Matt Horwich is the world’s first ‘quantum mechanical warrior’. While the rest of civilization is confined to the physical laws of our universe, Horwich exists purely on a level of string-theory and the multi-verse. In fact, according to Horwich, most things in reality can be attributed to the multi-verse theory, a hypothetical set of a seemingly infinite number of possibilities which comprises of everything that has existed and will exist. Some people would call this the tenth-dimension, a single dimensional level that encompasses all of time, space and potentiality. However, don’t let me tell you about the universe. I’m just a guy that has a strong addiction to almonds. Let the only human being in MMA to ever submit Thales Leites, Matt Horwich, enlighten all of you on how beautiful of a universe we truly live in. Check out our interview with Matt Horwich conducted by Elena Lopez, only at MiddleEasy.com.
Sorry about yesterday, I sensed a little agitation and I apologize. Oh no, no one was agitated. Just another beautiful day in the multi-verse. Saturday and Sunday are the days off from training just to spiritually recharge for the weekend — to get ready for another good week’s training.
So how’s everything going with the band? Oh, I don’t have a band. I just play classical guitar and write some poetry about the inner-connectedness of art and science and spirituality. Searching the infinitely accelerating current of creativity with the universe’s expansion. It’s beautiful, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is constantly expanding. Scientists used to think that it would slow down and start to retract, but they found from a Type IA supernova 14,000,000,000 light years away that the universe isn’t retracting due to a mysterious dark energy of empty space which is 73% of our universe. It could be Albert Einstein’s Cosmological Constant Equation or it could be gravity leaking into other dimensions. The gravity of an eager universe pulling the other side of our universe.
Ah, so you’re trying to connect classical guitar with the expansion of our universe? I try to learn classical guitar. I’m trying to incorporate it with learning how the rhythm of stand-up works, grappling has a rhythm too. I was just philosophizing with Maury Smith a little bit — about how the rhythm of kickboxing works and changing the rhythm. It’s all inner-connected whether you’re flowing one-quarter note to the next in music or flowing one submission transition to the next in jiu-jitsu, guard-pass transition or sweep to submission — or one subatomic particle to the next in string theory. In string theory, the tenth dimension of the strings vibrate different subatomic particles the same way guitar strings vibrate sound frequencies and stretching one of the strings will turn, let’s say, an electron into a proton. One sub-atomic particle into a different one, the same way stretching a guitar string will change its vibrational frequency.
Wow, that’s pretty amazing. Yeah, it’s a beautiful time to live in with all the knowledge available.
Are you familiar with the Holographic Universe theory? Yeah. The Holographic Universe was a beautiful and inspirational book, it’s one of my favorites. One of my favorite quotes from it is ‘the whole of the universe is implicate in the part’. So it’s like the inner-connectedness of the universe and Albert Einstein’s theory that time and energy and mass and space time travel in general are all inner-connected. The closer to the speed of light you go, the slower time goes. And the Heisenberg uncertainty principle says that you can’t measure a particle’s position and momentum simultaneously because there’s no localization. The electrons can disappear and reappear around an atom or be at two places at once. They’re all connected by a brace of energy and empty space and potentiality.
Maybe I should read that book just one more time. Yeah, now the scientists are finding that we’re actually growing new brain cells the more knowledge we learn and the hippocampus and olfactory parts of the brain that are associated with memory. Scientists one sai d that when we’re adults, we don’t grow any new brain cells, but now they found that that’s false — at least for certain parts of our brain. Our brain is a three-pound mass composed of hundreds of billions of neurons, possibly more stars than there are in the galaxy. It shapes all of our experiences and memories.
It seems like your goal is to bring more positivity into this universe. Absolutely. Every positive choice adds up and the journey of MMA is about evolving mentally, spiritually and physically — and being able to inspire other people. I think what we all want to do in life whether it’s being a fighter in the ring or being a musician and inspiring people or being an actor, writer — or whatever our big dream is to follow in life.
When you submitted Thales Leites at War on the Mainland, you did an interview with Karyn Bryant and after, MiddleEasy.com declared that you’re the new Genki Sudo How do you feel about your newly acquired moniker?. Oh beautiful! That’s a huge compliment. Genki Sudo is awesome. He’s got great charisma, both in his interviews and his fighting. Thanks so much, that’s beautiful.
Where do you keep your Powerhouse Promotions middleweight belt at? Right now it’s at Legend’s gym with our fighter, Eddie Jackson’s belt. It’s pretty cool to have the belts up there and people see them when they walk in for training and they get inspired — want to win more of them. Keep that positive momentum going.
