You don't get what you don't ask for.

A friend from a long time ago once told me this, but in a different context. "You don't get what you don't ask for," she said at me in response to be being miffed about a miss-communication. If I wanted a certain something I should ask for it, rather than expecting other in my life to be mind readers or have to be Sherlock Holmes to unravel and understand my disjointed and obscure hinting.

There is a MMA clothing company who sponsors some mma and bjj fighters I like to watch and support. A quick check found that the sponsor patched worn on the gi by their fighters are not for sale. It was worse than trying to find a Shoyoroll gi! hahaha.

Instead I did around and find the contact email for Dethrone Royalty and I email them a simple query letter and my competition plans and history. Think of it as a light weight sponsorship prospectus.

I heard back from them within 24 hours with the sweet and simple directness of "how many do you want? where should we send 'em?" Beautiful.

Having had low level sponsorship for other activities, rock climbing and mostly mountain bike racing this was comparatively simple. Getting a little bit of free product up front helps both the athlete and the sponsor and can lead to more between them.

I love the look of their clothes, I think this patch is baaaddd looking! I can't wait to get them sewn on! I wanted a gi patch, so I asked for it. And got more than I wanted!

Dethrone Royalty. Check 'em out!