Tournament Picture

Here's a picture I found online from a tournament my gym hosted back in January.

I'm the guy being fed the knee to the gut. Good times.

First Week Back

It's been one whole week since I got back from Waterloo. It's kind of crazy: it really feels like it was such a long time ago that I was with everyone in Waterloo, but it's only really been a few days. It's strange how distance and time play with the senses the way they do.

I'm finally back at Muay Thai, getting back into shape for my much-awaited fight. I am supposed to be at 155lbs for the fight. Right now I am at around 164. This leaves me with approximately three and a half weeks to drop nine pounds. This calls for lots and lots of running. My cardio is getting back up to speed after my little hiatus. The first class back was brutal; my heart was pounding, and my lungs felt like they were going to explode out of my chest. Fortunately for me, it's getting better, and the running is starting to come more easily. My two biggest challenges in training for this fight will be (1) nutrition, and (2) my technical game. I am a sucker for junk food. I can will myself to train harder or to run faster, but not to resist a big bowl of chocolate iced cream. The next couple weeks I will be forcing myself to live off of healthy stuff. Oh, the things we do in the name of the sport. My technical game, especially my grappling, is one of my greatest weaknesses. While I can hold my own in a grappling match, I often have trouble being the assertive opponent; I tend to end up on my back, defending myself from the ground up. In the following weeks I will hopefully be working with a Brazillian Jiu Jitsu artist, improving on my ground and clinch work.

The week is finally over. Due to an in-service day, there is no school tomorrow morning. The only thing on tomorrow's agenda is work from 5 until 9. Otherwise, I am free to do as I please. And by do as I please, I mean finish up some homework and do some things that I've been putting off.

Hopefully you're all having a great week, drop me a line and/or comment and tell me what you've been up to. All the best.

Back

Here I am, back on blogger. I was conviced by Steven and Iara that it could be fun to write on here again, so I decided to give it a go.

So far, this weekend has ended up being a recovery of sleep from all of last week. I landed in Winnipeg on Thursday at around 9 o'clock Manitoba time. My trip to Waterloo was awesome; I saw so many old friends, and got to re-connect with a lot of old aquaintances. I'm truly glad that I took this opportunity to go down and visit. Being back home has been nice in one way, and a let-down in another. I imagine that anyone who has ever come home from a great holiday knows what I mean.

Now, (Sunday) I am sitting at home, trying to catch up on a bit of schoolwork. Because I was gone early on in the semester, I am not actually left in the dust. However, I am still struggling with my mathematics and biology. Although I enjoy both subjects, it is a battle for me to understand them. This is true moreso for math than for biology. Unfortunately for me, my discipline seems to have fled, leaving me in a distracted and slightly bored state. Where has all my resolve gone? Why has my persistence seemingly left me? This weekend, I have found that I have no motivation for anything, be it my martial arts, school-work, or waking up. Hopefully getting some rest and exercise later will help me get back on track. Training for my MMA fight will undoubtedly help me to boost my discipline. The persistence and endurance it takes to train in MMA is comparable to any other active sport; the main difference is, in MMA, not just a trophy depends on your training: your health and physical well-being is also at stake.

I am truly excited for the opportunity I have been given in the martial arts; I have been held back one fight already, being informed that it was cancelled as I gloved up to go into the ring. Hopefully this time I will prove myself in the ring with precision and endurance. I think my greatest struggle in training for this fight will be the development of my technical skills; Muay Thai places so much emphasis on conditioning that my ground-game is unfortunately neglected. Much of my technical training will have to take place on my own time. Fortunately, I already have a background in traditional Jujitsu and Karate which I can rely on to carry my training.

As I previously mentioned, I am struggling motivationally with my education; I want to finish strong, but at the same time, I feel no enthusiasm for what I am studying. Arguably I could just let it slide this semester; however, this semester is really my last "kick-at-the-bucket." Society judges it's youth largely on how they finish their education. Those who do not finish, or finish poorly, are largely rejected by the upper levels of the social hierarchy, while those who finish well are viewed as assets. I firmly believe in education. I also struggle with it. I am going to give this semester my best shot, hands down. Prayers would be greatly appreciated as I get ready to finish this off.

Well, that's what is going on with me. I am going to try to post frequently about my training for my fight. All the best to you all this week.