I didn’t think I was going to find the time and sit down and write this week as like always I’ve had many plates to spin. After an easier week at the gym last week It’s been good to get back to training as usual, I’m rounding the week off this evening with a session as usual at my main camp.

I’m fighting in a month at my gym’s next show and I have a feeling it’s going to be a good one. Last time I said that to myself it didn’t go the way I wanted so I’d rather be cautiously optimistic rather than look at the fight through rose tinted spectacles. I’ve been in there a few times now and I hit the 9 year mark with training this month (high five ) so I think in the grand scheme of things that kind of helps.

So if this week has been about getting back into the swing of things, I think next week is really going to be about stepping things up a little. A month always seems to pass faster than expected so it’s essential for me to make sure I’m at the gym as much as possible. I think I’m saying that more to myself than to you because last week was a lot lighter on the ground than it should of been.

Repetition is the one thing with training (especially with fight training) that can grind me down a little some days, and I was pleased earlier on in the week that one of my trainers reminded everyone its important to keep your training varied. Although fight training is more of a focus on drilling and improving (more so than normal ) it’s just as important to choose what it is your going to work on.

I think like with most people, some days I find myself going through the motions, and being honest even though the motions in themselves are  better than they used to be I’m going to make sure I have a clear focus on what I want to work on before I get to training. In a lot of respects this is why I enjoy a bit of bag work now and again because it gives me the time I want to improve what I feel I need to.

In the same respect it’s important for me to keep my focus on fighting and I’ve been working on my speed on our resident heavy bag seemingly forever and day. I’m noticing it paying off sparring and I want to make sure I’m sharp for my fight next month. I also know what works but I also know there’s a couple of things I’ve started getting better at doing too that I want to build on over the next few weeks.

I always make sure with fighting  I know what I want to use and that I have a rough idea of a game plan for the fight that lies ahead. I’ve learnt on more than one occasion that a large element of that game plan should be the ability to adapt because 99.9% of the time a game plan never usually goes the way you thought it would.

I think it’s practically impossible to anticipate every little thing that may occur in a fight but you can learn by your mistakes, take the fight back to the gym and come up with a good counter strategy. In my last fight I fell victim to the good old fashioned panicked rush of punches, and although I came back strong I’ve been thinking of ways to deal with that.

Over complicating things isn’t the way to do things but falling back on clinching and kneeing to close them down seems to work. So that’s good. I like that. I’ll keep working on that then. Keep it simple but also make sure it hurts. And you all know how I feel about knees. 🙂 I need to write another knee blog at some point. In fact I need to make sure I get a lot more writing in my life full stop.

So as always I’m looking forward to getting back into the thick of things and I’m sure tonight’s session as always is going to be a good push. It wasn’t easy getting my fighting back on this week but after a brief despondent moment mid week, I remembered that really when it comes down to it other than bringing out the best in you, it’s a lot of fun. Have a good weekend, train hard and I’ll see you on the road.