Another week passes, and another week of training draws to a close. You know, I like Sundays. It’s the one day of the week I take stock of everything that has happened training and otherwise in the busy world that is my life. And this week, training as always has been good. In fact, ever since my last fight its been getting better and better, the reason is because I know that anything is possible when you set your intent.

In 2009 I set myself some goals with Muay Thai. I did the best thing you can possibly do when you want to achieve anything, be it martial arts or otherwise. I wrote them down. What is really is exciting is the fact that I’ve exceeded my own expectations and achieved a lot of my goals within a shorter time scale that I ever thought I would.What’s even more exciting is that already there’s a whole new load of stuff I’ve got my sights on.

When it comes to fighting, intention and a positive mental attitude is crucial to training and success on the day. One of my trainers often says that if your fighting it’s your job to win. And he’s right. It is. To say I’ve always managed to maintain a positive mindset and never let my nerves get the better of me would not be honest of me. Nerves are always something that are present when it comes to combat, but like I was told once ‘turn fear into fire’ and you can’t help but succeed.

In my last fight, although the adrenaline was pumping I was very relaxed inside. I knew what I had to do to win, and I did it. (Clinching and knees saw me through.) I had visualized winning the fight weeks before, in my head I had walked up to the ring again and again. When running I would imagine going through the rounds, and when sprinting (you’ve got to love sprints) I was on the attack. Of course, training hard for a fight is equally if not more important, but focusing and setting your intention on succeeding is something that I’ve found has resulted in success, and like with my physical training it is something I intend to develop and improve.

I’m back in the ring in at the beginning of next year, and I’m still at the gym every week without fail. What started as a hobby has become a vocation and I’ve learnt over the years I’ve been training that Muay Thai becomes a way of life. Win or lose, I love the combat and as I’ve said before its something I am going to be doing for many many years to come. 2014 is going to be a year full of potential and If all goes well, I’ll finally get myself out to Thailand for a couple of months too. (I’ve talked about it far too much so it’s time to do it.)

In the meantime, I’ve got the last month of training ahead before Christmas and I’m going to make the most of it. Those new goals I talked about earlier? I’m going to write them down in a minute, because I know that if I persist then I will succeed. I hope the rest of the years brings success in everything you do, and just like the last time..I’ll see you on the road.