Eddie Bravo

The dude is just a straight up stud!! Complete visionary...

this guy totally makes me wanna keep doing jiu jitsu!

Check it

My first Submission and UFC predictions

So I got my very first submission last night. May have only been 1 submission but it was sweet all the same. I was in top position in a guillotine choke. Luckily he didn't have his legs wrapped around me so I could stand up and ease the pressure. Managed to get my head out - take the full mount and then went from an arm triangle to a Kimora - those 3 light pats on the mat have never sounded sweeter. OK - I got submitted about 300 times after that but the fact still remains...there is a bit of progress there I think :)

Anyways, Couture vs Lesnar this weekend and I can't wait!! I'm totally routing for Randy...the dude is one of my Heroes and just a complete gentleman. He don't walk shit about people...give it large or bring on attitude...he is a true champ in every sense of the word. Integrity and Honour. Brock on the other hand...a complete beast and a total prat in my opinion. OK, so he beat Heath Herring and I respect the dude for that totally, but as I've said before, I'd respect him more if he was a bit more humble. I know that in the MMA World you need confidence, but there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance and Brock has opted for the latter. He was talking shit about Randy even before this fight was on the cards so I think I'll get satisfaction out of watching Randy beat him (if that turns out to be the case).

OK - Predictions for this weekend and the tournament are 2 fold. My first set will contain what I would like to happen, the second will contain what I think will happen.

What I would like to see:

Couture vs Lesnar : Couture wins
Noguiera vs Mir : Noguiera wins
Couture vs Noguiera : Couture wins

What I think I will see:

Couture vs Lesnar : Lesnar wins (I want Randy to win more than anything but I have a very bad feeling about this entire thing!!)
Noguira vs Mir : Noguira wins
Lesnar vs Noguiera : Lesnar wins

OK - so my prediction for this weekend, on the record...Couture wins by submission (RNC) in the fourth round (I know this is a contradiction...but I'm a big fan of Randy and so I intend to predict with bias).

I think Demian Maia will win by submission IF he can take Quarry to the ground without being caught by a hay maker. We'll see...but I'm gonna go for Maia coming out of this with a clean record.

Check out the fight card and extras at the official UFC 91 web site.

Dizzy Rascal what are you doing?

So I was watching TV last night, surfing for information relating to the recent election of Barack Obama. I'm waiting for Heroes to come on so I go to BBC2 and what do you know, they have a Newsnight special relating to everything that has been going on. At one stage Paxman decides to get the point of view of 2 people that the BBC must have thought correctly reflected the different spectrums of the black community.

So you have former Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Valerie Amos in one corner and Dylan Mills (aka Dizzy Rascal - no...you have not read that incorrectly) in the other!

Valerie Amos gave a clear, thorough and well presented view of where she felt everything was going and what needs to be done next etc. Dizzy Rascal on the other hand did nothing but fulfil what in my view is an extremely negative stereotype. The hand gestures, the obvious lack of understanding relating to some of the questions and his blatant inability to clearly communicate his patterns of thought in a concise manner were an extremely sad sight to see.

Barrack Obamas achievement is a proud moment in humanity and shows that the Human race is moving forward and transcending racial differences and divides. Many of those divides do still exist and I agree with Malcolm X who said that before we as a human race can unify we as black people need to unify. I feel that if we are going to have people that represent our community, the younger black community, it should be someone with a bit more effluence than Dizzy Rascal!

I couldn't even watch the entire thing for fear that he was gonna start shouting "Brap! Brap!" at the camera...idiot!!

Here we have, another point of view.
And another...

First Black President, pinging on Paul and a change of scenery.

Well, I am still in a state of shock after reading the news on the BBC web site to find that Barrack Obama has been elected as President of the USA. Now this suprise is not derived from my not knowing obviously but more the fact that this is not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime. Even when the Polls had him as front runner all the way up until yesterday I couldn't help but cast my mind (as I am doing now) to when Senator Bush stole (in that he took something that blatantly was not his) the presidency. Al Gore had more votes, but who cares?? We have innocent people to kill, business that does not concern us to involve ourselves in, an economy that needs fucking up and some weapons of mass destruction to find (like looking in your neighbours house for your keys!). Either way, I think it a good thing that this change has introduced itself to the people of the world and it's a sight to see knowing that if you had even suggested the idea of such a thing 60 years ago, you would have been linched, laughed at or
both.

Anyways, I've left the martial arts school I was going to. A few reasons but the most important being that I really wanna concentrate on Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. Lucky for me there's a place within walking distance! Like...5 minutes away!! Had my 1st class on Monday and it was great! You spend 10 minutes warming up and stretching, the remainder of the hour practicing drills and then the remainder of the time you spend on the mat trying to submit each other. Awesome! Got submitted around 50 times which I don't actually mind in one sense being as that won't be the case forever.

Anywho, being as I want or rather, need to work on my standup, I currently spend about an hour a week now doing some pad drills with my good friend Paul. Paul and I met when we worked at Interactive Solutions together, we got on like a house on fire and were always
ribbing each other. The amount of dead arms that guy used to give me (back in my skinny days) was a joke! Anyways, just before I start the timer, Paul reminded me of what I used to say after one of these dead arms..."one of these days I'm gonna be bigger, find you and then kick the shit out of you". This comment was usually followed by copious amounts of laughter in my direction and another dead arm. 6 years on...my how the tables have turned! I was using the MMA gloves so I could only do open handed strikes but it was so much fun. Them gangly arms helped me again. Think I need to get in all the hits I can now though, a few more weeks and it'll be "one of these days I'm gonna be bigger..."

Kick ass weekend!

So I get a phone call on Saturday morning from me dear old mum. "What you doing today??" ..."Errr...nothing..." "Great, I'm coming to see you". So, ended up spending the weekend with my mum (who had yet to see my flat). Was great as I don't get to see her all that much and while she's not altogether supportive/on board with my eventually wanting to do MMA - she still watched UFC 90 with me which was a total trip.

"BUT HE'S KNEEING HIM IN THE FACE!"

Bless :)
Oh yeah, apparently she doesn't rate Anderson Silva - HAHAHA!!

So yeah, that was a weird one but I gotta say, a cracking weekend all in all.
A total blast!

Human first, Black man second!

OK, so I gotta say there are some people who I just simply do not understand. I meet people like this occasionally, as to where they see your colour 1st and you 2nd. Don't get me wrong, I know a great deal about my ancestry and am proud of both sides of it. My great grand father was Scottish and my great grand mother was Jamaican. My parents were both born in Jamaica and as such I've done research on both sides of the family as well as looking at my ancestry on both sides of the family tree. Regardless of which, I was born here (England), raised here, have lived here all of my life and this is basically everything I know. As far as I am concernced, regardless of my Ancestry, I am for all intents and purposes, English. However every now and then I meet people who feel that the best way to communicate with me is to be on what they must feel is "my level" by constantly bringing up my skin colour and/or heritage.

I don't mind having a conversation with someone as I do "on occasion" with some friends about racial history, but there are points when things seem to just get out of hand in almost a David Brent type fashion. I have friends (not just of West Indian/African origin) who can relate to this type of scenario as to where something is mentioned - such as Marijuana, Hip Hop, Reggae etc and automatically, because of the colour of my skin, I'm meant to know all there is about that subject. Dumb ass comments such as "Don't mess with him, he's bound to know some 'Yardies'", or "Smile, we can't see you" aren't funny and they do nothing but offend the recipient of these so called "Jokes".

All I am saying is this. Yes, I am of West Indian origin, my skin colour is different compared to that of the majority of people in this country. Regardless of which, I laugh, bleed, cry, feel emotion exactly the same way as any other human being on the planet. I am, before all other things, a human being.

Communicate with me in the same way that I communicate with you, as a human being.

UFC 89 review

So, freaking crackin' time at UFC 89, and it was so much better than UFC 85. Also really nice to see some seriously excellent talent coming out of the UK! The seats were wicked and we were like 20 feet away from the cage. Almost every fight was the shiznit!

Terry Etim is a bad mama jamma and Dan Hardy is freaking awesome and ridiculously quick, I'm talking GSP quick!

Have to say that the Paul Taylor fight really pissed me off! Poor geezer was robbed and the judges were either totally retarded, watching another fight or they were American, regardless of which I think they need to rethink their judging system and base it on something other than pulling random figures from the air which most definitely looked to be the case in this fight.

The Bisping fight was class and even though Lebens face looked like he lost, everyone was holding their breath for the decision. Overall, Bisping was using his footwork to stay out of trouble and even though he was not aggressive in his attacks, moving backwards most of the time, I reckon he deserved the win. Leben, cheeky fucker he is decided to come at Bisping at the end of rounds 2 and 3 with his guard down bating our boy but he kept his cool and just tee'd off a few nice shots. I have to say though, the support for Bisping was amazing and with any luck I'll be able to watch the replay on Setanta when I get back. Is he ready for a shot at Anderson Silva? Shit no! But that's not to say he won't be eventually.

One thing I will say, with the quality of the fighters coming out of the UK, the next season of the Ultimate fighter which should be USA vs the UK is gonna be freaking awesome!

Anyways, off to Dublin in January for UFC 92 and it looks like we'll be going for VIP tickets so that we get to meet the fighters. Nice!

