So how does someone way past the age of 21 who has never fought competitively begin? Add to that question, how do you shoehorn that kind of preparation into a life that includes two elementary school aged children, a "unevenly enthusiastic about this project" wife, a demanding (but sedentary) job and all the other stuff that goes along with this project.
My answer is simple, you make a plan. Others are running marathons, triathlons, mountain climbing, and sailing around the world. If they can do that, I can do this. The only real difference is this is fighting.
So I developed a fight preparation plan with four areas: Physical, Mental, Technical and Social
The Physical was the most obvious and the most easily defined. I needed to be able to keep up with very fit people in very intense situations. I needed the specific strengths and flexibility to execute and survive in full contact Muay Thai. Finally, I needed to craft this to a late forty year old body that is more easily injured and takes longer to come back from injury (so a continuous but not overwhelming program). Here is what I am doing.
Physical
P1. Overall Fitness
2 per day x 6 days, 1per x 1 day of following:
-Muay Thai/BBC/Sparring Classes or training sessions
-Footwork (20 minutes plus of intense jump rope , shadow boxing, drill)
-Calisthenics (laddering up to 200 push-ups, sit-ups and squats)
-Running (2-4 miles per run)
P2. Flexibilty
Hip openers (every day)
Neck strengtheners (5 days per week)
P4. Physical durability
Intensity sparring (1 per week)
P3. Nutrition
Meet app goals on Calories, Protein and Sugar
Hydration, 8 cups per day
The mental preparation was actually much more challenging to capture for planning. The upside is the I am not scared of being beaten on. To my surprise, I found that my mis-spent youth and some kind of brain malfunction has made me considerably less afraid of being punched than most people. The real problems I am dealing with are relaxing, and executing thoughtful actions in situations that are very intense. Again, as an older fighter who has to think he will face younger fighters, I cannot afford to waste energy being tight or give back anything in terms of thinking because things are moving fast and hard. So:
Mental
M1. Mindfulness
Breathing exercises/meditation (3 time per week)
M2. Calmness
Relaxation exercises during sparring (every time)
M3. Toughness
Intensity sparring (1 per week)
M4. Intelligence
Visualization exercises (3 time per week)
Technical preparation is pretty straightforward, practicing different techniques and fixing my form for greater impact. The problem is that I often have no idea what the problems are, so this is where finding some advanced students and experienced trainers has been the key. Unfortunately, its also where the whole working-all-the-time and raising kids thing makes getting together with them on a reasonable schedule difficult. Still here is what I am pursuing,
Technical
T1. Technique improvement
Focus on single aspect in Muay Thai class
Training w. expert (min 1 per wk)
Develop "go to" strikes and combos
T2. Technique Drill
Muay Thai/BBC/Sparring (4 times per week)
T3. Fight strategy
Training w. expert (min 1 per wk)
View & review fights (1 per week)
T4. Rules
Review rules and acceptable actions (ongoing)
Review with experts (ongoing)
Finally there is the social, which a number of people have thought was a little odd to include. I have explained it like this, Muay Thai is not a life and death struggle, it is a rough sport. It is also not a unified sport or even an especially popular one and as a result the norms, rules (both in and out of the ring), and "way of being" to participate are not altogether obvious from a novice entering the field. So I have spent some time trying to sort through all of this.
Social
S1. Connect to fight circle
Identify networks to fight in
Observe fights in person
S2. How to win/Judging
Review scoring and concepts with experts (ongoing)
I don't know if this will take me all the way into the ring but my hope is that it will take me far enough that my trainers will agree that I am ready to get in the ring.
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