have posted heaps of worlds videos up here, mostly just some quick snaps of throws.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BeyondGrappling&view=videos
Enjoy
Matt
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Last day in Netherlands
First off here is the link to my fight against Bomboir from Belgium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JecySVFWUbw&feature=channel_page
now i know what i did wrong i let him grip me and for some reason didnt bother to break it, dont know why but he threw me with a left uchimata, i havent actually watched the clip dont know how good the quality is.
While your there check out some of the other fights ive put up.
It’s finally the last day of the world champs and only 1 more day to go until I come on home.
These worlds have been very good with many new techniques being utilised by all countries and as usual the place getters have been very spread all around the world. Judo is such a world sport ad it’s so fantastic to see some random country like Kyrgyzstan or even countries like Columbia getting wins over the big names like Japan, Korea and France.
It so great to watch Judo t the world level and see so much variety in not just the nations competing but also the nations placing. I mean you watch swimming and you know the Aussie and the person from USA will come 2 out of the 3 places, the other most likely will be a Dutch or Chinese. But Judo there is so much variety, Eg in 60 1st Ukraine, 2nd Japan and 3rds Italy and Armenia.
The crowd here has been nearly as good as the Beijing Olympics. Coming into this competition the Netherlands had many Olympic and World medallists but many, to the disappointment of the home crowd, got knocked out in the first or second round. It was also a little disappointing that the competition started on Wednesday because obviously people will be at work, so for the first 3 days the crowds were maybe I’m guessing 6000 people, but on Saturday and Sunday the crowds were easily 8000, hardly a spare seat in the house. The crowd are so loud when Grol and Edith Bosch fight as well. So so loud it hurts your ears. I can’t imagine what a soccer match in England would sound like with 90 000 people going ballistic.
Judo wise the judo has been very high level. But there are many changes coming in the way for Judo. Rule changes as well as techniques being adjusted. There was a time when the main throws were a seio nage uchimata and an ouchi gari. But ever since the eastern bloc countries have entered judo techniques have been altered and throws such as sumei gaeshi , pickups and Kata guruma now must be known by any competitive judo player.
At these worlds the big techniques were the crappy tomoe nage, leg grabs and a one handed uchimata with an arm wrapped up. Even ground work turn over’s and submissions are becoming more brutal and effective.
In saying that this competition makes me even more hungry to go home and train my butt off because I know even though these guys train pretty much professionally, they are still beatable. And I know I can do it.
The next big competition is in November which is the Oceania World Cup in Samoa so this is going to be the big one to win, after that Samantha and I are heading to the Britney Spears concert in Sydney. Wooo hoooo should be good fun.
Anyway guys that’s bout it nothing much else is really going on. I will post up on my YouTube account a lot of throws I caught on camera they are only short clips so check them out.
I get home this Wednesday around lunch time, and then I have to quickly catch up on school work before I got to Sydney for the Royler Gracie seminar that’s closed to the public and invitation only. And I got a ticket hehe. Should be good.
Have an awesome day
Matt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JecySVFWUbw&feature=channel_page
now i know what i did wrong i let him grip me and for some reason didnt bother to break it, dont know why but he threw me with a left uchimata, i havent actually watched the clip dont know how good the quality is.
While your there check out some of the other fights ive put up.
It’s finally the last day of the world champs and only 1 more day to go until I come on home.
These worlds have been very good with many new techniques being utilised by all countries and as usual the place getters have been very spread all around the world. Judo is such a world sport ad it’s so fantastic to see some random country like Kyrgyzstan or even countries like Columbia getting wins over the big names like Japan, Korea and France.
It so great to watch Judo t the world level and see so much variety in not just the nations competing but also the nations placing. I mean you watch swimming and you know the Aussie and the person from USA will come 2 out of the 3 places, the other most likely will be a Dutch or Chinese. But Judo there is so much variety, Eg in 60 1st Ukraine, 2nd Japan and 3rds Italy and Armenia.
The crowd here has been nearly as good as the Beijing Olympics. Coming into this competition the Netherlands had many Olympic and World medallists but many, to the disappointment of the home crowd, got knocked out in the first or second round. It was also a little disappointing that the competition started on Wednesday because obviously people will be at work, so for the first 3 days the crowds were maybe I’m guessing 6000 people, but on Saturday and Sunday the crowds were easily 8000, hardly a spare seat in the house. The crowd are so loud when Grol and Edith Bosch fight as well. So so loud it hurts your ears. I can’t imagine what a soccer match in England would sound like with 90 000 people going ballistic.
Judo wise the judo has been very high level. But there are many changes coming in the way for Judo. Rule changes as well as techniques being adjusted. There was a time when the main throws were a seio nage uchimata and an ouchi gari. But ever since the eastern bloc countries have entered judo techniques have been altered and throws such as sumei gaeshi , pickups and Kata guruma now must be known by any competitive judo player.
At these worlds the big techniques were the crappy tomoe nage, leg grabs and a one handed uchimata with an arm wrapped up. Even ground work turn over’s and submissions are becoming more brutal and effective.
In saying that this competition makes me even more hungry to go home and train my butt off because I know even though these guys train pretty much professionally, they are still beatable. And I know I can do it.
The next big competition is in November which is the Oceania World Cup in Samoa so this is going to be the big one to win, after that Samantha and I are heading to the Britney Spears concert in Sydney. Wooo hoooo should be good fun.
Anyway guys that’s bout it nothing much else is really going on. I will post up on my YouTube account a lot of throws I caught on camera they are only short clips so check them out.
I get home this Wednesday around lunch time, and then I have to quickly catch up on school work before I got to Sydney for the Royler Gracie seminar that’s closed to the public and invitation only. And I got a ticket hehe. Should be good.
Have an awesome day
Matt
New Judo Rules
New Judo rules (Non judo players don’t bother reading...much judo lingo in here)
From what I can understand from talking to some people is that these new judo rules have been effective due to the ‘crappy’ style of judo played at this year’s cadet world championships. The international judo federation are looking at banning all hands attacks below the belt. This means that kata guruma’s (fireman’s carry) and leg grabs/ankle picks are also illegal. Even direct attacks such as a footy tackle (double and single leg takedowns) are all disallowed. Even a direct attack such as a Te guruma will be a penalty. You get 1 warning and afterwards disqualified. A pickup like te guruma can only be used as a counter not a direct attack.
The reason behind these changes is because apparently the public cannot see the difference between Judo and Wrestling and they want judo to go back to the old days of upright judo. I believe that this is so wrong. We Judo players pride ourselves on the fact that you can come from any style of grappling whether it be Sambo, Wrestling, Kurash, shootfighting, Jujitsu or rugby. We will still find a way to throw you and beat you. But now it seems we are going backwards a step and disallowing legitimate judo techniques that by all means are effective. This means I may have to start doing Kurash which is a Kazakhstan wrestling I think. That or Sambo.
It reminds me of how in Taekwondo punches to the face were made illegal because amateur boxes were knocking people out and winning competitions without throwing a kick (which is what they pride themselves on.) This is a perfect example of how they couldn’t or found it difficult to counteract a certain style so just ban it and you don’t have to worry.
Another rule change is only having 1 referee in the centre. That referee has an ear plug in and if they make a wrong call they are told through the piece to change the score. Once again another stupid rule when the current ruling of 3 refs in the centre works perfectly fine already.
Also the no koka score although I believe is a good rule many referees are now scoring a yuko score to scores that would only be awarded a koka. But because there is no kokas they just give a yuko. It’s a bit of a joke really dudes landing flat on their bum and their opponent getting a yuko, what a joke.
All of these new rules are going to be trialled at the Junior World championships in 6 weeks time. Should be very interesting to see the spread of medals after the Eastern blocs cannot pickup any more. In saying that though many Georgians here were standing up straight and getting some big throws in.
Just keep in mind that these are my interpretation from what I have heard from people I haven’t seen any official IJF documentation yet.
We will see what happens
Have an awesome day everyone
Matt
From what I can understand from talking to some people is that these new judo rules have been effective due to the ‘crappy’ style of judo played at this year’s cadet world championships. The international judo federation are looking at banning all hands attacks below the belt. This means that kata guruma’s (fireman’s carry) and leg grabs/ankle picks are also illegal. Even direct attacks such as a footy tackle (double and single leg takedowns) are all disallowed. Even a direct attack such as a Te guruma will be a penalty. You get 1 warning and afterwards disqualified. A pickup like te guruma can only be used as a counter not a direct attack.
The reason behind these changes is because apparently the public cannot see the difference between Judo and Wrestling and they want judo to go back to the old days of upright judo. I believe that this is so wrong. We Judo players pride ourselves on the fact that you can come from any style of grappling whether it be Sambo, Wrestling, Kurash, shootfighting, Jujitsu or rugby. We will still find a way to throw you and beat you. But now it seems we are going backwards a step and disallowing legitimate judo techniques that by all means are effective. This means I may have to start doing Kurash which is a Kazakhstan wrestling I think. That or Sambo.
It reminds me of how in Taekwondo punches to the face were made illegal because amateur boxes were knocking people out and winning competitions without throwing a kick (which is what they pride themselves on.) This is a perfect example of how they couldn’t or found it difficult to counteract a certain style so just ban it and you don’t have to worry.
Another rule change is only having 1 referee in the centre. That referee has an ear plug in and if they make a wrong call they are told through the piece to change the score. Once again another stupid rule when the current ruling of 3 refs in the centre works perfectly fine already.
Also the no koka score although I believe is a good rule many referees are now scoring a yuko score to scores that would only be awarded a koka. But because there is no kokas they just give a yuko. It’s a bit of a joke really dudes landing flat on their bum and their opponent getting a yuko, what a joke.
All of these new rules are going to be trialled at the Junior World championships in 6 weeks time. Should be very interesting to see the spread of medals after the Eastern blocs cannot pickup any more. In saying that though many Georgians here were standing up straight and getting some big throws in.
Just keep in mind that these are my interpretation from what I have heard from people I haven’t seen any official IJF documentation yet.
We will see what happens
Have an awesome day everyone
Matt
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Day after competition
Last night Cooky and i stayed up til bout midnight eating heaps of chocolate and lollies while watching a movie called Street Kings (about crooked cops.)
