Hi. It’s great to catch up with everyone once again. It’s been a long time and I shouldn’t have left you. So how are things with you? things are good with me and always I’m zooming forward relentlessly into all my challenges, never really pausing, and doing my best to be a force for good.

I realised yesterday that I need to spend a bit more time giving myself John time and allowing myself time to not only continue to grow but to heal from the loss of my dad. I’ve coped as well as I have by keeping busy and with personal fights for justice as well as supporting others on the sharp end of abuse of power taking up quite a lot of my free time at present spending some quality time at the gym is more welcome than ever.

To be honest, I need to be training more and I’m looking forward to picking things up again properly from Monday onwards. I’ve also decided to have a well-deserved alcohol break. It’s really easy to spend a lot of time at the pub during the summer but I think I’ve forgotten I can do that without drinking alcohol, and besides, there’s more to summer than pubs and nightclubs.

Next month I’m expecting Avon and Somerset Police to do what they should have done last month which is admit liability to a DPA 2018 breach and pay me well-deserved compensation money. They are probably the most corrupt and morally bankrupt police force I know of other than the Met but they aren’t invincible. As I keep reminding myself justice will come and as always I remain utterly unshakeable. When fighting for truth and justice the rule of thumb is never ever give up. The same rule applies to helping others do the same.

I’m not sure at present if I have enough capacity to consider competing again this summer but as my trainer Dave said to me the other week, never say never. He also said I need to improve a lot of things including flexibility (my nickname is bendy McGee so I really don’t know what his problem is) and generally just improve what I do because he won’t put me in the firing line again unless he feels that I’m ready for it and that I’m likely to win.

A couple of years ago I would have taken this sort of conversation very personally but these days I know it’s better to be realistic and set my goals and work towards them than jump into it again all guns blazing having really learned nothing from the time before and besides if he wasn’t a good trainer he wouldn’t have had that sort of conversation with me which being honest wasn’t anywhere near as melodramatic and serious as it seems writing about it.

I’d like to compete again and at least win a couple more fights but also I know that I’ll be training for many years yet and fighting is just a small part of the journey I’m on. For some people, it’s where it begins and ends but if you are a hard-nosed Muay Thai stalwart who at best is like me just above average in ability tough as old boots, and determined to zoom forward relentlessly regardless of the opinion of bullfight critics and most importantly you love what you do and are just utterly determined to get really good at it, you’ll know that what we’re doing out here is learning a very deep and rich martial art system. It’s a lifelong journey. If you have a good background in Thai you’ll go a long way.

I’ve been training out of my current gym for over 5 years now and it’s good to be training at a camp that pushes you to be your best and sets its standards high. Most importantly it’s great to be training with people who really do care about what’s going on in your world and are very supportive when you need them to be. That means a lot to me so as always thanks so much for checking in from time to time.

Despite it being Thursday I already have that Friday afternoon end-of-the-week thing going on but as work, is pleasingly incredibly busy I guess for now that’s all she wrote. Seriously, though I need to get back to it. There’s never enough time in the day, but I promise to remember to make more time for myself. Tonight I’m in Weston Super-mare with the formidable Bristol Copwatch presenting a workshop and talk on the cops and stop and search for the Racial Equality Network at a nice space called The Other Place. If you’ve never caught me getting stuck into the man you truly are missing out so try and get yourself along!

As we were talking about bullfight critics a moment ago I thought I’d leave you with this incredible little poem that inspired me way back when, when I lost all my fights bar a few.

“Bullfight critics ranked in rows Crowd the enormous Plaza full, But he’s the only one who knows— And he’s the man who fights the bull.” Domingo Ortega

I guess it’s for everyone who zooms relentlessly into everything life throws at them. Train hard and just like the last time… I’ll see you on that road.