Mike Krause Wrestling

Coaching Youth Wrestling to Bring the Heat!

NXT LVL’s New Coach, CC Weber!

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Team NXT LVL Wrestling Academy would like to introduce the newest member to our team, CC Weber! CC is a powerhouse wrestler and an inspiration to young wrestlers, especially females vying for standing in an often male dominated sport. Her wrestling career is just as electric as her personality!

CC grew up in a wrestling family and started wrestling at ten-years-old after dropping out of gymnastics to compete for the attention her brother received from wrestling. By 8th grade she won a state title that included both genders.  She attended high school in Goodrich, Michigan and was a three-time high school state qualifier – and the highest placed female in the State of Michigan with one-hundred-sixty-six high school wins. She was undefeated in the state girls division claiming every state title she vied for and rarely lost at national events – even placing 4th at states among boy wrestlers.

CC was ranked by Win Magazine in the top twenty 103 pounders in the country including boys and was featured on ESPN her junior year in high school. Immediately after graduation, she received a scholarship and moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO and became a three-time Fargo champion.

Along with becoming the 2008 Junior Pan-American champion, CC is also a 2009-2010 48kg senior national bronze medalist, 2010 senior women’s Canada Cup bronze medalist, and 2010 Lady Klippan Open silver medalist. She was a member of the Junior World Team in 2009 and was third on the Olympic ladder from 2008 through 2010.

Weber has been the head coach for the past eight years, for the elite youth wrestling program, AAGA, a top ten club in the state yearly. She produces wrestlers who have become top contenders in the state and nation, and specializes in private wrestling training focusing on each wrestlers individual needs based on age, skill level, and motivational needs.

Weber helps wrestlers evolve their style of wrestling by pinpointing their strengths and building that skill set; along with recognizing the root causes of his/her weaker positions to educate on how to make their weaknesses their strengths.

Although Weber has dedicated her life to wrestling and loves making a difference in others’ lives, in her downtime she also enjoys painting, baking, working out, spending time with her American bull dog, and binge watching every show on HBO.

Along with Team Krause’s proven system that helps youth wrestlers achieve the next level, Weber will also bring her personal dynamic style and energy to camps and clinics throughout the nation. We look forward to having her on our team to help bring the heat! TSSS

You Is Smart. You Is Kind. You Is Important.

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In the award winning 2011 movie, The Help, starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer, a woman caring for another thoughtless woman’s daughter often tells the little girl, “You is smart. You is kind. You is important.” What she knew that many of us do not is, that words have real power. I know, we’ve heard it all before, say nice things about yourself and others, be positive blah, blah, blah. That advice seems empty and even cliché because after all, words don’t really have power do they? Sticks and stones can break our bones but names will never hurt us, right? Wrong. What if Team Krause at NXT LVL Wrestling Academy told you scientific evidence has shown that the words we speak impact our physical reality?

What if calling yourself stupid actually could lower your IQ and negatively impact your grades? What if calling yourself ugly or fat could actually negatively alter your physical appearance? Would you still speak those words over yourself? Would you go to sports practice or social clubs and utter those two destructive words, I can’t, or would you speak words that could have a positive physical impact? When you consistently speak negative words, not only do you change the way your brain functions (You create bad brain wiring, but more on that in another blog,) but you may actually alter your physical appearance and abilities.

There are two mind blowing experiments that have been conducted since early 2000s that are significant scientific evidence of the measurable power of words. In 2004, Dr. Masaru Emoto performed an experiment on water crystals from various water sources using verbal and written communication, as well as music. He used words like thanks, love and appreciation, truth etc. He spoke directly to the water with encouraging and loving words, played beautiful music, and even taped words on the containers that held the water. The results were amazing. The container of water molecules when frozen changed from their original form, to magnificent and beautiful crystals. They literally transformed into beauty.

But then he did something else. In another container full of the same water, he spoke words such as, “I hate you, you make me sick,” and, “I hope you die.” The same water when frozen, formed distorted and ugly crystals. The water became deformed. Both of these containers had the same water, yet the only difference was the power of the words involved.

What is the human body mostly made of? It is made of about 70% water. Imagine if words have that much impact on water, how are your words affecting the water running through your body? Water that has a significant impact on your health, physically and mentally.

Another experiment that was done, involved rice. A teacher took cooked rice and split it into two identical containers. She had students say things like, “I hate you,” and “you’re worthless,” to one container, and to the other they said things like, “I love you,” “you are smart,” and “You can accomplish anything.” Within days, the cup that was given positive words fermented naturally and still looked healthy. The other rice, the one who had negative and hateful words spewed at it, was dark and moldy.

If this is how water and rice react to words, imagine the real impact of words on humans. Science is proving that words play a significant role in determining success or failure, and we are just now beginning to understand the real consequences of what we speak into existence.

This is why the words we speak to ourselves and to those around us, especially children, are crucial.  If words truly have power, what do you think would happen if instead of telling yourself, “I can’t do it,” or “I’m stupid,” you said, “I can and I will do it,” or, “I am smart. I know if I keep working, I will get good grades.”

