Video from my fight: Johnny vs. Jomerawe (Chiang Mai)

It was my fifth fight, and definitely my hardest.  It wasn't the most beautiful, yet I felt most prepared.  It turns out that being able to run 10k or a sub 8 minute mile has nothing to do with having good cardio in the ring if you don't pace yourself.  It also turns out that even if you have beautiful punches and kicks in padwork and on the bags, leather and sand don't hit back.  Everything is different in a real fight especially if your opponent is taller and more experienced with 55+ fights verses your lonely 4.

I fought my heart out, and don't have any serious injuries.  At the end of the day, that's really all I can ask for.   Here's the video, I hope you guys enjoy it.  But trust me, you have no idea how exhausting it truly is, and how much even checking those kicks hurt unless it's you in there.  I'll give you a hint though, it's similar to blocking a wooden baseball bat with your shin.  Enjoy! =)


 

Make sure you watch it in 720p HD

After my fight, I went out and had my first drink in over 3 months.  It was hard not drinking over New Years Eve and especially hanging out with friends on weekends when they open a bottle of Whiskey.  But it was worth it.  My cardio and overall fitness improved greatly from not drinking, and I was able to come to Thailand and train with the minimal savings I had while I finished writing the book.  But this first glass of Whiskey and Soda was like heaven on my lips.  A big thank you to the random Australian guy that bought it for me, I didn't know him, but he had bet on my fight and won so he insisted.

That night when I finally got home, my ankle was swollen to the size of a tennis ball.  My shins were black and blue and for the first time in my life I have a black eye.  Ice and Tiger Balm have been my best friend.  To be honest, I went into the fight with too much ego as most fighters do.  Part of it is a good thing, if you didn't 100% believe you were going to win, you shouldn't be entering the ring with a trained fighter in the first place. But I learned something extremely valuable.  I need to fucking relax and pace myself instead of trying to knock the guy's head off with every swing.  After the first round, I was exhausted.  I didn't have time to warm up before the fight, which I regretted, but mainly it was just because I punched myself out too quickly.  By the end of the second round, I wanted out.  This is something that every fighter goes though, but no one ever talks about.  But at some point of every fight, someone wants out.  They wished they never stepped in the ring, or in my case, I decided  that I never want to fight again.

Luckily, by the 3rd round bell, I had properly warmed up and caught my breath.  I took control of my adrenaline and decided not to make any life long decisions while in the middle of a fight, but just in case this was going to be my last, I wasn't going to give up.  I decided to give it my all and turn up the pressure on the guy. I left my heart in the ring, and changed it up by adding in knees when my punches and kicks weren't enough.  I didn't throw nearly enough elbows even though my opponent threw at least ten.  I had the stupid idea ingrained that it was somehow disrespectful by some comment I read online somewhere, in retrospect it was most likely written by someone who has never stepped into the ring himself.

At the end of the day, I learned a lot about myself, the sport of Muay Thai and how hard it is to be a fighter. I've decided to ask for another fight a month from now, and hopefully it was just the ring rust of not having a fight for 18 months prior to this.  I've learned that even though it's good to be aggressive and keep going forward, and to go for the knockout.  But there's a time and place for it, and it's not every second of the fight from the first sound of the bell.  I'm planning on fighting more like a Thai next time and taking it a bit easier in the first round focusing more on combos and techniques instead of brute force and power.  I'm going to continue to lose weight and train hard.  This is the reason why I'm in Thailand, and as crazy as it sounds, even with all of the physical pain and mental anguish fighting brings me, Muay Thai keeps me humble.  Fighting keeps me realistic, and training makes me happy.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported My Fight Camp by purchasing a copy of "12 Weeks in Thailand: The Good Life on the Cheap"  I'm happy to announce that a portion of all future sales will go to an Education Non-Profit that I highly believe in, DonorsChoose.org where charitable donations go straight to what teachers need for their students.


 Warm Regards,


Johnny @ My Fight Camp.

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