Thursday 12 November 2009

Update




Serious blog neglect going on over the past few weeks! Hopefully that will change starting today. Life has been pretty hectic since I left the UK and arrived in sunny Bahrain!

Life has changed quite a bit over the last few months. I got a job doing public relations for the Bahrain International Circuit, hosts of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix, which is turning out to be quite enjoyable. It’s a fast paced and hectic atmosphere but I seem to work well under pressure and with deadlines so its all good. The down side is that by the time I finish work at 5pm (8am start), I am usually pretty tired and it is quite an effort to complete the 20 minute drive to pick up Rach and 15 minute drive to the academy, straight from work. But I am slowly getting back to training 5+ times a week! The first two weeks was very frustrating as I wanted to continue with my old training schedule but just couldn’t hack it. But over the last week or two, things have got a lot better as I have found a new routine and tried to make my day as accommodating as possible for evening training. This means making sure I get to sleep by 11pm at the absolute latest, as otherwise by the time 5pm rolls around I only have energy to fall asleep! I also try to keep a bunch of healthy snacks at my desk – stuff like nuts, fruit, alpine bars, etc (hopefully will be adding protein shakes to this once I get paid). One thing that was really letting me down in the first couple weeks was my liquid intake, or lack of. Sitting at a desk all day seems to convince my brain that I don’t need to hydrate! So lots of tea and water through out the day also helps me feel good to go come training time. This week things have come together a bit more and training has been a bit better, and I think next week it will be pretty much back to normal.

Training at RMAC is going pretty good! Brazilian black belt Rodrigo Mangabeira is teaching the class at the moment so I am picking up some great moves. In terms of personal development I have not been focusing on anything in particular for the last month, but due to a majority of the guys pulling guard, I have found my top and passing game is coming along quite nicely. This I should probably save for another post, but I am feeling a bit lost in terms of game plans at the moment. I mean, I still know what I am doing, but I don’t seem to be pushing my game plan on my opponents, and am instead responding to their game. I think this is probably due to life being so hectic and not having time to think up my own little plan for class – before working, I would always have time to know exactly what I wanted to practice during sparring.

Logically, since my take downs are not great, I should focus my game on sweeping from bottom and then implement my new found passing skills to eventually transition to North/ South, where I feel very comfortable. So for the next few weeks I will be focusing on sweeps. Great that’s decided then. But sweeps from what position? Half guard? Closed guard? Open guard? Decisions, decisions….

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