Mr Powell WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING!

OK, former general and US Secretary of State lets his hair down a touch and shows his human side. Nothing wrong with that, but still a touch cringe worthy I have to say. It's almost like watching your dad at a wedding!

Fair play to him though, he's obviously taken the view of "So what - it's for charity and I'm gonna have some fun" and for that alone, more power to him!

My money is on Obama

Yeah, my money is on Obama. From what I can tell he is the one best suited to take America in a better direction than Bush has been doing. I still think the prospect of seeing a black man in the whitehouse during my lifetime is amazing and damn near laughable in it's ambition, but certainly something I hope to see.

In my opinion he has already cemented himself in that group of great black men in history(Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglas, Martin Luther King Jr., Mohammed Ali etc)

Say hello to my next blackberry!!!

Yup, since getting my blackberry I've said that I basically would not get another make of Phone again and this still stands! I currently have a blackberry Pearl and it rocks (with the exception of the memory leak issue)

Anyways, seen this and I want one. I reckon Orange will have them in the next 3 months which is great being as that's when I'll be able to upgrade my blower :)

Blackberry Storm baby!!

So funny because it's true

Enabling the Back/Forward button with ASP.net AJAX

So we're building this new web site and it's an upgrade to one we have before. Basically redeveloping from the ground up making it more user friendly, better design etc. Anyways, one of the problems with ASP.net AJAX is that eventually you're going to have problems with the back/forward buttons being as they won't relate to the series of actions the user has done on the page.

Done a quick search and found this which works a treat. Took 10 minutes to implement...
http://www.nikhilk.net/UpdateControls.aspx

Enjoy :)

UFC 89 Countdown is up...

The countdown to UFC 89 is up, watched it in my lunch break. Very good indeed. Amazing some of the things these guys have been through.

Anyways, it's on the UFC web site and should eventually be on the official UFC 89 web site too.

Healthy Healthy Healthy...

So, was on the Mens Health web site and it would appear they have a workout generator. I have a book at home called Strength training anatomy which is freaking awesome. Tells you loads of routines you can do including variations and the relevant body parts they work. Anyways, I've been using that to change my routines being as you should change your routine every month or so to keep the muscles shocked. The body gets used to punishment so if you can keep mixing things up and not give your body the time it needs to adapt to a certain exercise, you'll get the most out of it ever time you train.

Anyways, for those of you who can't be bothered to fork out for a book and would rather a web site do it for you, I introduce to you....THE WORKOUT GENERATOR

I've had a few goes on this and I gotta say I'm impressed. Check it out...get yourself fit, don't be a couch potatoe :D

The Couture vs Fedor question

Hmmm, when is this fight actually gonna happen? I watched Affliction : Banned last night and shortly after Fedor demolished Sylvia he was asked "who do you wanna fight?" and inbetween all the Russian everyone heard him say "Randy Couture", next thing y'know, Couture is in the ring and he be well up for it. From what I hear, they've been trying to get this setup for ages but it just ain't been worked out. Fedors management team can't strike a deal with the UFC, Randy (who now has things sorted with the UFC) won't be able to fight outside if the UFC (they're funny about that). I hope this happens soon and I think this would be a perfect scenario for UFC 100! Hmmm, we can only hope!

Talking of the UFC being funny about their fighters competing in other organisations (especially champions, look at what happened to BJ Penn). How comes Minitoro is fighting in the next Affliction event??!! If anyone can shed some light, please do!!

My new workout plan

Yeah, have come up with a new workout plan. I been thinking that if I wanna get my health and conditioning to where I want it to be I can't just be doing some weight training and MMA. My usual routine was MMA twice a week for about 3 hours altogether and then working chest, back and shoulders on 3 separate days. The new routine is freaking awesome!

Monday
Weight Training (3 body parts)
Bike Ride (4 miles, 2 totally uphill)
MMA Training (1 hour)
Sparring (1 hour)

Tuesday
Swimming
Conditioning (5 Exercises, 1 minute each, all full bollock, 60 second rest inbetween each set of 5)

Thursday
Weight Training (Remaining 3 body parts)
Bike Ride (4 miles, 2 totally uphill)
MMA Training

Friday
Swimming
Conditioning (Same scenario as Tuesday just different exercises)

Saturday
BJJ Training, Krav Maga Training or light exercise

If anyone wants to see the more detailed routine then just post a comment and I'll add the full thing in a new article. One thing I will say, you gotta build up to the routine, going full bollock on everything in my personal opinion slows down your progression. I'm not saying take it real easy, just give your body a chance to get used to everything and don't burn yourself out.

New Blog Template Launched

OK, so being as I've actually been running this blog for over a year now (about 11 months more than I thought it would last!!) I decided it was time for a bit of an upgrade. Added some sliding bits here and there and I gotta say, I'm well chuffed with it. I prefer it to the last one but feel free to let me know what you think (which you can totally do now as I've added the ability for anyone to post comments).

Anyways, enjoy!

Thank you to Eddie Bravo and Matt Hamill

So, last night in training we were playing the "pinning" game. Quite fun and very good for anaerobic conditioning. Anyways, managed to use a move that I've seen used by Matt "The Hammer" Hamil. Was a single leg sweep and it worked like a treat. I also managed to use the lockdown which was REALLY effective. The dude couldn't do anything apart from struggle to get his leg free giving me a chance to do a sweep and reversal and get the pin.

Oh, on a side note, I've totally sprained my wrist now, my elbow is saw, my shoulder is screwed and the big toe on me right foot is knackered. Ahhh well, I WANT MORE!!!

Impossible is Nothing!

Read this in the Metro this morning. A superb and extremely inspirational story.

A mouse gets fed to this snake, the snake is thinking "Ahhh....lunch....", the mouse if thinking "FUCK YOU!"

I hate rodents but I want this mouse as a pet!!!
More info here...

Talk about tragic

Poor lady, a damn shame if you ask me and something I truly believe could happen to anyone. Some would say that it's a little irresponsible, I say, put yourself in that situation and see how you fair!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3161948/Fire-death-brothers-Arrested-mother-to-be-quizzed.html

She's been arrested too as if losing her kids ain't enough to deal with not to mention the fact that she'll probably be blaming herself and now she's under arrest for manslaughter and child neglect. A damned shame!

Heroes

Careful, spoiler to follow if you have yet to watch last nights episode.

Looks like Sylar and the Petrelli boys are all brothers! What the hell? Nathan seems to have lost his mind (or has he) And Nicky can freeze people? How the frig does that work? And what's with that street fighter shit that Ando done on Hiro last week with that glimpse into the future? The entire thing is ridiculous and makes little sense but I don't care cos its freakin awsome and I love it! Long live Heroes!

Kimbo Slice, XXX Grot and Dylan Moran

OK 1st things 1st. Came across this video (forgive the pun - totally intended) and laughed my ass off. Very funny stuff!!!

Check out www.diesel.com/xxx/

Also, looks like Kimbo Slice has suffered his 1st defeat to Seth Petruzelli. I gotta say, the entire thing looks like a slip from Kimbo which was then capitalised on by Petruzelli, still counts as a win but if you replayed that 20 times I think Kimbo wins 95% of the time.

Oh, Dylan Moran was not good. I'd say get teh DVD but you won't be impressed, his 1st 2 DVD's were great and I think he's a good comedian but unfortunatley he's lacking in consistency and seems to have lost a great deal of spark. Joe Rogan keeps the Number 1 spot as my favourite stand up, shortly followed by Dave Chappelle and now Jamie Foxx moves up from 4 to 3 knocking Moran right outta the top 3.

Sorry Dylan, you've lost your sting mate :(

I thought I was gonna die!

So I'm in Birmingham at the moment being as I got a pair of tickets to go see Dylan Moran (black books, Shaun of the dead). Yesterday, I go walkin the dog for like 15 minutes with my mate and all of a sudden I get chest pains! Feels very tight and uncomfortable. We get back and I aint good at all. Shooting pains all up and down my left arm and I can hardly breath! My chest keeps gettin these waves of pain and I couldn't get comfortable at all! Anyways, the way I see it, this is my body telling me to stop treating it like a 10 dollar ho! As of tomorrow, no more cigs, ting or drink. For the next 3 months health comes first. March/April, I was in a good place, cardio was loads better, I was training more, I was heavier and I felt superb! I need to get back to that! I think really push it til Christmas and then start again come Jan and keep it going. I have new goals that I want to achieve and having a healthy body is core to all of it!

I'll drop a post on how the standup gig was tomorrow.

Martial Arts competition videos

So, been meaning to post these for ages! Having started off with a cold, then moving onto a sore throat, followed by a chest infection. Just as I'm getting over my cold I get diarrhea! I'm currently "coming out the other side" with the diarrhea now but for some reason, I can not seem to keep food down. Throwing up any time I have anything other than water, but the chest is feeling a load better :

Anyways, I'm digressing a touch.
Here is a little linky to the videos. That's over a gigs worth uploaded in 1 foul swoop...my connection is going like the clappers ere and I reckon these will all have uploaded by tomorrow morning. Between now and then there is at least 1 vid on there for viewing pleasure and both my wins and losses will be on there also.

Enjoy!

Heroes season 3

Yup, season 3 starts tonight (if you live in England), 9pm, BBC2.

