Globe Trotting

I sit in my hotel room writing this, lovely hotel, courteous staff, great facilities but it just isn't home. I miss all my creature comforts, my girlfriend, my pups and being able to cook my own healthy food. I have been away for most of this month and can't wait to settle back into routine again. On the other hand it has been well worth it, I have been all over Europe doing what I love to do, fighting, training and watching fighting!!! it is a tough old life but someone's got to do it.

Let's back track a bit, last weekend I was in Iceland accompanying Mr Mike Russell for his grappling super fight with world Ju Jitsu phenom Gunnar Nelson. Iceland is a very strange place, baron would describe it best. Coming into land all around was nothingness. Apparently there are only 300,000 inhabitants in Iceland, considerably less than in London, which equates to 3 people every sq KM. another observation, most of the men are huge. The behemoth that picked us up from the airport was 191kg's in weight, 2m5cm tall and only 18 years of age. "It hurts when I sleep but I like it because it means I am getting bigger!!" was a peach of a line from the baby monster. Mike's fight was due to be on at 9pm the Saturday night so we turned up at 730pm to prepare and get relaxed. The fight didn't start til almost midnight which was shite but Mike tookk it all in his stride. It was a spectacle of grappling skills displayed by both men. Gunner showed why he is widely rated as one of the best young Ju Jitsu talents in the world by capitilising on the briefest opportunity to take Mike's back and sink in the rear naked choke. Mike proved that he could more than hang with hte best and should definitely hold his head high. The future is bright for both guys. After a late night/early morning post fight drinking we trapsed off back to the airport to return home and snatch a night in our own beds!!!

At 0500 the next day my alarm sounded and my brief reconciliation with my home and my loved ones was over, up out the door and off to pick up the wagons for the MMA clinic trip to cagewarriors 39 in Ireland. After driving to Wales, hopping on the ferry and then getting back on the road our little convoy finally reached it's destination at just gone 11pm the same day. A long old day I'm sure you'll agree. The Irish leg of the journey was toughest, pitch black and windy roads combined with tiredness makes for a few nervy moments but we arrived in one piece. The week has gone by pretty quick,driving people and equipment around and rolling with various fighters, the MMA Clinic lads arrive tonight and tomorrow morning so it will be nice to have the crew around again. Chaos is starting to ensue as more people arrive and more shit needs doing and no one knows where they are going etc........ 2 more days and it will all be over. It's gonna be a blast, a stressful one but a blast all the same.

The 'Mo' has gone from strength to strength, I look like a fucking idiot and it turns out that I have a blond top lip, strange but true!!! I am really looking forward to next week for a number of reasons as previously mentioned but an added bonus will be shaving off the caterpillar!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

It's been a hectic 10 days since my last musings. I'll start with the dogs, Ruby tipped the scales at 20.8kg's today, considering that when we rescued her she was 12kg's and malnourished and hugely scared of life itself this is massive for me. Since poor Scraps passed away she has been very melancholy but now little Amber is on the scene she is looking happy again and bouncing around like all good boxers should. Amber is a delight, a truly affectionate and intelligent pup, she is full of beans and doesn't know how to take a backward step, they say dogs are like their owners!!! Her training is progressing nicely and she comes back when called, sits and generally listens pretty well, her toilet raining shows no sign of becoming acceptable but she is only 9 weeks old so I should give her a break.

I was in Ireland last weekend to work with Justin Robbins, head coach of the Boxing Clinic Cork, one of our sister gyms, we were sparring to help him prepare for his Nov 27th fight against Dec Williams on CageWarriors 39. Ohhhh my god what a painful weekend. we managed to dish out some lumps in the first sparring session and all that seemed to do was unleash a beast, me and Olly proceeded to get unceremoniously pounded for the rest of the weekend. Justin is ready for his fight and looking sharp and his hands carry natural power. The man is a machine and I look forward to cornering him next weekend.

This weekend my travels take me to Iceland of all places, where I will be hanging with Mr Michael Russell as he takes on Gunnar Nelson in a grappling superfight. I look forward to seeing Mike fight Gunnar as they are both supreme talents in the sport, I also look forward to seeing Iceland but not the cold weather.

