Monday, November 25, 2013

I DO hit like a girl...Thanks!

Since my training has been amped up to the point of my muscles literally giving out, I've been looking for things to motivate me to rise to the challenge. Watching youtube videos of old fights has done the trick, but doing this has also made me more aware of how some people view female fighters. In the comment box of any given video, there are at least two or three derogatory comments about women fighting. Some men seem to think that, even with no training, they themselves can beat a professional female fighter. Other guys only focus on the attractiveness (or unattractiveness) of the women. They seem to believe that the women are fighting as some kind of beauty contest.

There are several reasons that these comments frustrate me, not even factoring in the fact that these are just sexist comments. First of all, every female fighter trains with guys. Sure, they may have some female sparring partners. But at least part of their training is done with guys. My main sparring partner is a guy 40 pounds heavier than me. When rolling (it's like sparring for jiu jitsu; you try to submit the opponent but it's done for training purposes), I usually go against guys bigger and stronger than myself. The training is never one sided; we all hold our own. You can not tell me that a guy with no experience can dodge a kick to the head, or successfully avoid getting arm-barred from a woman who is capable of doing the same on a trained male fighter.

Another reason for my outrage is the fact that female fights are exciting. Anyone who has ever seen a female MMA fight will have noticed that the pace is much faster than most male fights. There is a lot less waiting around, and as soon as they touch gloves the fighters usually get right to striking. The women are just as brutal and relentless as the men when it comes to unleashing on the opponent; I've seen some vicious elbows rain down on a fighter, and I've also seen a woman make it all three rounds despite some serious injuries.

Woman's MMA has been growing in popularity over the years. Even Dana White admitted that his prior comments about women having no place in the UFC were wrong, and now the UFC female fight cards draw in more viewers than some of the male fight cards. It's time that those narrow-minded guys out there stop focusing on two specific assets of the fighters (and I'm not talking about the 1-2 punch!), and start focusing on the skill of the fighters.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Tougher Than Nails


For those of you curious about MMA, check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y1sEVxwg5I. It's a little long, but it's a really interesting video on the mechanics of the sport. The video really drives home the fact that these athletes must be like finely tuned machines to get the conditioning and strength needed to be a good fighter. Ironically, the physical intensity of the sport makes it mostly about mental toughness. An example from one of my crazy morning sessions this week:

It was the last minute of a 5 minute sparring session- the second and last round. Sparring is extremely exhausting; I can't even think of another physical activity to compare it to. Your muscles are tense the whole time, it's very difficult to control your breathing, and your mind is racing trying to remember everything you've learned while your heart is racing trying to keep up with your mind. I had already been training hard for about two hours, and I was running out of gas. My body was starting to tingle and my eyes couldn't focus on anything, but my sparring partner kept throwing punches. In any other situation, I would have thought I had nothing left to give and would have just stopped. Yet, when someone is attacking you (whether it be maliciously or for training purposes) you can dig deep and keep going. It took everything I had to keep my hands up, and everything I didn't know I had to counter back with a few knees and punches. Granted, I use those terms loosely; I was so tired that they probably felt more like love taps. Just the fact that I didn't collapse surprised me. I can honestly say that I did not know I had that last minute left in me. After the buzzer sounded, I took a minute to recover. Once the feeling of imminent death passed, I felt great. I felt empowered knowing that I pushed myself as far as I could go, and that next time I will push myself just a little further. Being an MMA fighter is being able to dig deeper than most people are willing to dig. It's being so mentally tough that your mind forces your body to work when everything else is telling it to shut down. There's something incredible and almost profound about harnessing this power of your body.
From the start of this week, I've focused a great deal on skills. I finally realized that working on too many things at once makes you crazy. I started out my by picking two skills and focused on mastering those skills in every drill. It's all about muscle memory, so drilling the same thing over and over again is the key to success. This week, my archenemy was a little yellow ball. It's a small speed ball that helps you learn how to move your head when punches are coming at you. Using it looks easy, but I can't keep track of how many times it clipped me in the cheek or I hit the ball at the wrong angle and lost the rhythm. I've spent countless minutes (surely adding up to hours) trying to beat the ball, and I still have a long way to go before I make it look good. That said, I have noticed an improvement on how I evade punches. Maybe, just maybe one day, that little yellow ball will be my friend.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Ask and ye shall receive


I took yesterday off from training...Sunday is usually my day off and by Sunday night I feel energized and ready to get back in the gym. In my eagerness to get back in the gym, I texted my trainer and asked to amp up my training. After two killer workouts, I'm starting to think that I might be missing a few brain cells to ask for such a thing! I always used to make fun of people who made sound effects while they lifted weights, but this morning I was pushing myself so hard that I had no choice but to grunt as I pushed through my last few exercises. Extra motivation came when I was doing bag work and I managed to completely break the bag in half. It was already slightly split, but months of taking a beating from my shins and knees (others contributed, but it was my favorite bag!) left it vulnerable. Everything was caught on video and watching it boosted my confidence; I hit the bag a lot harder than I thought!

Tired as I was, it did feel good to push myself so hard and I had enough energy left to make it to training in the evening. Monday night's class is always a pretty tough strength and conditioning workout. We had a good turnout, and being in good company helped me push through the misery. I even managed to stay after the class and get through 18 minutes of sparring. My conditioning has definitely improved a great deal over the past few months and I feel more than ready for a fight! Although I don't have a date for one yet, my trainer is working hard to get me one and I have a feeling the time is coming soon. This is going to be a tough week of training, but the thought of getting in the ring is keeping my screaming muscles from giving out on me.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Back on Track


Training this morning was intense. I was a little sore from doing my own workouts yesterday; my energy level has been high this week because all I want to do is fight! The workout this morning was only an hour and a half, but an hour into it my legs felt like jelly. I made the mistake of commenting on this, and my trainer created a circuit for the last 30 minutes that included lunges, squats, and high intensity bag work. The last round of bag work took every last ounce of energy that I had- I was grunting with every punch and kick that I threw. The guy training with me was just as winded. The both of us didn't even have the energy to properly stretch after!

