Evening all. Like the bus that finds itself arriving on time because the previous driver got sacked for general tardiness, my blog’s arrived back in it’s usual Sunday spot. Well that’s nice. 🙂 This week unlike last week has been full of martial goodness. That’s awesome.

Despite not running as much as I’d like this week I think I’m going to get it back on track next week onwards. I keep reminding myself that if you don’t run you don’t fight. It’s important to adopt the right attitude with everything I do. But, training this week has been good.. 4 sessions beats two hands down  and it’s already looking like it’s panning out the same next week too. That can only ever be a good thing.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about whether or not I really have the commitment to get myself up to a decent level for fighting again and as with all things Thai a lot of it comes down to heart.

You need to be prepared to firstly put in the work and most importantly not give up no matter how tough things get. If you can’t commit to the training then you’ve as good as lost. So instead of making excuses I’ve decided to put my heart into boxing again as well as everything else. Just recently I spent some time reading Don Heatrick’s excellent Muay Thai strength and conditioning blog.

What was quite inspiring for me was reading that after a 2 year fighting break and at the age of 40 Don became a British champion. When you read about people like Don making one hell of a comeback in one of the toughest martial arts on the face of the planet you can’t help but wonder what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. Another great fighter and someone who got back in the ring after some time out is Pete Irving. Not only did he get back in the ring, he got back in the ring in Thailand and won.

Both of those situations are for me, affirmation that I can achieve what I’ve been aiming for, for  well over a year now and I understand that if I can get back in the ring and fight  then I can get back in the ring and win. I don’t want to be the greatest I just want to be the best I can possibly be. Like my old trainer Sert used to say me in fight training “there’s still something left in the tank.” Yes it can be done.

So when I look at next week onwards I know the road ahead is going to be tough, I know there’s going to be put downs, critics, procrastination galore and weeks when I feel like outright giving up and heading down the boozer but what I want absolutely outweighs all of that. I’ve made sure I’ve spent a bit of time sparring in the ring again recently and at one point it was just me and that space.  I still absolutely feel at home. There’s a fighter that’s rising up again after all this time away and he’s grinning. Have a good week and be the best you can be. I’ll see you on that road.