“I was really passionate about sports, I really loved wrestling in high school and really love competing . I had a really good experience in Physical Education and said’ fuck it why not try Kinesiology out, try something that l liked.’
I started off like any Canadian kid, you wanted to play hockey. But my parents couldn’t afford it so my dad put me in what he thought was the next best thing, MMA. To develop the person, the kid. But when I entered high school, I got introduced to wrestling, I really liked that side of it because it’s so competitive. There was a wrestling tournament every weekend and I just love the competitive aspect of it. I feel like it really helped my game in the MMA side.
The individuality of MMA/wrestling is what I like most of it, I just rely on myself, don’t have to worry if I pass the puck and somebody fucks up, turns it over center ice and have a 2on1 in our zone and score, I don’t have worry about that because whatever happens falls on me. Take responsibility and I feel like that’s something a lot of people are missing nowadays. A lot of blaming nowadays. I feel like a lot of people lack ownership for the most part, that’s why I like it.
I love the sport, what motivates me the most is… first of all there’s another man trying to fucking kick your ass across the cage so you got to train your ass off. I think secondly too is that, I just want to be the best I can fucking be, simple as that. Go out there, prove to myself, ‘ hey you’re better than you think you are.’ For the most part I think I’m pretty harsh on myself.
My dad, immigrated from Vietnam, he knows what real hardship is, that requires real mental toughness. I think I appreciate that and value that. He taught me consistency. Basically from every job I’ve heard from a family thing or he invites coworkers over, he is probably one of the most reliable guys at his job. He’s been a warehouse worker for over 30 years, not regular blue collar work. I think that’s the best compliment you can have, might not be the fastest guy but short term intensity does not beat long term consistency, I think that’s one thing he’s taught me, consistency and consistency.
For me, my last fight, I lost, TKO, I was still conscious. My dad said, ‘oh if you fucking fight like that, you probably shouldn’t even be fighting.’ Little shit like that kind of motivates you that’s for damn sure. One thing about my dad is that he’s a very honest guy. He’ll tell you the way it is, if he watches you spar he’ll say, ‘ok it’s pretty good round or that round I thought you lost.’ He’ll tell you straight.
Fuck what other people say, even if it’s your own family. He said that in a loving way, he wants to protect his son. It’s me who makes the ultimate choice, I’m willing to continue to pursue and fight. I’m still young and healthy. It’s only 1 career loss, I wasn’t unconscious in my mind, I’m still good to go. Doesn’t break my spirit.
I injured my shoulders twice, dislocated it twice, I think psychologically coming back was pretty tough. I think I feel like a lot of people second-guess me or doubt me because I’m not particularly the most athletic looking guy, I’m only 5’7, 150 lbs but for the most part I wear guys down with consistent work ethic, just work hard, not the most skilled guy either but I just think I do the simple stuff better than anyone. I show up on time and I’m ready to work.
Be consistent, persistent, keep working away and keep chipping at it. You don’t have to be the biggest, fastest, strongest guy but hard work will always pay dividend.
I just wish my shoulder’s didn’t come out. To be honest, it came out during my Senior year of high school. It was basically early in the match, I dislocated earlier in the season in training. I miss most of the season, competed in the last 3 tournaments. The first 2 you just had to compete to qualify for qualifiers for Provincials. Got my ass kicked in the first tournament and came back, second tournament did well and placed 3rd, for Provincial qualifiers I ended up going to the finals and I was beating the guy. I was loading up the guy into a gut wrench, as I was doing that my shoulder came out, obviously I had to stop the match and I couldn’t go to Provincials even though I qualified. That guy ended up making it to the finals, second in the finals and I think he ended up wrestling at SFU. That was always a goal of mine, at least try to wrestle in post secondary or college, but that never really happened.
All I remember is it was fucking painful emotionally, psychologically, that’s for damn sure. It set me on a path that maybe wrestling in college was not the thing, maybe go to MMA. Got to learn and develop there. It’s put me on a good path, I’ve gotten better even though I’ve been doing it since I was 4/5 years old, the past few years I’ve improved the most in my game. It’s just taught me how to be mentally tough, you can’t ride too high nor too low. Simple as that.” – Josh Lam