Morning all. I’m running slightly later than I planned with my blog but here we are again and always, it’s nice to see you. Last week as is the now the norm was packed full of martial goodness. In fact it’s become the norm again for me to train 4 times a week so this week I’ve decided to turn things up a little more and see if I can train 5.

I’m meant to be fighting again in a month and I’ll know for certain this week. I’m really hoping everything comes together as it should. It does mean pushing my planned holiday this summer back a little if needs be  but hey. I can cope with that and if for whatever reason things don’t come together as they should then warmer climates for 10 days or so ahead this month too. Either way it’s a winner.

Speaking of winning I’ve been thinking about that a lot of late. Yesterday, I mentioned the fact I should be fighting next month to a good friend of mine who watched my last fight. He asked me if I was going to be more aggressive next time round and I immediately said yes. You see, it’s been on my mind a lot of late. I need to work on my Thai boxing “grr” again.

now that’s a grr. 

When I put my mind to it, (or maybe I don’t) I can be quite single minded in the way I fight. I’m determined and I keep the pressure on. Last time round that only really happened towards the end and it felt like I spent the beginning finding my feet again. Afterwards, I said I felt a little shell shocked. That’s the difference between sparring, interclubs and competing for real. It’s brutal and you have to put a different head on in there.

I think I absolutely stepped in the ring with that head in place but I’d forgotten how tough it is in there. I was nervous just before but I felt calm and happy to be doing what I was doing. I put that down to experience. The shell shocked feeling I don’t think will return. I put that down to ring rust.

The one thing I love about Muay Thai is how respectful and generally friendly most people are to each other. We all know that it’s a tough style of fighting regardless of the level you box at. Enemies in the ring are usually friends afterwards. That to me is what martial arts should be about when it comes to any form of competition.

I’m going to spend the next month or so working on my fire and aggression as well as everything else. There’s a big difference between anger and responding with venom. I’ve seen a few angry and frustrated fighters lose fights. When you keep the pressure on but do absolutely everything with intent that can be a different story.

That happened in my amateur title fight in 2013. I learnt how to flick my “on” switch and took my opponent to pieces. Despite having coming a long way since way back when, I’d like to get back to that mentality in the ring.   Sparring partners may get to know me over time but it’s the best place to practice my Mr nasty.

I’m hoping the next month is all about fight training for September so I intend to step in the gym later today with my fighting head on. My fitness is good and I’m keeping my running up. Despite having to work around some sore bruising in my left shin (no injuries he said. ) I’m confident that I’ll head straight into the next one with the right mentality, better technique and the will to win. I thought I’d leave you this week with some classic Muay Thai venom from Rungravee and Seeoi

I love watching fights like this and I think there’s always something to take away from them. In the meantime, and as always have a great week, train hard and I’ll see you on the road.