’s exactly when you need it most. In sparring — whether it’s Muay Thai or BJJ — the moment things go sideways, everything tightens. Muscles clench. Vision narrows. Breath gets shallow. You stop thinking and start reacting. And just like that, you lose the fight before a single clean strike lands. But the fighters who can breathe through it — the ones who stay calm while everything around them gets loud ...

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Tap early and learn fast

Precision under pressure Failure isn’t weakness — it’s feedback. And the faster you learn to listen, the better you get. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, tapping is how you stay in the game. It’s the moment your ego wants to resist — but your body knows better. It’s not surrender. It’s awareness. It’s self-preservation. And ironically, the people who tap early… are usually the ones who learn the fastest. Because they’re not afraid to explore. To test. To roll into bad positions, knowing they’ll figure it out. I used to resist tapping. I’d hold on too long — white-knuckling my way through bad decisions...

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