I notice after the blunder the BBC made with 24 they're making sure that this one don't go to SKY.

Life update...

OK, been busy as a bastard of late which is the reason for lack of updates. Things have been moving along in my life though. Had a Taekwondo Tournament - won 2 matches, lost 2 matches ended up 3rd. The wins don't feel as sweet though as it was against one of my team mates and I never actually got to fight anyone from another club. That said, fair play to Everton (aka Stick Man) which is now my new arch nemesis and the only one I train with who is faster than me. Weird as I love it and hate it all at the same time. Hate it cos I just hate loosing in anything where I feel I can do better, but good in the fact that I have gauge and a new push to gets better now. Must have watched my fight vids like 50 times and I know where I'm going wrong and the things I need to work on so these WILL BE IMPROVED (Yeah, decided to score a cute itsy bitsy camcorder - it's well 'ard!!)

What else, got me a Power ball, they're freaking awesome for working out your arms. Forearms, wrist strength, grip strength etc. Got it to help with my BJJ/Grappling/Sambo training which starts on Saturday. Gonna be doing some 1 on 1 sessions with a bad ass homie down in Birmingham every couple of weeks for the foreseeable future. He's an excellent teacher who knows his stuff inside out and from the side so REALLY looking forward to working with the dude.

Also going to be doing Yoga, was thinking of starting tomorrow but I don't get back in time and I'm still recovering from this freaking chest infection (was null and void ALL last week not to mention that I had 2 days already booked off which were spent sleeping!!!). But one thing I realised above all things...If I'm fighting a hobbit, I'll be able to kick that dude in the head - MAYBE! At the moment, my leg flexibility is shat and I'm fed up of having it like that so I'm hoping Yoga will help change that.

Ooohhh, been finding new music of late - lots of Hip Hop (some of it French). Top 10 Tracks on my iPod that I totally recommend (this changes daily)

1. The Look of Love - Slum Village
2. Keep it on - This beat - Slum Village
3. Around the Clock - DJ Honda feat. Problemz
4. Trouble in the water - DJ Honda feat. Problemz
5. Hell Naw! - Slum Village
6. Multiply - Slum Village
7. Self Assessment - Black Grass
8. Just like a bird without a feather - Samuel Jackson (Black Snake Moan OST)
9. Samurai - Shurik'n
10. Oncle Shu - Shurik'n

Anyways, this weekend should be fun, Grappling type training on Saturday, seeing Dylan Moran on Sunday (Never seen a stand up live before). Then 2 weeks after that, UFC 89!! Anyways, will try and do a few more updates - peace and love.

Things have changed a bit...

Yeah, so not blogged in a while and I must say that things have changed a little. Got a new Job working in Halifax which starts in December. Proper chuffed with that!

My fight in November has been cancelled and while gutted about that scenario, I am going to be fighting in approximately 3 hours over in Doncaster. Just killing time til my lift arrives and I can't wait! I've been up since 6am this morning, had a biggest west indian breakfast EVER (need the carbs) and all my stuff is packed and ready to go. There will be pics and video being as I just acquired a new Camcorder (it's small and dinky and ever so cute) but I'll post those later on this week.

Wish me luck peeps :)

Chuck knocked out!

OK, I totally was not expecting that!! Stayed up til 3am Sunday morning waiting for UFC 88 all to see Rashad Evans get an ass whipping and what happens? Chuck Liddell gets knocked out cold with an overhand right (Imagine that?? Knocked out with your own signature hit). I was in shock and I think the crowd was too - no real cheering or booing just a sense of disbelief! Hat off to Rashad Evans though - can't wait til he gets to Machida though - my money would be on Lyoto for sure! :)

Oooh - Chrome!

New web browser is now out. Is it another version we have to account for when developing or a phunky browser that will leave the masses gagging for more? Time will tell but so far...I'm impressed...feature rich and looks pretty nice to boot.

http://www.google.com/chrome

HOLY SHIT!!

YES!!! YES YES YES YES YES!!!

http://uk.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=14275

Nobody likes Nobodies

OK - So I go to Boots like 3 times a week and by the counter they got all these "Gossip" mags. Brad and Angelina's baby - Exclusive pics. Cheryl Tweedy...why I went back with Ashley. Jordan Price...why me and Pete are the perfect couple and my favourite spotted just today - Jade Goody, I have to stay strong for my boys.

Now when it comes to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...they're both good actors and Angelina is super fit...but I personally couldn't give a shit about their personal lives unless they impact me. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to find out something like "Oooh, he went to the same school as me" but other than that...who gives a shit?? I ain't being a hater and more power to the lot of em (with the exception of Jade...I'll get to her in a minute), they've used the system and peoples unhappiness with their own lives to make money. I just wonder why no one actually thinks about these minor points. It's not like most (MOST NOT ALL) of these people have made any major contributions to society or impacted the world in a great way for the advancement of humanity. So why do we care when one of them has kids, breaks up with someone or blows their nose?? Just makes you feel like the majority (with the D-Listers at least) of their income comes from telling any and everything about their personal lives to weekly mags for the drone like masses to consume.

What got me on to this?? Jade Goody. I gotta say, from day 1 that girl pissed me off and I dunno why. I think it's something to do with the fact that she's a f**king idiot...yeah - that's it. Don't get me wrong, I think her having cancer really blows and I would not wish that on anyone but COME ON PEOPLE - Cancer is not the cure for being a f**king idiot!! She was a retard before she got it - she's a retard now and is the perfect epitome of what I am talking about. She can't do anything interesting like juggle or pull a rabbit out of a hat, she has not written any dissertations on ways to improve humanity and in general has not made any REAL contributions to society. "Why I broke up with some random geezer" is NOT a contribution to society. "Me and my new boob job" is NOT a contribution to society. "Why am I such a f**king looser" while funny, is not a contribution to society. But many people would still rather read about some ignorant nobody than concentrate on the person that actually counts, themselves.

A reflection of societies down turn or just the way the media portrays "celebs" - decide for yourselves.

The Dilemma - a Scenario for dudes

So, while we work we chat amongst ourselves and we've come up with a question that none of us are currently able to answer (obviously - there are no females on our team)

Would you rather be Quasimodo ugly and have a giant cock?

OR

Would you rather be Brad Pitt/Denzel Washington with a little cock?

It's a tough one huh??

Super Timmy Punch!

So - in training last night we were doing this thing called "Stop Point" (atleast I think that's what it's called). The whole idea is, you square off, the ref says go and whoever gets the hit in first gets a point, everything is stopped and you start again. The entire point of this is to build up attack speed to ensure you're the first one in and we usually work to a "first to 5 points" system. Being as I ain't exactly got fat wedges of muscle weighing me down I'm able to bring speed pretty easily and I've not had a great deal of luck executing the Super Man punch during sparring being as my opponent usually see's it coming a mile off. A friend of mine suggested that I set it up with a Jab (cheers chunky) so I've been practising this little manouver infront of the mirror. Anyways - yesterday...saw an opening, threw the jab and then went in with a superman punch and totally nailed it. Unfortunatley - I ended up hitting my sparring partner square in the eye (Sorry Cuan) and the point didn't count - BUT the fact still remains that I executed that bad boy to a Tee.

I was apologetic as anything being as it's never my intention to hurt sparring partners but I was chuffed as a basta*d when I actually realised I executed it. HAPPY DAYS!!

UFC 89 HERE I COME :)

So my tickets have come through!! :) HAPPY HAPPY DAYS!

I'm in section G which means I get to see Leben feel the pain close up!! YAY! Can't wait :)

Matt Hughes - The Book Review

So finished the Matt Hughes book. Not gonna spend too much time on a review being as there's already a good few hours I've spent reading this tripe that I know I can never get back. Seems I'm reading things in a particular order without even realising it. Chuck Liddells book is freaking awesome, Tito's book is very good and Matt Hughes book comes a few country miles behind theirs. He tells you about all these things that have happened in his life which is fine but rarely do you get to see the point or conclusion to any of these stories. In one section he's saying how he just didn't take to Tim Sylvia (there was no reason for it) and in another section goes on to explain where Tim confronts him about it in the nicest way possible and he acts like a total dick. In yet another section it would appear him and Tim are cool and in between all of this - no explanation as to why he didn't like him (although I'm guessing it's just because Matt is perfect and everyone else is beneath the great king) and no explanation as to what made him change his mind.

I think the bit that got me was where him and Jens Pulver are bitching about newbies training in the gym. No offence but no one knows anything until someone teaches them - therefore at one point Matt knew nothing about MMA until he was taught.

All in all, I get the impression that he thinks he's Stephen King or some other great writer. On TV (The Ultimate Fighter) he comes across as a bit of a prat and the book does nothing but confirm this. He reminds me of that guy in School - the big dude that no one actually liked and was a complete dick to everyone! Most people tend to grow out of that sort of behaviour - Matt Hughes has yet to.

There is something that I agree with in this book though - Every couple of chapters or so he keeps saying "There's a lot you can do in 5 minutes" and he ain't wrong. It only took me that long to take it back to the shop and get my refund!

Worth the read if you want to see what kind of guy he is...although I'd wait til you can get it at the library. No point wasting your hard earned coin to help add air to an already dangerously inflated ego.

