Getting over the hump

After my first two weeks of training, I feel like i am getting over the initial hump. The rampant all over muscular pain is disappearing and I am waking up feeling fresh most mornings. After morning training I usually feel pretty wrecked but buy the time afternoon training comes round I am feeling pretty good again, so it means I will be able to start hitting a few more sessions during the week!

So far my training efforts have been focused on Boxing, Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm in Thailand and i still have not done a Muay Thai class....

Boxing:
Silviu the boxing coach has made me aware that I keep a bit too much weight over my front foot while I'm boxing. So I have been concentrating on my weight distribution alot and also trying not to lean in as i start throwing punches. Straight away I can notice the difference, just feeling more mobile and able to move in and out of range more effectively.
During sparring the other day I found myself being a bit too cautious and avoiding engaging. As a result of sparring like this I got tagged by a decent cross that landed right on my nose. After that I started engaging alot more and getting a few good combos off and it was a complete turn around of what was happening in the ring.... Lesson learned, when I'm boxing, I have to box not just avoid.
I remember reading in Sam Sheridans book that most amateur boxing matches can be won with simple straight punches, the jab and the cross and the rest of the punches will develop naturally when they are needed. So for the next few weeks that is all I am going to use during sparring.

Wrestling:
The MMA/ Wrestling classes are fast becoming one of my favourite classes at Phuket Top Team. The class sizes always seem pretty small so head coach Silviu is always close by for advice. I loved the open wrestling at the end of the class! You can really notice the difference in strength, size and fitness of different guys during this wrestling. So far I have found the best tactic here is to make sure I shoot the takedown before my opponent and if I don't land it straight away, just keep driving.... But there is so much to learn here, I'm looking forward to alot more of these classes.

BJJ:
In the BJJ classes i feel like a small child being played with by the more experienced guys. Grappling with guys with a similar level of experience who are about my size is great though. In this situation we can both try and work for some submissions and defend some submissions. I am starting to become more aware now, of when I am being set up for an arm bar or triangle and I am able to defend that. But some guys will just woop out something crazy that I have never seen before and having me tapping out in no time... Ahhh fun.

I'm looking forward to some good training on moday, but for now it's coffee time!

BJJ week

This last week has been a great week. Lots of learning. The advantages of training at an mma gym like Phuket top team, rather than a full muay thai gym have been pretty clear this week. While letting my feet heal up I have jumped straight into the Brazilian jiu jitsu classes.
The first class of bjj I did was super tough, sparring at the end of the class absolutely nailed me. If it had gone for one more round I would have lost my breakfast...
During the week the class numbers seemed to thin out quite alot, to the point were for two sessions it was just me and the coach, Sheeha. Sheeha is a Norwegian dude who is filling in as bjj coach just for a couple of weeks while the usual guy is away... As a beginner having the coach all to myself was a dream, I was able to grill him on all the little basic things that I want to learn. I told Sheeha that I often end up with side control but I dont really know what to do from there, so he taught me a few submission and drilled them with me for long enough that i could do it with out instruction. He also spent time teaching me how to arm bar and triangle choke from guard, and again drilled it with me at least twenty times. After we would have a spar and for me it's mostly just wrestling at this stage, but every now and then I would get the chance to try and lock on a submission I had just learnt and it would feel so satisfying......
Well big week, this week
toodles

Western Boxing at P.T.T.

Today i did my first class at Phuket Top Team, the western boxing class. The coach is Silviu Vulc, a former Romanian olympic boxing coach. To me that just seems like a great 'pedigree' of training. The class had about 8 blokes in it, most of them seemed to be at a decent level.
The class was largely based around sparring, which is great because I have definitely never done enough sparring. We did a few rounds of light touch sparring, just trying to tap each other on the shoulders or chest. Great for building up the reactions and footwork. Then Silviu had half of us with our backs to the wall, while the other half would rotate through throwing combinations at us and we were to block and counter. I thought this was great it forces you to stay in the pocket and return fire, rather than just scoot back as your opponent advances. Then it was onto sparring 3 rounds of sparring with the lead hand only and then 3 rounds of sparring with both. I loved the lead hand sparring, defensivley it gives you alot less to think about.
During sparring today I felt ok, not great but competent prehaps. Half way through the sparring I had some nasty blisters develop under the balls of my feet. I have been expecting this, your feet always get shredded pretty fast from all the pivoting when you first start training. So after that I lost alot of my footwork and movement, which made me feel like I was sparring with an arm tied behind my back. But soon my feet will be hard and calloused (like my palms) and it won't be a problem.
The whole time during the class Silviu was telling every power, power and also stressing lightness on the feet, I liked that. Every time I got flat footed Silviu would reming me to keep it light on the feet......

