Train like crazy, rest like lazy.

Sometimes, specially at young age we think that we are indestructible.

Sometimes we are just toughening up ourselves by constantly pushing over the limit.
There is nothing wrong with pushing that little bit extra and and trying harder to get stronger, better and closer to our goal. But all that should be done with great respect to our body and brain. 

You wanna be like the Gladiator you have to work like him, work hard when is time for it and rest well to recover.

Look at some of the deadliest and most crafty creatures on the earth, born fighters.  Lions, tigers, wolves, crocodiles, snakes, sharks, hawks.
Doesn't matter if they are on the land, in the water or even in the sky.
They all understand one thing: lack of rest my cost them loose of the opportunity or even loose of life.
It might sound quite dramatically but I believe it is pretty good explanation how you should see yourself as another creature on this earth.
I have always been a hard headed person, specially when it comes to work and training I would always challenge myself and give that extra push.
I have met people working and training even harder, (training hard doesn't mean doing more than person next to you, it means crossing the boundaries of your own abilities, executing till collapse then rise and do it again).
In fighting game and many others that's the way of getting better and stepping up another level. One thing you cannot forget is got to give yourself reward after hard work. Nice rest, hot bath,good healthy, nutritious meal and good night of sleep,that's some of my favourite treats.
Otherwise your body is going to refuse cooperation, your brain is going to switch off.
You will be lacking of concentration, motivation, speed, power and generally energy.
There is some things that u cannot cheat in this world,not for long term.
You cannot cheat the nature.

GMMA Academy concept.

GMMA-GuruMuayThai and Gukwoone

mixed martial arts Academy. 

As the word "Academy"clearly says, our aim is to educate.

We help our students learn new skills while they improve they physical,mental and spiritual abilities. 

What we wanna spread around is way beyond just kicking and punching.

We passing over values that we learnt along with our martial arts education. 

The number of values is countless.

Discipline, respect, humbleness and self confidence, hard and smart work along with never give up attitude, working as a individual and working in the team,creativity and constant improvement . Those few I believe are most important ones in modern world for all of us no matter what age or gender we are.

Doing all this and knowing that this way we can help someone improve or even change they life is what drives me to work, train and learn even more.

Everything I do, I do it to become better fighter and instructor.
The reason why I wanna do this is that I will be able to help society and  hopefully some of my students will continue my work and help more people.
Just like I am passing along what I have learnt from Sir and all my coaches.
Our motto is "Sporting Inspiring Greatness".

Working on the techniques.

It is "silence after the storm".
Before i will start preparing for next fight i can spend a bit of extra time on learning new and shaping up other techniques.

Concentrate on GuruMuayThai gradings patents,improve my Gukwoone skills.
Work more precise on my boxing footwork and and drill the punches to perfection.
Morning sessions i spend some time on kicks (practising more of side,push and back kicks).
This time is not about working on the fitness and using all the strenghts.
It is about working on the weaknesses and making adjustments.
I can also spend bit more time on the stretching which my body definitely needs.
Sometimes this kind of training could be harder than strenght and conditioning workouts, for a simple reason:
you realise that there is still some gaps you need to cover up and the way to fix them is only one.
Get out off your comfort zone and try harder.
When you working on your weaknesses and correcting your mistakes or trying new things you realise that don't matter how good you are there is always some more work to be done.
What i believe is beauty of it;you can never say, you are done!

Active Recovery.

Physical,technical,tactical and mental preparation for the fight,
dropping weight and going through different emotions.
All of that takes some energy out of you.
That's way your body and brain need good rest after.
As they say "Bow cannot be tense all the time", so  is good if you can
allow yourself for a bit of recovery.
First thing i have reached for after the fight was bottle of orange juice,that's how i celebrated great performance. I had a good long sleep and great breakfast with my wife and couple of friends out in the garden.
Sunday afternoon we had monthly NSP meeting in central London.
Where as usual in very nice atmosphere i have learnt more about products and the way they could help.
Got back home for nice homemade dinner and long walk with my wife and dog.
This way i got ready for another busy and exciting week.
Monday flew so quick;PT lesson,business meeting,quick lunch with my wife,leafleting.
Just about made it for boxing training where most of the fighters were recovering after fights as well.
Training was more technical, with an idea of correcting mistakes from recent fights.

Tuesday i got completely back to routine,morning jog,training,Gukwoone,GuruMuayThai.
Feeling good,feeling focused,feeling motivated.

Fight day

Saturday 17/05/2014 5am.
I've woke up and hardly got of the bed.
Didn't go sleep till late last night.
Couldn't have any breakfast simply because my weight is just on the edge.
So packed my bag and went outside,where two of my team Mates has shortly arrived to pick me up. We drove to London Euston station where we met the rest of the Boys and our coach. We've took the train directly to Birmingham International.  Having some catch up chat on the train, travel time passed so quick. Arrived at Birmingham hour and ten minutes later, place was flooded with athletes, bodybuilders and all sorts of fitness enthusiasts.
Became to feel the atmosphere even more.
Got our passes and went inside the venue, which was huge; lots off different stalls with supplements, healthy and pro workout food, training clothing and equipment,PT  courses and specialised medical advice points.
In between all of that we have seen many different competition areas of the disciplines like; Weight lifting, bench press, strong man competition and many others.
There was Hatton's promotion place where you could get some boxing training tips and advises.
Lots of different martial arts promotion areas where you could witness live competition on really high level.
I've seen taekwo

ndo, Brazilian jujitsu and thaiboxing sectors I am sure there was some more that I haven't seen as I have concentrated on our fights preparations.
We checked the weight, did the medicals and had some food.
As My team colleague fight was number two we helped him to prepare straight away,got him wormed up and made sure we got everything we gonna need during the fight  in place.

