A week off...

I've had a rather quiet week this week, because I had some minor surgery done on Monday and wasn't supposed to do much sports.
Just after the operation was finished, the medical assistant told me to remember that I shouldn't do any sports for the next 24hrs. I nodded and made an understanding face. I had already been at a MMA HIIT -class in the morning, so no problem. And Tuesday was supposed to be my recovery day anyway. About 20sec. later my surgeon came into the room and told me no sports for the next seven days. Whoa, weird dude say what?! I still nodded and made an understanding face, but when he left I threw a desperate look at the assistant. She came a little closer and told me to listen to my body, keep the stitches clean and dry and be careful. And that's what I did. I surprised myself a little, I didn't know I could be this sensible. On the other hand... had I ripped the stitches open, I'd probably have to spend a few weeks longer without doing sports.

But: we got a new practice model at our club. It's called MMA HIIT and is actually a normal HIIT (high intensity interval training), but the ingenious thing about it is that the warm up consists of MMA moves or moves that assist MMA training. I really like it, because not only do HIITs challenge your physical boundaries, but your mental boundaries, too. It's a little like running a (half) marathon: your head is screaming that you can't go any further (or do more reps) but your body is actually still good. So you need to step over the mental boundaries your head is setting. You give it your all, and by all I mean EVERYTHING you got. The aim is that you could not do a single rep more, even if your life depended on it. You don't save any energy, you go all in. And that's the beauty of it. By breaking these mental boundaries you actually achieve this athlete mindset that you can do everything even if it hurts like hell.
The other thing that makes HIITs so appealing, is the fact that the actual training is only about 8-12min long. Add a warm up and a cool down and you have a 30-45min training session and you're actually done. You don't have to do anything else for the day, because HIITs due to their intensity work up a high response in your body's hormonal system and they rev up your metabolism. This effect can last up to 24hrs after the training itself. So, if you got the possibility: try it.

Tomorrow the stitches are being removed and I'm almost back to normal again. I should probably be careful for a few more days so the scars don't open, but then we're back in the game!

MMA Team 300's Mikael Nyyssönen at Cage 23

The guy in the grey shorts is one of my club's professionals. I probably shouldn't show this video to my parents telling them that "Mom, dad, this is what I'm up to these days", but I like to watch MMA matches. It kind of motivates me (though I know it would/will be years till I'm as good). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB5eJZhl7zs

MMA - hell, yeah!

So, on Monday my MMA beginner's course started off with the demonstration of the several martial arts the club I'm training at teaches. There were so many people there that wanted to get in shape, wanted to start a new hobby, liked martial arts and it was just great. It was great that there are so many people out there that like this stuff, too. Nice to see that you are not alone with something, that you are not the only one.

I've been doing Muay Thai aka thai boxing for the last two years, but due to several changes at my old club and the training getting a little out of hand (at least that's how I felt), I lost interest in it. Or rather I started to fear training more than I looked forward to. Timo, our main/responsible coach at my new club, came to give an intensive course on different distances in combat one weekend. I learned more in those few hours than I had in the months before during regular training; he was the first one to say that you should never ever hit your partner with full force. I really started to like that guy as a trainer. So, when I heard that his club was moving from the outskirts of the city to the city centre (about 800m from my apartment), I decided to give martial arts another chance. But the fear/tiredness related to Muay Thai had grown too big and I decided to try out another sport in that field: Mixed Martial Arts. I always wanted to try it out, but...I feared my body couldn't take it. But these days I've become quite muscular and strong (and confident in what my body can and can't do), so I thought now was just the right time. This is how I ended up at the demonstration/introduction.

During the application process there were three other women applying for MMA (most females signed up for thai boxing). Today, at our first training session, there was only me. And about 20 guys. Whoohoo. Another male dominated sport I do. But it was fun and the guys were great. Plus, everybody knew me in the end, since I was the only girl. And who's to say I don't have a place in this world of fighting? There's a few women in UFC, Gina Carano or Ronda Rousey.

And not only are they good fighters, but they didn't lose their female charm and sexiness, either. They are cute, but pretty good at beating other people up. I think this could be me, too. Okay, I might be a little old to go pro, but at least I can overcome myself and prove to myself that I got what it takes to survive. I wouldn't be the first to die in the Hunger Games :D

Oh, and the best part? I really feel at home at my new club. The people there are so welcoming and nice and open that it's easy to feel at ease. I stopped worrying about all those things normally going on in my head, like: what if no one likes me? what if no one wants to be my partner? what if I'm all alone in this? The moment I stepped into that gym, it was just...fine. And it doesn't hurt that our club's secretary is rather sexy. :D just kidding. No, not only, he's really good looking, but that's besides the point, he's actually really nice, too. And that's what counts.
So, I guess thanks already for a great first training and a successful introduction to my new club MMA Team 300.