Oh, god. Um, it was actually the first day that i did judo. My mom went to go visit all of her old team mates that she used to train with in the � 80s in los angeles and, um, i was a swimmer then and it was at mojica judo in baldwin park. Ijumped on the mat and, um, blinky was my first coach, i remember i got off the mat and he was like, its a lot more fun than swimming, isnt it . And i was like, yeah i want to win the olympics in this now. And i wasjust, you know, i always assumed that when i was a swimmer, i was going to win the olympics in swimming, and then when i found judo and i loved it, iwas, like, ok, im going to win the olympics in this now. That was just the kind of expectation that was put in our minds in ourfamilies. Whatever youre going to do, youre going to be the best at it because youre exceptional, and ijust assumed that. My mom was the First American World Champion injudo, and the First American World Champion was a woman, and it was her, and having her just walk through The Living Room made it feel so much more attainable for me to want to do just as much, even more. Commentator and shes done. Ronda rousey, the daughter of the usas first womens World Champion, is now the usas first womens olympic medallist. One thing thats required in order to be a special champion is you have to be willing to get your heart broken. Ever since i was a little kid, i had a huge problem with it, and i lost my first junior nationals and i locked myself in my bedroom and cried for a week. I was 13 years old. She laughs. And other parents would, like, you know, um, would whisper about, like, its not healthy for her to be. , you know,. So upset and cry so much when she loses. And a lot of people thought it was my mom putting too much pressure on me. But, um, it was because it was so important to me. My mom, she wouldnt tell me, like, not to be upset because she wanted me to care and not to try and, like, protect myself from it by not caring as much because that was one of the weapons that i had. One of the advantages that i had over the other girls that i was fighting is that i wanted it more than them. And to put everything that you have into something in order to see whether or not your best is good enough, most people will hold back from ever doing their best because they always want to have it in the back of their mind if they fail, oh, i wasnt really trying as hard as i could. And, um, i think thats one thing that made me great is because i was willing to get my heart broken over and over and over again, and not allow myself to stop caring as much as i did. And so, naturally, through fighting, ronda felt she could have a positive influence. After winning olympic bronze in 2008, she had her sights firmly on a career in Mixed Martial Arts and the hugely popular ultimate fighting championship. A fighters� league that didnt have any women. Driven by the words of ufc president dana white never to sign a woman, ronda had other ideas. I was trying to convince my mom to, like, not disown me for doing mma because she didnt think it was a viable career option, and it did not help my argument. That was my first thought. Im, like, oh, this has not helped my argument with my mom. I saw what dana white said, im, like, my mom is not going to be in favour of this now. When i first saw it, my first thought was, like, oh, well, he hasnt met me yet so its fine. You just dont know. So, yeah, ijust felt like a matter of time before our paths would cross and id change his mind. And it worked. Ronda became the first woman to sign a ufc contract. They say the Supreme Art Of War is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Well, thats exactly what ronda did. With an impressive run of ten emphatic victories, rondas rise and sheer dominance within the ufc seemed unstoppable, but, hidden from the public eye, ronda was battling something infinitely more challenging. Every time you get a concussion, its easier to get another one, and for, you know, ten years of myjudo career, i was experiencing Concussion Symptoms more often than not because i wasnt allowed to rest. I would get a concussion and then have to keep training and taking, you know, many impacts every night and just re aggravating it over and over and over again, so, um, it got to a point where when i came into mma, i wasnt able to take hits like someone that hadnt been Walking Around with concussion for ten years, and so i had to develop a style of fighting, um, that i believe is the most efficient thats ever been made and with the expressed objective of avoiding damage. I think that all of my limitations really forced me to be better, you know . Tearing out my knee when i was young made me Great Atarmbars and, um, you know, having the Concussion History that i had forced me to be really quick and efficient and, you know, try to finish off people very quickly in every single match. So it wasnt. It wasnt an accident or luck, it was something i was very much doing on purpose until, you know, it got to a point where i literally couldnt get touched without being out on my feet, and, um, i think that i. I shouldnt be fighting at the top level. If i can take you back to the day of that fight, what was your feelings walking into the ring for that fight . And then, with what happened, your feelings walking out of the ring . Um, itjust felt like everything was