Got kicked in the face during sparring. Oops.

So the good news is my cardio is pretty good for this next fight.  Started today's class with a good run, did four rounds of padwork and started sparring.  I lost count of the number of rounds, but it was something insane like 7.  I sparred the first five with Michael, one of the Thai trainers who is a pro boxer, we only hit around 40% power but we would go at it and trade shots back and forth non-stop.  It was exhausting but I loved it.  I also sparred with a new guy from somewhere in Europe.  He had great technique, reach and kicks but since he just got back into training after a year off, he would gas out in the middle of the round.

I thought it was all over...but then Chon, the head trainer said, okay one last round.  And this time it was with  him.  I've sparred with Chon a few times before and was always surprised how good his technique is and how difficult of a time I have hitting him even though he's 6 inches shorter than me and literally half my weight.  I'd like to blame it on being exhausted from seven rounds of sparring previous, but more than anything, I was frustrated on not being able to really get in on him.  His kicks are amazing, especially his front kick.  He'd also come out of no where with superman punches and catch me in the jaw.  Then out of no where, BOOM!  I never saw the head kick coming.  They say that it's the kicks that you don't see that knock you out.  It was completely my fault.  I should have had my hands up, but I didn't.  Unfortunately, I caught his toe in my left eye and for the first 30 seconds or so, I was afraid that I had went blind.

Everything went black, I shut my eyes afraid of opening them, and I dropped down to me knees.  If it had been a real fight, I don't think I'd be able to recover from an eight count, and would have been knocked out. I asked for some ice, reaching out blind with my hands.  Poured some cold water over my eye and minutes went by with me thinking, "Fuck" this is bad.  Luckily, after a bit of ice and time, my eye is fine.  I'm going to keep icing it tonight so it doesn't swell shut as that'll be terrible for my upcoming fight in three days.  But maybe it was a good reminder for me to keep my fucking hands up no matter how exhausted I am.

I'm grateful for the injury no being worse than it was.  I'm grateful for great sparring practice and my health.  Time to rest up, as today will be my last hard training day before my fight on Tuesday.  Wish me luck.

P.S. Thank to to my good buddy Nic for reminding me how important it is to show gratitude.  He keeps a gratitude journal and writes down everything he is grateful for and I started doing the same.


Warm Regards,

Johnny
www.facebook.com/MyFightCamp
www.12WeeksinThailand.com