Dissapointing - yes
Suprising - not really

UFC 87 : Review

I actually stayed up to watch this and finding ways to kill time til 3am when you're high and there's nothing on Telly is not easy!! I managed it though and totally worth it! With the exception of the 2nd round stoppage predicted in the last post, everyone who I thought would win...won. Have to say, easily one of the best UFC events I've seen in years - Demian Maia vs Jason McDonald was an excellent Jui Jitsu showcase. Jason M is not an easy dude to tap!!

The Ken Flo vs Huerta fight was good - I was routing for Heurta but Kenny had some seriously tight skill.

Brock Lesnar is a freaking beast! Congrats on the dude winning the fight but I found him to be a touch disrespectful once the fight was won. Pointing at the opponent and laughing...what a complete twat! Yeah I can see you now you big headed mother fucker!

The GSP Fitch fight should easily have got fight of the night. Jon Fitch is a freaking machine. The dude can take serious punishment and just keep on going. That guy has nothing to be ashamed of in loosing, he put up a hell of a fight!

UFC 87 - Predictions

Yeah, not been doing my predicitions of late so decided to start them back up again. As usual I'll be predicting the 3 main fights: -

Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring
Brock Lesnar will win by 2nd round TKO

Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta
Kenny Florian will win by Judges decision

George St Pierre vs John Fitch
George St. Pierre will win by Judges decision

So, for those of you living in the UK - Setanta Sports, Saturday night - 3am. I for one will be staying my ass awake to watch it. Let's see if my predictions are correct :)

My Theory

So I'm talking to a friend last night and we're having a deep conversation and came up with this.

All food should be free BUT If you weigh in as "Overweight", you should be charged for it and I'm talking through the nose!! OBESITY IS NOT A F**KING DISEASE!! No one makes you pick up that chicken wing!! No one puts a gun to your head and tells you not to exercise!! Don't get me wrong...if you truly have some form of condition that regardless of what you do...you end up being a bit chubby then fair enough...but if you're 30 stone - that's your own doing!!!

I worked with one guy...must have been 25 stone. Couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath. We're sat having a chat one day and he tells me..."I dunno...I just can't loose weight. I tried playing badminton but nothing happens" and while he's telling me this little sob story he's shoveling a bacon, sausage and egg sandwich down his gullet!!

ITS NOT A DISEASE!

UFC BABY!!

I am now the proud owner of tickets to UFC 89 - Bisping vs Leben. Managed to get tickets closer to the Octagon this time for the same price as I got the last tickets. Also...no more driving for hours - it's in Birmingham which is where all my homies are at, so I'm chuffed as a button!!

From Mike Bisping...

"Thanks Tim, much appreciated. Thanks for the support. It means alot. Hope
you enjoy the fights in Birmingham.
Be lucky

Mike"

Prediction : Bisping wins by 2nd round knock out.

Tito Ortiz : This is gonna hurt

So, on the last few pages of Tito's book. It's actually not bad. I think after reading Chuck Liddells auto-bio and some of the things he says about Tito - thought it would be an idea to see the other side of the coin. I think Tito is a bit more business orientated when it comes to his fighting, not to say that fighting is not a passion for the dude but I think it's sensible to ensure you have some bread for your future. Chuck on the other hand just likes to fuck people up. He'd do it for free if it came down to it and the fact that he's taken care of financially is more fo a bonus than a prerequisite. Only thing is, I hear that there was a fight with Tito and another MMA fighter outside a club in London (as well as others) which is all described in Matt Hughes book. This is mentioned no where in either Tito's or Chucks auto-bio's - so I'll be getting that today.

So far, I think I'm preferring Chucks book but have more admiration for Tito as the dude has been through a great deal and came out the other end. Next on the list after Matt Hughes book - Randy Couture.

Tee-Ay-Assimo!

OK, so I must be getting on in years being as one of my birthday presents to myself this year was a Tassimo! 5 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of getting one but now...it's one of my favourite gadgets (sad I know). You get these cool little pods, you put the pod in the machine, press the button and 60 seconds later you got a hot drink. Cafe Creme people!! It's pretty much the same coffee you get in Amsterdam not the shat they serve over here...anyways...get one!

Oooh - got me a stupidly expensive surround sound system too. HD and Optical inputs n all o that, woop ass speakers, think I prefer the Tassimo ;)

3 months of pain starts here

OK, so I'm now joining the "Pain Train" for the next 3 months. T-Total for the next 3 months which means: -

No Cigs (Ouch)
No Alcohol (I rarely drink anyway)
No Weed

I've also got 3 months to gain 7 kilos...weighed myself this morning and I was 69 kilos, need to be 76 for this fight. That is the only thing that gives me a bit of pause. Where as most people wanna cut weight, slow down on eating etc...I gotta gain it and that's hard as hell for someone with the metabolic rate of "The Flash".

We'll see how things go.

Another beached whale...

Does anyone every consider that Whales that beach themselves are the retards of the Whale community??

Go buy this little snippet of the Rogan (from Shiny Happy Jihad which is REAL funny!) - swiftly becoming my favourite stand-up comedian.

2 for 2!

Passed my 2nd grading! Woo hoo! I tell you something...considering how much I was sweating...I should hope so too. Got home and was totally bushed...think I was actually asleep before my head hit the pillow! Anyways, I think....possibly...I may have another grading before this fight of mine in November.

Also, I hear that James Irvin has been snagged taking drugs - fool! I don't get it - they know there are tests all the time...so why bother risking it??

The Shindig!

Pictures from my Birthday party/Housewarming. Enjoy :)

Marijuana - don't believe the negative hype!

OK, I mentioned few posts back I have my 1st MMA fight in November. I'm pretty sure whoever I'll be going up against will have some pretty decent ground work and being as mine is relatively non existent - I went and got me a copy of Eddie Bravo's book "Mastering the Rubber Guard".

Eddie Bravo is a few things in my opinion.

1. A bad ass Jui Jitsu dude.
2. A fucking revolutionary!

I ain't got to the bit about the moves yet, the foreword has set me off on a completely different tangent altogether. This dude is a stoner basically. Only unlike me and many of the worlds population this guy actually knows the truth about weed. I ain't talking that shit the government tells you about how it causes psychosis and that it's X times more carcinogenic than cigarettes. I'm talking the truth!! Think about it like this, the War on Iraq was "apparently" started because of all these alleged Weapons of Mass destruction needed to be removed before they were used against us (and ain't been seen yet!). A few hundred thousand pointless deaths later and where are they? "Woops...sorry...our mistake...but hey...we got oil!". If they can lie to us about something like that - they can certainly lie to us about the benefits of weed. Why? a few reasons. When it boils down to it and I'm going to paraphrase Chris Rock here:

The Government = a bunch of freaking drug dealers!!

If you're selling chocolate which is basically bad for you and some guy comes along and starts competing with you selling something far nicer but way healthier - are you gonna say "You know what...his stuff is actually nicer and healthier - go buy that."?? Hell no! You'll pimp your stuff as much as humanly possible and kick dust in the face of this other dude at every available opportunity. Same situation here but instead of Chocolate, it's Alcohol and Cigarettes. Lets do a little statistical comparison shall we?

Alcohol
More than 100,000 alcohol related deaths occur each year in the US alone. That's people drinking so much that their body gives up, fools who drink and drive and go killing innocent bystanders as well as the related violent incidents that occur.

In the UK there were 4,144 alcohol related deaths in 1991 which rose to 8,757 in 2006. Apparently, the possible reason for the doubled number of deaths is because of the increase in the population. WRONG! The population of the UK has not doubled in the space of 15 years!! So the validity of 4,000 people dying is questionable at best (more propaganda to dilute a situation that is messing up the country).

"Between mid-1991 and mid-2006 the population grew by an average annual rate of
0.4 per cent and the average growth per year since mid-2001 has been 0.5 per
cent."
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=6

Lets look at another source shall we. This article was written 8 years ago and suggests that the number of alcohol related deaths is closer to 33,000. Considering the drinking culture in this country and how it has snow balled over the years you can pretty much guarantee that figure has risen. So - let's be nice and split it and say 15,000 per year. 15,000 per year!! We ain't got the land mass of Africa!

Cigarettes
440,000 people die per year in the US from toking that stuff! That's nearly half a million people in a year...gone! In the UK around 106,000 people die per year from smoking.

Marijuana
Now lets take a look at the so called "Evil" Marijuana.

Deaths in recorded history EVER: 0, Zero, Nish, Nuthin, Nada, Nil

So why is it illegal?? Simple version...the government wants you to use their drugs. Smoking messes with your respiratory system and is one of the primary causes of lung cancer on the planet. Chemicals are added to keep you hooked and you can buy cigarettes from pretty much any newspaper shop, supermarket and public house in the country. Alcohol abuse tears apart families (I know this from 1st hand experience), makes people act totally retarded and causes so many negative situations that I can't even be bothered to start listing them. This too is available from pretty much every off-licence, supermarket, restaurant, bar and public house on the planet, all with the blessing of the governments of the world. Marijuana is not worse than smoking cigarettes and there is no evidence to suggest that it increases the risk of lung disease. Compared to smoking cigarettes, Marijuana is far healthier and has a number of medicinal uses (which are used to this very day by the same governments that have banned it!).

http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/#tobacco
http://sansstride.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/making-the-case-for-legalization-clean-lungs-clean-money/

Now I'm not going to say that there is no evidence to contradict what I am saying. Even research at Harvard has apparent evidence to the contrary. In this instance however I will merely quote Upton Sinclair.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on
his not understanding it."

