When the working week finished last Friday it was the start of a busy, tiring forty-eight hours. Friday evenings are always a rush, getting in from work and getting my training stuff ready for an hour of Tang Soo Do followed by an hour of kickboxing, and this past Friday it was also the local Rock Night. So straight after training I rushed home, got clean and changed and headed out again. Unusually for me I had a few beers (yes, it is unusual!) and had a great night overall, lots of fun stuff happened, and despite spilling most of a pint all over my own legs – proving my circus skills with someone elses drinks – I went home very happy, a little drunk and very tired.

A few hours sleep later and it was off to a field on a hill to stand in the bitter wind for an hour of dog agility. Well, it should have been an hour but the trainer didn’t realise the time and went on for an additional half an hour. I was so glad when she realised and brought the class to a halt because the combination of a thick coat and running about with a hangover had me feeling a little the worse for wear. No time to rest yet though, it was back to home for an afternoon of housework, then a change of clothes and out to a Fight Night up the road.

The Battle Of The Celts is a locally organised event which runs annually, and every year manages to attract bigger names and more fighters. This year saw a smattering of World Champions in the mix including Jacey Cashman, Drew Neal, Robbie Hughes and Francis Miller. Once the kids fights were out of the way the good stuff started. The main Kumite competition was fought over about four rounds, intermixed with one-off bits and pieces like a Muay Thai demonstration by a local club and their multiple-world champion woman fighter and a full contact kickboxing match (which had quite a bit of blood flowing). It was a great evening’s entertainment, but meant another after-midnight finish before the drive home and a few hours kip again.

I was up at an absurdly early time for a Sunday to get myself together, get my sparring gear and have a bite to eat before heading back up to the same venue as the previous night for a two hour seminar given by Robbie Hughes! It’s always nice when you get the chance to train with a big name, and having missed out on the Chris Crudelli seminar the week before I wasn’t about to miss this chance. Robbie is primarily a points fighter so obviously the session was based around those sort of drills. We worked some nice combinations and most helpful of all to me was the work on creating chances and openings. We did a little sparring afterwards, which was great as it was a bit of a one-off chance for me to stand toe-to-toe with someone of his ability. I don’t think I did too badly, but I think I’d have known all about it if he’d gone in on me seriously .

As much as I just wanted to go home and spend the rest of the day nursing the carpet burns I now had all over the soles of my feet, it wasn’t to be. More housework got done and then it was back over to the academy for another two hours of training. To say we weren’t really at 100% that evening would be fair, the weekend had taken its toll on everyone and the fight squad training for the second hour wasn’t very dynamic. Getting home and in the shower for a good soak was absolute bliss, but typically once I got in bed I couldn’t get to sleep for the life of me. Today I’m a total zombie, incapable of human interaction let alone much else. If I didn’t know better I’d swear I was getting another cold… I’d better not, not this soon before my grading!