I go through a fairly predictable course of events every time I write this newsletter.

   1. I search through a disorganized google doc full of random beatings to find something interesting and martial-arts-related to share with you.

   2. I morph said content into something mildly educational and barely humorous.

   3. I brace myself for 29,850 return emails about the same topic, and hope that I get through them all before the next newsletter is released.

It is in the midst of part 3 that I inevitably learn something new about the newsletter content that I just released... which inherently creates a personal nightmare for me.  

What am I supposed to do with this information?  Do I put out an addendum newsletter, and receive 30,000 more emails about a slightly different version of the same topic?!

For example, last week I made the joke that the best Russian MMA fighters were all stylistically inspired by Abraham Lincoln:

Well did you know that Abraham Lincoln was apparently an exhibitionist wrestler, and he publicly crushed more that 300 other opponents just for fun?

Well... I didn't either.  But I read that article.  And now the knowledge haunts me.  

"I’m the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns."

-Abe Lincoln... when calling out an entire crowd of people, who just saw him slam a grown man into the dirt.  

Obviously this nugget is not worthy of an entire newsletter... so I hesitate, and the knowledge festers in my brain... until the appropriate time to share it has already come and gone.  

I go through this... every. week. 

Also in last weeks newsletter, I included this random gif, and stated that, "I have no idea what this takedown is, but I would love to be able to do it."

Well, wouldn't you know that at least a 10 of my brilliant members pointed out that this is a banned technique in Judo known as "Kawazu-gake," and they shared a handful of tutorials with me as well.  

BUT, my buddy Steve Maxwell pointed out that this technique is called a Leg Lace Lateral Drop" in wrestling...

And he sent me this fantastic lesson on The Leg Lace Lateral Drop... which will allow you to slam folks similarly from an 'overhook' position. 

So look... I write this bizarre newsletter today to give you a brief look behind the scenes at Fight Smart.  I take an unnecessary amount of time to write these things, and then it takes me days to get through all of the correspondence... all of this while Abraham Lincoln is executing perfect leg lace lateral drops in my imagination.   

This is all to say that I'm going to try to offer some 'follow ups' in the future... but for my own sanity, they need to be low effort...

I have no conclusion for this email. 

That is my conclusion for this email. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Trav

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