Getting answers from a young champion, Kochel agreed to a Q and A session.
Kochel Q and A.
1. Andrew, there are many schools of thought when it comes to training. Some people focus completely on Rolling and Drilling while others spend more time conditioning. How do you divide you time, what is your training regimen like?
Andrew: My training regimen is pretty simple. I try to drill and roll a lot. Probably drill about 2 hours a day and roll about 2 hours a day. I’m a true believer if you want to get better at Jiu Jitsu then you have to train more Jiu Jitsu. When I have some big matches coming up, I also add in another 2-3 hours of training in the mornings.
Frank: That is a lot of mat time, well it seems to be working so keep up the good work.
2. How did you get started in Grappling, do you train other martial arts or grappling exclusively?
Andrew: I got started in jiu-jitsu when I was around 10-11 years old. But I started to wrestle when I was in first grade so been doing some kind of grappling since I was a real little kid. Never really did any other Martial arts except for grappling. When I fought my MMA fight I did a little kickboxing to get ready, but nothing special.
Frank: Wow so you have been grappling basically your whole life, Wrestling and Jiu Jitsu makes a powerful combination and it defiantly shows when you are on the mats.
3. At what point in your combat sports career did you realize that you were able to compete on the pro level, or was it your coach who made this decision?
Andrew: Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to compete at the pro level in Jiu Jitsu. When I got my purple belt I just started to apply for all the pro cards I could, because I believed I was good enough to win. I competed in many so called pro cards as a teenager and blue belt but I don’t believe it’s a real pro card unless you’re getting paid to win and I was not at that time.
Frank: Right, when you were younger they were more of what someone would call a “Superfight”, but as you said unless you are being paid it is not truly a Por Match.
4. Dedication is one are the hardest aspects of a combat sports career, I myself know this to be true. How do you overcome the obstacles that hold many young talented competitors back, such as “Partying”, Alcohol, Diet, Injuries, Dating and other life distractions?
Andrew: So I truly don’t believe my personally life affects my jiu jitsu game in any negative way. If anything it helps it. I don’t drink, I don’t go to parties everything I do, I do for jiu jitsu.
Frank: That is the kind of dedication that makes a champion, hats off to you my friend.
5. Do you plan to make this your career and if so does your family support your decision?
One more question.
Andrew: My family supports me in every match I have. They buy tickets to see me compete and they are always trying to do what they can to help me out. I have a girlfriend (Samantha Fisher) but she competes and trains just let me so it works out perfectly . She always understands when I have to put in extra time to get ready for big matches because she competes on the big stage as well and knows what it takes to win big time matches. I do plan to make Jiu Jitsu into my career. I eventually one day want to open my own gym and still compete. I want to try and help change people’s life in a good way like Jiu Jitsu did for me. I believe my family supports me on this. Samantha sometimes thinks it’s going to be real hard to make a career out of just grappling but nothing in life is easy. So I know if I work hard enough and put in enough time anything is possible. I get asked lot if I have any pre-fight jitters and the answer is simply yes.
Frank: That is great to hear that your family and girlfriend support you, many families and friends do not understand the sacrifices someone has to make in order to compete on the level you are competing on. I am sure when you open a gym it will be successful, with your long history of competition already you have earned a huge reputation in the grappling world and you are still so young. By the time you are ready to open a gym your name will have grown even larger and many will want to learn from someone who has achieved so much.
6. Do you have any pre-fight jitters and if so do you have any techniques to get past them?
Andrew: I get nervous whether I’m doing a small local tournament or competing on a big pro card in another state. But to be honest I kind of like the nervous feeling. It keeps me on my toes and I don’t think I would like to compete without that feeling. You see I believe I get nervous still because Jiu Jitsu means a lot to me so I never want to go out and lose or not but out my best performance. So I don’t think my pre-fight jitters will ever go away but I like it like that.
Frank: That’s good to hear, I asked this question more for my own benefit as a competitor, I get pre-fight jitters before every competition or MMA fight myself, but I do not compete nearly as often as you. I was curious if someone who competes as often as you still gets them, thanks for giving us such an honest answer.
Lasted performance and wow what a performance it was!
If there are questions that you all would like answered, add them to the comments and I will put them to Andrew and respond with his answers ASAP.
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Wow! Those were some slick moves and transitions. This makes me want to start putting in more mat hours per week. That pesky job of mine keeps getting in the way!
@disc-jitsu87 I hear you my friend, I am in the same boat. I was on an incredible run when I was just a Critical Power Technician, since moving up to Supervisor, my competition career has been suffering.
good interview..thanks!
My pleasure, thanks for visiting.
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