going wrong. I was literally going into that match concussed. I fell down the stairs, knocked myself out. I tore my acl two weeks before that fight. I had the worst weight cut that i ever had. I was just so stressed and overworked. Like, my body was just holding on to weight. My kidneys were aching. I had the wrong mouth guard that didnt have the back to the bottom teeth. Itjust felt like everything was so stacked against me. I was trying so hard just to block everything out andjust be, like, just get through this. Just get in there, do what you do, youre going to be fine. The first time i got touched in the match, it knocked all my bottom teeth loose and i was completely out on my feet, and i could only see in two dimensions with big splotches in my eyes. I kept telling myself, youre fine, youre fine, youre fine. Just keep coming forward, youll get to do another round, youll be able to recover, and. It wasjust. Its hard looking back at footage in that match because i can see in my eyes that i am literally suffering from a neurological injury decades in the making and theres one point where i saw that, like, i took, like, a wild swing and i couldnt see where she was and i completely missed and kept going into the cage and fell into the cage and all this stuff. People see that and theyre, like, this is ronda being outclassed, and im, like, thats me with my brain not properly working. If you know how i am as a fighter, i would never lose my balance and keep falling like that. You can see the look on my face, that im just trying to look like im ok. I had been Hiding Concussions and neurological injuries for so long, itjust became part of it, and that was the point where i was forced to really self assess and be, like. Your brain has just taken too much damage for too many years and even though ive never been faster, never been stronger, never had a better grasp of the game, ijust neurologically cannot take these impacts and perform at the highest level, which is. So difficult to be able to do because id really never been better. And, i always thought that i could will my body to do whatever i needed it to do, and it was at that point that, um. Itjust kind of quit on me. With one more loss and personal concerns over her health, ronda decided to walk away from the sport for perspective and healing. Now, removed from it, i can kind of be proud of myself and be, like, no one can touch me, no one can beat me, no one could even get close to me until it got to the point where even being touched put me out. Mm hm. And, now i can be proud of that, even though, you know, i dont think ill be remembered as that. It really feels like everyone� s always going to define me by my failures, but i know that i created the most efficient fighting style that ever existed and im proud of that. Ronda, how hard was it to pick yourself up, you know, mentally, physically, spiritually, even . Imean, it. She laughs it wasnt easy. It took a lot of time. Love and kisses from my husband. Of course. And patience from my family and everything like that. But i really appreciated that no one tried to rush me through it, but trav also didnt enable my worst tendencies. You know, like, ijust wanted to be a hermit and never show my face, and he would force me to go outside and see the sun. Im just going to throw him forward. This takes no effort from me. He was great at not letting me, like, just fall into my little hole. There were just things where i couldnt even watch fights without being. Without crying, and hejust slowly started exposing me to mma again and putting the heavyweights on for him to watch. Aw sorry, babe yeah, shes going to take care of me and he even made our gps voice an australian accent. She laughs. Cos he didnt want me to have any hang ups about australia. So, to this day, we still have an australian gps. But just Little Things like that that he did to kind of make me, you know, laugh at my demons until they went away. And to keep those demons away, ronda needed a completely different challenge. She found it in professional wrestling. I am just a Big Nerd For Choreography and combat storytelling and that kind of stuff. Thats one thing that really drew me towards Pro Wrestling, because i feel like its almost the purest form of that because its not like a movie where you set up a fight and you film a punch from one angle and then you reset it. You have to, like, perform the whole fight at once and have everything that you do sell from 360 degrees. Cheering ifeel like ive learned so much from judo and ufc and Pro Wrestling that. I mean, i would love to be the next bruce lee. I dont know if its ever going to come along, but also nobody wrote Enter The Dragon and handed it to him. You know, he had to go out there and make it happen. I love you, handsome. Fireworks explode being a fighter was always rondas sole identity, but something on the horizon for both her and her husband travis would change their whole perspective. You know, whenever i was in fight camp, i was forced to become a small fraction of my personality. Just, you know, ronda the ufc champion, ronda the fighter. I only saw myself as that. The whole world only saw me as that. And, um. I would kind of, like, miss the rest of myself and almost, like, forget it. And i used to think i was a really chill, laid back kind of a person, but then again i was comparing