After his bout there was another nineteen fights before mine.

We had about three hours so i have lied down on the side,allowed myself a bit more rest and allowed my body to digest the food.

An hour before i have started moving around drinking a bit more water and started focusing on the fight.

I had strong and technically good opponent,that made me enjoy the fight a lot i did feel that i was in control.

I have fallowed instructions from my corner.

I was very pleased with my coaches comments during and after fight it made me believe even more that my training and fighting is going in right direction.

Another great fight,another great experience for me and GuruMuayThai Team,Gukwoone Team and GMMA Academy team.

My success is our success and our success is my success.

Preparation days.

Gukwoone, thaiboxing, boxing, taekwondo, whatever I wouldn't do last couple of weeks I do it with that extra push of the speed work in preparation for Saturdays fight.
Luckily both taekwondo and boxing teams are in preparation for the fights so I can use it for my own needs.
This morning I've meet Sir for some extra training.

 I have started of long jog then did some sprints, long stretching and shadowboxing while waiting for Sir to turn up.

As I was already wormed up when Sir has came, he has moved to pad work straight away.

He has tested some of my movements,that he thought i am going to need in this particular occasion.

Did some adjustments, thought me few useful techniques and gave some tips.

I feel honoured and privileged to be coached by Sir.

His knowledge,experience,devotion and passion put him in my eyes as an authority.

It is important that fighter should have that believe in his coach and fallow his instructions without doubt and fear.

So I have took on board everything Sir has said and moved on with my schedule.

Met my wife for lunch,picked up more GuruMuayThai Tshirts on the way back to East London.

Did bit of work around the house,walked my dog and left for boxing session.

Which was once again full of speed work.

It was a great sunny day full of hard training.

I fell like once again i have earn my sleep.

Taekwondo tournament.

Sunday Morning,5 am.
Quick bowl of porridge with spoon of honey and chopped banana.
Packed my lunch,dinner,protein shake and bag of mixed nuts as a snacks.
Double checked all equipment and left home heading for East London meeting point of our team.
Coach full of fighters and their relatives plus few  fully packed cars left at 6:30 am.
All going to participate in the "Capital Open",British Taekwondo championship.
I really like this kind of trips as they are always full of energy plus we getting to know each other better.
Everyone has his own way of preparation for the fights, some listening to the music,some having a nap,some socialising with others talking about experience in the past or plans and strategies for the day.
It all works individually.
For me it was a fun day,testing myself in different environment,learning and experiencing something new.
When we got to the venue we have settled almost straight away.Me and couple more athletes did the weight in,most of the team has done it day before.
Coaches had got the plan of the tournament.
Me and all the seniors got to wait till after lunch,kids fighting first.
So this what we have concentrated on helping all the kids get ready for they fights.
Seeing them going thru different emotions; before the fight and after, winning or loosing showes me once again how great power of preparation for the life comes from martial arts and competition like this.
After lunch me and other seniors started worming up and stretching more serious.
My first fight i have won in the first round by my opponents coaches submission.
Second fight i have fought some very tall guy,( I thought i am gonna need the ladder to kick him in the head :-),once again it showes I should drop the wait another few kilos.
Second fight has also finished before the time on my favour by outpointing the rival.
I call it very successful day!
Learn more about martial arts,taekwondo,children psychology and much more.
And finally came back home as the Capital Open champion 2014 (under 80kg).
Great thank you for help in preparation and coaching to our team leaders and instructors.

Now i am going to use  it  my thaiboxing and Gukwoone development as a fighter and instructor.
Cant  wait for next taekwondo competition!

New challenge!

If you keep on doing this same things, you are going to stay this same.
To make a changes, to improve, to get where you wanna be.
You got to put some action!
You got to set up your goals,  educate yourself, create your plan and make it work.
You cannot be afraid of changes, you got to come out off your comfort zone.
Every new challenge stimulates your brain,teaches you how to adopt when the changes come.

I have always been trying new sports. Different martial arts and many others.
Challenging myself and being curious.
Adding up experience believing I will benefit from that in the future.
There is still so much more I wanna try!
This Sunday I've got opportunity to try myself in taekwoondo competition "Capital Open",just outside London.
I have been practising taekwoondo for few years (on and off), mainly to improve my kicks.
I have never compete in taekwoondo tournament before. It is going to be different experience to what I am used to.
No punches to the head and a lot off explosive leg work in a tournament mood, what means I  might end up having few fights on the day.
My thaiboxing and Gukwoone training surely is going to pay off! :-)

I am going there with great  full off great and experienced fighters

It is going to be fun.

