since the holidays are finally over, and everyone’s back, it’s time to get back to the gym. Usually i wouldn’t make a big deal about this, but since i haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks(>_<) it’s a pretty big fucking deal. I also go to start to break in some new toys.

So i woke up this morning feeling like a fucking champ. By a “Fucking Champ” i mean i woke up as soon as my alarm went off at 5, and i didn’t groan or complain too much. Since i didn’t know if my gym buddy was going to actually make it today, i didn’t have my gym bag completely packed, so i finished it and rushed out of the house as usually. I took my preworkout(jack3d) and packed some monster milk for part of my “breakfast” at work.

This year Santa was awesome, and as you see below, gave me a set of thai pads! YAY!

Along with my new set of mexican hand wraps(thanks Amazon) and my good ol’ gloves, i prepared for a greatgym workout. Since i’ve been a lazy fuck since my gym buddy left town, i decided to start with chests today, and do legs tomorrow with arms on friday. On monday i’ll go back to my regular schedule, which i won’t repost again. Since i took 2 weeks off, as i expected, i got weaker again so i wasn’t benching as much as i was before. When i was doing incline barbell presses, i ended my set with 50′s in each hand, but that’s still lighter that i was doing a few weeks ago. Usually i’d get down about something like that, but my weight has stayed at 229 since i stopped working out which means i wasn’t eating quite shitty enough to cause myself to gain weight. This also makes me think that if i keep working out, i’ll lose weight quicker now. Don’t ask me why i think that, i just do.

Pad work was a bit of a trial for me. My gym partner hasn’t held pads for people before, so i had to teach him the number progression

1. Jab
2. Jab, Cross
3. Jab, Cross, Hook
4. Jab, Cross, Hook, Cross
5. Jab, Cross, Hook, Cross, Uppercut
6. Jab, Cross, Hook, Cross, Uppercut, Cross


pretty simple, but if you’ve never done it before, holding pads for it can be a bit of a pain. It was a learning experience for us both since i was able to slow down and focus on good footwork and a full body rotation on my punches. I think for him it was a learning experience because he got to see that…..i can hit and kick pretty hard if i put my mind to it.

i forgot my phone in my locker, so i didn’t have a timer, but i just took my rests when my Partner’s(that sounds so not heterosexual lol) arms got tired. This also helped me with my kicks, since years upon years of karate have ingrained in me some not so good habits, i was able to take inventory of them.

After a few rounds, i left for the shower, but after the shower i felt absolutely amazing. Even a taste of MMA training is exhilerating, even if it’s just pad work. I’m thinking about telling my training partner to pick up at least some hand wraps so that he can get a feel for what hitting the pads feels like.

• Work on keeping my stance when moving forward, and not walking
• Making sure to come back to my stance when preparing to attack
• keeping my punches ON THE BODY so i’m not punching people in the face, even if it’s on accident
• Watching my head, and making sure it’s where it’s supposed to be(…so i don’t head butt anyone)
• Work on my bobbing and weaving a bit so I can use any time i’m being punched as an opportunity to counter punch

It’s a pretty big list but to be honest, I know I can do it. For now, i’m going to get as much gym time in as possible so that i’m better by the time I get back to AZ, once i get there, i’ll have the fun adventure of finding a gym that doesn’t blow.

Today was a fun day both BJJ and kick Boxing wise. In BJJ we were reviewing D’arce Chokes again, which is always fun. Luckily I managed not to practice with anyone who likes to tweak necks. Hurray! After that we worked on the Anaconda choke which was loads of fun. The thing I like about it most is the twist you do to sink it in. The only problem i had the first few times i did it was making sure the choke was sunk in deep enough and leaving tight while spinning. I went to class expecting fun times and as always Coach Chris didn’t disappoint. He said most likely, i’ll be able to start rolling again next Monday, since the classes are smaller but we’ll see.

Kick Boxing was a whole ‘nother story. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Kick boxing circuit class, or so it seems. I went in expecting a usual class, I’d be a bit tired and burn some calories, but it would be nothing special. I always love being proven wrong. I did my usual stations, getting a bit gassed midway though class but i recovered pretty well shortly after. After the usual stations, i expected to do 30/30′s for the rest of the class since it’s what i’m used to doing. It turns out today is body work day. I’ve never done body work before, but it’s basically it’s sparring sans kicking or head shots. Now I’ve sparred for years and years, but under slightly different rules, none of them being boxing rules. Suffice it to say, I didn’t do well. Saying I didn’t do well is an understatement, I did horribly and i was so exhausted that I thought I was going to puke, Which has only happened once before while working out. TO be honest, it’s been good to let me know where I am and how much work I need. It’s one of the biggest reasons I’ve been looking for a good gym where I’ll be in AZ, I’m going to have to keep up the good momentum else i’ll crap out.

The second problem the doctor said I have was my 0-60 change in my diet. He said the reason I have been floundering a bit during classes and feeling gassed earlier than i should is because i went from eating a high calorie diet full of crap, to a super healthy low cal diet. Apparently a slow, sane transition is the way to go? So while I have my new diet in mind, I’m not dropping down to this stupidly low diet quiet yet unless I’m able continue training with no energy. To be honest, i’m probably going to continue with this new diet until at least after april 24th, after that i’ll see where I am and I’ll tone down my calories from there.

Pictures of the new tattoo i’m getting on friday or saturday should be up….after I get them/it.  Info on what’s going on with Kickboxing later and how my coach is leaning BJJ/Judo wise