This morning we slept through the alarm but just managed to get on the bus to watch the opening fights today of the mens -73kg and women -52 and -57kgs.
Our teammate Dennis had his first ffight against an italian (who in the past have had awesome 73s) and Dennis was doing fantastic with footsweeps off thr grip that was really unsettling his opponent but the Italian just got underneath for 2 kata gurumas for 2 waza aris to win the fight.
Our other player today was Emily who had the Russian first off and Emily unlucky enough got armlocked but that Russian went on quite far through the compeition.
I was talking to Cooky yesterday about how once you finish fighting you just want to go home. We came to the worlds to fight and now that we have fought we just want to go on home, but we still have another 6 days left here in Rotterdam. But its not everyday you get to see Judo at the highest level in the world so we are still keen to go off everyday and help warm up and support our others aussies as they hopefully biff their way through the rounds.
I filmed some fights today and managed to capture a few throws on my camera. i have uploaded them to youtube so you can have a quick squiz, they dont go for very long.
The first one is the longest clip but has as a great pickup at the end. You can really see the inteseity these guys are fighting at and the adjustment the thrower has to use in order to place his opponenet on his back.. he pretty much does a cartwheel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_zsYyQ4w5A
The next is a really nice tome nage that Atilla Ungvari got abour 15 seconds to go in the match.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zR1ZY2-uEg
And with this last clip whenever you see an african vs a big country you know its gonna be a nice throw at the end. Thats why i filmed this next one. The guy from Senegal is gonna have a sore face i reckon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PYKnCzNw8Y
Thats it from me i havent really been doing too much really just watching Judo and trying to learn as much as i can regarding tactics, positioning and even the athletes 'presence' on the mat. The confident guy that is undoing his belt (even though its against the rules) and not getting penalised because he looks like he knows what hes doing. all these little things tthat when all rolled up together can get you quite far through a compeition before you even throw someone.
For example there are these fighters from hungary who dont havemany big attacks in the form of throws but they have fantastic grip fighting and unbelieveeable fitness. They engage mostly on the ground and waste 3 out of 5 minutes on the ground and the other 2 with grip fighting and they win off the small scores, but they are cool, calm and collected and back themselves in what they are doing. They dont stress, thehy just do Judo to win.
so anyway thats my little rant for the day i guess. Now me and cooky are going to watch another good movie eat some more choclate and maybe go to the servo and get an ice cream and then tomorrow warm up kylie,
Have an awesome day
Matt
This morning we slept through the alarm but just managed to get on the bus to watch the opening fights today of the mens -73kg and women -52 and -57kgs.
Our teammate Dennis had his first ffight against an italian (who in the past have had awesome 73s) and Dennis was doing fantastic with footsweeps off thr grip that was really unsettling his opponent but the Italian just got underneath for 2 kata gurumas for 2 waza aris to win the fight.
Our other player today was Emily who had the Russian first off and Emily unlucky enough got armlocked but that Russian went on quite far through the compeition.
I was talking to Cooky yesterday about how once you finish fighting you just want to go home. We came to the worlds to fight and now that we have fought we just want to go on home, but we still have another 6 days left here in Rotterdam. But its not everyday you get to see Judo at the highest level in the world so we are still keen to go off everyday and help warm up and support our others aussies as they hopefully biff their way through the rounds.
I filmed some fights today and managed to capture a few throws on my camera. i have uploaded them to youtube so you can have a quick squiz, they dont go for very long.
The first one is the longest clip but has as a great pickup at the end. You can really see the inteseity these guys are fighting at and the adjustment the thrower has to use in order to place his opponenet on his back.. he pretty much does a cartwheel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_zsYyQ4w5A
The next is a really nice tome nage that Atilla Ungvari got abour 15 seconds to go in the match.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zR1ZY2-uEg
And with this last clip whenever you see an african vs a big country you know its gonna be a nice throw at the end. Thats why i filmed this next one. The guy from Senegal is gonna have a sore face i reckon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PYKnCzNw8Y
Thats it from me i havent really been doing too much really just watching Judo and trying to learn as much as i can regarding tactics, positioning and even the athletes 'presence' on the mat. The confident guy that is undoing his belt (even though its against the rules) and not getting penalised because he looks like he knows what hes doing. all these little things tthat when all rolled up together can get you quite far through a compeition before you even throw someone.
For example there are these fighters from hungary who dont havemany big attacks in the form of throws but they have fantastic grip fighting and unbelieveeable fitness. They engage mostly on the ground and waste 3 out of 5 minutes on the ground and the other 2 with grip fighting and they win off the small scores, but they are cool, calm and collected and back themselves in what they are doing. They dont stress, thehy just do Judo to win.
so anyway thats my little rant for the day i guess. Now me and cooky are going to watch another good movie eat some more choclate and maybe go to the servo and get an ice cream and then tomorrow warm up kylie,
Have an awesome day
Matt
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Competition Day
Well first off i lost my fight to Bomboir from Belgium.
I feel really dissapointed because everything for me today felt so right, i had a pretty good sleep, i weighed in quickly, rehydrated and refueked really well. I had a good warm up and was feeling really confidfent and then i fought i didnt do anything i should've done. He threw me with a left uchimata in under a minute, im very dissapointed.
It was actually a bit annoying because i got a bye first round and although yeah this meansd you get through to the next round (1 closer top gold) it means first off that the bloke your going to fight is good enough to win a fight atg the worlds. And 2 the most important thing is he is coming off a win and has been out on the mat before so he already has his bearings at where you go for marshalling and Gi control etc.
To put the level of competition here at the worlds in perspective in 60kgs the gold silver and bronze medallist in Beijing Olympics all lost first round. Thats almost unheard of to think that the people who are at the top of the world dont even place.
My division was won by the Ukrainien Korotya he fought fantastic all day, second was Japan followed by Armenia and Italy third.
It was a great stadium and the atmosphere was electric attached is a bit of footage of the lights and action of the comp.
In reflection i didnt go out to the this fight in the exact right mindset that i should have. I went out there a bit over excited to get in there and have a bash but then after the first exchange i became a bit hesiatant and didnt even bother to bust his sleeve grip and thats when he threw me a left uchimata.
I just feel sad because i stuffed up a good opportunity to win a fight at the worlds against a good opponent that has had alot of good wins but an opponent i believe i can beat, even if im not fighting at my 100%.
Its a long time to the next worlds but i have still learnt alot regarding tapering for comp, (you always learn somehting about making weight) and i have also learnt i need to have in the back of my miund to never ever ever make a mistake ever. No mistakes is the number 1 thing to do. In Australia and Oceania you can make 2 or 3 per fight and still win but over here half a mistake and your changing lightbulbs in the roof.
Anyway back to the drawing board and i guess i will enjoy the rest of the 4 days compeition cheering on the rest of the aussies before we come on home back to our families.
Josh Cook had a good fight but ended up losing to the korean by being thrown by a waza ari and then being held down. The Korean went on to come third place, but once josh started getting settled and moved he stared looking very dangerous.
I will post the disgusting footage up later on
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
I feel really dissapointed because everything for me today felt so right, i had a pretty good sleep, i weighed in quickly, rehydrated and refueked really well. I had a good warm up and was feeling really confidfent and then i fought i didnt do anything i should've done. He threw me with a left uchimata in under a minute, im very dissapointed.
It was actually a bit annoying because i got a bye first round and although yeah this meansd you get through to the next round (1 closer top gold) it means first off that the bloke your going to fight is good enough to win a fight atg the worlds. And 2 the most important thing is he is coming off a win and has been out on the mat before so he already has his bearings at where you go for marshalling and Gi control etc.
To put the level of competition here at the worlds in perspective in 60kgs the gold silver and bronze medallist in Beijing Olympics all lost first round. Thats almost unheard of to think that the people who are at the top of the world dont even place.
My division was won by the Ukrainien Korotya he fought fantastic all day, second was Japan followed by Armenia and Italy third.
It was a great stadium and the atmosphere was electric attached is a bit of footage of the lights and action of the comp.
In reflection i didnt go out to the this fight in the exact right mindset that i should have. I went out there a bit over excited to get in there and have a bash but then after the first exchange i became a bit hesiatant and didnt even bother to bust his sleeve grip and thats when he threw me a left uchimata.
I just feel sad because i stuffed up a good opportunity to win a fight at the worlds against a good opponent that has had alot of good wins but an opponent i believe i can beat, even if im not fighting at my 100%.
Its a long time to the next worlds but i have still learnt alot regarding tapering for comp, (you always learn somehting about making weight) and i have also learnt i need to have in the back of my miund to never ever ever make a mistake ever. No mistakes is the number 1 thing to do. In Australia and Oceania you can make 2 or 3 per fight and still win but over here half a mistake and your changing lightbulbs in the roof.
Anyway back to the drawing board and i guess i will enjoy the rest of the 4 days compeition cheering on the rest of the aussies before we come on home back to our families.
Josh Cook had a good fight but ended up losing to the korean by being thrown by a waza ari and then being held down. The Korean went on to come third place, but once josh started getting settled and moved he stared looking very dangerous.
I will post the disgusting footage up later on
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Making weight once again
This morning we caught the taxi to the closest supermarket to load up on competition food. I always get a stack of Mars bars (they have to most carbohydrates in them) and about 4litres of water. Food is quite expenisve here in Netherlands o i definetly wont be spending much money on food thats for sure.
I always train the day before a judo comp, but our sport isa little different to prepare than most sports. This is because we dont all fight on the same day, some are on the first 2nd 3rd or even 4th day so your intensity obviosuly has to be slightly different if you have to fight tomorrow compared to if you have to fight on saturday.
So i am always a little bit skeptical at the session the coaches run because this close to comp you dont really want to be doing somehting you dont want to be doing.
In saying that though our coaches Gavin and Pascal ran a good session today. I started off in the cardio gym doing 10 minutes on the bike and fifteen mins on the cross trainer wearing my skins and a pair of pants as well as a sweat shirt with a swet suit over the top and a jumper over the top of that to sweat heaps.
We then did 45 minutes of Judo consisting of uchikomi (in and outs) and alot of grip fighting. It was short sharp work with long breaks to really sharpen up.