The government has no problems with lying to you as a method of control - it has happened many times in the past, it will happen many more times in the future. Do the research, don't believe everything the government says and free your mind. Marijuana can be used as a conduit to change you state of mind for the better and Eddie Bravo's book is a testament to that. Joe Rogan himself says that his Comedy routines had flew of the chain due to his relationship with Mary Jane.

Eddie Bravo - I thank you for showing me the path. And to think I was gonna break up with Mary because of all the Government hype. If 1 person reads this and is enlightened by what I have written, my job here is done and I have every intention of fighting for "The Cause".

In the words of Eddie Bravo

Get Smart, Smoke Weed!



Some media that may help you:
- Magic Weed: The Truth About Cannabis
- Reefer Madness
- Jack Herer

Rampage, Rampage, Rampage....

Dunno what's happening with Rampage Jackson doing an "OJ Simpson" n stuff. Dude must be well stressed...a damn shame. Anyways, he's been arrested!! Nothing too major from what I can tell and Dana White apparently flew out to post his 25k bail (5 quid says he was plenty pissed). Kinda sucks for the UFC and MMA in general though. Too many people out there have the view that it's "human cock fighting" and that all the fighters are a bunch of fools who just wanna fight...in the ring...in the street...wherever! (not the case), or people like my mom who have watched waay to many Jean Claude movies and visualise a bunch of business men in an underground arena chanting "KILL! KILL! KILL!" shortly followed by random weapons being thrown into the ring. It really does not help an amazing sport which is still largely under scrutiny and in it's infancy.

Either way, I hope whatever the dude is going through he comes out the other end OK.

You can view the article here.

I Ain't that good looking!!

OK - So I'll meet a chic, she be cool. We get on - but then for some reason she convinces herself that I already have a girlfriend and nothing I can say will make them think otherwise.

Example Number 1.
I'm in a bar in Birmingham with my sis and a few of her friends. She's dancing...I'm chilling having a beer (minding my own business may I add). Some chic with probably the longest legs I have ever seen comes up and starts talking to me (she was a total babe). After a quick exchange she asks me "So, do you have a girlfriend". I didn't at the time so I say "No". "Yeah yeah..." "No REALLY" - "Whatever...see ya".

I'm sat there looking like 1 o'clock half struck with a "What the fuck" look slapped all over my Chevy Chase!


Example Number 2.
Meet this chic, she seems cool. Take her to this west indian place I got to all the time (loves my west indian food!). Soon as I walk in everyone is like "Hey Tim, how's you" - the owner comes up...we shake hands, have a chat. Her reaction? "So...any of these your ex-girlfriends then?" "Errr...nope". A few days later...take her to dinner, different place this time. We walk in and the first thing she says..."So you don't know anyone here on a 1st name basis then?" "Errr...no, I don't come in here often enough". "Oh??" she says. "Yeah, me and my mate from Birmingham generally come in here". A few days goes by and I hear nothing from her. Then I get a text message "Came to see you last night for a chat but you weren't in. Hope you were somewhere nice". Now - could have been said innocently but I could totally see it being said with a bit of sarcasm. Plus, no message on my answerphone, no missed calls on my mobile either - so she didn't call or text 1st to say she was bouncing over (which if you've only known someone for like 2 weeks...you'd generally do). So my feeling is she was trying to catch me out or some shit.

Now while I know I'm not an Ogre...I can't be that good lucking for crying out loud!! I don't get it...either there's something about me that says "Play boy" or I'm just so unlucky that I keep going for these chics that have some SERIOUS trust issues!!!

Those are 2 examples....there are more but I can't be arsed to catalogue em all. Anyway...think this needs some figuring out...this is fucking with my flo people!!

JOE ROGAN - I SALUTE YOU!

Most people in the UK don't know that Joe Rogan is a comedian...they just think he's the dude from fear factor. Anyways - he freakin kills me!! This little clip of him giving some shit to a Heckler is sweet...don't fuck with the Rogan!!

VB.net to C#

So - being as pretty much 80% of .NET web development roles require the use of C# and I'm primarily a VB.net developer I've decided to get on the bandwagon and become a little more multi-lingual in programmatic terms. That's right...I'm learning C#! (Other coders who know me....well - it had to happen sometime init?!)

Now the upside to this is that it will make me a great deal more employable when hunting for a new job, the downside...you get into that repetitive situation where you're coding in 1 language...when you try and switch to one you're cool with (such as going back to VB.net from C#) you end up trying to code 1 language against the other platform! I totally remember this happening way back when I was learning Javascript. Started adding curly brackets to stuff when I moved back onto ASP (I'm talking classic ASP here so it was some time ago). I know this isn't going to last long but it still sucks a bit.

Anyways, for those VB.net developers who are wanting to learn C#. If you know your Javascript or Actionscript syntax then you're sweet. All there is to it is syntax when it boils down to it and having a grasp of the aforementioned will help you no end. Thankfully, the CLR dictates that all the methodologies are pretty much the same. Inheritance, instantiation, OOP methodologies are bang on how you'd do them in VB.net - and once you know the little quirks that'll trip you up in the beginning:

• No more optional parameters for functions/sub routines
• No real declaration for a Subs, Functions or property but more how you write it that defines what it is
• You'll need to do a compilation every so often to find errors
• You can't be slack. By this I mean, you need to be sure you keep your case sensitivity in check...VB.net does a whole bunch of automated corrections for you that you don't even notice - C# basically tells you - "That's wrong...try again".

But stick with it and within 2 weeks...you'll be blazing through no problem.
Anyways - a few sites that have helped me shed loads...

VB.net to C# Converter
Great for the little snippets when you know what you want to do but can't quite get it right in C#

VB.net to C# Comparison
Heaven send blessings to the dude who wrote this page...it's helped me no end! Shows you all the basics of VB.net and their C# equivalents from object instantiation to data type declarations.

Anyways, figured I'd throw down my 2 cents and help anyone on the same path with what knowledge I have aquired thus far.

Happy Codin'!

Something to look forward too

Started training again this week. Things have been a bit slack on the training front since the move. Having to setup the multi-gym again was not as bad as I thought and took me all of 90 minutes this time round (instead of the 6 hours it took me when I 1st got it). I think that's mostly down to the fact that I managed to dismantle it into about 20 pieces as opposed to it's original 200! Anyways, Mondays MMA session was good, Thursdays was pure pain and I loved it...been running, lifting weights and doing drills. Did nish on Wednesday as that's my designated day off and from here up until Monday...will be nothing but resting and stuffing my fat face.

Apparently we may well have a little club on club competition - if so proper looking forward to it. Soon as a date is confirmed I'll be training like my life depended on it up until that point. I have no problems with losing to an opponent (although I have no intention of that happening), I do have problems losing to fear (and I have no intention of that happening either).

Also been told there is a distinct possibility that we'll be going up against Rosi Sexton's crew in November which I am really excited about. I've seen her on the Fight Network (Bodog fight) so there's a touch of Hero worship there too - not to mention the fact that she's bad ass! Saw her pull a very sweet arm bar on this Brazilian chic who was dressed all in pink (I ain't a fan of pink in any capacity - not as bad as green though). And if her homies are anything like her...I'll be training until I'm close to death and a little bit more until that point!! (I'll also try and score me an autograph!)

Oh yeah, that date on Saturday...went OK. I get the distinct impression she thinks I'm some kinda play boy so not too sure how far that's gonna go. Not much you can do about someone who has already made their mind up about you and I ain't about to start trying to prove that's not me. Nothing worse than being judged because you got a few nice garms and a cool pad. But such is life.

Anyways - 9 more days until my birthday...15 until the housewarming/birthday party. Still not told the neighbours yet...we'll see what they say I guess.

Birmingham Jazz Festival

Birmingham International Jazz Festival starts today. May pop down next weekend - check it out.

Multi touch blackberry! WOW!

So, browsing around and bump into this blog by a dude with what I must say is the best name on the planet (Tim McKnight). Anyways, nice little speal on multi touch devices and it would appear that blackberry are joining the band wagon (FINALLY!!). Out of every phone I've had, the blackberry is my fav without a doubt. It's got that weird bug where you need to take the battery out every few weeks or you wave good bye to your text/email messages. Other than that...it's freaking awesome. Has all the functions I need and it doesn't suck (pretty much my criteria for a phone these days!).



Anyways, Tim has some nice blurbs so go check out his blog. Meanwhile - the Blackberry Thunder site (which is down right now) can be found here.

Up, Up, Awaaaaay!

