Steppin up - training '07

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

Muay Thai Interclub Fight

i did it, first time ever getting in the ring, 3x2min rounds full contact amateur thai boxing! interclub rules so no elbows or knees to the head, shinpads and 16oz gloves. the whole thing was a bit of a ****in mess really but everyone seemed to think i did well.

got quite a lot of good kicks in (despite NO warm up) and got a couple of knockdowns. i remember getting in a good right cross too. but then i also remember getting kicked in the head at i think in the 1st and eating a couple of uppercuts and even a dodgy illegal knee to the head in the 3rd.

the whole thing was a bit of a **** up though. some messing around with the match making, then they called me for my fight with about a minutes notice, just enough time for hand wraps, the other guy was in the ring waiting while i was scrabbling in my kit bag to find my gumshield. so i went into the ring with NO warm up, not even any shadowboxing or stretching let alone kicking a pad...

anyway i got a ****ty plastic trophy bruised up shins and a bit of a headache. time for a hot bath. heads a bit mixed up right now cos im just back in so i still dont really know what im thinking. another guy took a couple photos on their phone so will post them if i can get hold of them

congrats dude ... dont forget about the photos.

i get a little nervous when i think about gettin in there for the first time at that level.

[stricker]

Jon,

congrads on the smoker, nice work.

Andrew

thanks man. it was a really great experience, and i now know what i've got to do and what fighting means.

the biggest aspect of it by far is the mental side of it. i think i handled the emotional bit of it well enough, i stood my ground and stayed calm but aggresive. the biggest thing i noticed was i couldnt think at all during the fight. so when i couldnt think what to do as soon as he stepped in i just went round kick, round kick. if he stumbled back i followed with a cross or a hook or something. lucky for me that mostly worked.

i'll write up a bit analysis later.

[stricker]

congrats dude ... dont forget about the photos.

i get a little nervous when i think about gettin in there for the first time at that level.

thanks man. yeah the whole "first time" thing is wierd. its nowhere near as bad as you imagine when you get in there. but then i tried not to think about getting hit, just focussed on dishing out punishment it only really starts to hurt a few hours later

oh yeah, i got the crappy after-fight pose shot. im the shorter dude on the right. as you can see i still dont know what the ****s going on hahaha

the mobile-phone action shots might take a few more days...

[Ernie]

GOOOOOOO brain tumor !

crazy *******

[stricker]

wing chun.

[stricker]

GOOOOOOO brain tumor !

crazy *******

cheers bud just what i need to be thinkin about

[stricker]

MMA

warm up

5x5s holding pads. worked boxing combos, lots of firing back
5x5s working pads. same again lots of hands.

picked up some details on slipping the cross and stepping off to body shot/hook. hips good but foot position needs work. also need sit down on my punches more.

groundwork.

rolled for about 4-5 rounds.

[stricker]

oh yeah, ive been a bit of a slacker this week. chores caught up with me a bit, had to go away for work one day, actually the few days off has been nice. monday and tuesday i was still a bit too fired up from saturday.

[Dan_chi_sau]

hey dude,
been a while since we spoke, nice to see you're blogging again. Well done on the fight, you're far braver than I am. How's the shoulder holding up? last time we spoke you were umming and arring on the surgery, but I'm guessing thats history now. Anyhoo, just wanted to check in and say well done for doing what a lot of the people here (including me) aren't too keen on doing........

[stricker]

yoga.

always sets me up good for the week to come

[stricker]

hey dude,
been a while since we spoke, nice to see you're blogging again. Well done on the fight, you're far braver than I am. How's the shoulder holding up? last time we spoke you were umming and arring on the surgery, but I'm guessing thats history now. Anyhoo, just wanted to check in and say well done for doing what a lot of the people here (including me) aren't too keen on doing........

hey dan, yeah the bloggings fun. the most constructive thing i found from the last one i did was when i set objectives and self-analysis then revisited it x weeks later to see how id done. makes you realise how what you do affects what you can do. sounds obvious i know

as for the bravery, well thats a wierd one. ive been training pretty hard so i knew i'd put the work in. i basically figured if i get beat up then its not because i havent tried and its out of my control, so fair enough. sometimes you just gotta say fk it and jump in there. i had no idea how id react. the main thing i did mentally was try not to think about my opponent too much, just think of him as a punch bag and try to relax.

the shoulder thing is postponed. the surgeon told me its not gonna get any worse, and that the surgery would not be any less successful if i postponed, and id had a good few weeks of no real grief, so i cancelled. it still gives wierd cracks and pops, and my upper body strength/mechanics are still a bit wierd, but im working on it. i havent been back to doing tons of poon sao though so im sure ive got a nasty surprise waiting for me there...

i suspect i'll bump into you soon somewhere or other

[stricker]

MMA (thai)

warm up
bit of an extended warm up, plenty of sets or press ups, sit ups, leg raises, squat jumps etc thrown in

5x3s holding pads
5x3s working pads

sparring, hands only

[stricker]

here's the two action shots someone got on their phone. they only show me on the attack, so not very interesting i really wanted to see my structure etc when on the defensive.

first pic (the kick) : looks like im a bit out of range, although could just be the dodgy phone camera lens. nice that he blocked with the wrong leg. i think my supporting legs half decently rotated too but im leaning back way too much. rear hand positions good though

second pic (the punch) : looks like he slipped it. it was even more blurry in real life though fairly happy with chin position, but id have really liked to see the corner of my other glove guarding it.

criticism would be appreciated

frustrating really. my hands are far stronger than my kicks on the pads, my jab, cross and uppercut are all pretty decent, hooks not quite so but my kicks need work in real life. in the fight it was the opposite, i was all kicks no punches. not to mention he was taller so i should have tried to get into punching even more, but he was a better boxer and more experienced.

[stricker]

MMA

warm up

3x5s working thai pads
3x5s holding thai pads

then groundwork

5 mins of hop-hop-hop-squat to finish off

wierd session. we're trying out moving location from the community center with the grannies to training in a nearby full time boxing gym. they want to charge us double, and the mat area is tiny, so i dont think we're gonna go back. and we showed up the boxers working hands

[stricker]

MMA (Thai)

warm up
5x3s holding thai pads. first and last rounds were 5s
5x3s working thai pads, same again.

then a couple of rounds sparring

numbers were really low tonight so due to partnering etc didnt really get a high quality of work in.

theres another thai interclub coming up in a few weeks. im really in two minds as to do it or not. its really too soon for me to make the changes i want to but the next one after that is ages away, and now i appreciate the realities of it way too much to go in there ill prepared again. i really need to decide soon as well...