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Times they are a-changin’
13 Jan 2010 6:07PM
Ok, first off here’s an apology for leaving it so long between blogs. But in all honesty there hasn’t been a huge amount to report on the MMA front... well... that said I suppose there is. I should have perhaps put I haven’t done much MMA since my last blog. Work has continued to eat into the time I had to train and I was finding it difficult to even make it to the 3 weekly team sessions, let alone my 2 conditioning classes. Any additional fight prep would’ve been nigh on impossible without quitting my job, exhausting myself or finding another 4 hours in each day.
Consequently I took the decision to wait till the New Year before taking any fights then see where I was at time wise. Unfortunately two things have happened since. Firstly the time I need to commit to work has if anything increased and secondly I injured my lower back/left hip quite badly and at the time of writing have only just started training any where near properly for the first time since the end of November. Weighing all these factors up I’ve had to take the decision to knock the fighting on the head. With little time to spare in my week and my concern that my sporting interest was becoming a chore I told Pep that while I will continue to train as often as possible my days of actually hearing the cage door lock from inside are over.
I’m disappointed as I’ve always maintained that the fight justifies the training, but I also have to be realistic and accept that without the time spare and with a body that is taking longer and longer to recover from its reoccurring injuries I’d be flogging a dead horse, so to speak. I’ve been offered some very attractive fights since the summer (even a title fight – if all but tentatively and as a late replacement!) but realised that there would really only be 3 reasons for me taking a fight these days.
1. Ego.
2. Money.
3. For the sake of Pep, Matt and the rest of the team.
None of the above was ever a reason for fighting in the first place and I have set out to do what I wanted in MMA. Having my first fight just before my 33rd birthday I was always going to have small window of opportunity to actually fight. I’d love to have had many more fights to my record and had always set myself a target of a minimum of 10, but some things are not to be. I certainly don’t want to end up a home town version of Ken Shamrock, ignoring pleas for me to retire gracefully. Six fights is less than I wanted, but probably more than I’d have hoped for.
Now I’m looking forward to getting one of our new, young guys fit and prepared to fight. If only I’d found this sport at 21 eh? But then again I’ve always maintained that my age and experience helped me around some of my lack of skill and knowledge. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Grindhouse Fight Team continues to grow in size at our new home
'Fighting Fit Martial Arts'. We have fighters competing at all levels
and cater for all abilities. If you're in the Burton/Derby area and
want to look us up/train with us check out the team's site at www.burtonmma.co.uk/ and the Fighting Fit's site (under construction) at www.fightingfitmartialartscentre.co.uk
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