Team Krause believes every goal or endeavor we set out to accomplish starts in the mind and so does Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology and a BSc in Logopedics and Audiology, specializing in metacognitive and cognitive neuropsychology. In one of her TEDx talks, she discusses thoughts and how they literally change the physical and cognitive function of the brain for better or worse.

The words we think are often the words that flow from our lips and those words have real tangible benefits or consequences. If you are going to accomplish anything in life, you have to speak words of affirmation in your life and in the life of others.

Here’s an assignment for you and your family. Over the next month, anytime you catch yourself speaking negativity over yourself or others, immediately correct it and replace it with something positive. Instead of, “I can’t do it,” replace it with, “I will do it.” Keep a daily journal for just one month and note every time you thought a negative thought or spoke negative words, and what you replaced them with. At the end of the month, you might be surprised at your overall change. To learn more about how you can train your mind to improve overall health and brain function, read Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book, Switch On Your Brain.

We’d love to hear from you on this. When you do this assignment, follow up and send us a message of what you learned or how changing what you say and think has impacted your life. Don’t forget to sign-up here for blog updates and other news!

Ingredients for Success

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What do Adam Levine, Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, and Kate Winslet have in common? They all had low self-esteem in their adolescent years. It’s surprising to hear how many beautiful and successful athletes and celebrities who say their younger years blew chunks. But let’s face it – even the popular and good looking kids when they become adults will sometimes confess how bad they felt about themselves on the inside. And a lot of those issues can be boiled down to what Coach Krause of NXT LVL Wrestling Academy believes everyone, especially our youth, are lacking – three core disciplines that will help youth build confidence and achievement – physical fitness, training the brain, and proper food for fuel.

While these might sound like simple and generic ingredients, there are a lot of bullet points that are under each discipline, and Coach Krause’s team is going to be talking about them in-depth on his blog. While wrestling is his sport, Krause wants to see all youth succeed whether it be in sports, academics, social clubs, arts etc. Through his motivational and educational tools for healthy living – he will coach our youth on how to develop the mind and body to achieve success in every area of their lives.

Physical fitness. Not everyone is a top-notch sprinter, long distance runner, nor do they have Sampson-like strength. But what our young do have is 24/7 access to sports idols and gifted athletes who stand-out because of unusual ability. While it’s good to have a mentor, what is often happening is, kids are unfairly comparing themselves to these icons. They realize they don’t measure-up, probably will never achieve what that athlete has because they are not naturally gifted, and they give up on athletics and physical fitness all-together. It may be the kid who ultimately enjoys art, chess, acting, or music, so they don’t bother with physical fitness, because they aren’t going to make the team. Unfortunately, what they don’t understand is, physical fitness doesn’t just help the athlete, it helps those engaging in the above mentioned activities as well. How can physical fitness help with painting or playing an instrument? Stay tuned for future blogs that will answer this question.

Train your brain. Ever heard the saying, battlefield of the mind? We can be our own best friend or our own worst enemy, depending on which inner voice wins that battle for our mind. It’s rough being young sometimes. That awkward stage, not sure of who you really are or where you fit in, and often hormones compound everything by inflating those already challenging emotions. You know, one minute you’re pretty sure you’re going to cut that person out of your life forever, they’re crappy, horrible humans who don’t deserve to share your space – wait – they just texted – no, I think I love them again – then you cry because you feel bad. It all feels so irrational.

Unfortunately, again in this time of social media, younger people often stress from comparing themselves to others and for many (even the popular kids who sometimes fake confidence) their internal dialog goes something like this, “I’m not as pretty as her, nobody likes me,” or “He is way better looking and athletic. I’m a loser, nobody is ever gonna go for me.” When that internal dialog turns negative, it can actually rewire the brain in a bad way and change the way your mind functions. Repeated negativity can actually impact the connections in the brain and make it harder to be positive in the long run.

It’s important to train your brain not just to think in a manner that is beneficial to your well-being, but that makes positive connections that can benefit whatever you choose to do in life. Those positive connections are critical for not only success, but to live a life that is free from constant emotional turmoil and sometimes even depression. We will be discussing this further and looking to experts on how to train your brain for positive thinking.

Food for fuel. Let’s face it – who doesn’t get a little pep in their step, and excited to shove that cheeseburger down their throat, tear up some fries, destroy a donut, then wash it down with a Diet Coke? Everyone has a different dietary lifestyle, but too many of us have our food addictions. However, there are key foods we all should eat to give our body and mind proper fuel. If you ingest the wrong foods laced with sugar, chemicals and other harmful things, the negative impact will affect your ability to be physically fit and to effectively train your brain.

For instance, it is now well known that sugar is as addictive if not more than cocaine. Really, think about that! Studies have shown it can lead to diabetes, inflammation in your body that can cause painful physical symptoms, and can cause negative emotions like irritability, sadness and sometimes even depression. It’s easy to pick on sugar – but what other foods are out there that may be affecting your performance, emotions, and energy levels? And! Good news, what foods taste as good as those toxic yummy treats that can be substituted to minimize the negative impact on your body and mind.

