How was it for you? 2012 in review

Short of something original to write about I thought I'd jump aboard the bandwagon of looking back and reviewing the last year, obviously from the point of view of all things training and what I'm trying to achieve. I guess that this can be a useful practice although I've always been fond of the driving analogy – you need to look in the rear view mirror from time-to-time but it's best to keep your eyes on the road ahead. Anyway, with that said here's my review of the year....

The biggest step that I took in 2012 in terms of fighting before I'm forty was returning to Leicester Shootfighters. In the last year others at the gym have asked me at least half-a-dozen times how long I've been training – and no, not in a 'you're really good you must have been training for ages!' way either. This led me to think about how long – on and off – I have been training, coming to the conclusion that 2013 will be ten years since I first started training at LSF. It should go without saying that although I've followed the club around, from DeMontfort Uni to Western Road (if I remember rightly), Urban Martial Arts to Gannon's, I've had long stretches with no training at all. I don't think I attended more than one session between 2008 and 2012 which, in my experience, is easily long enough to forget most of what you've learnt.

Was I nervous about going back? A little is the short answer. Not because I was worried about being hurt or worried about the fighting aspect, more because I was concerned about not being able to keep up and embarrassing myself. One thing I did remember from previous training was that wrestling in particular is tough, and no matter how much you push yourself it's nothing compared to how hard a training partner(s) or coach can push you. True to form, first session back, the warm up was uncomfortable but it didn't put me off, and a session on side control that wasn't totally alien to me encouraged me and, something that can't be stressed enough, the atmosphere at LSF is always friendly which also encourages persistance in training.
Something else that's been really useful has been using a training notebook to record techniques and other aspects of training. The act of recording what I've learnt helps to cement things in my memory, plus I'm able to 'revise' later in order to remind myself or brush up on techniques.
In thinking about my development/improvement over the year I feel that I have managed to retain a lot of what I've been taught although a key element for me over the coming months is to start to spar more so that I can try/implement things that I've learnt.  If there's an area of my game in which I've 'got' less it's takedowns and this is something that I know I'm going to need to improve on (aside from everything else that needs improvement).
Returning to LSF has been the right decision for me and I believe the right decision in order to achieve my goal.

 Getting in to better condition was and is a key goal. This year I've put a lot more time in to conditioning than I have at any point in the past. I've never previously found conditioning to be particularly interesting and finding methods I enjoy or can at least tolerate has been key to getting more of this kind of work in.  I've done a lot of circuits this year changing them up and mixing in new exercises whenever things get stale.  The net's been a great source of ideas and I've also pulled a few things from the circuits that we've done at LSF.  I've kept up the sled dragging although to a lesser extent than previously, mainly due to the fact that the field I used to train in is now off limits.  I now drag the sled on a farm road generally combining a slow half-mile pull followed by 8 -10 sprints covering the same distance.   I've also added in some unloaded sprints.  I guess the thing I've learnt this year is that conditioning can be interesting and....Fun!

 

Thinking about the strength component of my training I was tempted to write it off a little due to the fact that I haven't made any gains in terms of my numbers on the the four main lifts. However, considering it further I took a more positive view - I have been way more consistent with my strength training than previously and I really feel that that 5/3/1 has been an excellent method of programming for me. There's very little (none?) wasted time in this programme and as I've written previously, having all my lifts set out in advance takes all the guesswork and the "I don't feel like squatting today" out of training. I'm pleased with my consistency and considering that strength isn't a primary or even secondary concern my progress is ok.