For those of you who watched the boxing match and are wondering about the Brian the brain fight name, it was not entirely by choice. As I have unfortunately grown accustom, many people tend to spell my name wrong. Even the west, spell check does not catch the Brian mispelled as brain. In the east its even worse. So all the fight materials, posters, and flyers given out before the match have a nice photo of me (taken about 5 minutes after I woke up with no knowledge ahead of time) and the name Brain prominently underneath. So the fight announcer thought it would be better to just run with it and announce me as Brian "the brain" Long. What can you do?
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Something I wrote before the match, 12/23/2012
I wrote this in my travel journal while at dinner before the match. It is interesting looking back on it the day after. All the anxiety gone replaced with contentment, a little pride and satisfaction that I actually learned something over these years of training.
Sitting at dinner before the fight, how do I feel? Anxious, nervous, proud... What is anxious to me? In the center of my chest there is a ball, a sphere of unpleasantness. Like a pressure on my heart and stomach in a way it feels external, unnatural, like it shouldn't be there but is. It is not nausea, although it could be. It is not painful. It is wrong. It should not be there. It is a weight, a heaviness, that lean's on the heart making it work a little harder, a little faster. My hands and muscles are tense despite the almost 2 days of no real exercise, the first time in more than a month. Breathing is slower, deeper, but slightly strained. As if to counter the sphere in my chest I have to concentrate more on my breathing to balance out. The ball in my chest leaning on my lungs. Not pushing, that to me denotes presence or intent, this is just there existing in a place it shouldn't Tension across the whole of my body as it prepares for what is coming. Yet the time has not arrived yet. There is no need, it should be gone. Often on the night of my matches in the past a happy calm and a smile come over me. The tension is gone for a fleeting window before the match starts and then... blank. I always seem to need to get hit once in the face before I can let go of the tension, forget the fear and just let the training and my body take over for me. I only hope that happens before my leg gets chopped out. Then again, maybe that will be all I need. All the hours of training, distilled down into 15 minutes or less The heart thumbing in bed the night before as endless scenarios go through my head. Absent through the day only to manifest right when I need the mind to be at ease to drift off. The ability, the need to control the fear that the fight brings with it, that's one of the main reasons I fight. To be able to face the anxiety, control it, put it away and know that I can what needs to be done.
Sitting at dinner before the fight, how do I feel? Anxious, nervous, proud... What is anxious to me? In the center of my chest there is a ball, a sphere of unpleasantness. Like a pressure on my heart and stomach in a way it feels external, unnatural, like it shouldn't be there but is. It is not nausea, although it could be. It is not painful. It is wrong. It should not be there. It is a weight, a heaviness, that lean's on the heart making it work a little harder, a little faster. My hands and muscles are tense despite the almost 2 days of no real exercise, the first time in more than a month. Breathing is slower, deeper, but slightly strained. As if to counter the sphere in my chest I have to concentrate more on my breathing to balance out. The ball in my chest leaning on my lungs. Not pushing, that to me denotes presence or intent, this is just there existing in a place it shouldn't Tension across the whole of my body as it prepares for what is coming. Yet the time has not arrived yet. There is no need, it should be gone. Often on the night of my matches in the past a happy calm and a smile come over me. The tension is gone for a fleeting window before the match starts and then... blank. I always seem to need to get hit once in the face before I can let go of the tension, forget the fear and just let the training and my body take over for me. I only hope that happens before my leg gets chopped out. Then again, maybe that will be all I need. All the hours of training, distilled down into 15 minutes or less The heart thumbing in bed the night before as endless scenarios go through my head. Absent through the day only to manifest right when I need the mind to be at ease to drift off. The ability, the need to control the fear that the fight brings with it, that's one of the main reasons I fight. To be able to face the anxiety, control it, put it away and know that I can what needs to be done.
VIctory, 12/24/12
Victory. 3rd round knockout by way of elbows to the head. Fight was a lot different than i was expecting. All those thoughts go through your head before the fight. What could happen? all the things that could be hurt or go wrong? a couple hours before the fight everything cleared and i felt so much better. it seems after each fight the time before the fight that i start having fun gets longer, from a couple minutes to a couple hours. It would be nice if it could start from when I accept the fight.
Right now the two most painful things are my thumb from a punch and my elbow from when I bashed against my opponents head a couple times. I am happy, I should be able to run tomorrow. Not that im going to, but that the body parts needed are able to function should i wish to do so.
