Saturday, May 15, 2010

Leading up to the fight

Last Friday strike to the solar plexus from Matt H has really shook me. I never felt so much pain from a hit and I have been hit pretty hard. If i get hit like that today I am going down. My husband and others are saying that it is not likely that I get hit like that from a girl, but the fact of the matter is, I can hit that hard, so can other women. If I  can remember a strategy today it is to strike hard at the solar plexus.

It is funny how that particular strike has been what I have been training  for this last month. It was the same hit that brought sensei down in Canada. So when she came home, the fighters did conditioning really hard. She certainly loved hitting me there, really hard.  She would pound that spot till my eyes watered, then she would keep going. Every once in a while I would ask her to hit somewhere else and she would, but always her fists would seek out the middle of my torso.


We have a new fighter that I am worried about. He is really new and wants to fight so bad. He is really in the learning stage. I am afraid he may get frustrated. I have sparred against him twice this last week.

The first time I sparred, he wound up covering up his head and hunching over. I stopped hitting him and told him that if he did that in a fight, I would be awarded a half point. He said he was faking me out. There is no faking in kyokushin. We started to spar again and he did it again. I talked to Shihan about it.

The second time I sparred him, i was trying to be quick and aggressive. I didn't hit him hard, just fast and a lot. He got frustrated, stopped fighting, turned his back and walked away. Kenny was on the side line coaching. He told him to never turn his back. I talked to him too about it. We started again and he did it again. I think Kenny was mad that time though. I could hear anger in his voice.

I believe the second sparring behavior was from exhaustion. We were rotating partners every two minutes. The full contact fighters are jacked up. The guys, these past few weeks have been going pretty hard on him too. Not picking on him, by any means, just been hard when sparring like 80 - 90% power on each other. When the white belt comes up to fight, they are 80 - 90 % on him too. Too hard for a beginner.

Monday after full contact, I was asked to fill out my application for the fight, Should have been done a long time ago, but the apps just weren't at the dojo. So that is when Shihan says make sure that I circle Full Contact so he can keep the apps straight. I said that I wasn't fighting full, but semi. He said that I was fighting full. All of the guys were told a month or so ago that they were fighting full contact. They and Sensei kept asking me if I was going to. I kept saying no, that Shihan said I wasn't ready.

Shihan telling me 4 months ago that I needed more fights before I could fight full contact was a relief. I didn't have the time or the inclination to do the training necessary to be a full contact fighter. The inclination part is because I have 2 kids being homeschooled and exhausting myself before the day starts, makes a hard day. Then I would have to train at night too. Just not enough time in the day. I have done that kind of stuff before and I know what over training does to me.

After sparring on Monday, I was also left pretty discouraged. I hit Matt H in the face with the palm of my hand. I fought against Ryan D and just couldn't seem to catch my breath. Sensei said to give myself a break. That I had been training for three hours. But that isn't the thing and I know it.

I have terrible stamina. I get spent really quick. I think I may even hold my breath. My first fight, last fall was semi-contact and I was so spent. I was more disappointed that it went into overtime, rather than losing.

Sensei has been telling me about the fighters I am facing. They are all black belts who have been studying for years. One girl went to Hungary last year for the world championships. Another girl she said, has a great spirit, she won't back down no matter what. Then she went on to tell me more, but I kind of blanked it out. I just couldn't hear any more. I feel like I am not ready for this.

Had Shihan told me that I was fighting full contact, my training would have been much different. I would have done the push-ups and sit-ups and the 40 katas a day, as well as the rest of the full contact training that Shihan says FC fighters need to do. I would have ran a half hour a day. I would have stayed on Insanity because of the stamina issues I have.

I feel like I am not trained right for full contact. I am only a lowly blue belt, 8th kyu, up against 1st dans. I am not physically strong enough and i lack the stamina to stand up in the ring for three minutes. I will do my best. I won't back down and I just hope I can go the distance.

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