After that to cool down i went and jumped in the pool to cool down, after training i was weighing 61.9kg so 1.9kg overweight.
I then came back to our room had a snooze and watched Men of honour a motivational movie with Cooky.
I just got back from the sauna about half an hour ago. Its really funny at international comps to see people making weight, it may look very strange to people outside the judo world. It may be a hot day and people are walking round in hooded jumpers and jackets. There are people doing uchikomi and shuttle sprints up and down the hallways of the hotel and in the car park. sauning by yourself can be a very hard thing to do menatlly especially if you have alot to lose. My team mate Cooky who fights tomorrow in his first worlds was weighing dead on 66kg so although thats good for him, it meant that i had to sauna by myself :( no good i never look forward to that. You will sit in the sauna for 1 minute and it feels like 10 mins. You may accidently spot a clock and then your eyes keep glancing at it to see how much time you have left in there. Sauning is very veyr mental.
I went over to the sauna knowing i had 1.9kg to lose but i didnt have any scales where i could jump on every now and then and check my weight so i thought i would just smash it for an hour and see how much i was when i got back to the hotel. I pushed through the mental barrier of the 'should i get out now or hold on for another 5minutes' and ended up getting back to the hotel and weighing a horrible 59.1kg. Now thats is just way too light.
Depending on how much weight i am dropping and how comfortable i am in the sauna i always try to just get to about 500grams underwight and then eat some food and have a can of coke. But 1kg under is awesome. It means i can eat alot of food and water and lose alot overnight.
I went and had a dinner of a stack of potatoes and pasta with also alot of fruit juice and i am now sitting at 60.25kg which is fantastic.
I must admit it seems every competition i am going in these days makes it easier and easier for me to make weight. I'm very impressed with myself on how it has been going.
So now im just going to relax and try not to go to bed too early but stay awake long enough to have an awesome sleep before weigh in in the morning.
Have an awesome day everyone and i will let u know how i go asap, also if you want to know maybe go to this site it may have some results up already, although keep in mind we are 8 hours behind you. So check at night time im guessing.
http://www.judo-world.net/world/wc/wc2009/tta_menue.php?modus=1024&sprache=english
Matt
I always train the day before a judo comp, but our sport isa little different to prepare than most sports. This is because we dont all fight on the same day, some are on the first 2nd 3rd or even 4th day so your intensity obviosuly has to be slightly different if you have to fight tomorrow compared to if you have to fight on saturday.
So i am always a little bit skeptical at the session the coaches run because this close to comp you dont really want to be doing somehting you dont want to be doing.
In saying that though our coaches Gavin and Pascal ran a good session today. I started off in the cardio gym doing 10 minutes on the bike and fifteen mins on the cross trainer wearing my skins and a pair of pants as well as a sweat shirt with a swet suit over the top and a jumper over the top of that to sweat heaps.
We then did 45 minutes of Judo consisting of uchikomi (in and outs) and alot of grip fighting. It was short sharp work with long breaks to really sharpen up.
After that to cool down i went and jumped in the pool to cool down, after training i was weighing 61.9kg so 1.9kg overweight.
I then came back to our room had a snooze and watched Men of honour a motivational movie with Cooky.
I just got back from the sauna about half an hour ago. Its really funny at international comps to see people making weight, it may look very strange to people outside the judo world. It may be a hot day and people are walking round in hooded jumpers and jackets. There are people doing uchikomi and shuttle sprints up and down the hallways of the hotel and in the car park. sauning by yourself can be a very hard thing to do menatlly especially if you have alot to lose. My team mate Cooky who fights tomorrow in his first worlds was weighing dead on 66kg so although thats good for him, it meant that i had to sauna by myself :( no good i never look forward to that. You will sit in the sauna for 1 minute and it feels like 10 mins. You may accidently spot a clock and then your eyes keep glancing at it to see how much time you have left in there. Sauning is very veyr mental.
I went over to the sauna knowing i had 1.9kg to lose but i didnt have any scales where i could jump on every now and then and check my weight so i thought i would just smash it for an hour and see how much i was when i got back to the hotel. I pushed through the mental barrier of the 'should i get out now or hold on for another 5minutes' and ended up getting back to the hotel and weighing a horrible 59.1kg. Now thats is just way too light.
Depending on how much weight i am dropping and how comfortable i am in the sauna i always try to just get to about 500grams underwight and then eat some food and have a can of coke. But 1kg under is awesome. It means i can eat alot of food and water and lose alot overnight.
I went and had a dinner of a stack of potatoes and pasta with also alot of fruit juice and i am now sitting at 60.25kg which is fantastic.
I must admit it seems every competition i am going in these days makes it easier and easier for me to make weight. I'm very impressed with myself on how it has been going.
So now im just going to relax and try not to go to bed too early but stay awake long enough to have an awesome sleep before weigh in in the morning.
Have an awesome day everyone and i will let u know how i go asap, also if you want to know maybe go to this site it may have some results up already, although keep in mind we are 8 hours behind you. So check at night time im guessing.
http://www.judo-world.net/world/wc/wc2009/tta_menue.php?modus=1024&sprache=english
Matt
Fight night Video
I just uploadad the video of our fight night in England. It was a good event because it was run very much like a boxing night.
It was kinda fun and a bit different to warm up in a little room downstairs and then walk out and fight in front of people eating dinner and then go back into your room and wind down and do nothing.
It was almost like we were caged animals where you come out and entertain and then leave.
England won the night but it doesnt really matter for me personally because i fought ok and it was just good match practice before the worlds.
Here is the link to the fight sorry about the lighting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uURBrvHxt38
Have an awesome day
MAtt
It was kinda fun and a bit different to warm up in a little room downstairs and then walk out and fight in front of people eating dinner and then go back into your room and wind down and do nothing.
It was almost like we were caged animals where you come out and entertain and then leave.
England won the night but it doesnt really matter for me personally because i fought ok and it was just good match practice before the worlds.
Here is the link to the fight sorry about the lighting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uURBrvHxt38
Have an awesome day
MAtt
Travel to Rotterdam
Today has been an absolute killer, we got up at around 415am because our flight to Netherlands left Heathrow at 7am. I pretty much slept all the way as soon as I jumped on the plane, once arriving in Amsterdam we caught a bus 1.5hours until we got to Rotterdam.
It’s really weird to wake up early one morning and by 10am you are having a coffee in another country, only in Europe can you do that.
I haven’t done absolutely anything today; we waited at reception for a few hours before getting a lift to our hotel we are staying in. The hotel is really nice and I’m rooming with my mate Cooky again. We both fight on the same day (this Wednesday) so management always try to put people who fight on the same day together. This just stops one person from staying awake all night or coming home early in the morning while your roommate needs a good night’s sleep before fighting the next day.
Tonight though I went to the gym next door and got a good seat up on the bike and cross trainer for 40 minutes and then I did a few laps in the swimming pool to cool down and stretch. Then had a few baked potatoes for dinner and then watched a movie called The Island, I don’t know if anyone has seen it buts it’s pretty good.
Tomorrow we aren’t doing too much we will probably train in the morning and then I will hang out and watch a movie probably have a snooze before going to the sauna to make weight. I will probably hopefully only have to sauna 1.5kg.
Internet here is around about $16 a day so we will probably only buy it for a few days because we will be spending all day at Judo anyway so it may be a waste of money buying the internet, but we will see how we are going with money.
So not much else is really going on, Cooky and I are both very anxious to fight and step onto the mat with the best in the world and see how we fair. Like I was saying in an earlier post I am coming off a good win at the Pac Rim so hopefully I can keep the momentum going and string a few wins together.
The weather here in Rotterdam is nice today but it still rained twice, the only bad aspect of this hotel is the fact that a supermarket is 35 mins walk away and there are no restaurants anywhere nearby. We are seriously in the middle of nowhere. But we do get breakfast, lunch and dinner paid for here at our hotel so that’s pretty good as I will have to start saving money for Samantha to come to Samoa in a few months.
Have an awesome day everyone,
I will do a post the night before I fight as well.
Matt
It’s really weird to wake up early one morning and by 10am you are having a coffee in another country, only in Europe can you do that.
I haven’t done absolutely anything today; we waited at reception for a few hours before getting a lift to our hotel we are staying in. The hotel is really nice and I’m rooming with my mate Cooky again. We both fight on the same day (this Wednesday) so management always try to put people who fight on the same day together. This just stops one person from staying awake all night or coming home early in the morning while your roommate needs a good night’s sleep before fighting the next day.
Tonight though I went to the gym next door and got a good seat up on the bike and cross trainer for 40 minutes and then I did a few laps in the swimming pool to cool down and stretch. Then had a few baked potatoes for dinner and then watched a movie called The Island, I don’t know if anyone has seen it buts it’s pretty good.
Tomorrow we aren’t doing too much we will probably train in the morning and then I will hang out and watch a movie probably have a snooze before going to the sauna to make weight. I will probably hopefully only have to sauna 1.5kg.
Internet here is around about $16 a day so we will probably only buy it for a few days because we will be spending all day at Judo anyway so it may be a waste of money buying the internet, but we will see how we are going with money.
So not much else is really going on, Cooky and I are both very anxious to fight and step onto the mat with the best in the world and see how we fair. Like I was saying in an earlier post I am coming off a good win at the Pac Rim so hopefully I can keep the momentum going and string a few wins together.
The weather here in Rotterdam is nice today but it still rained twice, the only bad aspect of this hotel is the fact that a supermarket is 35 mins walk away and there are no restaurants anywhere nearby. We are seriously in the middle of nowhere. But we do get breakfast, lunch and dinner paid for here at our hotel so that’s pretty good as I will have to start saving money for Samantha to come to Samoa in a few months.
Have an awesome day everyone,
I will do a post the night before I fight as well.
Matt
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday (Rest day)
I was going to go into London today and have a look around and had been looking forward to it for the last few days. But after talking to the guys apparently it takes 1.5hrs to get the train into London. I didn't know if i could be bothered to get more money out of the atm and then spend a whole day walking round London looking at stuff and so i decided to stay at home and chill out.