So things are on the up for Timmy Boy. On the way home last night and bump into hot chic that I'm taking out this weekend (her name is Tisha). Took her for a quick drink which turned into a few which turned into something to eat. Next thing you know it was almost 11pm! Anyways, gotta say, very great chic. Gorgeous and Extremly funny and very genuine (she's alright too - Boom Boom!). Happy days - sooo looking forward to Saturday :)

Panic Over

So, my new place has a great view of the canal from the balcony which as soon as I saw it made me think "Perfect for a smoke in the summer". Anyways, I ends up having a smoke a few days ago and I hear this voice "Hello...". Turns out its my neighbours from upstairs who just so happen to be the concierge and caretaker (they're married). Oooh, I also get the impression they're pretty tight with the land lady. "We can smell it...any chance you could go inside our grand-daughter is here". Oh the embarrasement. Now after seeing what happened to my last place, I've dubbed the new pad a "no smoking" flat, so if I wanna smoke - I pop out onto the balcony (very convenient when you're on the 3rd floor), just didn't realise my stash was so potent.

Either way...I start flapping "Oooh...they're gonna tell the land lady...I'm gonna get evicted and I barely been here a week!!". So yesterday I pops over to the concierges office after work to drop off some post for the previous tenants and she seems cool. I tell her "Yeah, erm.....sorry about last night...that won't happen again". "Oh it's fine! We're you smoking the other night too??", "Errr....yeah...", "OK, that explains it, cos we didn't know what it was, we ended up calling the gas board". I gotta say I laughed! Anyways, turns out their daughter only works for the fuzz and is a drugs youth worker. She was there when I was having a smoke and clocked on right away! Luckily though, they seem very cool with it - the dude was like "Do what you want mate...live n let live is what I say" - so I don't think they'll be ratting me out just yet. Just means I gotta go for a walk any time I wanna have a Joe.

Ahhh...how my life makes me laugh.

On a slightly less significant note...totally got a Prada shirt for 60 bones yesterday...BARGAIN! And I got some D&G shoes that were meant to be 235 but I managed to get em 50% off. The joys of end of season sales!!! GET IN!

Rant

You know what...I gotta say it gets to me when people start playing the victim. Woah is me and you did this to me and you made me feel this way and that and blah blah blah. You know what...bollocks!

So you're in a situation you no longer want to be in. Do you:

1. Stay in said situation to please other people
2. Do what's right for you and in the long term the other person and bounce

You go for option 1, you end up being grossly unhappy all to please someone else.
You go for option 2, you get a ton of grief about Karma coming to get you n all that shit.

Well this is what I think. Bollox to the lot of it. Do what's right for you - not for other people. The only person responsible for you being happy is you. Playing the victim and blaming someone else stops you from growing as a person and it's a totally negative way to live your life. This is from experience!

Unless there are children involved, you got to put yourself first in all things. Sounds selfish but think of it like this. If you don't seek out the things that make you happy and leave it to other people...you'll be unhappy for a very long time. This is not to say that you should not consider other people. This is to say that you should do things because you want to do them, not because you expect something in return. Treat yourself as you would your best friend because loving yourself is the 1st step to truly loving someone else. Finally, don't feel guilty for doing what is right for you, because if you don't do it - no one else will.

Rant over...

I've moved!

Yeah, not bad in terms of timing. Oh the joys of renting...could have been quicker but I decided to go for the nicer apartment (see the screen shots from the previous post) which meant I had to wait until the 23rd to move in. All worked out perfectly though. Had enough time to order new furniture, get stuff packed up, notify all the companies of my new address etc and to top it all off...got this hot chics number and taking her out on Saturday - Boo Ya!! Living the dream peeps...living the dream!

Love the new pad, it's funky as hell. High ceilings, floor to ceiling windows in the living room, double doors that open onto a balcony which is bang on the canal. Lights in the hallway that turn on automatically, built in dishwasher (makes life so much easier) so yeah, happy as larry. And now that I've settled in, more general posts coming soon.

I'm moving!

6 years I been at that flat. It's cheap as chips and I gotta say I'm gonna miss the place but it's time for me to move onto bigger and better things. Why?? Because I saw a mouse!! Cage fighting - no problem with that what so ever...being in the same room with a mouse - NO THANK YOU! My mates think it's funny as hell - I haven't laughed one bit. Seen the bugger (who I have dubbed Mikey) around here and there and he don't even run when he see's me! Just gives me a nod as if to say "Evening!". I wouldn't be too surprised if I saw him walking passed in the hallway with today's paper dressed in a robe with flip flops on!

Either way, my nerves are shot...I feel like a prisoner in my own home for crying out loud! Can't sleep right...right now I'm shattered! I ain't eating right (mainly cos I keep seeing him in the kitchen and I'll be damned if I'll be spending anymore time in there than necessary!!)

Anyways - got most of this week off for various activities, namely UFC 85 over at the O2 arena in London (YAY!!!), and I've arranged a viewing of some pretty plush pads at a kick ass complex just around the corner for Monday. I think I wanna go for the penthouse. Because it looks great, sounds pretty sweet to have a penthouse and more importantly being on the top floor - mice free!!! Plus the complex has a gym n all o that too.

The aim? To be outta this place and in the new place by July 1st! that gives me 28 days exactly. If I can be in there by next pay day (23rd) even better still! More on this later...meanwhile, some candy representing what I may be moving into (there's a view of the canal too....SUITS YOU!)

UFC 84 Review

This was a great card and some excellent fights. I can't even remember the name of the dude that impressed me the most (his name is a mouthful) but he switched from back control to an arm bar quick as lightening. A seriously excellent display of Jui Jitsu! Definitely a move to try out!

BJ Penn won his fight and it was an entire stand up war which was surprising. I figured Sherk with his ridiculous conditioning would have taken him down to the ground and tried to work something from there to tire BJ out (would have been a better strategy) but that didn't happen. His boxing form looks great but he wasn't able to hit BJ with them short arms. Oh the joys of a longer reach (it really does help!)

I was chuffed that Wanderlei Silva won his fight. I'm not a fan of Keith Jardine, the dude talks about the lack of respect he gets and I'm not saying he is not a good fighter, what I am saying is that he's like cress! Lots of good stuff about him but when you break it down - he's kinda boring.

The outcome of the Machida vs Ortiz fight was as I expected. Machida will have the belt before long!! That Triangle choke/arm bar attempt by Tito looked like the end of the fight but Machida got out of it some how. Serious amount of heart and skill from the dude!!

Ooooh - Sexy!!

Well, I thought so anyway.

DUDE!! I WANNA LEARN HOW TO DO THIS!

Post 100!

Welcome to post 100...a small milestone and not too significant (if at all) in the great scheme of things, but a milestone non the less. Not updated for a while as I've been busy with either being ill or training.

Anyways, the 2nd sparring session was way better than the 1st. After that first instance and realising that I was being way too defensive I was determined to be a great deal more offensive that time round. Also spent a good few hours putting my UFC video subscription to good use watching all the best stand up guys and studying how they do their thing. Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell. I also managed to use a trick that I read in Mohammed Ali's auto-bio where he puts one hand on the head of the opponent (watch some of his fights, you'll see him do it) which apparently helps distract them (it works too). In MMA that'd be no good...leaving your arm out there for too long is gonna do nothing against someone with good BJJ apart from get you submitted, but considering our sparring sessions are hands only for the moment, it's all good. I've also been running to my sessions too (it's only a 1.5k run) but an excellent way to warm up and get the aerobic conditioning on the way. Need to concentrate on the Anaerobic too though. All in all, I'm loving the MMA stuff I'm doing and the guys I train with are all really sound people. Getting to be a tight group...

In other news, less than 4 weeks until UFC 85 and I can't wait. My very 1st live UFC event and it's gonna be the shiz! It still sucks that I won't get to see Chuck Liddell as that would have been way cool especially after reading his book but the UFC have made up for it with one of the biggest fight cards in the history of the UFC. Nicely done boys, nicely done. Bisping is fighting Jason "Dooms" Day who I have not heard of but from all the hype...is meant to be a bad mother fu*ker! Still a shame that Chris Leben has had to go to Jail though...would have been good to see Bisping and him get it on. I also think it would have been good for Bispings career with Leben being better known among UFC fans but the fight should be pretty good anyway. They also have Thiago Alves vs Matt Huges, Rashad Evans vs James Irvin and Paul Taylor vs Jess Liaudin. I'm diggin Paul Taylor, dudes from the West Midlands for a start which is where I'm from and he's got some skills too although he's in the under card so that fight won't get televised.

Anyway - bored of typing now...will add more when I can be bothered...

UFC 83, 85 and Ouch!

Yeah, so was sparring on Monday. Was a shed load of fun but my cardio needs a lot of work. As you can see, I've been doing some "Nike+" Runs, even woke up at 6am this morning to do a few kilometers. The goal...2 miles in 11 minutes...at the moment I can do 2k in 9.5 minutes so I've got some to go. Anyways, really really really need to work on my stand up. Apparently my foot work is good so that's one less thing, but I gotta start committing to the punches. I also got tagged square on the bridge of my nose which I have to say was a b*tch!! On a scale of 1-10 I'd say the pain was at like 6-7 so nothing life threatening but enough to make me pause and start nodding my head even though no one asked me a question. The eyes start streaming and you cant see properly and there's that little voice in your head saying "3x 5 minutes of this? HA!...lets go home" but I'm ignoring that little git and powering through. Anyways, didn't really help that the guy who was training me says after years he's never gotten used to being punched in the nose :( NOOOOO!! Anyways, not giving up...this is spurring me on to get better and the way I see it, the more I get hit in the face the more incentive there is for me to move out of the freaking way!!

