The Future Looks Bright

The Antidote Of Hope For This Generation's Lost And Depressed Young Men

As a young, adolescent child growing up, I would consider myself to have had a wonderful childhood. I had two, wholesome, caring parents that nurtured my sister and I. Considering the high 60% divorce rate in the U.S, I would consider us very fortunate as my parents have been together for over 40 years. Looking back at it, my parents did everything right on paper. They enrolled me into karate, mainly for social and community building, which I think is crucial for a child’s development. Even as an adult, it is one of the greatest skills that I continue to enhance. They let me have the freedom to go out with my friends and interact with them, because they knew it was essential as they had the same experience growing up. Now that I look back being grateful for of how I was raised, that didn’t change me from being a troublemaker, which I’ll get into later. I’ll state the obvious first, is at the time I was growing up, I didn’t have the luxury, or the curse of having a smartphone. I wasn’t distracted with notifications to let me know how many comments and likes I received every other second. That is why I am big proponent in encouraging young men to assist them and not just completely bashing them for playing video games. Although it may be the responsibility of one’s own to change their circumstances, addictive technology that we’re built to snatch our attention, particularly targeting our youth isn’t helping. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a very powerful tool if used right, this isn’t an attack on the leaps and bounds we’ve made in technology, it’s simply pointing out the effects of a child’s development as their brain’s are still developing.

Being the black sheep of my family, having a, let’s just say not so good history, acquiring multiple Dui offenses, constant trouble with the law, and detained in detention centers. From getting into fights, and just getting into controversies I had no business being in, is the very reason why I pay attention to the great influences of this generation. It’s like filling a void that I didn’t have, which brings me great admiration for these kids. 2 great examples would be Jackson Glass and Nasir Davis. Not only have I had the pleasure to talk to these young men on my podcast, but I’ve sparred with them in martial arts which never goes well for me. These boys are young killers that started martial arts at a very early age. Jackson, starting jiu jitsu at the age of 3, and Nasir, starting in his mid teens. When you’ve had all that time of experience and the time looking forward, you better believe the skills of combat will compound over time. These boys are so ahead of their time due to what I believe is an overlap and crossover between the principles of being a martial artist and life itself. Being a martial artist myself, you learn humbleness and humility from being ego checked. The disciplines to get up, no matter if you feel like it or not, and doing it anyway, persistence. Being self aware that were all just here to get better. You learn social skills and comradery amongst your peers. It truly is a self expression of ones self because no one fights the same, you make it your own.

Jackson Glass started at the age of 3 in jiu jitsu as I mentioned. Fast forwarding to now being 17, with already having numerous fights in muay thai in his teens, and becoming champion in multiple promotions, it makes him an outlier in a world where kids are now evolving due to them starting martial arts at an early age. And I am sure the numbers will continue to grow as a product of the UFC being so popular. Being one of the highest prospects in mma, as he looks to gets the win in his second pro fight, he already has the the combat acumen with his past experience to tip everything to be successful in the game in his favor. As I conversed with him, His sense of awareness and his knowledge in the fight game whether it was jiu jiu, wrestling, muay thai is astonishing. Mind you he is only 17. The way he articulated what is necessary to be great at each discipline was a true master class. From coaching kid’s classes and sharing his knowledge with adults at Ambush Muay Thai in Austin, Texas, it adds more value to his still developing young brain, which studies show that it makes it connecting and firing of synapses which he is able to learn much quicker. The physical aspects of fighting is one thing but the IQ and the EQ of this kid puts him in a different category. You can’t beat experience

I have the pleasure of talking and training with Nasir Davis as we go to the same gym, Syndicate MMA. I’ve seen this young man grow from not only his fight level, but his personality. At first, like most of us, he was a shy kid that barely said a word, but overtime he developed his personality to be become very charismatic. Relating to Jackson, He’s made quite a name for himself, as I have been to a few of the events that he has fought in. Fighting from Fierce championship, and being the champion in his weight division to his early days competing in USMTO. He is now taking his second pro fight and with the people he fortunately gets to train with, with the likes of bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvilli, to the numerous top of the food chain professionals his surround with, I have no doubts of his upcoming success in the cage. You are you’re environment. I’ve done social media content with him and his personality has really come out of the woodworks. He teaches you a how to guide to be a better martial artist, he ask great questions, he’s starting to travel the world to understand different cultures, and is always at the gym training, no matter what the circumstances that go on in his life. These young men are a great examples to the new and upcoming generation where adhd, depression and a various of mental illnesses has risen compared to the past few decades.

80% of suicide rates currently are from men ranging from the age of 18-24. That to me is a shocking number but it makes sense. With the rise of more stimulating technology, such as social media, video games, access to the dark web, it’s no surprise. Couple that with a lack of dating options through dating apps, which statistically does not favor men, due to different criteria’s that I will talk about in a different article. A stable and supportive companionship is a great benefit. Most importantly, in my opinion. The lack of real life socialization with their peers or a community. It’s an epidemic that needs to be taken seriously. These boys, are paving the way for young men due to them taking action, and not just going around and bosting in social media. They walk it like they talk it as I like to say. Jackson and Nasir are great examples. They cover even just the basic criteria’s for young men’s mental health. They exercise, they are self awareness which is the first skill you need to make a change, they explore out of their comfort zone, and socialize around their environment to make real life, life long friends. They are far more ahead of the game of self growth in life than I ever was when I was their age. If there is one advice I can give to the youth from my own experience, it is to look at your age group that have the lifestyle that you want, study their cadences, demeanor, behaviors, then emulate it. View it as a mentorship. There is hope for the hopeless, these boys continue to pave the way for it.