Built Dffrnt: The Kid From Safford, AZ

The Kid From Safford, AZ

On getting dropped, getting up, and why the toughest man in the building thanks his corner first.

A few weeks ago, a kid from Safford, Arizona won a world title. Not really a kid, a grown man who has been fighting his whole life. Justin Gaethje. He grew up in a copper mining town where his dad worked the Morenci mine for thirty-six years, and his grandparents worked it before him. Hard hats, long shifts, dirt under the nails. The same roots a lot of you come from.

He started wrestling at four years old. By the time he left Safford High he was 191 wins and 9 losses. That is not talent. That is a decision, made ten thousand times.

That night, on about the biggest stage there is, Gaethje got dropped. Second round, a body shot from an undefeated champion folded him in half. That is the moment. That is where most of us quit, or start eyeing the exit, or start writing the story about why it just was not our night.

Gaethje got up. Then he took undefeated Ilia Topuria apart and finished him in the fourth. First loss of that champion’s career. First world title of Gaethje’s.

Marcus Aurelius

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

The Roman emperor wrote that to himself in a war tent on the frontier, the most powerful man alive, reminding himself to endure. The body shot that should have ended Gaethje became the exact thing the whole world now knows him for surviving. The obstacle did not block the path. The obstacle WAS the path.

That is the Stoic idea this whole series keeps circling. You do not get to pick whether you get hit. You get to pick what you do with the hit. The wall in front of you is the way through.

But here is the part I most want you to hear, because it is the part nobody expects from a guy in the most “individual” sport there is. Gaethje will be the first to tell you he is not self-made. He started his fight career with zero striking training, a reckless brawler running on toughness alone. Over an eleven-year partnership, his coach Trevor Wittman rebuilt him into a tactical champion. Listen to how Gaethje talks about him.

Justin Gaethje, on his coach Trevor Wittman

“I would not be here without you. I always tell everybody, you’re an artist, I’m a canvas, and we’ve created some masterpieces.”

The toughest man on the biggest stage in the country, world title around his waist, and the first thing out of his mouth is a thank you to his corner.

He calls himself the canvas. He gives the genius to the coach. That is not weakness. That is exactly why he wins. Because obstacles are not tackled best alone. They are tackled best as a team. Even a fighter, alone in a cage, is carried there by a corner that believes in him and built by a man humble enough to be coached. Coachability is not soft. It is how a canvas becomes a masterpiece.

The champion is two things at once. The grit to get up off the floor, and the humility to know who got him there. Miss either half, and you lose.

Can Do, Team Spirit.

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” (Proverbs 24:16)

Can Do · The Individual

Gets up off the floor.
Trusts his reps.
Bets on himself.
Refuses to quit.
Can’t never could.

Team Spirit · The Corner

Trusts the corner.
Credits the coach.
Carries a teammate.
Stays coachable.
We over me.

Let’s Play to Win

Here is the standard, and it is both halves.

When you get dropped this week, and somebody will, you get up, find the next move, and trust your reps. And you stay somebody’s corner. Somebody on this team is on the floor right now. Be the coach who believes in them, and when they carry you, tell them you see it. Warrior spirit and servant’s heart, in the same body.

This week: get up, and thank your corner out loud.

Let’s get after it in life, family, and business. AND LET’S PLAY TO WIN!!!
Lots of love, Nate

The Kid From Safford, AZ

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

“I would not be here without you. I always tell everybody, you’re an artist, I’m a canvas, and we’ve created some masterpieces.”

Can Do, Team Spirit.

Let’s Play to Win

FROM BjERK + BEYOND