The [Open European Championships] are closing in with at a tremendous pace – just 10 more days to go until weigh-in (oct. 26th), 12 until the fights (oct. 28th). Oddly enough, this was also what today’s training was all about – pace.
You see, I’m certainly not going to be the fastest guy in my weight division. Most of the upper-class fighters there will be far beyond me in terms of skill and experience. Also, I’ll probably suffer from a severe height disadvantage. Hence, I need to really take my strengths to a new level and excel in those areas where I can compete – namely, that’s conditioning (strength and endurance) and fighting spirit. Watching [the first ever UFC flyweight championship fight] did a lot for my motivation, too. So, after warming up with five 2-minute rounds of rope skipping, each of us (did I mention I was working out with Chris?) did four 3-minute rounds of padwork. Of course, Chris focused on semi-contact techniques (long straight punches and backfist strikes), as that’s the event he’ll compete in. Since I on the other hand will fight in the continous sparring event, it was all about combinations for me. As usual, I pursued a distinct technique goal:
- Long series of punches (although I doubt hooks and uppercuts will be allowed under [TKDI] rules)
- Counter blitz attacks with punches, finalize with a kick to the body
- Attack with a blitz attack, throw punches, finalize with a kick to the body
- Combine #2 and #3
We actually filmed the session, but since the file is over 4GB in size, uploading it to will probably take all night. Therefore, I’ll attach the video to this post retroactively once it’s available.
So here’s the video footage on that session – Enjoy!
So long,
take care
The Performance Engineer 