This week has resulted in time well spent at the gym, and despite finishing the week with a bad cold I’ve worked hard and feel that I’ve made up for last week being slightly thinner on the ground than I intended. A month always goes a lot quicker than anticipated and looking at the next few weeks ahead it seems that I’ve got a mountain to climb with both getting ready to fight and getting my weight down low enough to do so.

I’ve started to change my diet to  salads/tuna salads with an occasionally adventurous jacket potato and maybe some pasta if I really feel like living life on the edge. Joking aside I think eating properly and training hard will result in me achieving what I need to, but being honest it’s the first time I’ve had to drop to a weight class as low as this one. I’m fighting at 58 to 59 kg whereas I normally sit at around 61 to 62. I’ve asked myself if maybe I’m going to be too light but you don’t know how things are going to pan out unless you try them and the will to win hasn’t wavered at all. I’m also defending my area title for the first time and as I worked incredibly hard to get it, I don’t intend to lose it any time soon.

Training this week has been fairly tough and I’m sure over the next few weeks ahead it’s going to get a lot tougher. Really as we’re often told it’s down to ourselves to put in the effort at the gym and I guess really that also applies to any training we do outside the gym too. I’ve found my happy medium with running with a distance of just over four miles and a hill to boot as well, and I’ve found it’s a good compliment to training in the week. I’ve not started sprints just yet but as of next week they’ll be added into the mix.

When it comes down to fighting in itself I’ve noticed that I seem to be spending a lot of time when I’m sparring on the attack (it’s kind of the way I fight to be honest. I’ve been called a ‘forward fighter’ before) rather than waiting for the opportunity to attack. Fighting is very much about being first but I think I need to learn when it’s a good time to go in all guns blazing and when patience, being the virtue that it is yields the best results. Although, on the back of that there are points when you have to set your intent, grit your teeth and give it your all.

We’ve spent a fair bit of time focusing on footwork as well, which is of course the key to everything that we do. We’re often told changing an angle, through something as simple as stepping off or positioning yourself in the right place at the right time can open up a whole new set of attacks and opportunities to be exploited. I’m going to make a point of doing this more in sparring which is always easier said than done, but it beats get pushed back into the ropes when your in trouble. And usually when I stop thinking about it, the good stuff happens.

It was good on Tuesday to focus on the basics as I find it’s simple combinations that can be the most effective when I’m fighting, and usually they are the easiest to remember too. I usually work in sets of three or four  so always benefit from practising combinations that keep it simple. Although, it never hurts to up the ante and throw a little more into the mix to keep them on their toes. I’m going to spend more time focusing on combinations, and working on flowing from one attack to another, I find sometimes I can be a little hesitant and previously I’ve learnt the hard way that  ‘he who hesitates is lost. ‘

My fitness is most certainly headed in the right direction but being honest I’ve never really had a huge problem with that element of training. It’s an ongoing process and just requires turning up to training and working hard and committing to putting in some time outside the gym too. I’ve not run this weekend because of my cold and I’m missing it as you can probably tell. All in all at the moment things seem to be on track, and I still intend to start the year off on a good note. Do I feel nervous about the fight? well being honest, yeah. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be human and there’s a lot on the line for me.More importantly do I think I can tip the odds back in my favour? the answer to that really comes down to how much I believe in myself, and in that respect I think anything is possible when I put my mind to it.

So next week onwards it’s back to training hard, eating clean and making sure I make hill sprints my friend again. Although competing is a big commitment ultimately it’s always worth it when you put in the work, and when you do that.. well that’s where the magic happens. Have a good week, train hard and I’ll see you on that road.