As tired as I was, I left the gym feeling incredibly strong. It's giving me the motivation to slowly start back on my diet. Last week I went off my diet, and I ate way too much! As much as I want to stay within 5 pounds of my fighting weight (around 140), it's really hard to do when I don't have a concrete date for a fight. And even though it might sound like a lot, 145 is a hard weight to stay at. I've always been bulky and now I'm more muscular than ever, so I have to stick to a strict diet of low carbs and no sweets. I eat a lot of fruit, salads, and protein shakes. It's not as bad as it sounds, but once I'm off my diet getting back on it takes tremendous will-power. I think about it too much; when I think about how many calories I expend by working out twice a day, my brain tells me that I can eat anything I crave because I burn it off. Unfortunately it's not just about replacing calories. I've noticed that I am able to train twice as hard when I stick to a healthy low-calorie diet. Protein shakes keep me going- I've grown to love them! I make mine as thick as a frosty by using lots of ice, almond milk, chocolate protein powder, and two packets of stevia. It really is almost as good as ice cream, and I add things like flax seed or banana to change it up a little.

My night training session wasn't too hard, but my muscles were very tight from the morning workout. I went for a jog before working out and I'm pretty sure an old man on a rascal scooter whizzed by me. As slow as I was, it was enough to loosen me up enough to make it through a quick workout and to finish up with some light sparring. As I type this, I can feel the soreness setting in! Tomorrow morning is going to be one of those mornings where I groan loudly as I gingerly roll out of bed.

The first few months- abridged


I've been training hard for about three months now, and I've had two scheduled fights that were canceled. The first was canceled because they didn't have an opponent for me. One of the guys I had been training with was fighting that same night, so I went to the fight to support him. He ended up losing his fight, but being there was a great experience. Even though it was only an amateur fight, the atmosphere was charged. It really made me realize how much I needed to fight- I wanted to feel that energy and experience that moment when your body takes over and you don't think, you just do. From that night on, my training became much more intense. My trainer started a fighter training camp and dedicated most of his time getting me and a few other people fight-ready. The intensity of the training made me become even more addicted to the sport, and I felt the need to become an accomplished fighter burning inside me. By the time the week of my next scheduled fight rolled around, I felt 100% ready and confident. I was stronger than I had ever been. I'm usually a very humble person, but I was so proud of my defined abs and tone arms that I would catch myself flexing in the mirror and smiling!

About 5 days before the fight, I found out the even was postponed. I was crushed and furious, and having to tell everyone that they weren't going to see me fight yet made it even harder. It didn't help that I had been eating very little to try and get my weight down to 135. My diet was so strict that I had to resort to cutting down to half a granola bar before training, and half a scoop of protein powder for my last meal of the day. I had been monitoring my water intake and cut from 3 gallons of water a day to about 1 gallon. Try drinking 3 gallons of water a day. You end up feeling like a water balloon! Then you get used to it, and when you cut out the water your body is screaming at you to drink more. Needless to say, this torture to cut weight for essentially no reason made me furious.

A few days of taking my frustration out on the heavy bag helped ease my anger, and I was able to convince myself that I'll just be better, faster, and stronger for the next fight...whenever that may be. I still have no date set for my first fight, but it seems like I might have an opportunity to fight in November. The plan is to stay fight ready, all the while building up my skills. I've already made up my mind that I want to go pro. The purpose of this blog is to document that journey...to give some insight into what an aspiring fighter goes through mentally and physically.

The Beginning


I've always been the type of person with a million different interests. If I went to an art gallery, I would sign up for a painting class. If I met a pilot, I would read books about aviation. Whether it was due to lack of motivation or lack of talent, none of these interests ever went further than a brief investigation into the subject. With MMA, it was different. When I saw two people punching and kicking each other on tv, I had no desire to do it. I had always played basketball and had an interest in the more traditional sports...the ones that didn't seem to end with blood spattered across the playing field. It took a much deeper look into the sport for me to realize my passion for it.

A few years ago, I went to a local gym. I wanted to get back to some light weight lifting and tone up a bit more. The membership counselor spoke with me for a short time and suggested that I would be a great fit for their MMA camp. My height and build was ideal, and female fighters were in high demand. He suggested that I try out a class for free. Partly due to my curiosity and partly due to my excitement at the word “free”, I decided to take him up on the offer.

That night, I tried out a Muay Thai class. The instructor was a drill-sergeant like Thai fighter with legs thicker than tree trunks. Ignoring my lack of coordination, he pulled me aside and taught me the proper way to throw punches and round kicks. I joined in with the rest of the class, and although I felt awkward and uncertain, I had an incredible workout that left me eager to try another class. The workout had managed to work my legs, core, and arms more than anything I had done before, and it only took 45 minutes. For the next few months, I trained hard and tried to master the basics. My trainer pushed me to the max- my shins were bruised from kicking the heavy bag, my knees were bruised from learning the clench, and my ego was bruised from watching how good everyone else was.

As much as I enjoyed training, I made the difficult decision to put my life on hold and travel overseas. I spent two years living overseas, and every time I found myself somewhat stationary, I would find a Muay Thai gym and train when I could. It wasn't until I returned to the US and decided to settle down that my journey into the world of fighting truly began.