so heres whats up. im back at my training 100% again, and when i say that, i mean, while i wasnt falling behind, i wasnt sparring once a week like i had been for the last 8 months.
fact: take 2 months off from sparring, get punched alot when you get back in there.
while i had been pretty satisfied with how my kicks have been coming along, zeroing in on details like never before...
generating more power through speed... lifting UP on my toes...etc.
and my hands, which, to be honest, technically speaking, have come a LONG way....
my hooks are tighter, punches more direct...
and my cardio....which is better than it's EVER been....
....youd think that youd have some sort of a clue as to how to keep it all together when you hop back in there and actually gear it up, and throw them things.
until you realize that timing is everything,
especially when dudes are throwing bombs at you.
last week i got in there with john, and for the first week back, i was happy...
happy i didnt get killed.
haha.
first round, i kinda ate some shots, and basically, tried to catch up with his timing.
let me tell you about john....
dudes a STRONG STRONG man to be testing waters with.
the worst way to catch up with timing after a sparring layoff is DEFINATELY not by seeing how well you can take shots from john gagnon, but i didnt really think that through, so thats just what i did.
johns really strong in the clinch, so knowing he enjoys him some clinch/pummel/knee work, i kept that in my mind as i tried to make it through that first round without getting TOO rattled.
hes also real good at jiu jitsu, so i basically took him down after some clinching, and tried to close out that round with me working myself to a better position, which i feel pretty happy that i did.
the last ime i rolled with him, he caught me in a damn arm bar, so i used the advice he gave me afterward, and used it, and hats off to him, it was effective.
during the 45 second rest between rounds, i basically made my mind up to let my hands fly...
the entire next round i felt REAL comfortable, i was working my jab well, my footwork was loose, and the fact that i changed up gears was really effective and kept him a little off balance.
moving forward, and letting the combos lose, i set him up for...
my superman punch.
and i landed it well.
*if youve ever sparred with me, you know you can expect that i will be throwing one superman punch, its a given. i may spend the entire round setting it up, or, i might throw it first, but,,, i will throw it. predictable? yes. fun as hell? yup*
i wobbled him up a little bit, and then, worked my way in , clinched some, then took him down again, where we grappled till the timer went off.
overall , i think that it was a good couple rounds, and since he had his BJJ class next, we called it quits there, which was fine, because i was pretty tapped.
my cardio was ok, but needs to be better, i need to relax more...
but,
its hard to relax when you have a bull in front of you.
a bald headed heavy ass handed jiu jitsu knowing mofo.
john is a true student of all the arts, and i can tell all hes going to do in there is make me better.
i hope to bring the same to him.
2 old dogs teaching each other new tricks is an ok thing.
a really ok thing.
now, my cousin (more like nephew) dustin has jumped ship over from the BJJ to the muay thai exclusively...
and this is awesome.
what else....?
steel sharpens steel.
im surrounded by steel in this dojo.
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