Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
New Direction and The Contest
NEW DIRECTION
On January 3rd, 2011 I gave my notice that I was leaving my full-time job in finance to pursue martial arts full-time. I started working on making this move after September 2010 when I returned from a trip to Tokyo. I was there to train and to help corner my coach Darren Uyenoyama when he fought (and defeated) Shooto Champion Shuichiro Katsumura. During that trip I met so many incredible people and started to believe in myself more as a competitor I trained with and met many of my heroes (including the incredible Rumina Sato and wise Hiroyuki Abe).
This has allowed me to focus on training as well as any other martial arts endeavors. In order to support myself I instruct martial arts, do office temp work, and tutor highschool students (so its not all fun) but I very much enjoy teaching! Also the flexibility of my new schedule allows me to adjust very quickly when I need rest and also ensures that I maximize my time by getting the best quality training (partners, time of day, etc). Also the ability to make my primary focus of the day MMA just makes a huge difference in mental performance.
Its only been the first month and I've been able to get in much better condition (thanks to strength and conditioning coach Chris Shah at Ground Up Fitness and the diet and supplement regimen I follow through Dr. Melissa Ponce). I have also been able to really improve my technical game by being able to train with a wider variety of sparring partners. Finally it also allows me more time to communicate more frequently with my mentors Darren Uyenoyama and Edge Brown which is a huge benefit in addressing my strengths and weaknesses.
I cant wait to see how I perform in this next fight and the next few months, I feel stronger than ever and the best part is I know I have so much more to improve!
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT
At the start of 2011 joined a video blogging contest called "so you think you can fight" on bj penn.com. The prize for the winner? A chance to train for two weeks in Hilo Hawaii and then to fight on March 5th at bj penn's jut scrap event. The contest requires participants to upload a series of video blogs twice a week over a six week period. These vlogs were then viewed on Bjpenn.com and revolve around the topic of training to train for two weeks and the fight. In the final two weeks of vloging Bjpenn.com posted a survey monkey poll where viewers voted on their favorite fighters.
I decided to have a theme for each of my vlogs (conditioning, working and fighting, diet, etc). They can be found here. We shot at multiple gyms, home, the office, my car and even the grocery (where we were told not to video tape!). We even had Dream fighters Wicky Akiyo and Takufumi come train with us at FTCC for two weeks during the shoot!
I received a huge amount of help from my teammates, my girlfriend Jenny, coworkers, and most of all from my training partner and resident FTCC Pro MMA Fighter/Purple Belt/Video Guru Taylor McCorriston who helped me put together the shots and edit the videos (THANK YOU T). The process of filming the videos was actually helpul as I started thinking a lot about each component of my training and how they all fit together.
Promoting myself and getting votes was a whole other process in itself. I posted on several online forums in addition to the bjpenn website. I sent out mass emails promoting my videos and the voting process. Of course I used facebook events, messages, and wall posts. My girlfriend even sent daily reminder emails to her friends to vote for me. I am sure I was very annoying to many people during this time! It made me extremely thankful for being blessed with great friends, teammates, and mentors.
Awaiting the Decision
Voting ended on February 11, 2011 and the results are announced tomorrow. My team has put in a ton of work in the gym, on the computer, behind the video camera and now we just have to wait. I am anxious, hopeful, and very thankful. This is a huge opportunity for me to fight and learn from one of the best in the sport. If chosen, I know I will make the best of it and put on a great show!
On January 3rd, 2011 I gave my notice that I was leaving my full-time job in finance to pursue martial arts full-time. I started working on making this move after September 2010 when I returned from a trip to Tokyo. I was there to train and to help corner my coach Darren Uyenoyama when he fought (and defeated) Shooto Champion Shuichiro Katsumura. During that trip I met so many incredible people and started to believe in myself more as a competitor I trained with and met many of my heroes (including the incredible Rumina Sato and wise Hiroyuki Abe).
This has allowed me to focus on training as well as any other martial arts endeavors. In order to support myself I instruct martial arts, do office temp work, and tutor highschool students (so its not all fun) but I very much enjoy teaching! Also the flexibility of my new schedule allows me to adjust very quickly when I need rest and also ensures that I maximize my time by getting the best quality training (partners, time of day, etc). Also the ability to make my primary focus of the day MMA just makes a huge difference in mental performance.
