Just get it done

A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically.  Andrew Stern (2008-01-01).
 "Wordsmiths, avoid these words."

The definition above pretty much sums up the past few weeks for me in terms of the combination of my work and training circumstances; a little melodramatic perhaps, but a pretty accurate reflection nonetheless.  Work has been crazy with 14 hour days and 200 mile drives and to be honest after some of the shitty things that have been happening at work, the last thing I've wanted to do is train.  The convergence of work pressure and the need to prepare for competition is unfortunate to say the least.

However, with time ticking away before the Combudo competition the need to train has become critical if I'm not to embarrass myself. 

Experience has taught me that you rarely find the time to do things, you have to make it, and it was with this in mind that I came across this article on the website of Mile High Multisport discussing the various ways that an athlete or sports-person can life around training... or vice-versa.


I heard Dave Scott speak a few years ago and he said the hardest thing for him in training was knowing that he had an hour workout planned by only had ½ an hour in his schedule or wasn’t feeling the workout for the day. His theory is one I adhere to religiously in training. If you can do at least 20 minutes, DO IT is what Dave said. Either you’ll snap out of your “I don’t want to work out today” funk or at least you get something in. Sometimes work gets busy and I want to do an hour long workout, but only have ½ an hour left. I add a bit of intensity to the workout and know I at least got something in. It always feels better.

The article has a number of good suggestions and some that are pretty off the wall - changing clothes whilst stopped at traffic lights??!!!  Compounding my own difficulties was the issue of food.  I've spent the last two weeks working away from my office or home in an environment where food is provided and it's been starch city - sandwiches, potatoes, cookies - and while I've tried to curb the ingestion of too many carbs it hasn't been easy.  On top of the availability of poor food choices, long working days and early starts have made preparing food to take with me a proposition for which I've had little enthusiasm.  Even leftovers or soup has been off the cards as I've had no access to a microwave.  Of course if I'd been more organised or motivated I could've prepared food...... oh well.

So, with all this in mind, the following is a list of some of the things I've learnt which could be helpful in the battle for time:

1. Just do it.  I often spend a lot of unnecessary time in a state of indecision with regard to whether or not I can get to training or what I need to do if I'm training on my own, or whether I'm too tired or injured to train, or etc, etc.  I've found that the answer for me is that anything is better than nothing.  I often challenge my own self-talk when I'm over thinking like this and just do something, often resorting to the mantra "What's the worst that can happen?".
2. Nuts and fruit are fast food.  They need no preparation other than their purchase.  Often I'll keep almonds, cashews and pistachios, plus a bottle or two of water, in the car for days when lunch may not happen or dinner will be late.
3. Training economy is vital.  Done in the right way, bagwork can develop skill and improve conditioning.  Sled work will develop conditioning, strength and explosiveness.  Strongman style training - Farmers' walks, loaded carries, etc. - will develop strength and conditioning.  When you've little time, train smart.
4. When you're there, do stuff.  If I can only get to Leicester Shootfighters on one night I'll try to a) make it a night when I can take part in sessions that correlate well with my goals, and b) try to make it a night on which I can take part in more than one session, sometimes as many as three.
5. When you're there make the most of it.  Concentrate during teaching, concentrate when drilling, be a good training partner, make the most of sparring.  Don't be one of those guys who chats, becomes distracted and doesn't learn anything.
6. Find out what helps you learn.  Drilling, technical sparring, etc.  For me, writing a journal helps to cement what I've learnt and gives my something to refer back to.
7. Make your rest count.  I've been working hard at sleep (oxymoron?) using hypnosis to help me get to sleep and get good sleep.  This has been invaluable in maximising my already limited energy stores.

Finally a quick word on weight.  Even though my diet's been pretty poor I've managed to continue to lose a little weight which I'm very pleased with.  I'm on course to comfortably hit the middle of the 90 - 100kg category.

More soon, Godspeed!