I feel great, but at some level it would have been nice to have a more challenging match. I felt in control from the start and other than a few moments I felt in control and not worried about what he would do, but thinking about how i wanted to move and how to react to his movements.
Also my first knockout. a couple in sparring, but usually by way of the body. All my fights before have either gone the distance or ended by way of submission. I was starting to wonder if i had it in me to knockout someone. This is fight number 8. With a combined MMA and kickboxing record of 5-2 with one exibition that I dont want to talk about. Now I am looking forward to getting back into the ground game and the MMA game.
I feel great.
Right now the two most painful things are my thumb from a punch and my elbow from when I bashed against my opponents head a couple times. I am happy, I should be able to run tomorrow. Not that im going to, but that the body parts needed are able to function should i wish to do so.
I feel great, but at some level it would have been nice to have a more challenging match. I felt in control from the start and other than a few moments I felt in control and not worried about what he would do, but thinking about how i wanted to move and how to react to his movements.
Also my first knockout. a couple in sparring, but usually by way of the body. All my fights before have either gone the distance or ended by way of submission. I was starting to wonder if i had it in me to knockout someone. This is fight number 8. With a combined MMA and kickboxing record of 5-2 with one exibition that I dont want to talk about. Now I am looking forward to getting back into the ground game and the MMA game.
I feel great.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Koh Lanta, 12/19/2012
Not much has changed over the last week. I am still training twice a day, usually. Last week I was pulled down a bit by what appears to be over-training and fatigue. I took a day off and tried to get some rest. But I still dont feel 100%. I cant shake the sore throat, a result from swollen lymph nodes, or the mild headache. I think a solid 3 days of rest would do the trick, but I am supposed to fight on Sunday, in 4 days. So the hope now is that training and skill can overcome a little fatigue. I know that you never get to fight one hundred percent, the nature of the training guarantees that you will have some injury nagging you when you step into the ring. Still doesnt make it less frustrating. This time physically I feell pretty good. Few bumps and bruises, some stiffness here and there but overall my body is good. Just my immune system trying to keep up with the pace of the training schedule.
I am still debating whether I want to cut the mohawk back for the fight. It treated me well through my matches in China. But this is the first time I have let my hair grow out and would mostly likely have to cut it off if I want to find a job... With the fatigue from training, it has kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm to do much else.
After the fight on Sunday I am hoping to be able to put down one more day of diving, but that will be dependent on how I am feeling. I am pretty sure that my legs are going to be fairly battered after the match, just have to see how much. My only real concern is my feet. I have a tendency to kick short and have my foot contact the knee or shin, doing damage to the toes. Never very severe, but will make riding my bike very unpleasant. And now that I have been in one place for almost a month, I have aquired more stuff that I am pretty sure I can fit on the bike, but would be a real pain to have to carry everything including the bike. The tuk-tuks are very obliging, but i just dont have that many hands.
On another note, some of my job responses are starting to come in. Since the idea was raised that I might be qualified to take a job in an international affiars type role at a university I have applied for a variety of roles at different schools in the AU and US. I dont really have much energy after training, sitting around and filling out job applications seemed like a good use of time requiring minimal energy. Anyway, a few that I was fairly sure were outside my qualifications have born that out. A few others are now just starting to close their application acceptance period and start the review process. It seems that universities are not able to move fast on much. Its very frustrating considering that my time frame for a decision is very limited. It would be a real kick in the nuts to get a realy good offer just after have to make a decision that makes acceptance impossible.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Koh Lanta, 12/12/2012
Still boxing...tired but making my way through. I went to help corner one of the fighters from the gym last sunday and it was a good fight. Jesse won in the 2nd round by knockout. Nothing real clean, just kind of overwhelmed his opponent and landed a good series of shots that brought him down.
I think one of the trainers was asking me today if I want to go to Bangkok to fight for 20,000 baht. While tempting, I am still trying to overcome my fear of stepping in the ring with someone local for a basically no money fight. Going to Bangkok to fight for real money would mean fighting real opponents. I dont know if I am ready for that or if my legs would be able to take it. I am going to wait for Oscar, the one person who speaks enough Thai and English, to come this afternoon and help me understand a little better what I am being asked. I really would like to do a professional fight, but I was thinking more in the MMA area, not pro Muay Thai in Bangkok, it just looks painful. They fight almost every week. And there legs just take a beating. Jesse recovered from his 2nd round win and still couldnt walk well for a couple days after the match, and he won.