myself to my mom, and then ifound out that, actually, im pretty, you know, intense. But outside of fighting, i guess im a very, very different person, and, um. That wasnt all of me, even though that was all that i thought anyone wanted to see. Look at these feet. You wont understand it till youre older, but when youre older, youll be like, that was cool, mama. I mean, you cant describe it, i think, and youll never know, soiiy. She laughs but to, like, grow something inside of your body and, like, you know, feel it and talk to it, and, um. It� s notjust you have a big belly and its out, like, you feel that there is something alive inside of you. Who is that little baby . Is that you . Yeah . It wasjust, like, incredible to finally be able to meet her. Oh, my gosh. I love you. Its indescribable. You know, your peak athletic years are your peak reproductive years and i saw my mom having three kids and Working Threejobs and at one point she was making only enough money from her career to be able to pay for childcare while she was working, and thats what she had to do in order to advance her career, was basically work for nothing. I was really inspired by the fact she was able to do that, but i also didnt want to have to juggle being a mom and trying to build my career at the same time, so im glad that i waited because now i can give 100 of my time and energy to my kids and not worry about how im going to keep the lights on. But, um, yeah, it definitely came with its own challenges. Look at you. Look at you. Look how beautiful you are. My perception of the world since having a daughter . Uh, yeah, ijust like. I feel like thats one reason why Regenerative Ranching and everything were doing is so important, because im trying. We� re trying to leave solutions for our kids and notjust a pile of money thats lit on fire, you know . And. So itjust makes everything that were doing with Browsey Acres so much more important. Longevity in the ring is uncertain, but building an environment that is safe, nurturing and sustainable is what ronda and travis hope for their daughter. Hi, bob. They created Browsey Acres, a regenerative farm that aims to provide just that. He knows. He knows its going to help him. We took this land that was really, you know, degraded and neglected and mismanaged it was more dirt than it was grass and just started working with our animals, you know, raising them regeneratively and mimicking these natural processes and bringing a whole ecosystem to life and really being, like, stewards of the land and, you know, seeing it come to its fullest potential. And that was the most self validating thing that weve ever done. We were doing it together and it wasjust so much more fulfilling than constantly looking for hits of that, you know, outside validation. Were trying to address these crises that shes inevitably going to have to face in her lifetime. And, like, Climate Change is something that really, like, weighs on my worries for my children in the future, and so, um, itjust makes it seem so much more important for us to try and do something about it. This is what i feel deserves all of our time and energy cos every single bit that we put into it is like us putting into our children. Im going to plant some basil that i got from the store with a root ball attached. This is really healthy dirt so im just going to throw it in without any potting soil or anything. My goal is for these to all flower and seed and for all edible plants to be covering this hill so were not just constantly weeding it. I was really excited when i finally got a plant to grow, and then it was immediately eaten by a squirrel. She laughs so then the next time i got a little tiny sprout, i put, like, i call it fort knox, around it, and, yeah, it was just the first time id been focusing on where i had succeeded instead of where id failed, which is something that you have to do when youre trying to learn from wins and. But, yeah, it. Itjust kind of took me outside of that. That mindset, because not everything is the olympic finals, but id been treating my whole life as if it was in preparation for that since i was six, and its hard to break out of it. You can go anywhere you want, but. Keep our property, bud. Ronda may have made a name for herself in the ring, but herjourney continues to evolve beyond. Widely regarded as the first to force a Womens Division in the ufc, rondas message and ability to empower women through combat sport is undisputed. Oh, im just happy to see it in motion because i would feel so personally offended that women in combat sports werent given the respect that they deserve. I think i was able to showcase a couple of things that i felt like womens combat sports was missing, which was showmanship. A lot of times when women come into a space where theyre not entirely welcome, they try to make as few waves as possible, and ifelt like i needed to make as many as possible in order to fight for our place there instead of politely asking for permission for it. Being the person in front to, like, break the wind for everybody behind me, it kind of, um. Proved the concept and gave other Women Confidence to do the same in their own way. Ronda, why was it important for you to create a space for women in this sport . I think its important because sports are a metaphor for life and, uh, ifeel like combat sports