I picked up Muay Thai during my student exchange programme in Canada. (Heh… fancy learning an Asian martial arts in the West) Immediately, I was hooked. Maybe part of its regime consisted of stuff that I would do back home. The push-ups, crunches, etc were like bread and butter back in my NS days. Kicking was exactly like volleying a ball in soccer. The hardest part was learning the boxing techniques, stance, defence, stuff I’d never experienced before. When I came back to S’pore, I was pretty sure I wanted to continue with my training but time constraints made it very difficult as I was always busy working with the fleet. Eventually, my friend told me about the possibility of establishing an NUS Muay Thai Club. Without a 2nd thought, I opted in. The best part of it was the possibility of an IVP tournament amongst SMU, NTU and NUS. For me, this is the part that keeps me going. I ain’t exactly the best person I can be as a biathlete. I acknowledge my vast room for improvement. However, I need this. I really want to test myself and see whether I have the guts to compete in a face to face combat sport. I am a monster when it comes to doing sea circuits or running up and down the flanks in soccer. But there are so many things out there that I ain’t a monster in and fighting, literally, definitely ranks up there in the list.
Recently, I acquired 2 books. One from BJ Penn and another from Jens Pulver. Pulver’s book was more of an autobiography that talked much about his horrid past. Penn’s, on the other hand, was full of MMA techniques. When I say MMA, it means mixed martial arts. This means taking all kinds of disciplines together and conjuring out the best possible one. I’ve finished Pulver’s book and its kind of a sob story which I’d learn a thing or two only. I guess its something really personal and he just wanted to send a message out. As for BJ, only 4 pages into his introduction (the only part where he talks about himself) and I was blown away. I guess I am startled because I never thought such stuff would be running through is head. Everyone’s bragging about him being a pound for pound fighter, more of talent than determination, he has pretty much been there, done that and the stuff he mentioned in those 4 pages took me a 180 degrees turn of my impression on him. Unlike Pulver, who usually brags about his fights, Penn focuses more on his losses. So much so, he acknowledges his defeats through a lens of opportunity for better learning. Take Lyoto Machida for example. He was 230 pounder. Penn was a 170. That my friends, is a vast difference, a heavyweight vs a welterweight. He doesn’t care about losing. He cares about what he can take from each and every one of his fights. Fighting Lyoto taught him much about taking on an opponent way bigger than him. The loss against St Pierre, he acknowledges his lack of cardiovascular workout, and that Pierre had played the correct MMA game, by scoring takedowns and keeping busy on the ground. For me the loss which he acknowledges was his fault rather than unluckiness, the one against Matt Hughes, is the cream of the crop. The first 2 rounds was dominated by Penn but upon creeping onto the back of Hughes late in the 2nd round, he broke his rib bone. The pain was too overwhelming and many ppl thought Hughes has outwrestled him in the 3rd or Penn’s cardio was not in shape. This was not the case. He broke his rib bone. Any other average Joe would use this as an easy excuse. Right? …. Wrong. The lesson took out from this fight, was that when aiming to be a top MMA fighter, one cannot start training only when the fight nears. Your whole life, your whole time here, every single day, one must focus on being the best fighter he can be. Penn was in good cardio condition on that day, but he wasn’t in good physical condition. Its just like running for a marathon. You want to win it, you got to simply clock your distance day in day out. Penn only trained only 6 months before the fight, he acknowledged he simply should have trained everyday. This is a philosophy, I totally relate to.
hey mel 