I think I am going to stay on track to fight locally on the 23rd. Then I can spend xmas recovery in a hammock on the beach before moving on from Thailand. There have been some new opportunities presented. Talk of jobs in various places that I hadnt thought of before. Seems whatever plan I make it is bound to change. I keep thinking that it has been a waste of time to plan so much. The planning always seems to change anyway.
It has been good practice at least to get my resume and job applications together. It has been a while since I have actually applied for a job. The last two at Tengda and Study Group were basically handed to me by recommendations from other people. My first meeting in both cases was with the boss and it felt more like I was deciding if I wanted the job, not so much about whether they wanted me, of course they wanted me (that might be a little arrogant). Now applying for jobs in places where I dont have any guanxi, its a little strange. How do you get jobs without someone you now recommending you? As much as the Chinese way is unfair for those without connections, I seemed to have connections, so it was great for me. Now that I have sent out a good half dozen to dozen resumes I just hope I can get some interviews. I like interviews and tend to do well. I am only concerned that they will want to interview around the fight dates since I am pretty sent on brining back the mohawk for the fight. Not sure how well that will do on skype. Maybe voice only calling for a while.
I think one of the trainers was asking me today if I want to go to Bangkok to fight for 20,000 baht. While tempting, I am still trying to overcome my fear of stepping in the ring with someone local for a basically no money fight. Going to Bangkok to fight for real money would mean fighting real opponents. I dont know if I am ready for that or if my legs would be able to take it. I am going to wait for Oscar, the one person who speaks enough Thai and English, to come this afternoon and help me understand a little better what I am being asked. I really would like to do a professional fight, but I was thinking more in the MMA area, not pro Muay Thai in Bangkok, it just looks painful. They fight almost every week. And there legs just take a beating. Jesse recovered from his 2nd round win and still couldnt walk well for a couple days after the match, and he won.
I think I am going to stay on track to fight locally on the 23rd. Then I can spend xmas recovery in a hammock on the beach before moving on from Thailand. There have been some new opportunities presented. Talk of jobs in various places that I hadnt thought of before. Seems whatever plan I make it is bound to change. I keep thinking that it has been a waste of time to plan so much. The planning always seems to change anyway.
It has been good practice at least to get my resume and job applications together. It has been a while since I have actually applied for a job. The last two at Tengda and Study Group were basically handed to me by recommendations from other people. My first meeting in both cases was with the boss and it felt more like I was deciding if I wanted the job, not so much about whether they wanted me, of course they wanted me (that might be a little arrogant). Now applying for jobs in places where I dont have any guanxi, its a little strange. How do you get jobs without someone you now recommending you? As much as the Chinese way is unfair for those without connections, I seemed to have connections, so it was great for me. Now that I have sent out a good half dozen to dozen resumes I just hope I can get some interviews. I like interviews and tend to do well. I am only concerned that they will want to interview around the fight dates since I am pretty sent on brining back the mohawk for the fight. Not sure how well that will do on skype. Maybe voice only calling for a while.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Koh Lanta, 12/06/2012
I dont have the most to update since the last time I wrote. Things here in Koh Lanta have fallen in the a pattern with training being most of my day. Between the 2-5 hours a day of training and the resulting drain on my energy, I dont have a lot left for anything else.
Training here has been easier than other places that I have been in the past. Both good and bad. I feel a lot better, I have managed to stave off shin splints so far. They have always plagued my training in the past. I think now that I am starting to know the trainers a little more my training is going to pick up a little. I have been "ïnvited" to join some of the others on a jog in the morning. While I appreciate the invite I have had trouble falling asleep and subsequently getting up in the morning. I am hoping that having others to motivate will at least help me to get up, not sure how it will go with the falling asleep.
Other than training I have been making the most of the hammock that I picked up here. It has been a great purchase and will continue to travel with me any time I am outside of a city. Not sure how useful it will be in the city, but on the beaches it has been great. The island here has trees running most of the beach and with a tiny bit of effort I have been able to stake out a couple of prime spots depending on where I want to go that can support the hammock. It would be nice if the beach had longer stretches not interrupted by streams and I could run for some real time, but I guess I shouldnt be complaining about where I am. I was able to find some nice trails that go through the inside of the islands. Not really trails but dirt roads that service what appear to be giant rubber plantations across the inside of the island. I will be exploring those a little more for my longer runs (45min+). They take a little time to get to, but provide a nice surface and good shade.