Meanwhile, I have not done any UFC of late so I'll throw something in. Very happy that GSP got his belt back, the crowd looked freaking awesome in terms of the atmosphere and even though Serra lost, it's cool he got an applause at the end. Meanwhile, seems that Chuck Liddel won't be fighting at UFC 85 anymore! I was well gutted when I found that out. Training injury n all of that which couldn't be helped but damn dude!! The one fight on the entire card I was really looking forward to not to mention the fact that I lashed 300 bones on tickets! Anyways, the main card has been changed to Matt Hughes vs Thiago Alves - which ain't as kick ass a Liddell vs Evans, but it's nice to see that UFC have their finger on the pulse being as Bisping will be taking on Chris Leben. FREAKING AWESOME! Now that's the fight I'll be looking forward to. Getting to see our boy in LIVE action is gonna freaking rock and even though the US fans may not be as welcoming to the big man...we freaking love that guy over here. I guarantee you that the crowd is gonna go absolutely freaking wild when he comes out. Got to say though, I think this will be a very good gauge to see how Bisping would do against Silva. If he can take out Leben just as quick it looks good, if it goes to a decision or even worst he loses (doubt it) then he's got a ways to go. But one I'm looking for, Rich Franklin vs Bisping - OH YEAH!

Nike+

Yup - scored me some Nike+ and that little gimmicky thing you put in your trainers so that they connect to your pod. Anyways - turns out the freaking thing don't work with my Touch so had to score an iPod Nano today. Got a cheapo second hand one from CEX though. Anyways - thats the reason for the thing on the left. Won't be at 0 for long...

Me!! A DJ!?!?

Yeah, I totally forgot to mention, had my school reunion a few weeks back. Some people ain't changed a lick others have seen better days but it was good to see them all. Unfortunately there are pictures of me doing some weird ass dancing, proper getting into it (making myself small Peter Kay Style) and I have no excuse cos I was on water that night!!! Anyways - everyone's giving the usual "So what are you doing with yourself now..." apart from when they get to me everyone's like "You're a DJ aren't you?". Thinking back I wish I had blagged it and said "Hell yeah!" but the last time I tried to do that my best mate (The git!) spilt the beans to everyone totally pissing all over which at the time was a well lit bonfire built by yours truly! Anyways - I told the truth :(

I like being a programmer but being a DJ would have been one of the only other jobs that I could say is way cooler!!!

Gaining weight for thin people (Part 3) : The Workout

Overview
This guide is meant as a continuation to the "gaining weight for thin people" series but the principles still apply for people just wanting to work out generally. It is important that you consult your doctor if you have or have had any serious injury and either a recurring or constant illness. I would also strongly suggest that you speak to and obtain advice from a professional including help with demonstrations of the routines outlined below. These are meant as an introductory guide and it is your responsibility to get the professional help you need.

BEFORE

Week 1: welcome to the pain train
The first session that I ever did with my trainer in the gym was a chest session. When we were done he says to me "see you next week", my reply..."no no, I'll be in tomorrow". "trust me, you won't". He was right. He had me do 10 reps of 20 kilos on a Smiths Machine which we took down to 15 kg for another 10 and then 10 kg until failure (more explanation on what that means later). When I was done I could hardly lift my arms to shower properly and could hardly open a door. 5 days this lasted but by the next session my body was already beginning to adapt.

Learn to walk before you run
It's very important that you build up your routine slowly and allow your body to adapt to the new stresses you're putting it under. Coming up with a workout plan that has you going full tilt on a 5 day workout routine is not the way to go if you're not used to it. Patience is the key. Build up slowly and don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure.

Reps, sets, to failure - what?
Reps: this is short for repetitions and defines the motion from the start to finish of an exercise. If you do 1 press up that counts as a single rep.

Sets: A set defines a group of repetitions. Therefore if you do 10 reps 3 times that would constitute "3 sets of 10".

To failure: Some people start on a lower weight for their first set and increase the weight per set. Others (like me) start with the maximum weight and decrease per set. Either way - most people average 3 sets of the same exercise and on the final set, doing the exercise to failure means doing your usual amount of repetitions, and then keep going until you are able to so no more (this is not usually more than 5 and if it is, the weight you are using is too light).

Don't overdo the routine and change it up every few months
As mentioned above, you want to concentrate on 1 or 2 muscle groups per session (most people stick with 1) which also means you'll want to do around 3 separate routines to work that muscle group. Doing more than that is going to be difficult and is getting into the realms of causing injury. So for your back you may want to do lat pull downs, seated rows and pull ups.

Warm Up
Before hitting the weights you should always have a warm up by either doing some light jogging, shadow boxing or one of my favourites, skipping rope. Pretty much anything that gets the blood flowing. This will definitely help minimise the chance of injury and ensure your body is at its peak readiness for when you start putting it under strain.

Also, remember that if you're trying to add bulk, don't do 3 miles a day on a treadmill. That relates to people with an endomorphic body type of course. Cardio work is good, but you want to do enough to keep you healthy, not so much that it causes you to loose mass. You'll invariably burn up the calories you are trying to maintain to achieve your goal.

DURING

Get your form right
Good form is a contributing factor to increase in strength, stability and size. You want to be able to do the exercises in a way that ensures your body gets the benefit of that exercise. If your form is incorrect it can waste your time being as you won't be getting the benefit afforded and can also be dangerous to you. This is the reason they have mirrors in gym's, not because people who go to the gym are vain, but so everyone can make sure their form is correct. Seeking help from a qualified professional is always recommended.

Don't over train!
By this I mean that each session should concentrate on 1 or 2 muscle groups. If you have a chest workout on Monday you wouldn't have another chest session on Wednesday. The reason for this is that you are putting your muscles under strain which creates tiny little tears in the muscle tissue. On average they'll take about 1 week to recover by which time you would have fed them with lots of protein and they would have repaired themselves, fractionally stronger and bigger than the last time.

Water, water, water!
Between each set you should be drinking water. Your muscles love the H2O, especially when you're working out and it will help you push yourself that much further as well as lubricating the tendons so that you don't cause yourself an injury. The human body is 80% liquid, so replacing those fluids you lose when working out is important. It'll also help add to your bulk.

AFTER

Have a source of protein within 20 minutes of your workout
You could actually wait up to 40 minutes apparently but the sooner the better. Your body will use the protein most efficiently directly after a workout. Most people opt for a protein shake being as it's in a liquid form and your body does not need to do any of the extra work to break it down. Your body is always going to be able to process a protein shake far quicker than a piece of chicken.


Get the rest you need!
If you usually live on 4-5 hours sleep a night this is going to have to change! Your body repairs itself best during your sleep cycle so you want to aim to get between 7 at the minimum 8 realistically hours of sleep a night. Also, you'll want to ensure you split your workout routine up so that you have rest days. Even though you may not be sleeping all day you'll need days when you don't put your body under stress (this does not mean book a day off work, sorry!) so that you have a chance to recover properly. If you workout 4 times a week you'll want to be resting between workout days 2 and 3 and days 3 and 4.

This is the second and final article in the subject of "gaining weight for thin people" and I hope it helps you in the same way it has helped me. Always remember that consistency is the key and there is no progress without struggle.

Good luck to you all!

Chuck Liddell out of UFC 85 card and my grading

Yeah, he's pulled his freakin' hamstring!! I'm well gutted about that! £300 bones on tickets and he injures himself on training! Anyways - you can read more here, as for the replacement - no idea! :(

Meanwhile - got me belt/passed my grading, 1st of many I hope - so onward and upward.

Chinese Guardians of the Torch

Daaamn, seems like China are serious about keeping this torch alight! Those dudes in the dodgy blue track suits are members of the Chinese Counter Terorrism Unit. I'd usually say that was overkill but with the way things are going - maybe not.

I for one will not be watching the olympics at all in protest of the stuff that's going on over there! No way am I about to support the supression of a people. It wasn't right 100 years ago...it's not right now!

More info about these hardcore homies in blue here

Gaining weight for thin people (Part 2) : What you eat is very important

Overview
One of the biggest mistakes to make is to think that because of your fast metabolism you can eat what you like. Not true! Even though your body does not hold weight very well, you have to think about your arteries which will get clogged and restricted just as badly as anyone else's. Its been scientifically proven that larger people who lead a healthier lifestyle (a few hours of cardio a week and eat the right foods) will have less chance of heart disease and other related illnesses than someone who is naturally slim and shovels fatty foods down at every available opportunity. The human body is an amazing thing, heals itself, can adapt quickly based on its environment and so much more so taking care of it makes sense. To put it another way, think of your favourite car (for me its gotta be the X5), if you had it - you'd take care of it right? You wouldn't go throwing petrol in if it was a diesel engine and you wouldn't just leave it on the drive gathering dust either, so why would you do that to your body? The general rule of the universe is that if you take care of something, it lasts longer - so keep this in mind.

Good foods and bad foods
So, when I first started gaining weight people would tell me "easy, pie and chips every night should do it" which is probably true but as my old trainer used to say "eat crap - look like crap!". The point is not just to gain weight but to gain "good weight" and you don't need to stuff yourself with fatty foods to do it. Think sensibly and logically and you can't go far wrong - here are some examples.