My Movember effort is starting to take shape and is absolutely ridiculous, I have an almost entirely blond top lip, how did that happen??? can't wait to get rid of this thing, all for a good cause though, if you would like to sponsor me go to movember uk homepage and search for my name as an individual participant and give me some money!!!!

Puppies first night

Here it is, the first picture of my new pup!!! I was expecting last night to be a very up and down night, that being me getting up and down from my bed to soothe the crying, nervous pup. With trepidation I made my way to bed and lay half awake expecting to hear little Amber crying her head off, I must have dropped off as the next sound I heard was my alarm going off at 0500. I jumped straight up expecting the worst, puddles of pee or worse shit in poor Amber's crate. To my deep joy she had a dry night and peed as soon as I took her outside. An 8 week old pup going 7hrs without having an accident is awesome, very pleasing. The fact that she didn't cry all night is the biggest bonus though. I fed them breakfast and went to get ready for work and came back to a little package on the living room floor, my fault should have taken her out sooner after her meal. All good so far. Ruby has not taken to her yet which is a shame but it is early doors. Amber is full of life and leaps around the place with reckless abandon, chewing and pouncing on anything and everything, so much fun to have around!!!!

Heavenly Weekend

I am sitting at home with my 2 doggies and feel on top of the world. I have not long been back from the most relaxing weekend in the New Forest with Viv and Ruby doo. We set off Friday afternoon and managed to mostly avoid the mass exodus from the capital. We were making excellent time and must have been only 10 mins away from the hotel when a juggernaut decided to veer towards me and I had to swerve onto the grass verge a bit. Next thing you know I have a puncture on what ,I was to find out later, is known as 'Suicide Lane'. My car was un drivable and stopped just after a blind hill so the lunatics approaching at 80 odd mph couldn't see us til the last minute. It was hairy times but after an hour a lovely man from the RAC, Clive I think he was called, towed us to the hotel. We checked in and had a lovely evening meal and chilled out drinking wine and relaxing. The hotel was slap bang in the middle of the forest and was sooooo peaceful. Ruby made friends with a cow the next morning when we went for a walk amongst all the wild ponies. The weekend mainly involved relaxing, eating great, homely British grub and walking the dog. We were also blessed with 2 sunny days which was a bonus. Plenty of sleep too. Unfortunately it cost me £160 to get my car fixed, bloody thing is costing me a fortune of late. On the way home we drove to the breeders house to pick up the new pups, Viv's is a black one called Charlie and Amber is the most gorgeous brindle coloured girl. So far we have had no accidents in the house although Ruby has told poor Amber off a couple of times. Miserable old sod!!! The proof will be in the pudding as to how the night goes but I hope that Amber will remain as relaxed as she has to this point. Fingers crossed.

I am mega happy to have a new dogs but I still miss Scrappy and am not trying to replace him. He will always be my first ever dog and has a special place in my heart. I look forward to Ruby coming out of her shell again and being the confident and fun dog she was when Scraps was around. I also look forward to watching Amber and Charlie grow up together and chase each other, Lurcher's run so well and are a joy to watch in full flight. In other news my mo is looking ridiculous but it's all for charity so not to worry. It's been just what the doctor ordered this weekend and I feel recharged and ready to tackle my 5am start tomorrow.

I'm Back!!!!

It's been 18 months since I last posted on this blog. Much has happened and much has changed for the better and one thing for the worse. I have left the fire brigade, become a gym owner, got 2 dogs, scrappy and ruby, had 1 dog tragically killed in a car accident (Keep on running Scrappy!), been in a relationship been out of a relationship and back in it again. Watched MMA clinics spring up all over the gaff, watched young and not so young fighters appear from nowhere to take the UKMMA scene by storm. Been involved in 2 massive fight promotions, and am about to spend the rest of this month travelling to Ireland, Iceland and back to Ireland all in the name of fighting- Fucking great. I have made a whole host of new mates, lost touch with a few and got back in touch with a few. I am about to get a new dog, amber, a lovely brindle lurcher x lab!!! So basically it's all go and in the wise words of the great philosopher, Ronald MacDonald, I'm loving it!!!!

