One fight out of the way and I suppose I should really make a start on thinking about the next one. Way back in 2005 when I started doing Thai boxing I always intended to fight but I knew it would take a long time to get to the level where I would be able to. When I watched my fight with my instructor on Wednesday he said it was a good effort for a first fight and that my next one should be amateur Thai rules with full contact, which means sweeps, leg catches and full clinching will be allowed. I’m quite a strong grappler so it’ll be good being able to do it properly. Amateur rules mean I’ll be wearing head and shin pads, but no chest pad. Full contact means there will be a chance of knock outs and cracked bones, but I knew what I was getting into.
I’ve put my name down to fight again and suggested probably September would be a good time for my next one when I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on at work. Training to fight is hard work and it was quite handy that I was a redeployee in May so I didn’t actually have much to do. I also want to do our end of year show in December. I originally wanted to do it at the end of 2007 but things didn’t quite work out. Last year’s bike accident put the kibosh on me fighting for a whole and overall set me back about 3 – 6 months but now I’m a lot fitter and stronger than I was even 6 months ago.
I’m planning on fighting at cruiserweight which for Thai boxing is in the range 80 – 86 kg and which my instructor agrees is the right weight class for me, so I’ll need to lose a couple more kilos, but the days of needing to lose weight for my health are long gone. Taking a look at people in their late 20s/early 30s who do the same kind of job as me suggests that now is the time to take action to avoid the worst excesses of middle-aged spread. I think it’s safe to say that the habits you have in your 30s and when your career is kind of settled tend to stay with you. After what I’ve done over the last few years I really don’t want to go back to how things were. Last weekend I bought a new suit and was debating whether to get the trousers in a 34″ or 36″. Had to get a 42″ jacket because a 40″ was too tight around the chest and shoulders. In the past it would have been 48″ for both trousers and jacket.