Its now 6pm in the afternoon and i feel like i made the right decision, i have had a pretty cruisey day i got a lift down to the shops and had a nice sandwich at a coffee shop and read my book. I finished the 3rd Genghis Khan book and it was fantastic. Now im onto a new one called 'This present darkness' by a Christian author Frank Peritti, it is written rather well and i am enjoying it.
I actually read it all the way on my 25 minute walk home and i nearly ran into about 3 pushbikes and a few poles while walking along the bike path. Lucky they saw me.
I fight in a few days time at the World champs and i am very excited i am coming off a good win at Pac Rim and another good fight on Friday night and i feel like i have matured so much as a fighter in the last year and a half.
I am very looking forward to competing i know i have trained hard and if i can get another good draw and a bit of luck i will be in for a chance at winning a few fights.
For people that dont know Judo has now changed their competition format it used to be if you lost to a guy that made the semi final (top 4) you then went on to fight everyone he has beaten along the way and try to make your way to 3rd place.
Then new format is knockout until the final 8 (or quarter final.) This makes it very very hard because if you draw the gold medallist first or second round and they beat you you dont get any more fights.
It makes it very very hard to place top 8 but it makes it alot easier for spectators and people that dont have that much of a great understanding of Judo.
When you are this close to competition you have to have alot of confidence in yourself to remain calm and not stress too much. Many people stress about their weight or who they are going to draw and are they going to get beaten or smashed with a huge throw.
But i always while training try to give 100% so that i fully believe that i have done everything possible in order to beat my opponent because i have taken no shortcuts along the way.
can say this with full confidence because, like i said i am coming off a good win and good training while being here in England.
It becomes quite hard to tell yourself that you have done all you could and you are fit as when you have had a very troubled lead up through injury or illness or just a bad comp and your on a low. But you must keep telling yourself that you are 'the best and fit and strong and trained hard and you are ready' and this takes alot of maturity and skill into being able to fool yourself in order to come into the fight with the right and positive mentality.
For example today i havent done too much in the form of exercise i walked for 25 minutes and that was a slow mosey while reading a book. But i need to have confidence in myself that i need a rest day and if i train today i may get sick and perform badly in a few days. This is why i need Sam here, she always tells me if i am tired whether i should or shouldn't go to training because she can tell wheather i am getting over trained or not.
Everyone has a different way to lose weight, a different way to diet and a different way to rehydrate and refuel and a different lead up to comp. I remember a few years ago i use to always have the day before competition off and let my body recover for the next day.
But at a comp in Tahiti our head coach Gavin told us that if we cannot recover overnight from a 45 minute short hard intense session by the next day then we are not fit enough to compete in the first place. I trained and fought really well (even though i didn't win.) but by training hard the day before the comp while you are competing your body had adjusted to the intensity to the day before and so your body is accustomed to the intensity of the competition.
This style of mentality got under a few peoples skin but for me it was like a lightswitch went of in my head and so every comp since then i have trained the day before and obviously i haven't won every comp since then but i have felt alot more confident in myself and physically i didn't get as tired.
So today i have restrained myself from doing any exercise (even though its such a nice day) but will smash myself on Monday and tuesday in Netherlands for me to fight on Wednesday and after i fight me and cooky are going to find a nice place that sells massive chicken Schnitzels and we are going to eat our heads off its going to be great.
Its now 6pm in the afternoon and i feel like i made the right decision, i have had a pretty cruisey day i got a lift down to the shops and had a nice sandwich at a coffee shop and read my book. I finished the 3rd Genghis Khan book and it was fantastic. Now im onto a new one called 'This present darkness' by a Christian author Frank Peritti, it is written rather well and i am enjoying it.
I actually read it all the way on my 25 minute walk home and i nearly ran into about 3 pushbikes and a few poles while walking along the bike path. Lucky they saw me.
I fight in a few days time at the World champs and i am very excited i am coming off a good win at Pac Rim and another good fight on Friday night and i feel like i have matured so much as a fighter in the last year and a half.
I am very looking forward to competing i know i have trained hard and if i can get another good draw and a bit of luck i will be in for a chance at winning a few fights.
For people that dont know Judo has now changed their competition format it used to be if you lost to a guy that made the semi final (top 4) you then went on to fight everyone he has beaten along the way and try to make your way to 3rd place.
Then new format is knockout until the final 8 (or quarter final.) This makes it very very hard because if you draw the gold medallist first or second round and they beat you you dont get any more fights.
It makes it very very hard to place top 8 but it makes it alot easier for spectators and people that dont have that much of a great understanding of Judo.
When you are this close to competition you have to have alot of confidence in yourself to remain calm and not stress too much. Many people stress about their weight or who they are going to draw and are they going to get beaten or smashed with a huge throw.
But i always while training try to give 100% so that i fully believe that i have done everything possible in order to beat my opponent because i have taken no shortcuts along the way.
can say this with full confidence because, like i said i am coming off a good win and good training while being here in England.
It becomes quite hard to tell yourself that you have done all you could and you are fit as when you have had a very troubled lead up through injury or illness or just a bad comp and your on a low. But you must keep telling yourself that you are 'the best and fit and strong and trained hard and you are ready' and this takes alot of maturity and skill into being able to fool yourself in order to come into the fight with the right and positive mentality.
For example today i havent done too much in the form of exercise i walked for 25 minutes and that was a slow mosey while reading a book. But i need to have confidence in myself that i need a rest day and if i train today i may get sick and perform badly in a few days. This is why i need Sam here, she always tells me if i am tired whether i should or shouldn't go to training because she can tell wheather i am getting over trained or not.
Everyone has a different way to lose weight, a different way to diet and a different way to rehydrate and refuel and a different lead up to comp. I remember a few years ago i use to always have the day before competition off and let my body recover for the next day.
But at a comp in Tahiti our head coach Gavin told us that if we cannot recover overnight from a 45 minute short hard intense session by the next day then we are not fit enough to compete in the first place. I trained and fought really well (even though i didn't win.) but by training hard the day before the comp while you are competing your body had adjusted to the intensity to the day before and so your body is accustomed to the intensity of the competition.
This style of mentality got under a few peoples skin but for me it was like a lightswitch went of in my head and so every comp since then i have trained the day before and obviously i haven't won every comp since then but i have felt alot more confident in myself and physically i didn't get as tired.
So today i have restrained myself from doing any exercise (even though its such a nice day) but will smash myself on Monday and tuesday in Netherlands for me to fight on Wednesday and after i fight me and cooky are going to find a nice place that sells massive chicken Schnitzels and we are going to eat our heads off its going to be great.
Its always hard being away from home but i always talk to sam either on the phone or on facebook and she always knows what to say when i am down. On our nice new laptop i have the most beautiful desktop background that always reminds me that it doesnt matter what happens in life i will always have such a beautiful and wonderful wife and our wedding day was just the most amazing day in my whole entire life. Whenever i write ablog i always want to add a photo or video or something that people can look at so today im going to add my desktop photo on there. Its a very nice photo with a sick car to.
i might start packing my bags soon because we are leaving here at 5am in the morning tomorrow morning, our plane leaves Heathrow at around 715am and is 1.5hr trip to Amsterdam and then a 2 hr maybe bus trip to Rotterdam.
Sam told me that Rotterdam was completely flattened by Nazi bombs in WW2 and so its actually not an 'old' city as such compared to other places in Europe because it had to be all rebuilt so its quite modern. Although i have bneen told there is nothing to see or do there thats why the judo centre in Netherlands is there.
I dont know what the hotel facilites are like but we should have the internet so i can keep blogging my whereabouts and keep people upto date with everything im doing.
Have an awesome day guys Matt
Have an awesome day guys Matt
My Pac rim final
i finally figured out how to convert the file to a DivX file and then upload to youtube.
Here is my fight here on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nyH0Su9Y4
Matt
Here is my fight here on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nyH0Su9Y4
Matt
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday
Today was a very intense day, we did alot of uchikomi and circuits in order to make us pretty tired so we can recover on Sunday and have a good couple of gtraining sessions before i fight in the worlds on Wednesday.
This morning at 10 we did a stack judo circuts and i sweated off a bunch of weight, i only weighed 61.8kg so that's pretty good.
After training i had a quick cold shower before we went down into town and had KFC. Although i haven't really been craving bad food i didnt want to just eat it because i could and so i went to the bakery and had a chicken salad sandwich while the guys who are good with their weight had KFC chicken and chips. Dang the KFC looked good.
Today was a pretty boring day for people regarding reading the blog because all i really did was Judo. Once we got home after lunch we had a quick rest of bout half hour before training again. We did a stack of power uchikomi and speed uchikomi to sharpen up as a well as doing a stack of shuttle runs and groundwork drills.
After our afternoon session we went down to the laundrette and washed all our clothing because i always want to have clean clothes before the flight home. I usually set aside some 'plane clothes' that i wear on the way home to that i am nice and clean and not to smelly.
I really cant wait to come home and come back to normality. As much as this is what i train for i still love nothing more than having a coffee with my wife Sam and just chatting away for hours ON end, Exactly the same as what we did at Mr Donut in Japan.
I cant wait to come home and sleep in my bed, use my own fridge and drive my own car. I cant wait to have a decent shower with some sort of hot water and cant wait to go to our awesome church in Monash again. and i cant wait to be able to clal my wife whenever i want rather than have to wait due to time difference to see weather she is awake or not.
But we are coming upto the business end of the trip, the main reason why i am here training and competing. I fight on a few days time at the biggest event in judo, the World championships, the biggest event in the sport of Judo besides the Olympics.
In 2007 there was 201 countries entered in the Judo World championships, so this year should be very simialar. This is the biggest part of the year so i must perform at my absolute best in order to get a good result.
I am keen as to compete again at the highest level possible and to terst my skills against the best in the world.
Tomorrow is our rest day but im looking at getting up early and going for a jog and a bit of a stretch, My legs have been very tired lately and thats pretty bad for a lightweight. This is because if your legs get tired then you cant move every well around the mat so you start using your arms. and then your arms start getting tired and couple that with your tired legs you just get pounded throw after throw into the mat.
So i really try to maintain and stretch my legs so they dont get too tired throughout training for the rest of the week.