What can 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu provide that other forms of jiu-jitsu, specifically Gracie jiu-jitsu, can’t provide? Well I think the beautiful thing about jiu-jitsu is that there are so many great ideas. The Gracies have definitely contributed a huge amount of great ideas and they started getting jiu-jitsu into the mainstream for people like Eddie Bravo to be able to contribute to it. There’s still some phenomenal Gracies like Roger Gracie, one of the best grapplers. I was actually at the ADCC when he submitted Jacare after Jacare submitted Marcello Garcia. That was really rad to have the experience of seeing it, I got to hang out and have a beer with Roger Gracie and everyone afterward. Jacare just drank water — but back to the question. I think everyone has something different to contribute to it, Roger Gracie is contributing a lot to it. Jacare. Eddie Bravo is contributing a lot of ideas about no-gi jiu-jitsu, breaking down the posture, being able to land strikes and elbows advantageously from a bottom position on the ground and set up omoplatas and triangles. That’s a beautiful thing about it, there’s so many great artist contributing to jiu-jitsu, all these great ideas. So it’s not that I think one style, like Eddie Bravo or the Gracies style is superior to the others.
A lot of people say that Roger Gracie is the greatest BJJ practitioner in MMA, do you think that’s true? There’s a good chance of it. He’s definitely one of the best, him and Jacare are both really good. I agree, there’s a good chance of it. He’s probably the best one I would name right now. Fabricio Werdum is looking really good too.
How close is your relationship with Eddie Bravo? We’re really good friends and he’s always shared knowledge freely with me. It’s like a family there [10th planet]. It’s just awesome, I’m so thankful to be blessed with so many great friends with so much awesome knowledge to learn. It’s a beautiful universe.
I can only imagine what a conversation between you and Joe Rogan would be like… We hang out, not so much outside of the gym because Joe is busy doing his comedy and everything, working with UFC. I stay really busy with training. We hang out and philosophize a lot at the gym. It would be really cool to be on one of his [Ustream] shows and philosophize. That would be awesome. Joe is a genius. His knowledge about the world and about quantum physics, DMT and everything — he has a really unique personality and he’s a genius. So is Eddie Bravo.
You surely don’t believe you lost to Eric Schambari in Bellator, do you? I watched the fight and Eric Schambari is a great fighter and I don’t want to take anything from his win, but in my opinion from watching the fight, and you’re always a little bias about your performance, I thought the commentators were being a little bias in the sense that they were giving a big mention every time Eric Schambari did a good combo and when I landed a good kick or a good elbow, they were talking about something else — and that’s my honest opinion about it. It was a great fight, in hindsight I should have took it to the ground more, but in my eyes, I thought I was winning on stand-up.
How was fighting in the IFL? It seemed like those guys were taking MMA a step further with placing all their fighters on yearly salaries. It was an awesome experience, they treated the fighters really good, the salary was really good while it lasted. I made $26,000 for my last fight with them, which was a really good payday for a fighter. I wish they would have been able to stick around longer. I’m not a business person, but some of the stuff they did didn’t seem like some of the smartest business choices. They had one of the best turnouts in Everett, Washington. The Wolfpack and the Tigersharks were from right around there, so they thought the sensible thing to do was to not have a show there ever again, or in Portland. I thought they should have had shows there and in all the teams hometowns to get the crowds from there following it on TV and everything, build it up that way. They had shows in places where they really didn’t have any teams — but that’s just my thoughts on it, I’m not a business person.
Would you consider yourself a humanitarian? Yeah, absolutely. I think now is the time to set the bar higher for human beings on taking care of our planet and each other. Every animal is sacred because we all come from the same creator. We’re all one in the universe whether it’s science, spirituality, art or all of the above. I think it’s in our nature to evolve as human beings mentally, physically and spiritually.
What’s the appeal of The Underground to MMA fighters? It’s great to be able to talk to the fans here and there. I go on it once and a while, I’m on Facebook more often just because it’s easier, more convenient. I got my profile set up there. I can easily put up my bulletins, keep in touch with the fans and people I’ve met.
Have you spoke to anyone in the UFC about returning? Yeah, Joe Silva is a super nice guy. He’s always cool about returning our texts and everything. He said get a couple more wins together. If I would have got the win against Eric Schambari then I would probably be back in the UFC, but it’s all good. It will happen when it’s suppose to. I just have to make the most out of every moment and keep enjoying the journey. Evolve mentally, spiritually and physically. It’s addictive, positive choices. Hard work, dieting good, training good. It’s amazing that we hear so much about negative choices being addictive. I think positive choices and good habits are equally addictive. It’s awesome the potential of the human mind and spirit. I don’t think people that have achieved great things and inspired lots of people like Albert Einstein or BJ Penn or Anderson Silva, I don’t think God gave them more gifts than he gave us regular people, they just tap into that potential of these great things. I think we all have that potential.