The only real issue I have been having is staying hydrated. On days that I train both sessions, I can easily consume 6-8 liters of water, maybe more in a day. Its hard to find things to drink, the monotany gets kinda boring. Other than that I cant decide whether to cut my hair. Mohawk for the fight? Grow it long for the first time since...maybe ever? These are the kind of tough decisions that fill parts of my day. That and what kind of curry do I want today? Threre are a lot of different restaurants, but the local Thai ones are so much cheaper. Its hard for me to justify spending 300 on Greek or Indian when I can spend 70 on Thai.
I am nervously looking forward to the fight I am taking onthe 23rd. I am worried that I might have showed to well during my initial assessment and will draw someone really good. I dont want a stoog. Some of the opponents I have seen the other foreigners fighting here are pretty pathetic. It has always struck me that it is really hard to find good match-ups here. The foreign fighters are training fairly hard and therefore in really good cardio shape, maybe not much ring experience, many doing their first fight, but in good shape. But also big, by Thai standards. Any Thai fighter in comparable shape has a fight record of something 267-125. All the trainers here all have over 200 fights a piece. 12 year-olds put down 30-50 fights a year. Which means the only people that are somewhat of an even match for many foreigners are guys who trained young but never really made it and now are out of the game. Their out of shape, technically they can be pretty good, but the conditioning really plays a huge factor. Or the Thai fighter is really good and then you have a real fight. The main difference I see between active Thai fighters and the foriegners is their hardness. Its hard to explain, but the more you get hit every day, you grow callus to it. Leg kicks dont hurt unless right on the nerve cluster. Going shin to shin is nothing because your shins dont have feeling left. I was getting close to that point, but 6-8 months of not really training brings the softness back. I feel my cardio is at a great level. The race training has really brought me up in that respect. But I need another couple months kicking bags and being kicked to harden up my shins, thighs and ribs.
Last nights sparring was encouraging. I scored a minor TKO with a straight kick to the solar plexus, but this morning my left thigh showed the damage. And we were wearing shin pads. I dont want to think what color my thigh will be after the match. And in order to make my flights I might have to do a couple dozen km on the bike to make it the closest bus station. Doing that the day after a match does not sound appealing.
Training here has been easier than other places that I have been in the past. Both good and bad. I feel a lot better, I have managed to stave off shin splints so far. They have always plagued my training in the past. I think now that I am starting to know the trainers a little more my training is going to pick up a little. I have been "ïnvited" to join some of the others on a jog in the morning. While I appreciate the invite I have had trouble falling asleep and subsequently getting up in the morning. I am hoping that having others to motivate will at least help me to get up, not sure how it will go with the falling asleep.
Other than training I have been making the most of the hammock that I picked up here. It has been a great purchase and will continue to travel with me any time I am outside of a city. Not sure how useful it will be in the city, but on the beaches it has been great. The island here has trees running most of the beach and with a tiny bit of effort I have been able to stake out a couple of prime spots depending on where I want to go that can support the hammock. It would be nice if the beach had longer stretches not interrupted by streams and I could run for some real time, but I guess I shouldnt be complaining about where I am. I was able to find some nice trails that go through the inside of the islands. Not really trails but dirt roads that service what appear to be giant rubber plantations across the inside of the island. I will be exploring those a little more for my longer runs (45min+). They take a little time to get to, but provide a nice surface and good shade.
The only real issue I have been having is staying hydrated. On days that I train both sessions, I can easily consume 6-8 liters of water, maybe more in a day. Its hard to find things to drink, the monotany gets kinda boring. Other than that I cant decide whether to cut my hair. Mohawk for the fight? Grow it long for the first time since...maybe ever? These are the kind of tough decisions that fill parts of my day. That and what kind of curry do I want today? Threre are a lot of different restaurants, but the local Thai ones are so much cheaper. Its hard for me to justify spending 300 on Greek or Indian when I can spend 70 on Thai.