Due to the fact that tomorrow is a rest day i think a few of us are going into London to do a bit of
sight seeing have a look at big Ben and the London eye and whatever else is around there.
ill post some photos if i get any good ones
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
This morning at 10 we did a stack judo circuts and i sweated off a bunch of weight, i only weighed 61.8kg so that's pretty good.
After training i had a quick cold shower before we went down into town and had KFC. Although i haven't really been craving bad food i didnt want to just eat it because i could and so i went to the bakery and had a chicken salad sandwich while the guys who are good with their weight had KFC chicken and chips. Dang the KFC looked good.
Today was a pretty boring day for people regarding reading the blog because all i really did was Judo. Once we got home after lunch we had a quick rest of bout half hour before training again. We did a stack of power uchikomi and speed uchikomi to sharpen up as a well as doing a stack of shuttle runs and groundwork drills.
After our afternoon session we went down to the laundrette and washed all our clothing because i always want to have clean clothes before the flight home. I usually set aside some 'plane clothes' that i wear on the way home to that i am nice and clean and not to smelly.
I really cant wait to come home and come back to normality. As much as this is what i train for i still love nothing more than having a coffee with my wife Sam and just chatting away for hours ON end, Exactly the same as what we did at Mr Donut in Japan.
I cant wait to come home and sleep in my bed, use my own fridge and drive my own car. I cant wait to have a decent shower with some sort of hot water and cant wait to go to our awesome church in Monash again. and i cant wait to be able to clal my wife whenever i want rather than have to wait due to time difference to see weather she is awake or not.
But we are coming upto the business end of the trip, the main reason why i am here training and competing. I fight on a few days time at the biggest event in judo, the World championships, the biggest event in the sport of Judo besides the Olympics.
In 2007 there was 201 countries entered in the Judo World championships, so this year should be very simialar. This is the biggest part of the year so i must perform at my absolute best in order to get a good result.
I am keen as to compete again at the highest level possible and to terst my skills against the best in the world.
Tomorrow is our rest day but im looking at getting up early and going for a jog and a bit of a stretch, My legs have been very tired lately and thats pretty bad for a lightweight. This is because if your legs get tired then you cant move every well around the mat so you start using your arms. and then your arms start getting tired and couple that with your tired legs you just get pounded throw after throw into the mat.
So i really try to maintain and stretch my legs so they dont get too tired throughout training for the rest of the week.
Due to the fact that tomorrow is a rest day i think a few of us are going into London to do a bit of
sight seeing have a look at big Ben and the London eye and whatever else is around there.
ill post some photos if i get any good ones
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
Friday, August 21, 2009
Fight Night
Well first off England won the night 6 fights to 1.I didnt win my fight the only aussie to win was our 52kg girl rocket.
I fought pretty well and was happy with how i went, Tonight was really good match practice for the world championships especially with my gripping and game plan. I sometimes when fighting overseas have a game plan but then halfway through the fight change it and then thats when i lose. But tonight i kept to my game plan but couldnt finish all the good opportunitis that came my way.
I losed by a yuko that was a rather soft yuko that was scored of a running footsweep that my opponent caught me with and i thought i spun onto my face but the refereee thought otherwise.
(I will post the footage of the fight here when i get it.)
I am also trying to load my pac rim final on youtube because everyone has been asking for it.
Now im off to bed as its 12:30am and im tired as. We have training at 10am
so good night
Have an awesome day
Matt
I fought pretty well and was happy with how i went, Tonight was really good match practice for the world championships especially with my gripping and game plan. I sometimes when fighting overseas have a game plan but then halfway through the fight change it and then thats when i lose. But tonight i kept to my game plan but couldnt finish all the good opportunitis that came my way.
I losed by a yuko that was a rather soft yuko that was scored of a running footsweep that my opponent caught me with and i thought i spun onto my face but the refereee thought otherwise.
(I will post the footage of the fight here when i get it.)
I am also trying to load my pac rim final on youtube because everyone has been asking for it.
Now im off to bed as its 12:30am and im tired as. We have training at 10am
so good night
Have an awesome day
Matt
Relaxing day at a 5 star resort
Today we got up and had a quick breaky and then did a short sharp judo circut style session for 1 hour, then we quickly got changed and headed to the 5 star resort and spa place called Pennyhill Park hoterl and spa.
This place is so rich it costs 150 pounds just to use the spa and hotel facilites. thats about 300 aussie dollars just to get in. Not including food.
We had lunch in bath robes with just swimmers underneath it was really weird but for a 5 star resort the food and coffee was a massive let down, the southern cross club sells better food. i had a ceaser salad and then buffet for main course, buffet had like water melons rockmelo salad as well as prawns, salmon and some chicken thats bout it. (doesnt matter i gotta make weight soon anyway.)
Tonight we are fighting there in a fight night style event thats the fundraiser for the club we are training and living in at the moment. Thats the reason why we are allowed to use their facilities for free because without us there would be no fight night event.
t should be really fun, the room is small with a 4X4 metre judo mat put put in between the tables, we all have to wear nice clothes and mingle with the audience in between bouts and throughout the evening.
We only have 1 fight each, there are 8 fights all up.
Anyway the hotel and spa was crazy outdoor spa that was heated with bubbles and stuff. inside there was massage chairs and an ice room (same as a sauna but with ice in there.) a steam room that smelt like mint leaves and a beautful indoor pool, photo up above. There was even a relaxtion room that was all stone with little star lights in the roof and everything, amazing if you had the money.
Anyway im about to have a quick snooze because we are fighting tonight pretty soon, i just though i would quickly post these photos up on here because i may not have time tonight.
Have an awesome day guys
matt
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A tiring day
Today has been a very tiring day mentally as well as physically. Today really kicked in of home sick. I always feel sad that to do what i have to do i have to leave my beautiful new wife behind at home while im over here training and trying to become the best athlete i can be.
I woke up this morning gave Mum a call and then called Sam to say hi and tell her how much i love her and miss her. I then went to the local corner store to buy some supplies. They have fantastic Caramello Cadbury chocolate here and also a citrus flavoured diet coke and a cherry flavoured one as well. So i been getting into that a fair bit.
We had a technical session today in which we worked on our individual techniques in a circut based environment to get a sweat up and shrapen up before the worlds next week. I fight in 6 days time. im so excited.
After training this morning i was surprisingly light and only weighed 61.8kg which is fantastic this close to compeition. Although since Pac rim i havent eaten at all that badly i havent really had time to splurge out on Maccas or some Pizza.
This is because usually we have a competition and thats it for a little while but because i had a comp and then training a few days later i really want eat for performance rather than just load up on anything fatty.
After our session this morning i had a snooze (because the jet lag is still affecting me) and then got woken up suddenly by my coach Gavin to tell me to go to the shops with him. I bought a coffee down there is was sooooo crappy and boiling hot i was disappointed because i love coffee and really wanted a good one. o well.
I then spent the rest of the arvo studying and writing a blog for my learning with technology class.
Tonights session there was stacks of people there but i felt very flat and tired and had no energy. I just wanted to go to sleep and my mind was thinking bout home quite alot. I Love waking up at home in my house, in my bed and to be able to call Sam whenever i like rather than having to constantly think bout what time it is over in Australia and weather she'll be awake or not.
Tomorrow we are having a very special occasion. the judo club we are staying at is holding a massive fundraising evening at a local 5 star resort, with pool massage 5 course meals the works. We are holding a fight night there where we will have 8 judo fights Australia vs England, they called it the Ashes (Lame i know) but anyway should be good fun.
Apparently Russell Crow is staying there at the moment so we may even see him.
So that's whats been going on with me at the moment nothing too exiting just training and really starting to miss home and back to normality rather than this.
Love u all heaps
Talk soon, Have an awesome day
Matt
I woke up this morning gave Mum a call and then called Sam to say hi and tell her how much i love her and miss her. I then went to the local corner store to buy some supplies. They have fantastic Caramello Cadbury chocolate here and also a citrus flavoured diet coke and a cherry flavoured one as well. So i been getting into that a fair bit.
We had a technical session today in which we worked on our individual techniques in a circut based environment to get a sweat up and shrapen up before the worlds next week. I fight in 6 days time. im so excited.
After training this morning i was surprisingly light and only weighed 61.8kg which is fantastic this close to compeition. Although since Pac rim i havent eaten at all that badly i havent really had time to splurge out on Maccas or some Pizza.
This is because usually we have a competition and thats it for a little while but because i had a comp and then training a few days later i really want eat for performance rather than just load up on anything fatty.
After our session this morning i had a snooze (because the jet lag is still affecting me) and then got woken up suddenly by my coach Gavin to tell me to go to the shops with him. I bought a coffee down there is was sooooo crappy and boiling hot i was disappointed because i love coffee and really wanted a good one. o well.
I then spent the rest of the arvo studying and writing a blog for my learning with technology class.
Tonights session there was stacks of people there but i felt very flat and tired and had no energy. I just wanted to go to sleep and my mind was thinking bout home quite alot. I Love waking up at home in my house, in my bed and to be able to call Sam whenever i like rather than having to constantly think bout what time it is over in Australia and weather she'll be awake or not.
Tomorrow we are having a very special occasion. the judo club we are staying at is holding a massive fundraising evening at a local 5 star resort, with pool massage 5 course meals the works. We are holding a fight night there where we will have 8 judo fights Australia vs England, they called it the Ashes (Lame i know) but anyway should be good fun.
Apparently Russell Crow is staying there at the moment so we may even see him.
So that's whats been going on with me at the moment nothing too exiting just training and really starting to miss home and back to normality rather than this.
Love u all heaps
Talk soon, Have an awesome day
Matt
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday
this is the dojo where we train
its a small dojo but good sprung floor
some aussies out the back having some lunch in the sun
our room, me mark dennis and brent, im on the top bunk on the leftIm still a bit jet lagged from the trip so i managed to wake up this morning at 330am, then 530am then finally got out of bed at 730am. Although its a beautiful day everyone woke up with their fingers crossed to see weather our luggage would turn up today.
We had training at 10:30am and thankfully all our gear got here at around 10 past 10 this morning so we could train wearing our own gis rather than borrow some more.
