My evening...pain, injury, broken dreams, and heatbreak :( I need a hug

[GQ_jumper 4]

To occupy me free time here in Iraq I found a group of guys that likes to grapple at the gym here, so I decided to get back into it after a bit of a break(4 years). Turns out the base I'm on has tournaments every month, I spent the last three weeks putting myself through an intense training camp to prepare for a submission fighting tournament tonight, I came off of a 4 year training break to fight in this thing. In three weeks I dropped 25+ pounds, put my cardio on a whole new level and had everything working the way I wanted it to in terms of my fighting. In order to lose the weight that quick though I had to starve and dehydrate myself, well, finding the motivation and time to do that while working long days in the 120+ degree Iraq heat everyday is a task within itself. My teammates started noticing how much suffering I was putting myself through the other day when we went to the chow hall and I had half a bowl of lettuce and then passed out on the table while they were eating. It was a miserable few days leading up to the fight for me, wake up early, spend the day in the sun, go to the gym before dinner, eat a bowl of lettuce and then spend two hours on the mats working on my figthing. The thing that really screwed me was the fact that weigh-ins happened at the fight. Typically weigh-ins are done 2 days prior to the fight, in the professional world fighters starve and dehydrate themselves to make weight, weigh in 2 days early and then stuff themselves full of fluids and carbs and gain 5-10 pounds in the last two days leading up to the fight. Well I wanted to fight middleweight and this morning I stepped on the scale and was 4 pounds under the middle weight cut off, unfortunately duty called today and I had to spend the first half of the day running around in 40 pounds of gear chasing bad guys, I was so weak and drained that my legs gave out on me running up the stairs of a house we were taking down and I barely made it to the top. As soon as we got back I drank a whole bunch of water and crammed some food down my throat to carb up for the fights, I took a quick nap and then went to weigh ins. Turns out I ate and drank too much because I was over the cutoff and had to fight as a light heavyweight. Well I was the only guy on the base that put myself through such a hard training camp, I like to win and put everything I have into every task I undertake, so I was fighting guys who were healthy, at their natural bodyweight, and full of energy, not to mention they all outweighed me. I signed up for three divisions, the light heavyweight, gi and no gi division and the open class no gi division(there was no open class gi competitors), we started with light-heavyweight gi, and halfway through my first fight I ran out of strength, I had no more left to give, the only thing that kept me going was that I'm too cocky to let myself lose, especially in front of an audience. Fortunately for me I have experience, flexibility, and good training on my side, I ended up winning the light-heavyweight gi division, but on the downside halfway through the first fight my opponent was trying to get out from under me and he twisted my knee a lot farther than it should go in the process. I heard a couple loud pops, and the pain hit so bad I almost tapped out right there, I sucked it up and kept on fighting and beat him, as I did the rest of the divison. But at the end of the gi competition my knee had swollen so much I had to withdraw from all the other divisons I had signed up for. I also was incredibly dissapointed in myself for running out of strength and energy like that, typically I have that unstoppable strength and cardio, I can wear down any opponent no matter how long the fight goes and when I'm done take on the next guy withut even taking a minute to rest, and tonight I just had nothing left to give. Dropping so much weight so fast and then sustaining an injury was crushing, I put my whole heart into getting ready for this, it's all I've talked about for the last month, I woke up this morning ready to take on the world and walking out of the tournament tonight with only one gold as opposed to the three I should have had has just crushed me. Not to mention I have to see if this injury is something that's going to keep me from finishing the deployment, it seems small but knee injuries can be tricky. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, I'll be back in the gym training as quick as the doctors allow(or i'll just go behind their back and train anyways), and when I come back for the next tournament I'm taking a different approach. I'm not trying to cut weight, I'll go with whatever my body gives me, so I'll be 100%, and I'm going to utterly destroy anyone who dares step on the mat with me.

One good thing that came out of tonight however, in my first fight I managed to win the audience over. I was the only fighter to get a stading ovation anytime I would step on the mat and the crowd started screaming everytime I won, so I guess I have my own little fan club around here,

I'll be back and more dangerous than ever, I'm not done yet.

Check back tomorrow I'll have the pics up.

And thanks to Grace, and my teammates for coming out to support me, you guys are the best, those goofy bastards even came out with a big sign with my name on it and had the audience callin my name.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[sunshine 2]

Hunny, that post is way to long for me to read all of it, But i can definitely give hugs.

*HUGS*

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[mnealtx 0]

Dude - paragraphs are your FRIEND.

Sorry you weren't able to finish all the divisions you entered, but congrats on winning the one!

*and a smack on the back of the head* for starving yourself down - you should know better than that!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Broke 0]

Stay healthy bro

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[warpedskydiver 0]

Dan WTF were you thinking?

It seems that your dehydration and starving yourself made you unable to think as you normally would.

And to have your legs give out running up the stairs?

WTF is up with you?

There could have actually been an all out firefight and you would not have only been unable to break contact, but someone would have had to carry you.