2008- It was a very good year!!

On reflection, 2008 has been one of the best years of my life so far. I have had a lot of success this year and can't think of too many negative events. Obviously there have been ups and downs, peaks and troughs, but they haven't been anywhere near as severe as they have in years gone by. In the wise words of Ronan Keating, "life is a roller coaster, you just gotta ride it". I have a feeling 2009 is going to be even more successful though.

2008 didn't get off to a brilliant start, whilst training for a fight I badly damaged my left ankle. It turned out that my ligaments were in bad way and I was out of serious action for 6 weeks. It is hard for me to not be able to train but I also couldn't work, life was extremely boring for a while. Still now my ankle is weaker than the other and lets me down from time to time. Other than that there have been no other negatives, a few fights got cancelled which is bloody annoying but not the end of the world. On the plus side I became a published journalist, I passed my driving test and got an opportunity to start coaching MMA/boxing. I made serious headway with my book, the folks finally got to live their dream and move to Spain and we are all fit and healthy. I am blessed with marvellous friends too and these have become even closer this year. I also managed to see a very old friend and resume contact with some others. Christmas was hassle free and thanks to a couple of people I was able to survive not having any of my family around and enjoy the down time, thanks, you know who you are!!! All in all a bloody good year. The one ongoing concern is the legal case with the Fire Brigade but that should be sorted very soon and there is more to life than money.

2009 is going to be huge, I will finish writing my book and hope to get it published. I am going to do more work with a MMA magazine and try to establish myself in that field. BMF will take advantage of the credit crunch and nick expensive gym's members which means more work for me. Watch this space for a new venue run by yours truly too. I hope to continue where I left off in 08 and let life's momentum take me higher and higher, If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times life is too short, it's gotta be lived and enjoyed. It's all about being happy!! 

It is my aim to make mine and all those I care about's years fantastic and successful, it's a big ask but I think I can do it.

Bah Humbug!!

So, the Christmas season is nearly over and has passed by very uneventfully for me!! This is by no means a complaint, infact I have loved the fact that I have had (almost) no one to please this festive period apart from myself!! This may sound selfish but it's been really relaxing to have a bit of time to myself to just relax and reflect on a great year. I have missed not spending time with my folks and my bro but I will be doing so soon and not under the banner of christmas. It is supposed to be a jolly time of year where one and all can enjoy the company of their nearest and dearest and have a break from the rigours of day to day life. For a lot of people who I have spoken to over the last few weeks it's been nothing but stress. Mad dashes for presents and crackers and turkeys. Constant cleaning and preparing for the influx of family and friends on the 'big' day. People are getting all hot under the collar to make sure it all goes down with a bang. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having some time off to chill. I also dread to think the amount of hard earned cash that has been spent in this time of financial crisis, it baffles me. Call me scrooge or whatever but I can't understand the love for this fake time of year. Christmas is for kids in my opinion and they should have the time of their lives but us adults and even teenagers should chill out with the whole yule tide festivities. Yes, have time with your loved ones. Yes, have a drink and eat some crappy food. Yes, put your feet up and do as little as possible. No, don't drive yourself to distraction with presents and cleaning and cooking otherwise by the time January comes you'll need a week off to get over it all.

My christmas day was awesome, I finished work t 9am and went for a nice long run , worked out in the gym at work and went home. Once home I put my feet up and watched TV, felt a bit tired so went to bed for a couple of hours. I woke up and didn't fancy getting out of bed so stuck a film on and relaxed in bed for another couple of hrs. I then went to a mates house and had a couple of beers, watched a film and played on the Wii. It was almost perfect, I pleased myself. I would have loved to have seen my family of course but I will be there in the next week so no dramas.

I have decided that from this year forth I will not allow christmas to become a stressful time, it should be a time to recharge the batteries after a long, hard year and enjoy the company of those you care about. Here's to stress free Christmas' from here on in.