The marijuana reformation act didn’t pass in California, why do you think marijuana is still demonized in society? I don’t know. If you look at how many liver failures there have been from alcohol, and how many deaths — or smoking cigarettes, or obesity in comparison to none from marijuana — it’s just uneducated and ridiculous. But the good thing is all the newer voters are coming in all the old people that are stuck to their ways of thinking are getting ready to kick the bucket, move on to better things. I don’t smoke weed myself because I’m training full time to push my body to the limit, but I think people should be allowed to and I think it’s a way healthier choice than alcohol or cigarettes.
Do you think smoking marijuana will inhibit you from training full time?. Well definitely not as much as alcohol or cigarettes. I think the best way is to be natural and train hard — be addicted to positive choices. But it’s definitely a way healthier choice than hanging out at a bar and drinking. For example, Michael Phelps, him having a picture with a bong, how is that worse than him having a picture drinking? Alcohol is killing way more people and causing way more health effects. The number one killer, more than alcohol and cigarettes is obesity. That’s people that are sitting on their ass eating Big Macs, watching Republican TV talking about how bad it is that kids are ‘smoking the dope’. It’s ridiculous. However, it’s in people’s nature to evolve and I think with every generation the kids get smarter. The newer voters are going to come in sooner or later, but the problem is not a lot of young people get around to voting. The older people just wait for the 6 o’clock news to come on and vote. I think we need a third party that takes the intelligent parts of the republican party and the intelligent parts of the liberal party like taking care of our environment, legalizing weed — just get rid of the stupidity between both parties. What I side with from the Republican party is I’m Pro-Life, I don’t think abortion is a natural thing. Nothing in nature does it, there could be some exceptions. I don’t think they should have taken prayer out of school it doesn’t have to be just for Christians — or the pledge of allegiance. I think it’s good to teach the kids good morals, if they want to pray or visualize good things for their country.
So what’s really going on with our political system? I don’t know, it’s like the stupid leading the stupid. we’re going to allow abortion, but we’re not going to allow the stem cells to be used to save lives so the babies aren’t dying for nothing. It’s sheer idiocy.
A lot of people say that you remind them of the MMA version of Terence McKenna. Do you share any of his beliefs such as the human brain grew to its current size from early humans ingesting psilocybin mushrooms? Well, I would have to study him more. I’m not that familiar with that theory, honestly.Terence McKenna, I’ll have to Google him. That’s definitely interesting, I’ll see what kind of scientific evidence there is [that supports his claims].
Have you ever done DMT? I haven’t done DMT, I’ve done mushrooms, but not since like five years.
Have you not done it because you’re not ready for it? You seem like the type of guy that would jump at the opportunity to expand your consciousness. Yeah, it’s a ceremonial thing like the shamans in the Amazon. Right now I’m just 110% focused on training, dieting good — but definitely if there’s a ceremonial thing, I would be down. Our bodies naturally produce DMT when we’re dreaming. It’s cool because when I wake up in the morning, I feel like some of the natural DMT is still in my system. When I first come out of my dreams I feel creative and innovative. That’s when I start my emotional momentum for the day.
What’s your view on the afterlife? I think if we’ve made the right choices, we move on to bigger and better things. Everyone knows that I’m Christian, but obviously I’m a liberal Christian — I believe weed should be legal and hemp is a miracle plant, it can be an alternate fuel to run cars, used for clothes and some of the best protein is hemp protein. I know Randy Couture is a big fan of hemp protein.
If anyone in MMA knows, it’s probably you. What do you think is going to happen in 2012? I’m skeptical about things like that. I don’t think anyone really knows when the world is going to end. I remember I was in an open-mic in 1999 and everyone was saying Nostradamus said the world was going to end that day and nothing happened. Maybe something really interesting is going to happen, but I don’t think the world is going to end.
How do you want to be remembered in history? Well I would hope to do something great like Anderson Silva or BJ Penn or Geronimo, definitely don’t want to leave Geronimo out, he’s one of my heroes. I would hope to do something great and influence a lot of people positively. Be able to do something good for influencing people to respect our planet and all the beautiful creatures and do good things for orphans. I would like to aim for greatness and get as close to it as possible. Shoot for the stars and if you miss, hit the moon. Or maybe shoot for the multi-verse and if you miss, hit the stars.
