MA articles in Metro Eireann

HammerHeadGym

Watch those leg kicks brother.

Khannie

Haha. Great read. Best of luck with the fight.

Rob Carry

Yeah, the leg kicks are a concern. I'd conditioned my own pins quite thoroughly, but about a month ago I upped the amount of jogging I was doing - around 10 k before work every morning - and I got a horrible dose of shin splints I haven't been able to shift. They're seriously tender, so I'm gonna suffer on that score. I think my best bet will be to stay close, lots of hands, elbows and clinch. that's the plan anyway!

Lab_Mouse

the journalist seems genuine anyway...the link for the boxing showed some insight.He would rather fight a black belt martial artist than do boxing or muaythai!

In fainess to BJJ and other grappling arts a lot of there techniques can cause serious harm if done to their full extent...as for the rest ....outside of their training circle its all pants..its not self defense but a martial art

HammerHeadGym

Rob Carry wrote: »

... I got a horrible dose of shin splints I haven't been able to shift...

Try massaging counter pain (the cooling one) into them 4 times a day (before and after each session). Worked for me anyway. It'll help keep your training up to speed. You won't feel anything in the ring.

Rob Carry

HammerHeadGym wrote: »

Try massaging counter pain (the cooling one) into them 4 times a day (before and after each session). Worked for me anyway. It'll help keep your training up to speed. You won't feel anything in the ring.

Ah cheers, I'll definitely give that a shot. How long did it take to clear up? I'm fighting in a week!

Dave Joyce

Hey man good luck with the fight. What are your runners like? If they're more than 6 months old or have a fair amount of mileage, bin them and get a new decent pair.....cheap, which it will be over there:( Would also go along with rubbing them out, but its easier to get someone else to do it, especially in Thailand where you've plenty of people who can do that (tbh, sounds more like you have bad shin soreness).

Rob Carry

I thought it might have been from booting bags and sparring at first, but it's only really in a small area on the inside of both shins, at the bottom, which doesn't get a lot of contact, if any, so I reckon now it's def shin splints. I think the runners might have been a factor in triggering it alright, but the main thing was just that I was doing way more running, on roads, than I was used to. A new pair wouldn't hurt though and as you said this is the place to be buying them! Horrible thing to get though, I had to limp into the gym on more than a couple of occassions. So any pointers on what to to training wise in the last week before a fight? Give it loads or ease off??

Dave Joyce

If its the inside of your shins chances are it was caused by your runners and I still think its probley shin soreness (not that its not extremely sore too) rather that shin splints (which would be sore when even just standing), however, shin soreness is an indicator of impending shin splints.

Would avoid any/all impact on the affected area right up until the actual fight and if you have to cut weight and need to do cardio, try and use a bicycle and avoid running. I would also avoid kicking pads or especially bags for the remainder also but theres nothing to stop you working boxing, elbows and clinch on the bag and pads.

Final suggestion would be to work on a lot of stretching (which can be almost non exsistant in Thailand due to the heat/humidity) especially the lower limbs as this will help with the soreness.

Rob Carry

Dave Joyce wrote: »

If its the inside of your shins chances are it was caused by your runners and I still think its probley shin soreness (not that its not extremely sore too) rather that shin splints (which would be sore when even just standing), however, shin soreness is an indicator of impending shin splints.

Would avoid any/all impact on the affected area right up until the actual fight and if you have to cut weight and need to do cardio, try and use a bicycle and avoid running. I would also avoid kicking pads or especially bags for the remainder also but theres nothing to stop you working boxing, elbows and clinch on the bag and pads.

Final suggestion would be to work on a lot of stretching (which can be almost non exsistant in Thailand due to the heat/humidity) especially the lower limbs as this will help with the soreness.

I've been told I don't have to worry about being a bit over the fight weight so I've ditched the skipping and running - just doing a bit of swimming in the mornings instead. I was training yesterday and told my teacher I wasn't going to do any kicking. His English isn't the best and my Thai is still very basic so I haven't really been able to explain the problem to him properly. I reckon he thinks I'm either lazy or a wuss! Can't be helped though, going into a ring with sore legs isn't really an option. I bought the gel mentioned above and have been using it along with ice packs. Also been doing more stretching. Still tenderness there but hopefully it'll improve before Saturday. I've also heard conflicting suggestions how many days rest to get before a fight? One or two?