Kentucky fried chicken with chips
Think about it, you got a piece of chicken covered in a form of batter deep fried in fat along with potatoes that have had roughly the same treatment for lord knows how long. May taste gorgeous but its the quickest way to send you to an early grave! Crispy or not, that fat has to go somewhere and your arteries are as good a place as any!

Healthy equivalent

Skinless Roast chicken pieces with jacket potatoes.
Tastes just as nice, both can be thrown in the oven without a lick of fat and come out tasting spanking if you use the right seasoning.

You'll also want to steer clear of processed foods! They're about as good as fast foods (which is not very good at all) and if you ask any dietitian they'll tell you "avoid that stuff like it's been dipped in cyanide!". Fresh foods are the way forward, no dodgy preservatives or artificial colourings are going to help you gain the "good weight" you need. They can also have a major correlation to your stress levels, skin condition and your mojo among other things. As an aside, try and keep skin on chicken, fat on steak/pork chops down to a minimum. May taste nice but that does not change the fact that you're shoveling pure fat down you!

Lots of protein, loadsa carbs and overdose on the calories - regularly!
Protein is basically what you need for your muscles to grow and carbs are what your body needs for energy (more on that in the next article). The human body can only process around 30 grams of protein per meal and requires a source of protein on average every 3-4 hours. This is why you may notice people eating smaller meals every few hours as opposed to large meals less often. The idea is to keep your Protein levels up and you metabolism going pretty much constantly throughout the day - 1 giant meal won't cut it even if it has your planned amount of carbs/protein/calories for that day. There is a formula with regards to gaining weight based on your current weight which will be added to this article at a later date. Either way - if you're like me, I can't be bothered with all of that so I generally go for something like this. Every meal I aim to have 30 grams of protein and 90 grams of carbs. Works out OK give or take a few grams. Also, calories help loads too - UK Medical guidelines state that the average woman should intake 1940 calories per day where as the average man should intake 2550. Being as we're not average (this is for thin people remember) a good idea would be to keep an eye on how many calories you intake in 1 day (this web site should help a ton!) once you know - aim to add 500 onto that. Try it for a week - check your weight before and after and then if no difference...keep increasing until you see a difference.

Best sources for protein
Meats! Chicken is the best followed by fish, steak, pork (not sausages!). However, if you're a vegetarian, pulses (baked beans for example) are going to be your best bet. One of the things that has helped me tremendously are protein/carb shakes. I have trouble eating anything first thing in the morning, I end up chewing for what feels like ages so a pro/carb shake every morning sorts me out.

Best sources for carbs
Wholemeal (not White) breads, rice and pasta and potatoes are excellent starting points. White bread is actually classed as being bad for you (shocked when I found out too!) it actually removes nutrients from your body and is not good for the digestive process.

Hang on! Every 3-4 hours? When am I meant to fit all that in?
Sucks I know but its all about routine (you'll see me say that a few times in these articles). Yeah you're not used to it but that does not make it impossible. As an example, here is my eating plan on an average workout day.

• 7 am - Wake up and have a protein/carb shake once I finish guzzling that down I'll make another one and put that in a container to take with me to work (most supplement shops will do them!). Breakfast is very important being as you want to start your metabolism going as soon as you wake up. I would have been asleep for about 12 hours and even though my metabolic rate slows down while I sleep - I'm going to need to fire things up again.
  
  (50g protein / 150g carbs / 970 Cal)
  
• 10.30 am - its been 3.5 hours so I'll have half of my protein shake.
  
  (25g protein / 75g carbs / 485 Cal)
  
• 12.30 pm/1 pm - Egg Mayo & Cress sandwich, carrot cake (we're all entitled to a treat!), packet of low fat crisps and an innocent smoothie (gotta squeeze those 5 a day in somewhere). Also, while the above may seem a little expensive...not really. Less than £3.40 from Marks and Spencer in the meal deal. Bargain!
  
  (26g protein / 133g carbs / 892 Cal)
  
• 3 pm/3.30 pm - The other half of my protein shake. Its only been 2/2.5 hours but with an hour journey home I don't wanna be running for the nearest loo the moment I get off the train!
  
  (25g protein / 75g carbs / 485 Cal)
  
• 7 pm - I would have just finished my workout so I'll eat first. Maybe some salmon cooked in the oven with steamed mixed vegetables and new potatoes accompanied by a protein shake. The reason for the drink just after the workout will be explained in the next article "Working out helps a ton".
  
  (75g protein / 185g carbs / 1320 Cal)

Total Protein Intake : 201 grams
Total Carb Intake : 618 grams
Total Calorie Intake : 4152

Different people have different make ups so while the above helps me gain weight at a rather slow rate - for someone else this could turn them into a complete bloater within weeks so find what works best for you and stick with it.

Now I have mentioned nothing about working out so far which will be in the next article. I think it may be an idea to get used to the eating bit first and then move onto adding the workout routines into it (your appetite will increase quite a bit once you start working out). Either way, this is all possible once you get into a routine and it takes mere seconds to have a quick read of a label (99% of products have a label telling you carb and protein content). So you don't need to become a slob to gain weight and with some careful consideration you can keep it all healthy too.

Good luck!

Oooohhhh...Funky Design!

This is weird but I still like it. Don't stare for too long though (seriously) it'll make your eyes go weird!

http://www.nathanaelwolfe.com/sites/visu/index.html

UFC Fight night and Bisping is plenty pissed!

Watched UFC Fight night over the weekend and what a card! Was not expecting Houston Alexander to get a beat down within the first 8 seconds and even though he recovered quickly I gotta agree with the ref. The dude wasn't covering up and you need to be cautious about this kinda stuff! That was an outstanding superman punch by the Sandman though.

Meanwhile, Anthony Johnson - WOW!! Either Tommy Spears really sucks ass or Ant Johnson has some serious skill. Dudes quick as anything and he tagged Tommy with some serious power and quickness!

Another fighter worth a mention, Nate Diaz. The kids got serious skills and I have to say much respect goes his way for weathering the storm to go on and win. Kids got heart to match the skills for sure!

Finally - Mike Bisping is pretty pissed at McCarthy and I gotta say I can see why. I read that tripe that McCarthy was saying about Bisping being average (Wanker!). I also remember McCarthy in TUF looking like he was about to shit himself when he thought he was about to fight a particular fighter. Mike...PLEASE DO THIS GEEZER!!

You can read "The Counts" view on this fat little wankers delusional comments here.

Another cracking session and The Ultimate Fighther

Had an outstanding session last night - knackering but fun! Punches and elbows from the mount position - although one thing I gotta do is start working on my neck muscles...when on the bottom, keeping your chin tucked in for long periods of time gives you some serious neck ache - one more thing to add onto the regime! Also ordered me a "FCF" hoodie today - reckon that should be here in the next few days :)

Also don't forget - for those of you living in the UK - the new season of "the Ultimate Fighter (Team Rampage vs Team Griffin)" starts tomorrow night - Bravo - 11pm.

Finally - they've started accepting entries for the May 1st Reboot - YAY!

The doubting Thomas only makes Timmy Stronger!

So I really want to do some Amateur MMA bouts. Not something I think I'll ever want to do as a career but a few local competitions is definitely something I'll be interested in and certainly something I want to do by the time I'm 30 which gives me 15 months (give or take a week or 2). So I've spoken to my trainer and she reckons getting me ready in that amount of time won't be a problem. The way I see it - if she can teach me the skills, I can work on everything else such as cardio, being limber etc.

However I must say that I'm ever so slightly disappointed but greatly encouraged about how well (or not as the case may be) most people think I will perform. I can't say I'm totally surprised, underestimated from day 1 and nothing appears to have changed! "web design and programming?? You're having a laugh right??!" That's what someone said to me 12 years ago when I showed an interest in web programming. Now I'm the youngest member of an IT department working as a web team leader for one of the largest Conveyancing Law Firms in the country!

Doubt me all you want - but it only serves to make me stronger!

Gaining weight for thin people (Part 1) : Introduction

OK - those who know me will be aware of the fact that I'm not exactly "heavy set". I'm exactly 6ft and used to weigh 59 kilos/130 lbs / 9.3 stone (nope - not an eating disorder - but a metabolism that's so fast I feel like I'm going back in time!)

I'm close to 70 kilos/154 lbs / 11 stone now (and on the up) but it's not been without hard work! Anyway, all I ever see are articles about losing weight - "oooh the obesity problem" and blah blah blah. No one ever mentions a thing about people like me...the kinda guy who can eat whatever and never gain weight - and even though we're not overweight, the fact that we can eat crap and never see it in terms of rolls appearing around the mid-region, chin etc does not equate to being healthy.

Either way - I've made a decision to write a series of articles about gaining weight (I've been working on it for long enough) in an attempt to help what would appear to be "the minority" (fear not fellow thin people - I know your pain). I know there are people out there who are overweight who would dream of being able to eat anything and never put on weight but it's not a barrel of laughs for us either you know - especially if you're male (does nothing for your confidence for a start!).

So that was the intro - I'll be adding more articles relating to how I've managed to gain weight and "spreading the knowledge" that I've acquired over the years in my quest. I'll go over everything that works for me from work out plans to eating habits and lifestyle changes in the hope that it may well work for you too - so watch this space.