Its only been the first month and I've been able to get in much better condition (thanks to strength and conditioning coach Chris Shah at Ground Up Fitness and the diet and supplement regimen I follow through Dr. Melissa Ponce). I have also been able to really improve my technical game by being able to train with a wider variety of sparring partners. Finally it also allows me more time to communicate more frequently with my mentors Darren Uyenoyama and Edge Brown which is a huge benefit in addressing my strengths and weaknesses.
I cant wait to see how I perform in this next fight and the next few months, I feel stronger than ever and the best part is I know I have so much more to improve!
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT
At the start of 2011 joined a video blogging contest called "so you think you can fight" on bj penn.com. The prize for the winner? A chance to train for two weeks in Hilo Hawaii and then to fight on March 5th at bj penn's jut scrap event. The contest requires participants to upload a series of video blogs twice a week over a six week period. These vlogs were then viewed on Bjpenn.com and revolve around the topic of training to train for two weeks and the fight. In the final two weeks of vloging Bjpenn.com posted a survey monkey poll where viewers voted on their favorite fighters.
I decided to have a theme for each of my vlogs (conditioning, working and fighting, diet, etc). They can be found here. We shot at multiple gyms, home, the office, my car and even the grocery (where we were told not to video tape!). We even had Dream fighters Wicky Akiyo and Takufumi come train with us at FTCC for two weeks during the shoot!
I received a huge amount of help from my teammates, my girlfriend Jenny, coworkers, and most of all from my training partner and resident FTCC Pro MMA Fighter/Purple Belt/Video Guru Taylor McCorriston who helped me put together the shots and edit the videos (THANK YOU T). The process of filming the videos was actually helpul as I started thinking a lot about each component of my training and how they all fit together.
Promoting myself and getting votes was a whole other process in itself. I posted on several online forums in addition to the bjpenn website. I sent out mass emails promoting my videos and the voting process. Of course I used facebook events, messages, and wall posts. My girlfriend even sent daily reminder emails to her friends to vote for me. I am sure I was very annoying to many people during this time! It made me extremely thankful for being blessed with great friends, teammates, and mentors.
Awaiting the Decision
Voting ended on February 11, 2011 and the results are announced tomorrow. My team has put in a ton of work in the gym, on the computer, behind the video camera and now we just have to wait. I am anxious, hopeful, and very thankful. This is a huge opportunity for me to fight and learn from one of the best in the sport. If chosen, I know I will make the best of it and put on a great show!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
boxing
of all the combat sports i have done i have to say the least likely sport i thought i would like would be boxing as it seemed so limited. but over the last year I have come to respect the sweet science more and more and not just in video games. i truly believe knowing how to box can help in any ring sport.
one of my goals in the next two years aside from winning fights and a better grappler is to be a SOLID boxer. Technical and calculating. ah more and more work to be done.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Fight Night
This was nothing like I had thought it would be...but man it was fun.
The morning of the fight I felt good. My nose had cleared up a bit and was now just consistently running so I felt this was a good sign. The weight cut had not really been too bad so by Friday morning I felt good and ready to go.
I ate bacon eggs and toast at Moulin Rouge Cafe in the Tenderloin with Steph (which is awesome if you've never been). I stopped by the gym to fit some headgear on (As this was my first fight head gear was mandatory). Then drove with my Buddy Steve Kuo to the event.
Steve had driven up for LA to watch me fight and to hang out. He is a 179lb fighter fighting out of The Yard in LA and is 3-0 in his amateur muay thai career thus far. A former accountant at Deloitte and an aspiring firefighter, he is one of my closest friends and an old training partner from my Claremont Jiujitsu days. Having him around calmed me down a lot.
We arrived promptly at 1:15pm and waited for the commission. At this time I had my mug shot taken. The photographer commented that for fighters we all looked pretty chunky. I guess this meant I re hydrated well! or maybe I should drop to another weight class :(
340pm and the commission still had not shown up. We sat around talking crap and admiring Calstate hayward's various random athletic pictures and trophies. We also sat and talked to Adam's opponent who was a really nice guy. We also met the ring announcer who had some colorful things to say including that Edge could teach a grasshopper to kill a spider. i think that was pretty accurate.
5pm comes around and the doors open. Finally we are shown to the back locker room for pre-fight physicals. Bebe and Edge arrived to corner us and wrap our hands and I felt that much more confident.
