UFC 102 Reflections

I went and saw UFC 102 at Ker's winghouse on saturday night. It was a night of great fights and a waitress wearing a skirt so tiny, it was no longer a skirt but just a vagina belt. The fights were incredible. Chris Leben got put to sleep, Kieth Jardine and Demian Maia got knocked the fuck out and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria pounded out a decision over Randy Couture. But something struck a chord with me during the fights. While i was watching these amazing displays of striking ability, I wanted more and more to train harder and hit the gym. I felt like a little kid who wanted to play guitar after going to his first concert. It was as if I was seeing it for the first time. Now that I'm putting in the time in the gym I can appreciate everything on a much higher level now. I saw Nate Marquardt's haymaker coming before it connected with Demian Maia's chin. I saw the lack of head movement that gave Randy Couture a chance to connect some huge power shots on Nog. Watching the fights now that I have some gym experience was just mind blowing. And all this after less than a month of training. I can't wait to see what it's like after I actually get in the cage and get a few wins to my name.

There has got to be something seriously wrong with me

I mean it. I might be truly fucked up in the head. It's been almost two weeks now since I banged up my ankle in training and it still isn't right. But still I wake up at 4 am, bum ankle and all and hobble my ass dow to the gym for an hour of getting my ass kicked. I've regained most of my range of motion back but it still hurts like a bastard to put pressure on the ball of my foot and my achilles tendon tightens up like its about to snap. But I soldier on. I went back to class on Saturday for my first two-hour long class and I held up pretty well.

The first hour was all combo work. Jab, cross, hook, leg kick, hook, counter...same old same old. The only downside was that I was partnered up with a chick who is 5' nothin. Me being 6 foot posed a bit of a reach and distance problem. There was one combo where i had to throw a body kick and she would catch it with her left hand then hit me with a right hook to the head, then throw my leg down and hit me with a left jab. But because of the foot height difference she hit me with a hook to the body and a jab to the shoulder.

Today was a little better though. My training partner today was the same height as I am and he's genuinely a great guy to train with. He's the kind of guy that pushes you harder and makes you a better fighter. This morning I was holding the pads for him and he just destroyed my left arm with the power in his hooks. I got him back though when we traded off and he was holding for me. When it came time to finish off with either a right cross or an uppercut (my two strongest punches) i just unloaded and jacked up his arm as bad as he did mine.

The training is still going well but it's a slow process. No weight loss yet but I have noticed that my arms are already getting more defined. Pretty soon I'll have some "sick guns", sorry it's apparantly required that any guy that trains in any fighting style refer to his arms as 'guns'. And before you ask, yes, that means that next summer I will be wearing more sleeveless t-shirts than Rob McElhenny on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Son of a bitch

It's been a week and my ankle still isn't right. The swelling has gone down considerably but my achilles tendon is sore and still a little tight. I cant stand up tippy toed on my right foot and I still have some pain over the bone when i turn my foot to a certain angle. This has kept me out of training all week since I can't put any pressure on the ball of my right foot. That's kind of important when you're trying to put some power behind a right cross or throw a left kick. I've had it wrapped up all week and iced as much as possible so I'm hoping I can get back into training tomorrow morning so this week isn't a total loss. If I still can't put any serious pressure on it, I'll go up to the gym after class to see if my striking coach has any tips to get me back in the game for at least saturday's class.

The First of Many

I suffered my first training related injury this morning. While doing lateral jumps over a hurdle i whacked the side of the hurdle with my ankle. It stiffened up and started swelling immediately but I hung in there. It did hamper my ability to throw a right cross or do pushups or squats for the rest of the class though. Im going to let it heal up using the good old RICE method. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. I iced it for an hour after I got home and now i have it wrapped up under my sock. when i get home, I'll put more ice on it, prop it up while i watch burn notice and drink my beer through a bendy straw. Oh yeah. I'm a bad ass.

It begins...

I had my first official kickboxing class today. If you would like a quick refresher, I have decided to get involved in fight training at octagon MMA. I've enlisted in their Boxing and Kickboxing programs. I got into it because this is something I've always wanted to do. Ever since I was a little kid getting picked on I wanted to learn how to fight. I've been in a few scraps here and there but i haven't been in a knock-down/drag-out brawl before. I really want to try it because this is one of those rare sports where anyone off the street can pick up and try. It's not like football or basketball where if you didn't go to college you can never play football on a pro or semi-pro level. Not that I'm trying to go pro. I'm 29 years old, I know that I will NEVER fight in the UFC unless in 6 months when I'm leaner and more experienced the president of the UFC walks into my gym and happens to see me sparring. Even though I'll probably never reach that upper eschilon, I want to at least have tried. Rather than sitting on a la-z-boy when i'm 50 watching UFC 220 thinking "i could have done that". My attitude going into this is going to be one class at a time. If i develop fast, then I'll go into sparring. If I'm good enough at sparring, I'll compete. I don't even want to think about what i'll do if i actually get some wins under my belt and I'm still at a relatively young age. Hopefully I'll just get good enough to teach others some day. I will be perfectly content with just being a coach one day. So, about today's class. Today went really well. And by 'really well' I mean I didn't throw up during class even when I thought I was going to. Today we worked on alot of cardio and footwork. I didn't break a huge sweat like i did my first time around but that might have something to do with the fact that i was too winded to really put too much into it. Everything I'm going to do is very intense but honestly it's more mental than it is physical. There were times this morning where I had to take a knee and just suck in huge gulps of air and i thought to myself "What the fuck am I doing? There must be something seriously wrong with me to get up at 5:00am to come down here and get my ass kicked." It even crossed my mind, if only for a moment, to tell the coach that I just couldn't hang anymore and quit early. But then I was reminded of something I was reminded of every fighter that i've seen who refused to come out of their corner, or said "I quit" in a fight or waved off their opponent. I thought of that and remembered that if given the chance, i would never do that. I quieted that voice and for the rest of the training period there wasn't a single conscious thought that entered my head. That's the way it was for the most part of the training. The only thoughts that came into my mind were "quit" and "don't". Other than that, I felt nothing. No pain, no fear, no happiness. No emotions at all. It was about as close to a "zen state" as i could describe. So I'll keep you all updated about my progress as it...er...progresses. One of the great side effects is the fact that I'm going to lose a ton of weight from this so i might as well keep you in the loop on that. As of this morning at the start of my first class i weighed in at 243lbs and a 38in waist. As those numbers get smaller I will let you know.