Episode 47 - Part 1: Ivan Batinich AKA Gym Pro MMA Fighter, Entrepreneur, Health & Fitness enthusiast, family man and father of 3!

In this Episode we sit down with Ivan Batinich. He's a an NSC Certified personal trainer and Health & Fitness enthusiast, he's a family man and father of 3, he's an entrepreneur and gym and fitness center owner and a professional MMA fighter fighting out of the world famous training center AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) in San Jose, CA.

In Part 1 we talk about the San Jose Wolves which was the professional Indoor football team where Isaac and Ivan first got to know each other. Ivan made the team from a huge open tryout and Isaac was working in football operations for the team. We talk about his upbringing in the South Bay Area. Ivan talks about his unique family dynamic where he was the youngest on one side of his family and the second oldest on the other side. Ivan talks about always being a great athlete. He was a standout football player in High at Los Gatos High. Ivan was Team captain, All CCS, league outstanding defensive player, 2nd in CCS in wrestling, & voted most athletic in high school. As he puts it he had a very “charmed” high school experience.

We talk about him taking a liking to fighting in middle school. After he watched Javier Mendez coach of the world famous AKA team fight when Ivan was a youth. He also was exposed to kick boxing and used to rent old UFC tapes from blockbuster video. Ivan talks about how his toughness was developed when he played pop Warner football since he was heavier he had to play with the older kids and this caused him to take a beating his first year playing football. This built up a Toughness and mean streak in him from getting pounded by older kids.

Ivan talks about him understanding himself and how he feels he’s more sensitive then he is mean. And when his feelings get hurt he channels that hurt into rage and wants to then bully people and make them pay. Ivan talks about consistently missing his goals throughout his life because of quitting and numerous injuries. However he used this to motivate him to constantly keep going and develop the motto “never quit.”

We talk about his career as a personal trainer and owning a gym. He became a fitness enthusiast in high school after pulling his hamstring and switched his focus from football to becoming a NSC certified personal trainer. He got his first job at 20 years old as a personal trainer. In 2014 he opened up the IB Strong training facility. At his new venture he met another martial artist who used to share fighting and training stories which got him back in the martial arts game. He had even sparred with Paul Buentello and got such good feedback and he was advised that he should pursue an MMA career more seriously. So Ivan decided to get super fit and went to AKA the Mecca for MMA and decided to become a pro MMA fighter. This was a great episode, enjoy the show!

IVAN BATINICH

INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/ivanbatinichmma

INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/realivanbatinich

BLISS SEEKERS

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HOST

Isaac J. Estrada

INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/futuregm

MUSIC

"The Mantra" by A Dead Desire

LISTEN HERE: https://youtu.be/PO0EKknzW7g

AFFILIATES

https://freshcleantees.com Coupon Code BLISS

GRAPHICS

Dionn Renee

INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/dionn_renee

WEBSITE: http://www.dionnrenee.com

VIDEOGRAPHY/PRODUCTION

Jessica Howell

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-s-howell

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