Grapplethon 2013 - Grappling with a thorny issue.

Spending any kind of time on the internet - especially the various forums that abound - can be depressing.  There is so much negativity around and the downer it brings is often compounded by the fact that we feel that we should feel some kinship and share the views of those who frequent the same forums as us.... after all, we've been brought together by our love of something...haven't we?

Most recently I've found the debate around Fallon Fox to have uncovered a whole heap of transphobia  and narrow-mindedness on various forums in the MMA and BJJ worlds.  My initial reaction is always to engage with these views but it gets so, so tiring and do I ever achieve anything by it?  I doubt it.

The controversy surrounding Lloyd Irvin and his team and Irvin's cynical and disgusting (non)response to the actions of two of his team members allegedly raping a team-mate is a HUGE cloud over the BJJ/MMA scene and it'll be interesting to see how the community responds to it over a longer period of time.  However a beautiful ray of sunshine in this whole miserable affair has been the response of some of the UK's BJJ community. 
Can Sönmez of Slideyfoot BJJ Blog has set up the Grapplethon 2013 to support Rape Crisis.  Setting out to raise £3500 for this cause, the Just Giving pages have already raised over £4000 with a month to go until the actual event.

On top of this Meerkatsu produced a 'Heavenly Footlock' T-shirt to raise funds for the same cause.  An awesome shirt that had sold out of my size before I could grab one (Sad Face!).

 
So, all things considered, my faith in human nature has been restored and my misanthropic tendencies can be put back in a draw... until next time.

Please check out the Grapplethon Just Giving page and also the site of Rape Crisis to see what work they do - I don't believe in blindly supporting causes/organisations without finding out what they do or stand for - this is a good one.

http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/

It's On!

So the countdown has begun in earnest. In the words of Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 2, “Sh*t just got real”.

Those of you who have checked in here before may have noticed the countdown timer over to your right. This is counting down to the Combudo Amateur MMA tournament that me and a group from Leicester Shootfighters are entering.

Combudo is run and promoted by Lee Hasdell, a name known to anyone who has followed the UK MMA scene since its inception and a pioneer in terms of both competing and promoting. The rules are interesting in that they're not the usual 'no headshots' amateur rules – they allow shin and foot kicks to the head (standing of course!). In the style of Japanese amateur MMA there are also ring escapes, i.e. If you get caught in a submission and you can reach the outer ring of mats you can escape.  Allowing head kicks encourages competitors to keep their hands up adding a different defensive aspect to the bouts. Training has stepped up for those of us not regulars to competing with sparring becoming a key part of the preparations. This includes stand-up striking, wrestling and submission grappling,  making sure to get enough good quality rounds in for each discipline as well as the transitions between stand-up, clinch and ground.  

At a recent seminar legendary Judoka Neil Adams stated that fights are often won or lost in the transitions, and thinking about it, this is certainly the case once clean knockouts are taken out of the equation. How many times do we see scrambles resulting from clinch work, takedowns or transitions/submission attempts on the ground?  The positional hierarchy that often results can decide a fight or at very least a round.  

Taking all this in to consideration, some of our recent sparring has been about winning these scrambles.  For example, if the opponent wants to fight on the floor and I don't, I need to ensure that I've got a game to keep the fight where I want it and make my opponent fight there.  Therefore I've got to be able to stuff the takedown/sweep and win any resulting scramble.  We've been training exactly this kind of thing recently.


Some of the sessions of sparring have been led by competitive fighters at the gym and it's a real tribute to the spirit and culture of the gym that they make time for and tolerate the likes of me, a rank amateur.  I've been blown away by the time that these guys will take to help those of us who are less experienced and with the encouragement,  coaching and tips they're happy to provide. Especially as it has to sit alongside their own training.

Hopefully I'll be able to find the time over the next couple of weeks to get some updates on here outlining some of my preparation.  Until then, Godspeed.