Shark Tank

Saturday was my last sparring class in London. Really going to miss these guys and the class. It's been such a positive influence on me and my sparring. Not only is it responsible for stopping me drinking on a friday night! but having a class of people from different martial arts backgrounds and very different body shapes has provided so much experience and taught me a lot about my own fighting style. What I feel comfortable throwing and who I feel comfortable matched up against. 

It's a surprisingly big transtition from hitting pads to hitting people and I have learnt my right leg kick which devostates pads has been really difficult to implement in class without paying the price of being punched in the face. 

I've also been especially lucky to have such tall guys in the class, being 6'3 myself it's been great to work clinch and range with guys I dont have a natural advantage over. A massive thank you goes to Darren and Phil (pictured) but also Nick and Mats who have all beaten the crap out of me over the last few months. 

Not forgetting Alex and his spin kicks of course, so damn fast. So many bruised hip bones. 

Anyway, Saturday went well. 5Km run in the morning then an hour of stretching and core work to increase mobility. Class started and we slogged it out for an hour. 

My nose was giving me a lot of grief. First round with Paul and I managed to get my own hand punched into my nose and heard it click. Eyes watered everywhere and I could feel that the week of healing had just been undone. 

Protecting my nose meant i was a lot more defensive than usual with a tight high guard, working from the outside. Whenever we ended up in clinch my nose would get pressed against shoulders or biceps so i tried to avoid that as well. Kick and move was the theme. Which was fine for the hour class.  

But.... At the end Paul suggested we do the 'Shark Tank' we had discussed on the run up to me breaking my nose. I couldnt back down so I agreed. I stood in the middle of the dojo and faced off against Paul. The idea being that I would fight Paul for 1 minute, then a beep would signify him stepping out and the next person stepping in. 

It would go Paul... 4 class mates and then paul again. I cannot stress how physically hard this was. Paul stressed to everyone before we started they had to pressure me, move forward and push the pace the entire minute they were in. This was beyond exhausting. My muscles were tired but could continue working, but the air in the room just felt so thick. It was like trying to breath in soup. I've not felt that feeling is so long. A physical inability to get enough air into the body to keep working. 

 Blow by Blow account:

Paul beat the crap out of me. Protecting my nose exposed me to body shots and a few blows to my guts just reduced my batteries to zero. To say it was 1 minute it felt like forever. I tried to pressure in with some faints and knees to grab clinch and rest. This meant eating uppercuts to the nose so i moved my face which meant bicep to the nose so out i went and just tried to run and avoid and save some energy for the next guys. 

The pressure just seemed to shut down my breathing and there was a massive impulse to bail out sighting my nose as reason to stop. 

But I didnt stop and eventually the minute was up. 

Next was Darren who came jumping in with flying knees. Really good to see him be so aggressive and pressure (especially with knee strikes). It caught me off guard as he is normally more methodical and outside. I managed to clinch up tall and get some rest where I could.

Phil, another tall fighter was next. All day I was extremely worried by his jab as he normally finds my face with extreme accuracy. I know he knows this, and given my broken nose I swear he intentionally avoided using this weapon (which I am massively grateful for). 

Lots of nice punch flurries from Phil ending with strong kicks saw the minute out, i checked as best as possible but i was running again. 

Dan was next, he's fairly knew to the sparring class and came straight for me with solid but simple punch combinations. You could tell there was force behind the shots cause even the jab off my guard felt solid. I went inside low to the body then up to the head with a left hook. 

Clocked him, think he saw stars as he backed out then sat out. This cut his minute short but didnt afford me any rest.

Alex was next, he's fast and has these karate back hand strikes that although not powerful distract like crazy and seem to shut down my combos. I tried to close distance and clinch to take a few breathes but he kept his distance well and chopped at my lead leg. 

Final Round - Paul again - he walked me down cut off my escapes and went to the body before ending with over hand strikes. I tried to block a few and catch my breath but the body strikes made it impossible. 

I decided offence was the only option as to earn myself some space. I went low and sprung in (didnt know at the time but I headbutted Paul, and it must of been hard cause i leapt in and i'm about 94Kg's). 

I think i landed a decent long right hand but Paul guided me off to one side, single arm lock held me in a hunched over postion. Paul worked the knees to my body and the uppercuts to my face. By this time he had really eased off on the power (thank Christ). It must have been very apparent I was on empty. He let me pull free and i spent the remainder of the round backing up and fainting the kicks in the hope it would slow his approach. 

When the final buzzer sounded I collapsed on the floor and used my gloves as a pillow. I know get the feeling we were supposed to do laps of this 6 round 'Shark Tank' but my fitness is so not there. I couldnt breath I couldnt move, i couldnt think. 5 minutes later I was fine, so i know it wasnt muscular. But boy do i need to work on my explosive fitness. 

Things I learnt. 

 1. When in real trouble I attack with a Chris Leben level of wild abandon. I'd rather go out on my shield KO'd than quit. I feel good about this. I was really worried this experience would make me feel like a quitter. 

2. I have more success when moving forward. 

 3. I dont use my teep or knees to nearly enough effect. This lack of clinch ability was a massive skill gap. 

4. I never ever want to fight Paul. 

 Thanks to all the guys who came down and who I have trained with over the last few months. It's been a brilliant experience that has fuelled my love for the sport. 

 The guys from left to right: Alex, Phil, Myself, Darren and Paul