especially, theyre so character revealing. It doesnt matter what your misconceptions about men or women or big or small or anything is, when you see a fighter being excellent and digging deep and being put through adversity. I feel like every fight is a life in miniature that you just kind of get to see, like, a speed run of it. And its a great equaliser and revealer of character. I think that everybody should be able to have that opportunity to show that. If youre, you know, a woman that doesnt get the same respect as a man, if you go out there and you fight and you give it your all, anybody with half a brain has to respect that. I think that every generation is making it easier for the generation afterward, and so i would love for the next generation of girls, my daughter, even, to see whats been done before them and know its entirely possible for them to do that and exceed it. You have a right to be there. Sometimes, when youre the only woman in the room, its easy to not feel like that to feel out of place, but you are in your place. Being the first is a lonely path and many will never truly fathom the Meteoric Trajectory and variety of ronda rousey� s career. Perseverance, personality, discipline and excellence almost certainly the key to her success. Surely these attributes are the ingredients for a Bona Fide Trailblazer of modern day sport. But even in those dark moments, rondas Fighting Spirit allowed her to find peace in order to navigate challenges and transcend barriers. She more than proved her worth in the ring but its her exploits and legacy beyond that show she will always be so much more than a fighter. Hello there. For most of us, wednesday was a particularly miserable day. Quite wet, in fact, in hertfordshire and warwickshire, we had a months worth of rain in a 24 hour period, ranging from 55 to almost 65 mm of rainfall. Throughout the day, the rain gradually drifted its way steadily north and west. Here, it is going to linger for quite some time, so we still have Weather Warnings out. In fact, the met office has an Amber Warning now, with the emphasis on the heavy and persistent rain across parts of north wales and northwest england. We could see, to higher ground, as much as 100 mm or more, and that could lead to some localised flooding. So that Weather Warning and will remain in force until lunchtime on thursday. The brighter colours denoting the intensity of the rainfall. Some clearer skies further south, so it could be a misty and murky start, but a relatively mild start to thursday morning. On the whole, quite grey for most of us and some of the rain persistent, but it will gradually start to ease as we go through the day, and hopefully the cloud across east anglia and Southeast England should break up to allow for some glimpses sunshine from time to time. Winds light to moderate, but the strongest gusts perhaps to the far northwest, where the heaviest bursts are likely to be. We are going to see temperatures peaking at around 18 or 19 degrees, but where the cloud and rain lingers, certainly a disappointing feel. As we go to thursday evening into the early hours of friday morning, gradually, that low pressure will drift its way further north and east and start to pull away, but it stays rather cloudy, damp and murky. So, a pretty murky start to friday morning, and we will be chasing cloud around on friday. Cloud thick enough further north for a spot or two of Light Drizzle at time to time. Hopefully some brightness down to the south, but it will be dry here, and top temperatures once again likely into the high teens. Into the start of the weekend, this little ridge of High Pressure keeps things quite on sunday. It is a bank holiday weekend, i know, there is a Weather Front starting to push in from the West Giving Us a level of uncertainty. It is likely the beginning of the three day weekend will be the best in terms of drier and sunny weather, and there is the potential for some sharp, possibly thundery showers to develop a little later on. Owe you live from washington, this is bbc news uk voters will head to the polls onjuly 4th, after Prime Minister rishi sunak sets a general election date. Norway, ireland, and spain will formally recognise a palestinian state, saying they are in support of peace not hamas. And china launches large scale Military Drills around taiwan just days after the inauguration of taiwans new president. Hello. Im caitriona perry. British Prime Minister rishi sunak has set a general election forjuly 4th. He made the announcement in the pouring rain outside 10 downing street, hailing his economic record. The Prime Minister is trailing in the polls to the opposing labour party, as his Conservative Party seeks its fifth consecutive term. The bbc� s Political Editor chris mason has been following the days developments from westminster. The lectern in place, after a downpour of anticipation. Cameras, reporters, brollies, the downpours coming from the skies, too. At teatime, this. Earlier today, i spoke with his majesty the king to request the dissolution of parliament. The king has granted this request and we will have a general election on the 4th ofjuly. Music blaring from campaigners in nearby whitehall, Rain Tumbling onto the Prime Ministers sodden suit. You must choose in this election who has that plan
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.