This morning was a really good session we did some groundwork drills and 4X4 minute ground fights then we did some stand up power drills mixed with speed uchikomi and then finished off with 30 minutes of randori (fighting.)
The sessions are run really well and the quality of the players here is quite high so i have enjoyed each session alot.
After training i had a quick shower before getting a lift down the shops to wash all our clothes and have a bit of lunch. i had a chicken salad sandwich and man they have nice bread in europe.
We had an optional training session this afternoon so i went for a run in the local woods for 20 minutes and the shoes my wife got me before i left served me very well.
after running i came back to the dojo and did some skipping and some circuts and stretched out.
This afternoon i dedicated to catching up on schoolwork which i have manged to do for 1 class. i think if i do 1 calsses readings and listen to the lecture i should be fine.
have an awesome day
matt
photos
here is us walking out to get our medals. With the video of the final it is over 100mb so i will need to somehow figure out how to cut it down in half so i can post it on youtube. if anyone can help out with that please let me know
Quang, me and midge and colin hill
love.. everyone needs love
cooky and Quang at the worlds tallest building
me on the podium woohooLast few hectic days
Last few days,
G wizz well the last few days have been crazy, Quang took Cooky and i on a quick cultural tour of Taipei. we went to the top of taipei 101 which is the tallest builidng in the world. We travelled on the worlds fastest elevator to get to the top it does 1000m in 1minute.Crazy fully crazy.
Anyway then we went and had a japanese buffet and ate our heads off of asian food.
We then left late on Monday night to London, we did a quick stop over in Frankfurt Germany where our bags have been left behind since then. Just over 24hrs now.
At the moment we are at camberley judo club in Surry hills south London the weather is nice and the training is good to. We are living with all professional athletes who just train eat and train, the dojo outt he back is not even that big but you can tell from head coaches Mark earle and Luke preston that all the players are defiently high level fighters.
Yesterday when we got in we just hung out all day waiting on our luggage and trying to get the internet working on my laptop, for training we all ahd to lend one of the lightweights gis from here to wear.
This morning is much the same, we have a compeition session this morning at 10-12 then a technizal session at 4-6pm. for the rest of the day ill be catching up on as much uni as i can, although i still have no textbooks, but all of my lectures are filmed and streamed on the internet so thats pretty cool.
I will attach some cool photos in the next post of the last few days, 1 is of quang and i at the worlds tallest building the other is me on the podium in Taipei. It is confirmed i am the first aussie male to win Pac Rim in the 30 years so thats pretty cool.
here is a lionk to the ausjudo website that i think will be in the papers in sydney
http://www.ausjudo.com.au/jfa/images/managed/10/JFA%20Inc%20Media%20Release%20-%20Aus%20Pac%20Rim%20Results%20090819.pdf
Now i have to keep that momentum going for the world championships and have a decnet showing fight hard and intense and come off with some wins.
Have an awesome day
Matt
G wizz well the last few days have been crazy, Quang took Cooky and i on a quick cultural tour of Taipei. we went to the top of taipei 101 which is the tallest builidng in the world. We travelled on the worlds fastest elevator to get to the top it does 1000m in 1minute.Crazy fully crazy.
Anyway then we went and had a japanese buffet and ate our heads off of asian food.
We then left late on Monday night to London, we did a quick stop over in Frankfurt Germany where our bags have been left behind since then. Just over 24hrs now.
At the moment we are at camberley judo club in Surry hills south London the weather is nice and the training is good to. We are living with all professional athletes who just train eat and train, the dojo outt he back is not even that big but you can tell from head coaches Mark earle and Luke preston that all the players are defiently high level fighters.
Yesterday when we got in we just hung out all day waiting on our luggage and trying to get the internet working on my laptop, for training we all ahd to lend one of the lightweights gis from here to wear.
This morning is much the same, we have a compeition session this morning at 10-12 then a technizal session at 4-6pm. for the rest of the day ill be catching up on as much uni as i can, although i still have no textbooks, but all of my lectures are filmed and streamed on the internet so thats pretty cool.
I will attach some cool photos in the next post of the last few days, 1 is of quang and i at the worlds tallest building the other is me on the podium in Taipei. It is confirmed i am the first aussie male to win Pac Rim in the 30 years so thats pretty cool.
here is a lionk to the ausjudo website that i think will be in the papers in sydney
http://www.ausjudo.com.au/jfa/images/managed/10/JFA%20Inc%20Media%20Release%20-%20Aus%20Pac%20Rim%20Results%20090819.pdf
Now i have to keep that momentum going for the world championships and have a decnet showing fight hard and intense and come off with some wins.
Have an awesome day
Matt
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Competition Day
before every competition you always find it hard to sleep due to lack of hydration, nerves and sleeping on a rock solid bed. But i always try to do what it says in the bible where it says 'why worry about tomorrows problems, when you have enough problems to worry about today.' (Matthew 6 v34)
Trail Weigh in was at 6am - 7am so i went on down and weighed 59.9kg so i had a little bit of powerade to drink and came up to my room and went back to sleep until official trial at 7am.
I was the second one weighed in so i quickly loaded up on some powerade full of sodium (so it tastes like crap) and i had a ham salad sandwich for breakfast.
My first fight i had a guy from Indonesia so i handled him pretty quickly got him in a hold down and man he nearly got out 4 times (and i am quite strong and have good ne waza.)
To watch that fight click here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-j1WLIZcg
My second fight was like 2 hours later against a guy from Chinese Taipei. Now they arent a very big nation but man was he good, he had a good l;eft switch and i found that i didnt have a plane with him, he was all over me but something happened and i ended up taking him backwards with a kinda uranage / tani otoshi throw for ippon, i was so happy to beat him because it guarentess a medal and i was really at a loss at what to do against the bloke.
To watch second round click here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63UysQHkebk
The final was against the Japanese guy who beat the korean first round, i knew he was really quick off the grips and had nice judo (as all japanese do.)
So i came out hard and really muscled him, headbutting and dragging his head down.
I faked a massive footy tackle and he sprawled right on his face and then when he stood up i faked a shot again,
i was all over him and then he poked me in the eye and when i turned around he tried to throw me and that is just unsportsmanslike you know.
After that i got a big top grip and kick his foot for a KO ouchi and then next thing you know i was driving his shoulders into the mat for ippon (or full winning score)
and i won
i was so happy no one thought that i was going to beat the Japanese guy but i really gave it to him and was on top from the beginning.
Unfortunately i didn't bring my camera charger and so i only got my first 2 fights on my camera but my coach Gav got the final so as soon as i get it ill whack it up here because its the fight i fought really good in and it was the final.
I was also really happy when i got my medal because they played the national anthem and its not everyday do you see the Aussie flag flying higher than the Japanese flag.
So many people from other countries were congratulating me cos no one likes how the Japanese always win. so i was pretty happy i even got a big bouquet of flowers for winning.
ill see if i can take a photo of my medal and post it on here.
After the medal ceremony i had to get drug tested but i was pretty hydrated so it only took me all up around 20 minutes to get through all the paperwork.
Tonight we had a function but the food was crap so an good friend of mine Quang phung and i went out to dinner at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant chain and something to eat, i ate some good stuff.
Now im off to bed i can barely keep my eyes open but ill just add 2 throws you can have a look at that are a good depiction of what classifies as a winning score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PLCYA2kk5A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWjpzZvWuDU
There is a rumour going round at the moment that i am the first aussie male to win a pac rim championships so thats pretty cool. Although i wasnt really that nervous leading into the competition today. i guess i feel like i train very hard and put alot of effort and time into training and sacrificing alot that me winning is just the result of all the hard work i put in and that i deserve it.
I also wanna thank my beautiful wife samantha because she is so wonderfully supportive its crazy. Whenever i call and im all tired, grumpy and hungary you always supports me and look after me. Sam your such a blessing in my life and i thank God everyday your in my life,
So now im finally off to bed and have a nice big sleep in.
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
Trail Weigh in was at 6am - 7am so i went on down and weighed 59.9kg so i had a little bit of powerade to drink and came up to my room and went back to sleep until official trial at 7am.
I was the second one weighed in so i quickly loaded up on some powerade full of sodium (so it tastes like crap) and i had a ham salad sandwich for breakfast.
My first fight i had a guy from Indonesia so i handled him pretty quickly got him in a hold down and man he nearly got out 4 times (and i am quite strong and have good ne waza.)
To watch that fight click here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-j1WLIZcg
My second fight was like 2 hours later against a guy from Chinese Taipei. Now they arent a very big nation but man was he good, he had a good l;eft switch and i found that i didnt have a plane with him, he was all over me but something happened and i ended up taking him backwards with a kinda uranage / tani otoshi throw for ippon, i was so happy to beat him because it guarentess a medal and i was really at a loss at what to do against the bloke.
To watch second round click here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63UysQHkebk
The final was against the Japanese guy who beat the korean first round, i knew he was really quick off the grips and had nice judo (as all japanese do.)
So i came out hard and really muscled him, headbutting and dragging his head down.
I faked a massive footy tackle and he sprawled right on his face and then when he stood up i faked a shot again,
i was all over him and then he poked me in the eye and when i turned around he tried to throw me and that is just unsportsmanslike you know.
After that i got a big top grip and kick his foot for a KO ouchi and then next thing you know i was driving his shoulders into the mat for ippon (or full winning score)
and i won
i was so happy no one thought that i was going to beat the Japanese guy but i really gave it to him and was on top from the beginning.
Unfortunately i didn't bring my camera charger and so i only got my first 2 fights on my camera but my coach Gav got the final so as soon as i get it ill whack it up here because its the fight i fought really good in and it was the final.
I was also really happy when i got my medal because they played the national anthem and its not everyday do you see the Aussie flag flying higher than the Japanese flag.
So many people from other countries were congratulating me cos no one likes how the Japanese always win. so i was pretty happy i even got a big bouquet of flowers for winning.
ill see if i can take a photo of my medal and post it on here.
After the medal ceremony i had to get drug tested but i was pretty hydrated so it only took me all up around 20 minutes to get through all the paperwork.
Tonight we had a function but the food was crap so an good friend of mine Quang phung and i went out to dinner at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant chain and something to eat, i ate some good stuff.