I am nervously looking forward to the fight I am taking onthe 23rd. I am worried that I might have showed to well during my initial assessment and will draw someone really good. I dont want a stoog. Some of the opponents I have seen the other foreigners fighting here are pretty pathetic. It has always struck me that it is really hard to find good match-ups here. The foreign fighters are training fairly hard and therefore in really good cardio shape, maybe not much ring experience, many doing their first fight, but in good shape. But also big, by Thai standards. Any Thai fighter in comparable shape has a fight record of something 267-125. All the trainers here all have over 200 fights a piece. 12 year-olds put down 30-50 fights a year. Which means the only people that are somewhat of an even match for many foreigners are guys who trained young but never really made it and now are out of the game. Their out of shape, technically they can be pretty good, but the conditioning really plays a huge factor. Or the Thai fighter is really good and then you have a real fight. The main difference I see between active Thai fighters and the foriegners is their hardness. Its hard to explain, but the more you get hit every day, you grow callus to it. Leg kicks dont hurt unless right on the nerve cluster. Going shin to shin is nothing because your shins dont have feeling left. I was getting close to that point, but 6-8 months of not really training brings the softness back. I feel my cardio is at a great level. The race training has really brought me up in that respect. But I need another couple months kicking bags and being kicked to harden up my shins, thighs and ribs.
Last nights sparring was encouraging. I scored a minor TKO with a straight kick to the solar plexus, but this morning my left thigh showed the damage. And we were wearing shin pads. I dont want to think what color my thigh will be after the match. And in order to make my flights I might have to do a couple dozen km on the bike to make it the closest bus station. Doing that the day after a match does not sound appealing.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Koh Lanta, 12/02/2012
This week I have settled into training at the Muay Thai gym. Training so far has been a little easier than the last gym in Ubon. However, that could be due to being in better shape (training up for the half-mara before couldnt hurt). I also have eased myself into to training a little more to try and avoid the almost inevitable shin splints that have plagued me at every camp I have been to so far. So far so good, but the shin splints dont usually present till week 2 or 3 so still have to wait and see what happens.
Other than training I have not been doing a whole lot. Trying to make to the beach, seem to be spending a ridiculous amount of time on skype. I think part of that is the group here is a little more fun-loving than the more serious training crowd I have run into at other camps. I am not really looking to blow all my money at the bars here. I am sure my next destination will be expensive enough.
It looks like there are two boxing stadiums on the island, one connected to my gym and another that I dont know who provides the fighters for. My gym holds fights every Sunday, so I am going to watch some fights tonight and get an idea of what I have gotten myself into. I am set to step into the ring on Dec 23rd, so marry xmas to me. Tonight one of the trainers and at least one of the foreigners at the camp are going to be fighting. Last week another foreigner fought and won, and from watching his practice I would say that I am better, but the opponent draw would make a huge difference on the outcome. Have to see how they match people up. The trainers so far have been encouraging about my skill level, but I can see that the mish-mash of styles I have put together is at times annoying. Every school does everything just a little different and getting told to change something and do it this way not that way after spending a few years getting one way down is a litlte frustrating. It would be nice to find a place where I can train consistently. Or a gym with a philosphy like my old school in Denver that was very accepting of the different styles as long as they worked well together.
todays my half-day, running in the afternoon and some light stretching and maybe some shadow. and maybe some more hammock beach time...
Other than training I have not been doing a whole lot. Trying to make to the beach, seem to be spending a ridiculous amount of time on skype. I think part of that is the group here is a little more fun-loving than the more serious training crowd I have run into at other camps. I am not really looking to blow all my money at the bars here. I am sure my next destination will be expensive enough.
It looks like there are two boxing stadiums on the island, one connected to my gym and another that I dont know who provides the fighters for. My gym holds fights every Sunday, so I am going to watch some fights tonight and get an idea of what I have gotten myself into. I am set to step into the ring on Dec 23rd, so marry xmas to me. Tonight one of the trainers and at least one of the foreigners at the camp are going to be fighting. Last week another foreigner fought and won, and from watching his practice I would say that I am better, but the opponent draw would make a huge difference on the outcome. Have to see how they match people up. The trainers so far have been encouraging about my skill level, but I can see that the mish-mash of styles I have put together is at times annoying. Every school does everything just a little different and getting told to change something and do it this way not that way after spending a few years getting one way down is a litlte frustrating. It would be nice to find a place where I can train consistently. Or a gym with a philosphy like my old school in Denver that was very accepting of the different styles as long as they worked well together.
todays my half-day, running in the afternoon and some light stretching and maybe some shadow. and maybe some more hammock beach time...
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