The entire process of physicals, waiting felt a lot like being back wrestling in Highschool. We did a walkout pre-fight ceremony and the fights began. I blew my nose and started to worry if it would affect me. I started to worry if I had done enough and if I would be able to perform. I looked at my teammates and I worried if I would disappoint them. I was a mess.
I was the fourth fight on the card and I was butterflies all the way as each fight finished. I put on my shorts and warmed up for less than a round with BeBe. As usual I had a sweat going...fast. I stayed warm and walked out to the wrong music...but I didn't really care.
At this point I did not feel very nervous or scared but anxious. I looked away from the crowd and walked slow into the ring. I thought that this walk would last a long time as many had told me but it felt actually good to finally get in. I was far from relaxed though but kept this to myself mostly. My nose felt clogged. My opponent walked in. The ref told me to follow his commands and the fight was on.
I honestly don't remember much from the fight in detail. Things came in flashes:
I remember landing my first jab and feeling good about it. I remember eating the first right from my opponent and not worrying about my nose anymore. I remember the first leg check and how much it hurt my shin. I remember kicking back and not feeling a thing. I remember how great it felt to feel my leg kicks dig into his thigh. I remember how great it felt to land my right hand. I remember how weird it felt to get rocked by a flurry but feel no pain. I remember getting muscled in the clinch. I remembered landing some knees to his body and feeling his ribs. I remember reverting to double underhooks and thinking about throwing him or taking his back (thank god I didn't do this). I remember eating a late punch and thinking wtf. I remembered hearing edges British accent telling me to kick, punch, kick, 1-2s, low kick, again, low kick again. I remember the rounds becoming shorter and shorter.
And like that it was over. I looked at edge and asked if I won. He said I did and i raised my hands up and i flexed. Bebe told me to stop flexing as i had no biceps. I stopped :). they called out my name And that was it. I won a split decision. It was great.
Jen beat her opponent up and showed some great head movement. She won as well after a little mess up on the score cards (I felt bad for her opponent but Jen deserved the win!)
Adam dominated his opponent who was much taller with his pressure and won easily. He looked on point!
It was an awesome night for the gym and it felt great.
I thanked Kru Edge and Bebe. I thanked all my friends and family. All my training partners who showed up.
I spoke to my Dad on the phone who couldnt wait to call me. He asked how it went, congratulated me, and then told me to stop fighting. I told him Id just begun but that I would take care of myself.
That night I ate some pinoy food at Geris grill and enjoyed some Ice Cold San Miguel Beer and felt relieved. Then went to the old faithful blackthorn to celebrate with some jameson shots, margaritas ($4!), and stellas.
I cant wait to do it again. A few days off and back to the gym :) I have a lot to work on including circling off, keeping my chin down, and accuracy on lowkicks.
Thank you to all who supported me.
The morning of the fight I felt good. My nose had cleared up a bit and was now just consistently running so I felt this was a good sign. The weight cut had not really been too bad so by Friday morning I felt good and ready to go.
I ate bacon eggs and toast at Moulin Rouge Cafe in the Tenderloin with Steph (which is awesome if you've never been). I stopped by the gym to fit some headgear on (As this was my first fight head gear was mandatory). Then drove with my Buddy Steve Kuo to the event.
Steve had driven up for LA to watch me fight and to hang out. He is a 179lb fighter fighting out of The Yard in LA and is 3-0 in his amateur muay thai career thus far. A former accountant at Deloitte and an aspiring firefighter, he is one of my closest friends and an old training partner from my Claremont Jiujitsu days. Having him around calmed me down a lot.
We arrived promptly at 1:15pm and waited for the commission. At this time I had my mug shot taken. The photographer commented that for fighters we all looked pretty chunky. I guess this meant I re hydrated well! or maybe I should drop to another weight class :(
340pm and the commission still had not shown up. We sat around talking crap and admiring Calstate hayward's various random athletic pictures and trophies. We also sat and talked to Adam's opponent who was a really nice guy. We also met the ring announcer who had some colorful things to say including that Edge could teach a grasshopper to kill a spider. i think that was pretty accurate.
5pm comes around and the doors open. Finally we are shown to the back locker room for pre-fight physicals. Bebe and Edge arrived to corner us and wrap our hands and I felt that much more confident.