As much as i wanna put the best possible performance i am sure we going to enjoy it!

My little Thailand.

Morning jog,meditation, breakfast sprints, pad work and kickboxing sparring with one of my students,homemade dinner and relaxing while filling up my diary and documents.
Boxing training with lots off sparring then quick snack on the bus to central London where I am going to finish off with some thaiboxing sparring...
It was ones again very good session.
I have sparred few guys I never sparred before.
What is always interesting and challenging experience.
I do enjoy my life as a fighter and instructor!
I like to think that I've got my "little Thailand" right here, right now.
Training and recovery, working your body along with your brain.
Improving yourself while helping others.
That's how I see ideology of thaiboxing and Thai culture. 

That's how I wanna live! 

Your brain is your weapon.

 As i have mentioned in my previous post,my actual training is divided in two:
technique and accuracy,speed and conditioning.

Where speed and conditioning are the main part of preparation for my next thaiboxing fight.
Wanna push myself over the limit, stimulate my brain so the only two things can stop me during the fight ;bell or referee.
Of course, your body has to be prepared.
But it is the inner voice of yours, that you to mainly work on.
It can be your worst enemy or the biggest ally.
In between my busy schedule I've got ups and downs just like everyone of us.
Sometimes I feel like my training, my routine and even some extra workouts not having results that i would wish for. Sometimes my body and brain telling me they need some rest. But as i know when you rest someone else is training hard to get better.
I am searching for some inspiration,trying to get results with nutrition or more sleep.
The truth is that all you got to remember is your motive.
Why you doing all this, why you choose this way and where you going to.
That's the only way to stay focused and keep on moving towards your goals.
Keep on moving through your tiredness, laziness, all of the excuses and any kind of weakness.
Preparation for the fight and fight itself has exactly the same principles as any other challenges people make in they lives.
Business activities, studying, building family, dropping weight, climbing the mountain, or building a house.
Every body's path is different, all of us got different challenges in our lives.
Where ever I am with my life sport has always helped me, kept me together and made me improve.
That's one of the reasons (very important one), why I wanna recommend and promote sports to everyone.

Grading preparation.

Last three days were very technical with some extra conditioning and speed workouts in between.
Sir has brought couple off plans out to life.
One off them was part of our Thai boxing grading schedule and patents.
My job is to make sure that all students including myself are ready for the grading.
That's why i have to spend some extra time on practising and drilling movements which Sir has passed on to me.

Also i have to fallow my routine and  put some additional work on speed and conditioning due to Thai boxing fight coming up in two weeks time.
Doing all this and many other job related things together needs a good planning.
Day is to short!!!
That's why i love what i do; because it isn't only kick and punch game, it isn't only about fancy moves.
It is far more than that. Martial arts in my understanding is a combination of physical,mental and ethical aspects which are defined by beautiful and practical moves.
Another reason why I love it is because even that i am constantly learning and still trying to get more experience i can share what i know and help others on my way.

Importance of the right nutrition.

Wednesday was another great active day;

 Morning routine, meeting with Sir (my Coach), then few businesses related activities.
All that was slowed down by second day of tube strike and  extremely busy roads.
Evening boxing session, once again, very progressive.
One of our routine before the training starts and after it finishes is checking our weight.
So you monitor on daily bases how much you weight and how much you are able to drop after the session.
According to my height i should drop few kilos of my walking about weight to get more advantage.
I do eat healthy and quite regularly, but I believe that I have to educate myself more about nutrition.
I have to try different ways to see how my body reacts as each one of us is different.

As they say: what works for John my not work for Krystian.
I do ask questions I read books,  magazines and find some materials on the Internet about diet and supplements. I found it really interesting and beneficial to my life and would love to help others the right way too. Instead of telling my students kick and punch,run,squat,press ups.

I wanna be able to cover all aspects of healthy,active and progressive lifestyle.
I do believe right nutrition should be treated as a part of your training.
Not as something separate.
(One of my colleagues bodybuilders has told me once: "I train about 4-5 hours a day, half of that time I spend in the kitchen").
You don't have to become to crazy, but is good to have a right balance in what you eat.
"Eat to train, not train to eat".
While ago I have been introduced to company producing and distributing organic supplements called NSP.
Nature's Sunshine Products.
I haven't fall in love with NSP straight away.

I wasn't sceptic either. But needed time for research and watched them from the distance.

What is so special about them is that they are 100%  natural,organic and created to help not to make money only.

Tried some of they key products and really liked it.
It works great for me.

I have decided to learn more about bigger range of products and company itself. 

Today I do take different NSP products on a daily bases.

Products like:proteins,omega 3,probiotics,multivitamins and magnesium,there is many more i have tried but i believe these are essentials for my needs right now.

I also became distributor,what gives me some discounts and full support in further education about nutrition,products and company.

This afternoon I have participated another great meeting organised by some experienced sport and sport related specialist.
Now on my way for thaiboxing sparring session. 

And planing to finish it of with some power workouts.