Tuesday, May 25, 2010

First fight

Ok, so its not offical yet, and i pray writing this doesnt jinx it like the 3 other times ive had a fight, and had it fall through. My coach took my info and says there is a fight card for June at Metropolis. Its Muay Thai, not mma, which is good, less attacks to worry about. Well anyway, dont have the particulars yet. Im very excited, trying not to be. I hate getting pumped for something only to have it fall through. I have been training non stop for about 8 months now so i want to test my skills against other like combantants. I am hopeing to fight at 145lbs or in the range. I currently stand about 153 in the morning and 154 at the end of the day. Not a big weight cut and its good to be the bigger fighter anyway. im in pretty good shape but need to up the cardio a little bit so i can be confident that my gas tank is full.

Wish me luck.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Newcomers and skinny jeans

Okay, so as we have talked about I'm training in the mixed martial arts and its going well. On Thursdays i take the night time MuayThai class and on some night I stay for the Advanced Muay Thai. That last class is invite only, you cant just walk in and take it without being up to par. Well my coach Rich, he and I have formed a good relationship as i normally take his morning(11am) muay thai class as well. Since I'm a little more advanced than the average student and since i am at the gym so often i tend to get "new guy" duty.
I take this as both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because its pointing out to me that i have learned enough to actually be depended on to teach others. It also points out to me that my had work has been noticed. Now it is a curse because sometimes i have to work with some real......lets just say different people. Last night in particular, a kid came in with his buddy to try out the gym/class. He had on a black wife-beater shirt with black skinny jeans and a flat billed hat. Now if you ha vent seen skinny jeans yet, go to your local bookstore, find Rollingstone magazine and bam there you go. I guess its a style of jeans that looks like a second skin because its soooooooooooooooooo friggin tight. I mean its like saran wrap on the legs. Well this kid had some awful tattoos and he couldn't be more than 25 years old. He was kinda scrawny but didn't look non athletic. Oh yeah he and his buddy were drinking those giant Monster drinks. Not the regular sized energy drinks they were drinking like a liter of that crap.
Well these guys did the normal, borrow gloves and hand wraps from the gym and they joined the class in our regular 10 min of jump rope, then jumping jacks and squats and such. I didn't focus on them much because i was hoping i wouldn't have too...... wrong. Once the warm up was over i was assigned "skinny jeans" YEAH! Well i understand that kicking like we do in muay thai is a learned skill, not everyone can walk in and grasp the hip motion. But damn kid stop kicking with your feet and why do you flail your arms about? I worked well with skinny jeans, he tried hard but he was not seeing how the little hints and tips i tried to show him and help him with, would actually save his ass in a fight. Oh well. That's a part of new guy duty you kinda get frustrated with watching someone just screw up.
I know I know i should be kind, I was in my second class where i was paired up with a younger mom maybe early 30's that wasn't athletic at all but was hoping to find a place where she could start the process of getting that body she most likely had before her kids. She tried hard, she giggled a lot, she did well though. There is a difference between the two newcomers, skinny jeans, well he should be able to pick up on how the movements went and should be a little more inclined to imitate instead of nodding his head in acceptance and then doing the opposite.

I rant because i have to use my class time to teach them just how to stand, i ask them right or left handed? They sometimes stare at me like????? why??? Now it may be that the evolution of man is pushing out the coordination gene. I mean how much coordination between your hands and feet do you need to type on a keyboard and click a mouse button? I do feel sorry for some people though, if ever presented with a violent situation their response would not be a good one. Also during these classes ones partner has to hold pads or help train the other person. so having a newcomer hold focus mitts or thai pads for me is a frustrating experience. They aren't coordinated and are scared about getting hit so my mitt work is slow much more deliberate and most times not very good since I'm trying not to hurt them.

Well skinny jeans survived, he asked a few questions about working out there but seemed very scared of getting hit in the nose since"he has sensitive membranes." Really Really this is the shit I deal with! I guess this is just fuel for the fire. I pity the first person to actually step into the ring/cage with me cause its all coming out.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lets change gears

Okay, so I know it has been forever since i have posted and for those of you that followed my blog im sorry to have left such a void in your life. To those of you who barely read my blog and only enjoyed my witty comments directed at hapless leadership, well you might enjoy the direction im going to take now.

For some time now 7MONTHS, I have been training in the mixed martial arts! Yes yes to those of you who are unfamiliar or under educated in the combat sports, MMA is type of fighting used in the UFC. No I am not in the UFC. NO i do not fight every day. Mostly I train in Muay Thai or Thai boxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Yes sometimes I spar with other people. Yes i punch and kick them and yes they do the same to me. So I am pretty sure if peaked some interest at least in my families eyes. Well im actually pretty good at what im doing. At least im good for only having formal training for 7 months. I have not competed, had a fight, yet. I want to and we have tried to get me on fight cards but to no avial. That doesnt bother me too much. I am pretty content to train and get better each day i do. This is something i truly love to do. It is fun for me to test my abilites against other men and to push myself past my limits.

I train at the OhioMMA academy. www.ohiomma.com This is the gym of former UFC and current Strikeforce fighter Jorge Gurgel. Former UFC Middleweight champ Rich Franklin also trains there and UFC welterweight Dustin Hazelett. I do not boast that i am training with these men, I am simply stating that I have trained on the same mat at the same time and every so often in direct connection with these fighters. If anyone has questions as to who these men are or what happens at the gym please ask or go to the website.

My goals in MMA are not to make it to the UFC, im turning 30 this year and I have no real pedigree to speak of. Im not a college wrestler or world class BJJ practioner. I am a simple man who enjoys learing all he can about mixed martial arts. I have had some amazing coaches in the past few months that have directly impacted my life and my fight game. Im in the best shape of my life despite often having black eyes(Irish sunglasses), a busted nose or fat lip. I have never been as strong or as well conditioned. The ARMY has never pushed my body this far. My real goal here is to become the best FIGHTER I can be and to test myself once or twice in the ring/cage.

In the following posts i hope to chronical my quest for new levels of fitness and ability. I will talk abotu gym issues and the time my training has taken from my family, which truly isnt much since most of my time is spent during my lunch time from work. If you have questions, about anything at all, the training, the gym, fighting, please leave a comment and let me know!