Now im off to bed i can barely keep my eyes open but ill just add 2 throws you can have a look at that are a good depiction of what classifies as a winning score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PLCYA2kk5A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWjpzZvWuDU
There is a rumour going round at the moment that i am the first aussie male to win a pac rim championships so thats pretty cool. Although i wasnt really that nervous leading into the competition today. i guess i feel like i train very hard and put alot of effort and time into training and sacrificing alot that me winning is just the result of all the hard work i put in and that i deserve it.
I also wanna thank my beautiful wife samantha because she is so wonderfully supportive its crazy. Whenever i call and im all tired, grumpy and hungary you always supports me and look after me. Sam your such a blessing in my life and i thank God everyday your in my life,
So now im finally off to bed and have a nice big sleep in.
Have an awesome day guys
Matt
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Day before comp
Woke up this morning 1.8kg over weight had a quick half hour training session and got down to 61kg. I then came home and had a snooze and went off to watch the judo comp for a while.,
There was some good fights on today but i was itching to fight so i came home and snoozed til 4pm and then hopped in the sauna.
My 2 sauna buddies were josh and dennis and we all dropped around 1-2 kgs. i got down to 59.3 so i could have something to eat. i had a chocolate and caramel frappe and a watermelon slushie, they were both great plus a bit of chocolate and a yoghurt,
now im weighing back to 60.4 so ill sleep without any air conditiioning and hopefully wake up dead on 60.00kg. if not a quick run will drop the remaining 100grams
So ill get going to sleep now im exhausted and cant keep my eyes ope, im excited to fight and make the most of my good draw.
Ill keep u posted how i go
Have a great day
Matt
There was some good fights on today but i was itching to fight so i came home and snoozed til 4pm and then hopped in the sauna.
My 2 sauna buddies were josh and dennis and we all dropped around 1-2 kgs. i got down to 59.3 so i could have something to eat. i had a chocolate and caramel frappe and a watermelon slushie, they were both great plus a bit of chocolate and a yoghurt,
now im weighing back to 60.4 so ill sleep without any air conditiioning and hopefully wake up dead on 60.00kg. if not a quick run will drop the remaining 100grams
So ill get going to sleep now im exhausted and cant keep my eyes ope, im excited to fight and make the most of my good draw.
Ill keep u posted how i go
Have a great day
Matt
Friday, August 14, 2009
Vids & Photos
I was showing my room mate this morning my fight at the Olympics and the video has been edited now the sitehas my full Olympic fight from start to finish rather than just the throw the Greek (or should i say gerogian) threw me with.
you can find it here
also i caught 2 really nice throws today in video one is beau -66kg getting thrown with a big uchimata the other is our 90kg guy sean getting thrown with a nice drop seoi nage
drop seoi
Also here is the room where me and cooky are staying and also the view from our balcony.
have an awesome day guys
matt
2nd day in taipei
Man i just typed a whole half post and then it accidentally got deleted now i have to start again.
today was the first day of competition and for many of the Junior Aussies it was a very big wake up call to what international level competition is all about.
Many of the Aussies placed today but from Canberra Sara collins had a few tough fights but ended up losing 2 fights and winning one to get third place.
Hopefully this secures her spot for the Junior world champs in a few months time.
Today we woke up nice and early around 630am and went and weighed ourselves. I was dreading a little bit my weight but i have been watching everything i have been eating and ended up weighing only 62.5kg.
We went off to training this morning and wearing my sauna suit underneath my gi after training i weighed around 61.7kgs. I still don't fight for another 2 more days (on Sunday) so obviously you dont want to be dehydrated all tonight and all day tomorrow so this close to competition i just try to make sure i eat as little solid food as possible and fill up mostly on fluids.
This is because food can stay in your stomach for a few days while if you are full of fluid you can just sweat in out at training and a small stint in the sauna. Today i have had a piece of toast and 1 frozen coke and 2 caramel frappes from Starbucks, and man are they so yummy.
due to the weather being really humid here i try to drink stuff that takes a while to drink and that is stacked full of carbohydrate. So you can have 500ml of water with no energy content at all or you can have 500ml of yummy caramel crushed ice with a bit of caffeine in it to fill you up and because it takes 10-15 minutes to drink it will cool down your body temp quite nicely.
Tonight my roomy and i will probably just hang out and watch a movie or so, we watched never back down last night as well as some ufc all access videos too.
Also on a more important note (kind of) i got my draw given to me the other night. and its a good one....
i drew Indonesia first round and they aren't to strong so if i can get through him i will be fighting the winner of Macao and Chinese Taipei in the semi final. Japan and Korea are both on the other side of the draw to me so i hopefully wont fight them to the final.
but first off is Indonesia, ill worry bout the others later.
If i can figure out how to post some videos i will post 2 nice throws i was lucky enough to film today
Now off to relaxing and some study
Have an awesome day
Matt
today was the first day of competition and for many of the Junior Aussies it was a very big wake up call to what international level competition is all about.
Many of the Aussies placed today but from Canberra Sara collins had a few tough fights but ended up losing 2 fights and winning one to get third place.
Hopefully this secures her spot for the Junior world champs in a few months time.
Today we woke up nice and early around 630am and went and weighed ourselves. I was dreading a little bit my weight but i have been watching everything i have been eating and ended up weighing only 62.5kg.
We went off to training this morning and wearing my sauna suit underneath my gi after training i weighed around 61.7kgs. I still don't fight for another 2 more days (on Sunday) so obviously you dont want to be dehydrated all tonight and all day tomorrow so this close to competition i just try to make sure i eat as little solid food as possible and fill up mostly on fluids.
This is because food can stay in your stomach for a few days while if you are full of fluid you can just sweat in out at training and a small stint in the sauna. Today i have had a piece of toast and 1 frozen coke and 2 caramel frappes from Starbucks, and man are they so yummy.
due to the weather being really humid here i try to drink stuff that takes a while to drink and that is stacked full of carbohydrate. So you can have 500ml of water with no energy content at all or you can have 500ml of yummy caramel crushed ice with a bit of caffeine in it to fill you up and because it takes 10-15 minutes to drink it will cool down your body temp quite nicely.
Tonight my roomy and i will probably just hang out and watch a movie or so, we watched never back down last night as well as some ufc all access videos too.
Also on a more important note (kind of) i got my draw given to me the other night. and its a good one....
i drew Indonesia first round and they aren't to strong so if i can get through him i will be fighting the winner of Macao and Chinese Taipei in the semi final. Japan and Korea are both on the other side of the draw to me so i hopefully wont fight them to the final.
but first off is Indonesia, ill worry bout the others later.
If i can figure out how to post some videos i will post 2 nice throws i was lucky enough to film today
Now off to relaxing and some study
Have an awesome day
Matt
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Day 1 in Taipei
Whenever i know a trip is coming up i already start planning what book i will bring with me while i'm away. On some trips i have read anywhere between 6-12 books in 2 or 3 weeks. That was before i was studying at university.
But lately i have been reading a few novels by conn iggulden based on Genghis Khan. i have been looking for the 3rd book in the series for a long time and couldn't find it anywhere. but in the bookshop at the Sydney airport (how good are airport bookshops) i found the 3rd installment of the series.
So for the whole plane trip here i sat next to someone i didn't know and just read my book and slept, then read some more then slept and i also watched the latest Star Trek movie. It's awesome..(I'm a nerd i know.,)
We finally got into Taiwan's airport and out of the 31 people on this trip i was the unlucky guy who had one of my bag left in Sydney airport. Lucky enough i had my Judo suits in the bag that had arrived with me with a few pairs of jocks so ill be fine. i get it back tonight so im keen to brush my teeth and get my schoolbooks to start studying.
we are staying in a nice hotel and im rooming with my good friend josh cook. Its good rooming with someone that also has 2.5kg to lose in the sauna cos when i sauna on Saturday ill have a 'sauna buddy'.
the hotel was a fair distance from the airport so after i filled out the lost bag paper work we caught the bus to our hotel and we pretty much went straight to sleep. Although the hotel is nice our beds are hard as rocks, i think if i laid on my doona on the floor it would be softer than the bed itself.
Regarding time difference, Taipei is 2 hours behind Australia and for the last couple of weeks i have been waking up at around 7am,. So this morning i woke up at 7am our time or 5AM Taipei time. and to make it even funnier josh (the guy im rooming with) is a builder so he was awake before me so hopefully we adjust to the time pretty quickly.
Today we had a training session run by Gavin and it was good to turn the legs over and get the 'Plane feeling' out of your body. When we arrived last night i was 64.1kg but after the session this morning i was 61.7kg which was so fantastic.
I didnt think i would have been that light but i was so i am very happy about that so for lunch i went to Starbucks and had a caramel frappachino (yum) and a salad wrap which was good as well.
i have been saying some of the 2 words i remember from the Olympics. Ni how (hello) and che che (thank you)
We ha vent heard anything about a typhoon so i think everything is pretty safe regarding that but i was looking through the hotel book and it has a life and safety part... earthquakes and typhoons.... why live here? i don't think i would
the weather is very hot, i don't know how hot but it is very sticky and gross. its the type of weather where you put a pair of socks on and walk to the end of the street and back and they are all sweaty so u have to wash them.
Judo comp starts tomorrow so ill train in the morning and then go check out the comp. i better do all my schoolwork tonight because i know i will be too busy and brain dead to do it while im thinking bout the comp and saunaing etc.
although all my schoolbooks are in the bag that i don't have.
catch you all later on
take care
also you can comment after my post and i will be able to see it and reply
Matt
But lately i have been reading a few novels by conn iggulden based on Genghis Khan. i have been looking for the 3rd book in the series for a long time and couldn't find it anywhere. but in the bookshop at the Sydney airport (how good are airport bookshops) i found the 3rd installment of the series.
