We’ve made the move at long last. Out of the squash court and into a proper gym. It’s great, no sliding mats, no bruised knees, elbows and foreheads from concrete walls and wooden floors and more importantly more mat space (with even more to come!). We left our old home of Meadowside Leisure Centre about 3 or 4 weeks ago and moved into the as yet incomplete, yet infinitely more comfortable, surrounds of Fighting Fit Mixed Martial Arts gym, Rosliston Road, Burton on Trent. The owner, Corrie Shorthose (corrieshorthose@btinternet.com) let us move in for our 3 x weekly MMA classes before he’d finished decorating and has been very keen and enthusiastic to get the sessions off to a good start. He’d put word about and we have had very good numbers in the first few weeks with a number of good guys who look promising, numbers increased dramatically as you can see in the pictures. Corrie has a very good attitude to running a gym in my opinion. He clearly has opened the gym as a business, but primarily he has done so through his love of martial arts and combat sports. That love can’t be replicated by someone with a big wallet and I’m sure the Fighting Fit MMA will be successful for many years to come.
One advantage of having a facility like this at our disposal is quality surroundings for fight preparation. It was very useful in the final few sessions in preparing Ian Richards for his semi pro debut against Bushido Academy’s Ricky Gammon. Ian had prepared really well for the fight and I really put him through the mill in terms of fight conditioning. Pep made sure his game plan was sound and well drilled and we beat him up regularly with the horror show that is ‘man in the middle’. Ian’s stock certainly rose for me in the 4 weeks leading up to his fight. Great attitude, great mental strength and a great guy. As for the fight, despite losing by KO early in the first round Pep and I were really pleased with Ian. He fought a very able, talented and well prepared fighter in Ricky. Note the name as if Brent Crawley is to be believed he will go on to bigger and better things... I’m inclined to take Brent on his word. So good luck in the future Ricky, having the Bushido/Rough house guys behind you is a huge benefit. Ian remains undeterred and was back at training on the Monday after the fight... you can’t keep a good man down!
I’ve missed a lot of training over the last 3 weeks thanks to Matt kneeing me in the nose. It didn’t break, but it cracked and the piece of sweetcorn you can see in the photo (below) isn’t sweetcorn... its part of my nose which fell out after Matt kneed me. Whether or not it is cartilage I don’t know, I do know though, that I can now breathe a little better. Since I fought Joey van Wanrooij in March I’ve struggled to breathe through my right nostril. So in a perverse way I’d like to thank Matt for his corrective surgery. Now I just need him to knee me in the lower back, left hip, right foot and right shoulder.
As I haven’t been training properly I’ve kept my fitness up by joining in the conditioning classes I’ve started at Fighting Fit. On Friday nights from 6pm till 7pm and again on Saturday morning from 10am till 11am I am running ‘Advanced Fighter Fitness’ sessions. The aim is for the classes to not be for keep fit enthusiasts as such, but for people who want to experience what fight conditioning is all about. All the exercises are designed either as MMA specific movements or to replicate the feeling of a fast paced MMA fight. The sessions include 5 X 5 minute rounds of high intensity intervals using the minimum of equipment. If you want to be a fighter and fancy your chances I’d recommend trying to get through all 5 rounds as a benchmark for your conditioning! Anyone is welcome, but there is a rule that if you start a round – you MUST finish it... that and you clear up your own sick. If you’re interested in the MMA classes or my conditioning sessions contact Corrie via email or ring him on 01283 564499 for details. David George is also offering Gi Jiu Jitsu classes on Wednesdays between 6pm and 7pm.
