Hidden nuggets of gold

I like running, but running on the road can be a bore, and here in Thailand running on the road is like running around in Grand Theft Auto. The roads are crazy. So I started riding out to a big dam that has a road the whole way around it, it's about 7km to run a lap and pretty nice scenery too. But today I had just started running a lap and in the strip of forest between the road and the dam I noticed a couple of little signs with arrows on them. After riding mountain bikes for so many years I know what it looks like when someone has marked out a race track, so I checked it out. Yep it was a beautiful cross country race loop, I was so happy. Running on trails is just great, so much more entertaining and away from the glaring heat of the road. Running trails is just better training too, the agility needed and the effort required for all the undulations. After running only on the road for the last five months this felt like a real treat, I ran two laps and I will definitely be back tomorrow.

Playing Sambo

Sambo is a quite comprehensive martial art. I made the mistake of comparing sambo with freestyle wrestling and Silviu was quick to correct me. Freestyle wrestling is grappling but sambo is fighting, it is combat. Sambo is used by military to stop an enemy as fast as possible.

For the last week and a bit I have been learning sambo with Silviu every day. That is barely enough time to scratch the surface of sambo, but I have learnt some cool things. We played around each day covering one or two techniques and then sparred for a while.

We practiced working from the clinch and building a sensitivity, for if I push my opponent usually pushes back and if i pull my opponents reaction is to pull back. Then the goal was to use this change in momentum to my advantage, to create an angle, to create an opportunity.

From here Silviu taught me a few different takedowns, a double leg, a big pick up on the shoulders and slam, a couple of nice single leg takedows. One that I really liked was a trip into a knee bar. Then we played around for a while with the knee bars, with different defences and counters. I loved learning the flow of the techniques. Starting with one takedown and if that doesn't work it would set me up for another then into a submission, a knee bar. And if he can defend that then he can grab a heel hook. And so on...

On the last day Silviu and I just went back over everything he had taught me, doing ten per side to help commit it to memory. Sometimes I wish I could spend a few years learning from this guy, but real life awaits.

Time flies

Where has my motivation gone? I feel like now that I have decided to go home I'm just going through the motions with my training. In three weeks i will be on a plane heading home. The last couple of months training have been great, mainly focused on boxing with Silviu. But now the end is near and my mind is thinking about riding sweet single track in Canada, and not thinking about blocking that left hook that's coming for my body.

The last couple of months Have been doing a lot of boxing training and many private lessons with Silviu. In any other sport that I have done I have never really been coached. Now I see the value in having a great coach. I am probably not a great student, I won't really take information on board unless I am told 'why' it is important. And that is exactly what Silviu has been doing for me. He explains every action in precise detail and then he tells me why. I've learnt a lot from these lesson. I love it when we talk a little about tactics and he goes on and on talking about so many little details and strategies, it's great. It seems like every week I am having an "ah ha' moment, first it was about footwork then hip movement and then i was trying to get more speed in the hips then that needed more fitness. Now it is balance and controlling the space in the ring.

In my last few weeks I am changing things up a bit to help me stay motivated. I'm going to be doing some sambo with Silviu, aswell as muay thai and a couple of lessons of BJJ.