The Chapter Begins

So I arrived in Perth, Australia the other day. I've been setting up the apartment with my parents for the past week and I am just about done. The school term doesn't start till July so I've got a little bit of time to chill out with my family before it all begins. My brother will be flying down from Singapore tomorrow and he'll be following me to check out the local fight gyms around the city. I've narrowed down my choices to two affordable and reputable gyms near my apartment. It's a hard decision though. One gym is well known for it's JiuJitsu training but doesn't have Muay Thai. The other one has Muay Thai but is a little thin on the grappling side. Ideally, I'd join both but without the moolah, it's going to be hard. I figured I'd head down next week to observe the training and pick what I feel suits me better. I doubt I am in any position to decide whether to be a striker or a grappler right now. Both my standup and ground game are currently on par but I've definitely had a little more experience as a grappler. I always thought that since Judo was my foundation, I'd instantly take to grappling. After training in Muay Thai for a bit though, I'm beginning develop a liking for the art of striking. (Rhyme not intended) It's definitely going to be a long time before I find and develop my own style.

I overheard a conversation between two of my coaches in the past. One of them said to the other that he felt he had reached a point in his game where he could not develop any further as a grappler. A plateau of sorts. I suppose if you've been doing something for so long in your life, you'll notice when you are not getting any better. The only thing I have ever done longer than martial arts is track and field. I was a discus thrower for about ten years and though I was no slouch, I never really made it to the national team. I think it was in my eigth or ninth year where I just couldn't throw past a certain distance. I'd hit the gym, do drills and go through power training day in and day out and still wouldn't throw past that point. I may have quit too early but I'm pretty sure that I had reached a point where I just couldn't progress anymore. I felt kind of discouraged of course, thinking that I might plateau with martial arts as well and become nothing more than a mediocre journeyman. Then again, MMA is a dynamic sport. You can only throw a discus a couple of ways. In MMA though, you adapt and change mid-round to whatever is coming at you. If someone outwrestles you, you can get back up and hit them hard. Conversely if someone is kicking the shit out of you on your feet you can take the fight down to the ground. Even if you plateau in your grappling, there are so many things for you to improve that your development of your game never ends. Takedown defense, strength, submission offense, speed and cardio conditioning. The list is endless. There are even things you can train in which are so specific that it brings in entirely new fight plans. (i.e. Off the cage foot sweeps) The other coach's reply to his lamenting was, "Then focus on your striking!".
I couldn't have said it any better myself. I'm not worried about going stagnant in terms of skill at the moment. So far, I have made improvements in all aspects of my game. I suppose I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it though.

In about a week, my college semester will begin. It's going to be tough I'm sure. It wouldn't be called higher learning if it was easy. The only thing I have to look forward to is that I'll be doing alot of writing. Time to put the rusty old pen and dog eared notebook to work again. Writing is similar to martial arts in that, you're really going to have to love it to do it because alot of the time, it's self torture. The creative mind is it's own greatest critic. I covered it in the last post that it's hell to complete something when your mind is screaming at you to give it up. No matter how good you get at it, the voice will always remain. People have different ways of blocking that voice out. Some have strange exercises, role playing and even meditation. As for me, I just keep reminding myself that the story has to be told. There's a special place in hell for a writer that lets a good idea go to waste. (Which probably means I've got a place reserved there already...) Whenever I come up with a story, I develop a certain connection with the world and it's characters. When I can't complete what I write, there is guilt. I'm sure that any writer would agree with me when I say that I feel like I'm letting that world disappear and everything with it. When I can't complete a story because of that critical voice, there's an equally powerful voice nagging me for letting that idea go down the drain. It's all a matter of drowning out the sound of the critic and finish what you started. It sounds alot easier than it really is though.

This internal strife within a writer's mind is definitely unhealthy. In fact many writers tiptoe across the tightrope of sanity. The names Ernest Hemmingway and Virginia Woolf come to mind. Two great authors who took their own lives when the voices very possibly became too loud to silence. Being a pure writer therefore can be dangerous. Reality is obscured every now and then and you slowly begin to slip away from the world. That's why I personally feel that every writer needs to take breaks. Writing a novel or even a short story is so mentally taxing that you can actually feel your brain heat up while you type. Every break you take is precious.

It's going to be different writing in college. I've mostly been writing on waves of inspiration and in between, I stagnate. In school there are going to be deadlines and professional requirements that I haven't the slightest clue about. It's hard enough writing with inspiration so imagine how bad it will be when there's nothing to work with and you have absolutely no interest in the topics you're given. I'm sure there are times where I'm just going to be like "Ugh...".

It will be a good test though and I look forward to it. I expect a hefty challenge and nothing less. So what should I expect? A fellow writer once said that there is no one more snobbish and self absorbed than a writer. As much as I hate to admit it, it's true. Imagine being in a classroom full of them. I can't wait.

So now begins a new chapter of my life. There's going to be alot of change in both the writer and fighter and me. Change, apparently, is always good. Let's hope so because I've been here five days and I already feel it coming on stronger than ever.

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." - Karen Kaiser Clark

Time to grow.