The entire process of physicals, waiting felt a lot like being back wrestling in Highschool. We did a walkout pre-fight ceremony and the fights began. I blew my nose and started to worry if it would affect me. I started to worry if I had done enough and if I would be able to perform. I looked at my teammates and I worried if I would disappoint them. I was a mess.
I was the fourth fight on the card and I was butterflies all the way as each fight finished. I put on my shorts and warmed up for less than a round with BeBe. As usual I had a sweat going...fast. I stayed warm and walked out to the wrong music...but I didn't really care.
At this point I did not feel very nervous or scared but anxious. I looked away from the crowd and walked slow into the ring. I thought that this walk would last a long time as many had told me but it felt actually good to finally get in. I was far from relaxed though but kept this to myself mostly. My nose felt clogged. My opponent walked in. The ref told me to follow his commands and the fight was on.
I honestly don't remember much from the fight in detail. Things came in flashes:
I remember landing my first jab and feeling good about it. I remember eating the first right from my opponent and not worrying about my nose anymore. I remember the first leg check and how much it hurt my shin. I remember kicking back and not feeling a thing. I remember how great it felt to feel my leg kicks dig into his thigh. I remember how great it felt to land my right hand. I remember how weird it felt to get rocked by a flurry but feel no pain. I remember getting muscled in the clinch. I remembered landing some knees to his body and feeling his ribs. I remember reverting to double underhooks and thinking about throwing him or taking his back (thank god I didn't do this). I remember eating a late punch and thinking wtf. I remembered hearing edges British accent telling me to kick, punch, kick, 1-2s, low kick, again, low kick again. I remember the rounds becoming shorter and shorter.
And like that it was over. I looked at edge and asked if I won. He said I did and i raised my hands up and i flexed. Bebe told me to stop flexing as i had no biceps. I stopped :). they called out my name And that was it. I won a split decision. It was great.
Jen beat her opponent up and showed some great head movement. She won as well after a little mess up on the score cards (I felt bad for her opponent but Jen deserved the win!)
Adam dominated his opponent who was much taller with his pressure and won easily. He looked on point!
It was an awesome night for the gym and it felt great.
I thanked Kru Edge and Bebe. I thanked all my friends and family. All my training partners who showed up.
I spoke to my Dad on the phone who couldnt wait to call me. He asked how it went, congratulated me, and then told me to stop fighting. I told him Id just begun but that I would take care of myself.
That night I ate some pinoy food at Geris grill and enjoyed some Ice Cold San Miguel Beer and felt relieved. Then went to the old faithful blackthorn to celebrate with some jameson shots, margaritas ($4!), and stellas.
I cant wait to do it again. A few days off and back to the gym :) I have a lot to work on including circling off, keeping my chin down, and accuracy on lowkicks.
Thank you to all who supported me.
Weigh Ins
Weigh ins-
The diet really paid off in the last week and i had stopped fluid intake only on that day. I had the half day from work, picked up Andrew and Adam and met Darren at FTCC. Darren is not a trainer at Gym 445 but typical of his nature was kind enough to help us all make weight. Rodney generously offered the facilities at his home for our cut.
The weight cut was relatively easy for all of us with minimal sauna time. I learned some new tips about squeegeeing off sweat in sauna and when to take on and off my sauna suit from Darren. This helped a lot.
Driving to weighins took us 2.5 hours! With Darren sharing colorful insights (including tyson impressions and japan stories) behind the wheel (if you train at FTCC or know him at all you know how entertaining this can be), we made it without too much discomfort.
We all were well under our weight limits. While Adam's opponent had long since weighed in. Jen and my opponent had not. In fact Jen's opponent was not coming until Saturday. After some talking with the commission and with Darren's convincing nature jen was able to weigh in that day thankfully. My opponent showed up and weighed in at 153lbs...six lbs above our agreed weight. I questioned this. And Darren immediately said just do it anyway. I hesitated for a second but I wanted, needed to fight. I thought about the three weeks I had just put in and agreed.
We finished up with some pedialyte, and some well deserved japanese food. My feelings fluctuated between nervous and excited the entire night. I couldnt wait.
Good friends and family were critical at this time. While my parents dont really like the fact that I want to fight they have been very supportive. This helped me a lot mentally. I slept not wanting to let anyone down.
