Well I guess that’s a wrap for training this year.. You know it’s good to have finished off on a positive note and I’m already looking forward to next year. The past few weeks I’ve kept training at a consistent level, but I guess as we get closer to Christmas and new year everyone starts to slow down a little, and the prospect of staying in rather than braving the elements to get to the gym sometimes gets the better of us all.

However, its clear to me and I guess it the same with anything you enjoy doing, that the more you put into something the more you will get out of it. The past couple of weeks training has been good, with some full on sessions and some lighter technical work in technique and sparring. No matter how much I listen to my post work pre training winge on those rainy December days we’ve had of late, as soon as I’m at the gym I’m happy to be there and like everyone else enjoy training hard.

And in fact it’s already got me thinking about the year ahead. I’ve decided (in fact I kind of made this decision a few weeks ago) to start pushing myself even more with Thai than I have done previously. Again, the logic of putting in more work to get better results applies. It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing how far I can get and I guess as long as I do my best I can’t go wrong. Talking to someone after training recently about fighting kind of put this into perspective for me. It doesn’t necessarily need to have any kind of cut off point in place. As long it’s something you enjoy doing then you just keep going. And I know and I guess you do by now, that I’ll be training when I’m 60.

Recently, one of my trainers said to us that ‘the definition of insanity  is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’ (as the famous saying goes) so although I’m going to turn it up a notch next year, I guess its time to start to think about how I can start to build on what I know . Am I saying I am going to be a different fighter this time next year? Well, I guess only time will tell but I’m certainly going to try to be a better one. What I love about training at my current gyms (I have 2 these days) is that I’m training with new people all the time and I’m meeting new fighters on a weekly basis. Therefore, I’m always learning and although sometimes I find myself temped to stay in the land of comfort and familiarity, it means I can always spar with people that I know will push me and as I’ve mentioned before when your out your comfort zone you can’t help but get better.

I’m also beginning to think a lot more about ways to develop mindset and focus, and just recently have started to try mindfulness meditations. There was a great blog I read a while ago on mindfulness and Muay Thai, you can find it at http://heatrick.com/2013/02/25/mindfulness-muay-thai-flow-state-mental-training/. It’s something I’ve only just started to explore and will share how it’s helping at a later stage.

So what does next year hold fighting and training wise? I think the best way to sum it up, is that I see 2014 as being a year of potential. I’ve got some solid achievements behind me and its shown me that anything is possible if i put my mind to it and of course believe in myself. I think really when it comes to martial arts as a whole, the journey often outweighs the destination. For now, I’m looking forward to a nice Christmas and a good new year and ok I’ll admit it…that killer first week back at the gym too.

I hope your year of training has been a good one, and that your still going to be in it in 2014. And just like last  time, I’lll see you on the road. 🙂