So for the whole plane trip here i sat next to someone i didn't know and just read my book and slept, then read some more then slept and i also watched the latest Star Trek movie. It's awesome..(I'm a nerd i know.,)
We finally got into Taiwan's airport and out of the 31 people on this trip i was the unlucky guy who had one of my bag left in Sydney airport. Lucky enough i had my Judo suits in the bag that had arrived with me with a few pairs of jocks so ill be fine. i get it back tonight so im keen to brush my teeth and get my schoolbooks to start studying.
we are staying in a nice hotel and im rooming with my good friend josh cook. Its good rooming with someone that also has 2.5kg to lose in the sauna cos when i sauna on Saturday ill have a 'sauna buddy'.
the hotel was a fair distance from the airport so after i filled out the lost bag paper work we caught the bus to our hotel and we pretty much went straight to sleep. Although the hotel is nice our beds are hard as rocks, i think if i laid on my doona on the floor it would be softer than the bed itself.
Regarding time difference, Taipei is 2 hours behind Australia and for the last couple of weeks i have been waking up at around 7am,. So this morning i woke up at 7am our time or 5AM Taipei time. and to make it even funnier josh (the guy im rooming with) is a builder so he was awake before me so hopefully we adjust to the time pretty quickly.
Today we had a training session run by Gavin and it was good to turn the legs over and get the 'Plane feeling' out of your body. When we arrived last night i was 64.1kg but after the session this morning i was 61.7kg which was so fantastic.
I didnt think i would have been that light but i was so i am very happy about that so for lunch i went to Starbucks and had a caramel frappachino (yum) and a salad wrap which was good as well.
i have been saying some of the 2 words i remember from the Olympics. Ni how (hello) and che che (thank you)
We ha vent heard anything about a typhoon so i think everything is pretty safe regarding that but i was looking through the hotel book and it has a life and safety part... earthquakes and typhoons.... why live here? i don't think i would
the weather is very hot, i don't know how hot but it is very sticky and gross. its the type of weather where you put a pair of socks on and walk to the end of the street and back and they are all sweaty so u have to wash them.
Judo comp starts tomorrow so ill train in the morning and then go check out the comp. i better do all my schoolwork tonight because i know i will be too busy and brain dead to do it while im thinking bout the comp and saunaing etc.
although all my schoolbooks are in the bag that i don't have.
catch you all later on
take care
also you can comment after my post and i will be able to see it and reply
Matt
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Matts whereabouts
the main reason why i started this blog is because in the next few months i have so much going on, and it's all interesting stuff.
I am in Taipei this week for the Pac Rium championships,
i then leave on Monday and travel to England where we are linving and training for a week and a half
In england we will be competing in a fight night style event that is a fundraiser for the club we will be training at
I then travel to netherlands for the World champioships before coming home
I get home on 3 of september but i am lucky enough to have www.grapplingstore.com sponsor me as of September onwards. As part of this sponsorship i am one of the priveleged few who are attending an invitation only seminar with the world famous Royler Gracie on the Saturday and i am then competing in the Royler Gracie cup held on the Sunday.
Pat from Mizuno is also giving me alot of training gear including nice new judo suits that will fit nice and give me the edge above the guys i am competing against.
The week after i will be comprting in the NSW international open and then 2 weeks later is the Victorian international open champs in which case i will see how i am feeling as i may decide to fight -66kg.
And in between all this i am trying to complete my degree in primary education as well as spend as much time with my wife sam who is so supportive of me i cant believe how lucky i am.
No i better get going because my brand new laptop (4 days old now) is running out of battery and i will be off on a hunt to find an adaptor as the one cooky bought is for usa europe and great britain and then ill be off to training to sweat up a storm and throw some dudes.
Have a great day
Matt
I am in Taipei this week for the Pac Rium championships,
i then leave on Monday and travel to England where we are linving and training for a week and a half
In england we will be competing in a fight night style event that is a fundraiser for the club we will be training at
I then travel to netherlands for the World champioships before coming home
I get home on 3 of september but i am lucky enough to have www.grapplingstore.com sponsor me as of September onwards. As part of this sponsorship i am one of the priveleged few who are attending an invitation only seminar with the world famous Royler Gracie on the Saturday and i am then competing in the Royler Gracie cup held on the Sunday.
Pat from Mizuno is also giving me alot of training gear including nice new judo suits that will fit nice and give me the edge above the guys i am competing against.
The week after i will be comprting in the NSW international open and then 2 weeks later is the Victorian international open champs in which case i will see how i am feeling as i may decide to fight -66kg.
And in between all this i am trying to complete my degree in primary education as well as spend as much time with my wife sam who is so supportive of me i cant believe how lucky i am.
No i better get going because my brand new laptop (4 days old now) is running out of battery and i will be off on a hunt to find an adaptor as the one cooky bought is for usa europe and great britain and then ill be off to training to sweat up a storm and throw some dudes.
Have a great day
Matt
Monday, August 10, 2009
Lead up to Pac Rim
Welcome to my blog that I decided I would start up. The reason I started my blog is because I have a pretty busy schedule over the next few months and what better way to let everyone know what I’m up to than by starting an online blog.
In the last few weeks I have been training hard in lead up to the Pac rim championships in Taiwan and the world championships in Netherlands. We had an AIS camp in Canberra which was very hard but exactly what I needed in order to prepare my body for the world champs.
On top of that I have also been practicing for my 2nd Dan (Ni Dan) black belt which I thankfully passed last Saturday.
Due to the not so good quality of the Video I will make another one when I get back with no one
in the background and a nice quiet environment.
I have had a pretty bust last week and a half, catching up on all the schoolwork I missed due to the ais camp, I got offered a full time position at the ais a few days a week so I worked out there 830am to 5pm wed thus and fri as well as service station on the weekend and a few pt sessions for my clients ash and krishan before I go overseas.
This week has also been pretty hectic catching up with the family before I go as well as studying for my maths test I have today (it sucks I know) as well as starting my low fibre diet in order to make weight this weekend.
It a little bit annoying having a competition 2 weeks out from the world championships because if you are tapering for the world championships a lot of people just believe tapering is mental and physical and that all and that you can just taper through a smaller level comp like the Pac rim champs. But if you are dieting over the course of 6 weeks for that 1 competition it is really annoying to then have to make weight hard for a comp 2 weeks out and then have to diet down again to make weight for the bigger comp again in 2 weeks time.
O well it has to be done. In saying that though we are going for 3 weeks and am fitting in 2 competitions and maybe even a fight night in England so that should be good to. The more international competitors you can fight against the better it will become.
This Pac rim comp should be interesting to see what nations will come along. Chinese Taipei has 2 teams entering due to host nation as well as Japan and Korean teams. Last Pac rim Choi (the guy who won Beijing Olympics) won the Pac rim beating the #1 Japanese guy who won the tournies of Paris Super A tournament.
In the last few AIS camps I have been dieting and it really has affected my performance during the camp as well as my recovery between sessions and the last few camps I have been on the brink of getting sick,
But the last Ais camp although I was dieting and carb cutting a little at dinner I still had a fantastic training camp, I was ranked 4 overall out of the 20 men there which was great because I haven’t been to a hard training camp since the last one in April.
Since the ais camp my bodyweight has been pretty low, I have been around 63.5 64 every morning which is great and now starting a low fibre diet I should only have to sauna, if my body responds nicely around 2.5kg.to make it even better I am competing on the last day of the Pac rim and the first day of the worlds. This is good because I can hopefully keep my weight down for a short amount of time but also at the worlds I can enjoy the high quality competition without the feeling of the nervousness mixed with hungriness in my stomach.
Well i’m off to study a bit more for my maths test and then have lunch with Samantha and my Mum, and hopefully spend the rest of the day with Sam.
ill do another blog in a few days hopefully put some photos and videos up as well
matt
In the last few weeks I have been training hard in lead up to the Pac rim championships in Taiwan and the world championships in Netherlands. We had an AIS camp in Canberra which was very hard but exactly what I needed in order to prepare my body for the world champs.
On top of that I have also been practicing for my 2nd Dan (Ni Dan) black belt which I thankfully passed last Saturday.
Due to the not so good quality of the Video I will make another one when I get back with no one
in the background and a nice quiet environment.
I have had a pretty bust last week and a half, catching up on all the schoolwork I missed due to the ais camp, I got offered a full time position at the ais a few days a week so I worked out there 830am to 5pm wed thus and fri as well as service station on the weekend and a few pt sessions for my clients ash and krishan before I go overseas.
This week has also been pretty hectic catching up with the family before I go as well as studying for my maths test I have today (it sucks I know) as well as starting my low fibre diet in order to make weight this weekend.
It a little bit annoying having a competition 2 weeks out from the world championships because if you are tapering for the world championships a lot of people just believe tapering is mental and physical and that all and that you can just taper through a smaller level comp like the Pac rim champs. But if you are dieting over the course of 6 weeks for that 1 competition it is really annoying to then have to make weight hard for a comp 2 weeks out and then have to diet down again to make weight for the bigger comp again in 2 weeks time.
O well it has to be done. In saying that though we are going for 3 weeks and am fitting in 2 competitions and maybe even a fight night in England so that should be good to. The more international competitors you can fight against the better it will become.
This Pac rim comp should be interesting to see what nations will come along. Chinese Taipei has 2 teams entering due to host nation as well as Japan and Korean teams. Last Pac rim Choi (the guy who won Beijing Olympics) won the Pac rim beating the #1 Japanese guy who won the tournies of Paris Super A tournament.
In the last few AIS camps I have been dieting and it really has affected my performance during the camp as well as my recovery between sessions and the last few camps I have been on the brink of getting sick,
But the last Ais camp although I was dieting and carb cutting a little at dinner I still had a fantastic training camp, I was ranked 4 overall out of the 20 men there which was great because I haven’t been to a hard training camp since the last one in April.
Since the ais camp my bodyweight has been pretty low, I have been around 63.5 64 every morning which is great and now starting a low fibre diet I should only have to sauna, if my body responds nicely around 2.5kg.to make it even better I am competing on the last day of the Pac rim and the first day of the worlds. This is good because I can hopefully keep my weight down for a short amount of time but also at the worlds I can enjoy the high quality competition without the feeling of the nervousness mixed with hungriness in my stomach.
Well i’m off to study a bit more for my maths test and then have lunch with Samantha and my Mum, and hopefully spend the rest of the day with Sam.
ill do another blog in a few days hopefully put some photos and videos up as well
matt
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