The diet really paid off in the last week and i had stopped fluid intake only on that day. I had the half day from work, picked up Andrew and Adam and met Darren at FTCC. Darren is not a trainer at Gym 445 but typical of his nature was kind enough to help us all make weight. Rodney generously offered the facilities at his home for our cut.
The weight cut was relatively easy for all of us with minimal sauna time. I learned some new tips about squeegeeing off sweat in sauna and when to take on and off my sauna suit from Darren. This helped a lot.
Driving to weighins took us 2.5 hours! With Darren sharing colorful insights (including tyson impressions and japan stories) behind the wheel (if you train at FTCC or know him at all you know how entertaining this can be), we made it without too much discomfort.
We all were well under our weight limits. While Adam's opponent had long since weighed in. Jen and my opponent had not. In fact Jen's opponent was not coming until Saturday. After some talking with the commission and with Darren's convincing nature jen was able to weigh in that day thankfully. My opponent showed up and weighed in at 153lbs...six lbs above our agreed weight. I questioned this. And Darren immediately said just do it anyway. I hesitated for a second but I wanted, needed to fight. I thought about the three weeks I had just put in and agreed.
We finished up with some pedialyte, and some well deserved japanese food. My feelings fluctuated between nervous and excited the entire night. I couldnt wait.
Good friends and family were critical at this time. While my parents dont really like the fact that I want to fight they have been very supportive. This helped me a lot mentally. I slept not wanting to let anyone down.
Week 3
Week 3- making weight and tapering off
Darren U had given me a diet to follow the week of weigh last year and I decided to implement it much earlier in the week this time. see my post on weight cuts for more info on this...
On Monday I felt rested but developed some phlegm in my throat. I ignored this for the most part and ran some sprints in the am and hit the pads with edge in the evening, 6 rds on the bag, finishing with the cardio class, and doing 100m wind sprints.
On Tuesday did a good session in the Am with Edge. At night did the stanyan run and 5 block sprints right into sparring 5x3 in a row. Again sparring revealed a lot. I felt good landing mostly low kicks jabs, one-twos, and counter hooks. This was pretty much the way i felt I was going to fight. the fifth round I felt like absolute jello, and andrew really pushed me. This was the last sparring session till the fight.
On Wednesday I felt really weak and started to develop a head cold. I rested this day and only did 5 rounds of shadow and stretched. Drank lots of fluids, loaded up on vitamin c, cold-eeze and rested. To end the night I took theraflu. I did not want to be sick.
On Thursday I felt much better, but developed a sore throat. I started to worry and kept a steady regimen of fluids, cold-eeze, and vitamins. Under the eyes of Edge that night I did 7 rounds of rounds of fast shadow and 5 rounds really really light and fast on the bag. He said that was all and I was done till the fight. After training that night, i ate a builder bar and headed to FTCC to drop some tickets. I spoke with Darren about the fight and weigh ins the next day. Went home, drank some thera flu and fell deep asleep.
Darren U had given me a diet to follow the week of weigh last year and I decided to implement it much earlier in the week this time. see my post on weight cuts for more info on this...
On Monday I felt rested but developed some phlegm in my throat. I ignored this for the most part and ran some sprints in the am and hit the pads with edge in the evening, 6 rds on the bag, finishing with the cardio class, and doing 100m wind sprints.
On Tuesday did a good session in the Am with Edge. At night did the stanyan run and 5 block sprints right into sparring 5x3 in a row. Again sparring revealed a lot. I felt good landing mostly low kicks jabs, one-twos, and counter hooks. This was pretty much the way i felt I was going to fight. the fifth round I felt like absolute jello, and andrew really pushed me. This was the last sparring session till the fight.
On Wednesday I felt really weak and started to develop a head cold. I rested this day and only did 5 rounds of shadow and stretched. Drank lots of fluids, loaded up on vitamin c, cold-eeze and rested. To end the night I took theraflu. I did not want to be sick.
On Thursday I felt much better, but developed a sore throat. I started to worry and kept a steady regimen of fluids, cold-eeze, and vitamins. Under the eyes of Edge that night I did 7 rounds of rounds of fast shadow and 5 rounds really really light and fast on the bag. He said that was all and I was done till the fight. After training that night, i ate a builder bar and headed to FTCC to drop some tickets. I spoke with Darren about the fight and weigh ins the next day. Went home, drank some thera flu and fell deep asleep.
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