Here's to technique…

Firstly, my apologies for not updating this blog more regularly. Things have been busy here at the gym and finding a spare half hour to sit down and write hasn’t been easy. I’m not complaining though, the work is fun and the training has been hard. If that means that my blog has to suffer then I’m happy enough with that.

I’m currently in a right funk, so if this comes across as cranky, then you’ll understand that I’ve been training really hard, working a lot, and that right now, I’m pretty tired. So that’s the excuses done with, lets get on with the show. Things that are currently annoying Barry (3rd of June 2010)

1) People on youtube teaching bad technique. Here’s a vid of a man teaching you how to break posture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckhxh4NMCwQ What do you notice? well, for one thing THE OTHER GUY DOESN’T HAVE ANY POSTURE TO BREAK. This is such a poor video, and I really hope people don’t try to emulate this poor technique, or the very many others that are out there in the same vein.

2) The following sentence “I don’t need to train in the gi because I want to train MMA”. What? Really? That Damian Maia guy is an idiot. And how about that moron Roger Gracie? When making a decision on anything training related, I weigh up what the worst and best things that could happen are. Here’s my rationale on gi training. The best thing: you improve your game due to its slower nature, the lack of reliance on slipping out of techniques and getting the additional hours on the mat that having gi training provides. The worst: You get another night on the mats that you can use whatever way you choose. Maybe you just lie there and work your bottom game and who knows, you may just improve elsewhere too.

3) People who mail me telling me how dedicated they’re going to be when they join… and then never show up. I’ve never, ever got a mail from someone telling me how dedicated they’re going to be and how much they want to fight and then have them turn up. Here’s a small hint for anyone thinking of becoming a fighter. E-mails mean nothing, good intentions are only worth the paper they’re never printed on and no one is impressed by how hard anyone wants to work. I’m impressed by guys like Anesh. He’d trained a little with me before, walked in 6 weeks ago and told me he’d train as much as we wanted him to, and put his head down. He followed our programming to the letter, attended the training sessions, asked questions and worked hard. The result? 2 fights in a week, 2 wins. Actions speak louder than words.

4) The guy at Chaos last week who nudged me while I was watching a fight that had hit the ground and said “is he going to fight him or f*ck him eh?” What exactly did you think you were coming to watch mate? This isn’t 2005, I’m pretty sure anyone who buys a ticket to an MMA show knows what they’re going to see.

5) The little girl who looked at my leg in the shops yesterday and went “ewwww Mam look”. No further explanation required.