Part ten of our ongoing interview series with amateur MMA fighters, coaches and trainers focuses on Matt Marcinek.

Despite having Cerebral Palsy, Matt is a competitive grappler and instructor. You can check out his blog  and follow him on Twitter.

 

We’ve been following you on Twitter for a while now and admire how you approach each day with such an upbeat attitude. When were you first diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy?

 

Matt: I was first diagnosed with CP when I was around 9 months old.

 

How did you become a competitive grappler? That transition could not have been easy.  

 

Matt: It’s funny. Like a lot of little kids, I started watching WWF. (You know, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and all those guys.) But when I was 14 or so I watched Kurt Angle beat Abbas Jadidi from Iran for the gold medal and I said, “I want to be a real wrestler”

But as far as being, a competitive grappler, I first started competing when I started judo in 2005, and no, the transition was not easy. I am an extremely competitive person, I cannot stand losing and I have dealt with 70 straight losses. Everyone who finds out that I compete thinks that the hardest part is the physical aspect, but it’s not, it’s mentally. You need to put everything that happened in the past in the past and go to the dojo everyday and train harder than you did before.

Right now, I’m  about to start training for the 2011 AAU freestyle judo national championships  in Kearney, MO. I plan on doing everything I can to write a new chapter in my grappling career and come home with a national championship.

 

Did anyone ever try and discourage you from combat sports? If so, how did you deal with them?

 

Mike: Um, yeah. When I was a Senior in high school, I was on the wrestling team, (my only year) and, unfortunately, some of the administrators at the school looked at me as more of a liability than an athlete. They let me practice with the team but they would never get me an actual match because they were concerned for “my safety."

As the year went on, I kind of got the feeling that a match wasn’t in the cards, but I still showed up for practice and worked hard because if you quit, then people can label you a “‘quitter” and the people who want you to give up would get their way and we can’t have that.

I need to say, I have to thank my parents, every time I have wanted to do something in my life they always supported and never told me to settle for anything.

 

You seem like a humble guy and probably don’t wanna’ name drop. But indulge us! Have you sparred or trained with any big name MMA or BJJ stars?

 

Mike: Oh man, I’ve been really lucky in that regard. Undefeated Bellator welterweight Rick Hawn is a friend of mine. I actually designed his website Rickhawn.com (cheap plug). I’ve been to clinics with Judo Olympian and BJJ black belt Dr. Rhadi Ferguson, Royce and Rodrigo Gracie, and the French national judo team just to name a few. All really awesome experiences. 

 

Where do you train? Care to make a shout out to any of your instructors or training partners?

 

Matt: I train at Scranton MMA. I’d like to give a shout out to my judo coaches/training partners who have been with me since the beginning. My "brothers from other mothers” Tom McGuire and Tim Muenkel as well as Eddie Adams. It's because they push me, that I am where I am as a judoka/grappler.

Not to mention My BJJ instructor, Gracie Jiu-jitsu brown belt, Jeff Reese, who works tirelessly to adapt techniques to work around my disability and allows me to be successful.

Man, this feels like an Oscar speech, there’s so many people who have helped me out in my “career”. I don’t want to leave anyone out and have people mad at me so I’ll just say all my training partners at Scranton MMA. The old saying that “iron sharpens iron” definitely applies to us and helps make us the premier MMA facility in Northeast PA.

 

There are thousands of disabled kids across the world. Many are looking to get involved with athletics. (Perhaps even grappling!) Is there any advice you’d like to give them?

 

Matt: Yeah, its pretty simple...never give up! Never let someone tell you that you can’t do  something. If you believe it in your heart and work hard then eventually you’ll get it. The only time you are truly out of the fight is when you choose to be. 

 

Thanks for taking time out of your schedule for the interview.

 

Matt: Thank you for giving me the opportunity. It was my pleasure.

 

*Picture courtesy of Favinger Photography.