So all in all, a great training session. I am looking forward to the next one.....
Peace

A long time coming

It's been exactly 2 years since I first came to Thailand to train muay thai. 2 years ago I was a complete beginner, and getting a big culture shock also. I stayed and trained for 6 months then and learnt alot. I had one fight at Chewang stadium in Ko Samui, that was a big eye opener. You can feel so good in training but once you step in that ring the mind goes completely blank....

Now I am here back in  Phuket to get my punch on again. Man this place has changed alot in the last couple of years, the once quiet street of tiger muay thai is now full of all sorts of little shops and bars.
I rolled through tiger muay thai and saw my first ever trainer, kru Phetjing. Straight away he had a big smile for me, it was really nice. I trained a couple of private lessons with Phetjing on the last couple of days and it felt so great. I just loved the feeling of wondering back to my room after training completly worn out and high on endorphins, getting back and jumping into a cold shower.... Bliss.
Straight away Phetjing is showing me some tricks and helping with my fight tactics. I remember alot of things he was trying to tell me two years ago that i just never understood, this time he has been telling the same thing and its just seems to click straight away.....

I have signed up to Phuket top team mma gym and I will be doing my first class there tomorrow, I'm gonna try and get the boxing class in the morning and the muay thai class in the evening. That will be 3.5 hours for the day.... Can't wait!

Feeling Fit

I initially wanted to be really fit and strong and just generally in great shape when i arrived in Thailand. But sometimes things don't work out perfectly. So after a few hiccups with teethe and food poisoning I'm now hitting it hard with only a few days left before i leave. I have to give a big thanks to my Dad, who is a fit old bastard and has taken me on a couple of punishing 1hour plus runs through the jungle. Dad always pushes the pace and loves nothing more than to burn out younger guys who try and keep up with him. But i managed to hold on.
I have found a perfect hill behind my house to do hill sprints on each morning. Hill sprints, in my opinion are one of the toughest workouts for the cardio and leg strength. About 10 months ago when I was living in brisbane I was doing alot of hill sprints,  probably 10 or 12 sprints a couple of times a week. Back then I was weighing around 85 kg, but now I am a skinny boy at just 73 kg I feel like I am just floating up the hill so effortlessly. In general it feels like simply being lighter has greatly improved my fitness.
Other than the running, I've  been hitting up some kettlebell workouts to keep my strength up. Mainly trying to focus on lots of shoulder movement to keep those badboys strong.

So is it all going to be enough? Am I going to breeze through training in Thailand? NO way! The extra heat and humidity and the pace that the Thais push during training I know I'm going to feel like a lazy unfit bastard for the first few weeks...... But I love it

The best thing ever!

So im up here in beautiful Cairns enjoying quality time with my family at the moment and it's great. My training however has had a little hiccup, i've had to get 2 of my wisdom teeth ripped out. Yes everyone knows that it sucks, but better now than when im trying to train in Thailand.

In the meantime I have found the best invention ever! yep thats a big call.

It's the accupressure massage ball. It costs about twenty bucks from rebel sport and you will love it. The first day i got it i spent about 2 hours massaging my gigantic thighs while i was watching some movies, i could barley walk after. It really hit the spot.
For me i have always loved a bit of self massage, finding the knots and slowly working them away. But there was always places i just couldn't reach, with this ball now i can get to just about everything including all over my back and shoulders. You just have to roll the ball around the problem area, or lean up against the wall, with the ball in between and shimmie up and down.
Its really been helping sort out my ITBS (sore leg syndrome) and allowing me to run a bit further.

Get one!

Guerilla Cardio!

I have this great feeling these days. I have only 3 days left at work before i head home to Cairns for a month and then onto Thailand for some serious training.
It is definitely time to kick my training in the ass and boost my cardio. I am doing Guerilla cardio/ Tabata style training which has been scientifically proven to be awsome! It is basically interval training with 20 seconds of effort followed by 10 seconds of rest and then repeat for a total of 8 rounds. It might not sound like alot but it works.
Read the original article i found on the workout here here
This article recommends sprinting, but I dont think you should limit yourself. Anything done at 100% effort will get the results. I have done it sprinting, with push ups, on the bike, punching with weights and my favourite is sprinting on trails. Sprinting intervals on the trails adds a technicals element that I love. Its such a buzz moving through the trees at that speed.

So to conclude, if you want to get fit, burn fat and be awsome get out and do your sprints!