Dave Joyce

With regards to the rest period, I would go along with how YOUR body is feeling. Personally I used to ease right back two days before fighting and have a light session two days before and then take the day before off particularly when weight is not an issue. But again you could find Thai trainers have a very different opinion:). Either way don't stress it too much, and give 'em hell.:)

Rob Carry

Dave Joyce wrote: »

With regards to the rest period, I would go along with how YOUR body is feeling. Personally I used to ease right back two days before fighting and have a light session two days before and then take the day before off particularly when weight is not an issue. But again you could find Thai trainers have a very different opinion:). Either way don't stress it too much, and give 'em hell.:)

OK cool, I'll see how I feel on Thursday and then decide. Probably not a huge deal either way. And yeah, I suppose I'd be the firm underdog given that the lad I'm fighting is a pro, but it also means I've nothing to loose. After the first round I'm just going to keep attacking the bloke with everything I've got until one of us is knocked out

HammerHeadGym

hi Rob,

It took about 2 weeks to clear up. This included proper icing sessions at the end of the day about an hour each leg, and also my girlfriend feeding me peeled grapes.

HammerHeadGym

Rob Carry wrote: »

OK cool, I'll see how I feel on Thursday and then decide. Probably not a huge deal either way. And yeah, I suppose I'd be the firm underdog given that the lad I'm fighting is a pro, but it also means I've nothing to loose. After the first round I'm just going to keep attacking the bloke with everything I've got until one of us is knocked out

Pace yourself when your in there man, First round, first gear. He will be holding most of i back until round 3 at the earliest. In Thailand the first 2 rounds aren't scored. So don't shoot your wad too early. He will almost certainly come out banging in round three, once you've had a chance to wind yourself.

Rob Carry

It took about 2 weeks to clear up. This included proper icing sessions at the end of the day about an hour each leg, and also my girlfriend feeding me peeled grapes.

Hmm. Fight is on in two days and it hasn't cleared up, so I suppose I'll just have to work through it. I've today and tomorrow off and the fight is on Saturday night so I've nearly three days of total rest which should help, along with the ice packs and gel. Sadly, I'm between girlfriends right now so I'm not goin to be able to assess the healing properties of being hand-fed peeled grapes. It's actually just aswell that I'm single - I've been banned from women for the past six weeks! Apparently, if 'you boom boom you no have power!'

HammerHeadGym wrote: »

Pace yourself when your in there man, First round, first gear. He will be holding most of i back until round 3 at the earliest. In Thailand the first 2 rounds aren't scored. So don't shoot your wad too early. He will almost certainly come out banging in round three, once you've had a chance to wind yourself.

I had to switch gyms a little over a month ago and got my fight arranged at short notice from there. It meant, unusually for Thailand, that myself and the other fighter were given the choice of having a three round bout, (which I was delighted with to be honest). I'm confident I've enough in the tank to get through the second two at full tilt if the first is taken slowly, although there's a chance the guy could come out swinging right from the off...

Rob Carry

Got the win!!!!!!!!!! Cheers for all the advice lads, very much appreciated. I have the fight on video camera so I'll upload it when i get home and stick a link up here. The whole shin splints whinge fest went out the window when the bell went, I was banging the low kicks in all through the fight (although I think I might have a broken foot). I didn't get a knockout - the Thai had a head like a brick and probably got the better of me in the first two rounds, but in the last round he'd taken a few too many punches and pretty much ran out of steam. After that I just chased him down with lots of low kicks and heavy straights and hooks. I'm not sure how many Irish lads have beat Thais in Thailand, but I'm well chuffed to be one of them

Dave Joyce

Well done Rob, fair play and congratulations. Not trying to blow your bubble or anything but there are a fair few Irish lads who have beaten Thais in Thailand AND very high calibre fighters as well I might add.

Rob Carry

Dave Joyce wrote: »

Well done Rob, fair play and congratulations. Not trying to blow your bubble or anything but there are a fair few Irish lads who have beaten Thais in Thailand AND very high calibre fighters as well I might add.

Yeah, that's true - it's def far more common now than it was a few years ago alright. And watching the video, the guy wasn't in the top bracket by any means. There's a few lads in the gym I trained in in Ireland that I'd say would have beat him.