Nicky Rod

Yeah, I mean, it's like Nicky Rod said, you know, it's based off of knowledge, not just, you know, what you do out on the competition mats, because, you know, like you said, he had years of wrestling experience and obviously he's very physically gifted.

So we grade based off of the amount of knowledge that you have.

How do you measure knowledge?

I think teaching is a good measurement of it, like how well you're able to show the moves and, you know, really make sure that you have an understanding of what you're doing.

I'm a very competitive person, so I for sure hate losing more than I like winning.

I do think it's something that's kind of held me back over the past few years because it makes it so that I'm not as active as I should be because it's like I really hate that feeling of, you know, after a match that you just lost.

So it kind of prevents me from competing.

So it's definitely something I need to work past.

Yeah, my whole life, you know, my financial stability, everything depends on, you know, my ability to go out there and compete and my ability to teach.

So, you know, it's a huge hit to the brand if you lose.

So, you know, leading up to matches, that's definitely something that's in my mind.

But anyway, Nikki, can you talk about your time with DDS?

I started training when I was like around 13.

You know, my brother Gordon had started prior to me.

And I really just went into training just as like a means to exercise and lose weight at the beginning because I was pretty fat as a kid.

So I went to the first class, loved it, and then just started training every day at Gary's Gym Brunswick.

And then during the summer, when I'd get off from school, they would take me up to New York to, uh, to train under John.

And, you know, I just absolutely loved it.

I knew what I wanted to do with my life at a young age.

So I ended up dropping out of school actually after my, my freshman year in high school.