Promoters and opponents

How does a match get set. Well apparently this is an art in its own right. A dark art. A dark art performed by shady characters...all of whom have shiny websites.

Just last night, one of the instructors at my gym (who has lots of fight experience, isn't big on nonsense, and basically breathes martial arts 24/7) was warning me that some of these promoters are pretty sleazy characters. They want one of two kinds of fights: great technical fights and brutal beatdowns. The first appeal to all the fighters and coaches and serious fight fans. The latter appeal to pretty much everyone. As a fighter with a 0-0 record, I might not be considered the best candidate for the first type of fight.

So that was on my mind when I heard back from a promoter that he might have a fight for me. 145 lbs (check), 0-0 record (check), and 2 months to prepare (check). Then I asked the age. 18 years old but he emphasized "self-trained." So the question is who is supposed to take the beatdown here? I have had the advantage of years of training with some very competent martial artists and amateur kick-boxers. He has 30 years on me.

Hmmmm, I think maybe not, but wow it was very hard to turn down the opportunity but there isn't a lot of point in taking a fight I would stand little chance in.

But damn, a bird in the hand

Seeking an opponent

My trainer actually endorsed the idea that I am ready to fight (or at least ready to schedule a fight and then work my ass off in preparation for a fight), and is working with his promoter to find an opponent and a venue. I feel ready to go (see above parenthetical comment) and cannot wait to get something scheduled.

Trial Weight Cut Results

So the results of the cut are in, 9 pounds in 3.5 days. Not quite what I was after but also just the most basic measures, no steam room or epsom salt baths or any of a dozen other techniques that I have standing by (and which range from the uncomfortable to the positively distasteful). I felt all awash when loading water (weird and unpleasant), then when dehydrated my wedding ring fell right off when and I had some leg cramps after exercising (the former was actually a little unnerving as it made the point unexpectedly that this was working), and I felt light-headed when exercising not long before the "weigh-in." Eating during the cut was a lot of (unsalted) eggs, tuna, greek yogurt and salad greens (and a little bit of ice cream actually), which got old. I rehydrated quickly and was back up to near my starting weight within around 12 hours, although I ate a little a normal sized meal early on and it was too much. The next day, "fight day" in this simulation, I felt great and actually very light and energetic almost like the bounce back after an illness.

I had to cut the whole thing a bit short when my wife started sending me articles on how many people die doing a weight cut. This really pointed up the distance between the world I live in and the world of any sort of fight sports. Nobody I see in my daily work/parenting/neighborhood life thinks this weight cutting is anything other than completely nuts. This includes people training for marathons and other sports, who i frankly think are beating their bodies up in serious ways. The fact is that every single fight event in which weight classes figure are going to have people doing varying degrees of weight cuts (and they are all probably unhealthy). So I find myself spending a lot of time trying to explain why I would even want to do any of this but especially this bit which is very visible outside of the gym where I train. It points up that beyond the learning curve for an older guy trying to work all this out, that there is a lot of social pressure to not do this. More on this in the days ahead.

BTW finding advice about how to do a good safe cut seems pretty rare online (the basic outline of what I did came from this Muay Thai Guy article), and that certainly reflects that there is risk here (and nobody wants the liability). So let me say I am not recommending anybody do what I have done, I share it because I am sharing the experience, and not as a roadmap.

Action shots

A few shots that I liked a lot from our testing event (all taken by Lisa Cohen, a fellow student and excellent photographer).

(although every time I look at it I think "where are my hands?")

and finally

(in which I continue to drop my left, oh well another 8,000 or so punches to go)

Trial Weight Cut

Something I have not been looking forward to is the weight cut in preparation for the fight. To begin with it sounds deeply unpleasant (and I am aware of the irony that I feel this is unpleasant and getting punched is not) and it certainly doesn't seem to be a particularly healthy activity, but more critically I have never done one and do not know what kind of result I will get. So the answer is a trial cut, followed by an evening of high intensity sparring. This is essentially the closest I can get to simulating the run-up to a fight.

My plan:
Monday thru Wednesday - 10% Calorie reduction (1800 from my usual 2000), two-a-day intense and varied workouts (minimum burn of 800 calories per day)

Thursday - Load water (2 gallons (32 cups) and extra salt), Continue intense workouts, extra protein/fat in diet

Friday - Load water (2 gallons, no salt), Solid workout (500 calories), extra protein/fat in diet

Saturday - Normal water (1 gallon, distilled only, no salt), Solid workout (500 calories), extra protein/fat in diet

Sunday - Minimal water, light workout,, extra protein/fat in diet

Monday - Weigh-in and rehydrate (if goal is not met in morning weigh-in, exercise to meet goal)

Standing weight today: 157, weight-class goal:145

Crazy as it seems this is how its done.