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The game is up
29 May 2010 8:49PM
It is with great regret that I am signing my Hit Pit diary off for good. The problems I have been having with my back are such that it appears that for at least a year I will be unable to do anything like proper training. The physio has said that such problems as I have can take “up to 4 years to correct”. I’m hoping it won’t be that long.
Effectively the problem lies in my lower back. The connective tissues around the spine are locked up and very stiff and sore. It doesn’t prevent me from doing anything as such but when I exercise too hard it tightens up even more and aggravates my hip and sciatic nerve. I need to slowly but surely increase the flexibility and range of movement to have any hope of rolling or wrestling at anything above 50%.
I commented to Pep the other week that if I continued to train now I may have another 3 years before having no choice in stopping. The alternative is to stop training MMA and be able to run for 15 to 20 years. It’s an easy choice with that perspective. Hopefully in a year or so I can reassess and maybe sneak a few sessions in here and there.
This doesn’t mean all MMA is out of the window of course. If I warm up thoroughly I can manage 45 minutes or so of quite hard sparring. What I can’t manage is a 2 hour class of stop-start drills where I’m only half warm. It’s an all or nothing situation. Within that 45 minutes I can manage the movements can’t be too repetitive... so lying on my back drilling or bending at the waist practising single leg takedowns are non starters. In sparring through the range of positions (standing, clinch, guard or in-guard) I can avoid the ones that bother my back and hip, or just tap and start again in a comfortable position.
What it does mean however is I will have very little to report on that would be of any interest at all. I mean, I’m not fighting, the BJJ went out the window and now I’m not in a position to do either even if I wanted to. I may still have some involvement with coaching, cornering or as a sparring partner. But that’ll be so infrequent I reckon my slot is better filled by someone with something to say.
MMA Hit Pit and Del Hillian have been very kind and helpful to me and I appreciate also the help Naitiro Fighting Co gave me. I’d like to be able to say the same of Mu-Sa fight wear, but unfortunately despite arranging a sponsorship over a year ago now it has borne little fruit for either party. That said I wish Charlie all the best with his business and his gym.
Thank you too for those of you who have read my posts and provided feedback, both positive and negative. Also thanks to those who gave me opportunities to fight on their shows – Ian Dean, Paul James, Paul Daley and Ross Pointon.
But the biggest thank you must go to my training partners and coaches at Grindhouse MMA Fight Team (www.burtonmma.co.uk) Matt and Pep who have provided hours of coaching, management, patience and friendship. Also to David, Jon, Ian, Will, Anu, Jack and many others who cornered, drilled and in many other ways helped me prepare for my fights and gave up their training time to be sparring dummies for me.
It’s been emotional.
Editors' Note
I would personally like to thank Dave for taking the time out to write his blogs for us all to enjoy over the past few years. Dave is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and it is very sad that his fighting career has ended this way. It has been great to have him write for the website. He was the first ever blogger on here and I know his updates will be sadly missed. On behalf of MMA Hit Pit I would like to wish Dave all the best for the future and hope our paths cross again one day. Thanks Dave.
Del Hillan
MMA Hit Pit Editor
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