The younger a person is when they learn about various foods and how they drain or fuel the body, the better shot they’ll have at maintaining a healthier lifestyle through adulthood. In our future blogs, we will discuss the ways various food affects our bodies and what foods can be used for a positive impact to help succeed in the other areas. Coach Krause and his team believe it is imperative that our youth learn tools to succeed and how to value themselves. This can be accomplished through his three coaching rules above. We are excited to go on this journey with our youth and their family’s to transform lives at an early age and watch them succeed!

The Benefits of Wrestling

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benefits of wrestling with two young wresters

If you’re a wrestler or part of the wrestling family, you know wrestling isn’t something you do, it’s who you are! There’s something truly unique about wrestling that sets it apart from all of the other sports. As a female, I grew up with two brothers who wrestled. I was a mat maid, watched our high school team practice, worked tournaments, and was one of those obnoxious spectators who lost their voice from screaming out moves during meets. Even though I never joined the wrestling team – I was considered part of the family and it changed how I pursue life. Side note: If you’re contemplating wrestling as a sport, once you’re in a wrestling family, you’re part of the! Wrestling family – an exclusive brother/sisterhood like no other.

My name is Jamie Hope and I am assisting Coach Krause with taking NXT LVL to the next level. It doesn’t matter where I go, wrestling always seems to find me – but I can’t complain, as a supporter and family member I might not have experienced all a wrestler has, but I still understand the lessons learned and benefits earned.

The benefit of ‘my brother’s keeper.’ Like the military with battle buddies, wrestlers have accountability with one another. Wrestlers rely heavily on their teammates to sharpen their skills during practice in preparation for battle on the mat. If one wrestler isn’t giving his all in practice, the other wrestler will suffer for it during a meet. Like iron sharpens iron, wrestlers are required to give everything on the mat, even in practice, to give their teammate an edge during competition. As Coach Krause says, “Championships are won in the practice room.” The effort and work ethic of a wrestler is unrivaled and no doubt that principle carries over in life off the mat at a job, in school, or other challenging pursuits.

The benefit of discipline. To even qualify to wrestle, discipline is paramount. In order to wrestle in a particular weight class assigned, the wrestler has to be fit and eat the right foods to “make weight.” Week-in and week-out during wrestling season, wrestlers deprive themselves of easy and tasty fast food meals and favorite high carb sugary foods and beverages ever fearful of standing on the scale and being told they didn’t qualify. Learning to meet a deadline and knowing that qualification could be the very thing that stands between the wrestler and their next win, is a valuable lesson that will be carried through life. Let’s face it, especially in America, easy and addicting foods are constantly at our finger tips – is a life on the couch in front of the television. To be that young and learn to forego cravings for a goal, carries over into other areas of life – saving money instead of an impulse purchase, studying on a Friday night to get that better grade instead of going out to the party etc. Learning discipline at a young age through wrestling is an invaluable gift.

The benefit of strength. – Most young people think of strength as the ability to dole out physical pain on an adversary. However, one wrestling practice will quickly define the true nature of strength. I remember vividly the staggering warm-ups high school wrestlers endured before they even got on the mat to practice. Wrestlers coming out of the room with clothes that look like they just showered, hair dripping with sweat, and faces beat red after a warm-up for the actual practice. I went to school in the early 90s and our school was full of “tough guys.” But one practice with National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Coach Becker, more than one of those wrestlers would leave the wrestling room in tears. Something those wrestlers still laugh and talk about fondly twenty-five and thirty-years later. Those boys, now men, will tell you those practices were truly what made them the men they are today. It taught them strength is not just the ability to beat the other guy, but to take a beating and not quit.

The benefit of respect.  Wrestling teaches not only respect for elders and those in position of authority, but also respect for peers. Respect on and off the mat is a strictly adhered to policy. During competition, the opponent is to be demolished, but before and after, respect and good sportsmanship is the only tolerated behavior.

The benefit of family. Often former and current wrestlers stand out in a room because of cauliflower ear. Yet, even without that trademark identifier, many wrestlers have an innate ability to know when they’re in the presence of another wrestler, and that makes them instant family. It’s a fraternity of sorts that can only be truly articulated by being a member. It hunts you down and finds you know matter where you are.

As I stated previously, I never wrestled (well not officially, but my brother’s wrestled me often.) However, as a writer/filmmaker, I was at a veterans event, and one of the men there approached me about a project he was working on – and oddly enough, me being a female, he still asked me if I’d be interested in assisting him with creating a documentary on the Michigan State University 1967 National Wrestling Champions, the first Big Ten School to win the title. He knew nothing about me, and yet, once again, wrestling found me and asked for its assistance, to which I immediately obliged – because this is my wrestling family.

In this day and age, especially in America, respect, strength, family, discipline, and accountability are diminishing concepts. Unfortunately, most of the breakdown in society can be attributed to the lack of these attributes. Wrestling is not only a great sport to learn for self-defense, confidence, and physical fitness, it provides many other valuable intangible benefits that will carry through the rest of a youth wrestler’s life.  

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