Jim Hettes - Living with the Cowboy

When I first arrived to the house I was a little star struck with all the great talent in the house (Derek "The Pipe" Leyrer) but Cowboy and Leonard are just naturally good natured people that after a few minutes of us bullshittin we were laughing, busting balls like we all grew up together. This is the way the whole month has went for me, I really felt like I didn't have a care in the world and gained focus for my overall objective. It hardly felt like training because of all the little jokes but at the end of this camp I can feel that my game has elevated threw the roof in just a short amount of time. Having Greg Jackson, who needs no introduction to anyone who respects martial arts as a coach is an honor itself. Then I had the distinct pleasure of working with coach Ray Yee of Albuquerque Kickboxing who was generious enough to share his wisdom and help me tremendously with my stand up. The people that I have learned the most from though are the other fighters at the gym. The all-star squad, A-list of names that could go on forever were super cool and all willing to take time out of their schedule and help a stranger iron out some kinks. All the small details Cowboy and Leonard showed me all add up and we should see my game skyrocket in the next few months.

I just wanna thank a few people for the time and effort they have givin to help out a young up and comer. Thanks to Calem "The Dream" Wilson for the constant jokes and fear of high kicks, to Kris "The Savage" McCray for displaying the stanky leg and providing full instructions to go with it, to Derek "The Pipe" Leyrer for all the damn impromptue grappling matches and punches to the arm, Carrie Vanier for the 007 wrestling clinches he has put on me, to "Goyo" for really making me appreciate the use of takedowns instead of standing up in front of him, Eric "The Next Judo Superstar" Bohnenkamp for the constant beating he put on this defenseless individual, Bobby "Digital" Huron for startin the Squad (inside joke between me, Kris, and Bobby) and showing us that it is still possible to pimp in New Mexico. Thanks to Leonard for helpin not only my mma game but showing me the way to killing nazi zombie's and to Cowboy for triangling me so many times my head is shaped different and then there is his stand up ( I'm not gonna lie I'm not going to miss bein hit by him for sure ), and thanks most importantly to Mike Malast for always looking out for us, making it all possible and hooking us up with such great talent to train with. Thank you.

Jim Hettes-