Glad you are ok, but please don't do this shit until you no longer have to go on ops.

wait until you are stateside ok?

now go eat a normal meal and drink some lemonade or limeade.

Geez

now I will quit giving you crap.

[wmw999 2,592]

You said what I was going to, only more succintly.

What he said, GQ . Now go have a lite beer (so you don't gain too much weight )

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

gi and no gi division

What's "gi"?

It sounds like you were pushing yourself too hard. It's admirable that you have that kind of discipline and determination, but don't do it at the expense of your health.

Oorah!

[cocheese 0]

Here's a hug, but it's not for wrestling. It's for doing what you do and for going there in the first place. Thank you.

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Quote

gi and no gi division

What's "gi"?

It sounds like you were pushing yourself too hard. It's admirable that you have that kind of discipline and determination, but don't do it at the expense of your health.

Oorah!

Martial arts uniform.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[GQ_jumper 4]

OK I'll answer everyone's comments right here!!

Sunshine: thank you my dear, I needed that

mnealtx: yeah, it's not the smartest thing to do but I have an obsessive personality, I was heart set on being in he middle weight division and being able to manhandle everyone that I fought

broke:I can stay healthy I just need a few days to recover and a stiff drink

akarunway:I honestly didn't realized how weak I was until that happened, I felt good boarding the UH-60 for the mission, so when my legs gave out it surprised me. I'm the one that's infamous for being last off the bird and coveing the half mile to the target biulding quicker than anyone, I usally hit 2-3 targets in a row before I show the slightest signs of fatigue. i'm truly dissapointed in myself for letting myself degrade to the point where I was a possible liability as opposed to the top-performer I usually am, believe me I've been beatingmyself up over it all day.

Wendy W.:How does a CPT and coke sound? cause that's all I have readily available

John Rich: as always your support for service members is truly appreciated, thank you. As for the gi question, likewas already mentioned its a martial arts uniform, in submission fighting it takes on a whole new aspect though. If you ever watch the UFC you can see how when the fight goes to the ground the experienced grapplers will try and choke their opponent or twist/hyperextend a joint to force their opponent to submit. Well when you put a uniform on you add material that can be used as handles and leverage, with a gi I can take a persons collar and wrap it around their throat like a noose and choke them out with thei own clothes, or use their sleeves an pants legs to grip them and manipulate them the way I want to. Fighting with a uniform forces you to be more technical, usually when I fight people who onlywear shorts I fight with my gi on so they have all those extra ways to submit me, it forces me to be more technially proficient to win the fight. My first fight tonight was won because I had my opponents collar to help me get the levrage to cut off the flow of blood to his brain, without a uniform on I would have had to attack his joints(elbows and shoulders), I have some pretty sneaky submissions and he didn't even see it coming.

cocheese: once again, thank you for the support, its an honor to serve

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Broke 0]

So that's why the UFC they were compression shorts and no shirts

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[Beerlight 0]

Your first sergeant know about all this?!!! Thanks for serving it it much appreciated, but I'd rather have you well than puttering out running up a flight o stairs! hang in there

[GQ_jumper 4]

So that's why the UFC they were compression shorts and no shirts

Quote

Actually in the current UFC rule book there are no Gi's allowed, look at the Gracie Hughes fight, Royce always fights with a Gi but took it off for that fight. Knowing gi submissions is great though, being a former bouncer it was great to know how to take a guys collared shirt and use it to get him to "calm down".

I'll take my grappling skills over a solid set of striking skills any day, they have proven to be such a bigger asset in my line of work.

and to the last question, yes my boss knows about this, he was at the fights cheering me on. he makes note about how hard i train and notices that i'm typically at the front of the pack.

oh well, i'll be back in the gym soon and will have my usual power and endurance back. overall i'm 27-4 since i came off of my 4 year training break, and i've already avenged one of those losses

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[chaoskitty 0]

Heres a ((hug))... please get healthy and stay that way. You said there were guys who were fighting at their healthy weight. Why dont you do that?

[ladyskydiver 0]

First - lots of hugs, hon!

Second - starve yourself again and when you get stateside, I'm going to kick your ass for doing that. Take care of yourself, hon. K?

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[kbordson 8]

*hug*

Take care of yourself over there. That way you can make it back stateside and practice "submissions" over here

[GQ_jumper 4]

please get healthy and stay that way. You said there were guys who were fighting at their healthy weight. Why dont you do that?

Quote

well I was planning on fighting middle weight, and I made the cutoff, a day prior to the fight, which is when pros typically weigh in, but i was forced to try and sustain it until an hour before fight time and my body just couldn't hold out that long. had i been in the middleweight division, even being drained i still would've had the power to dominate anyone in that division, when i'm healthy i can easily dominate heavyweights despite their size advantage. basically i just need to tailor my training a bit more for where i am, when i train i like to go all out but being in iraq doesn't allow me to train the way i should and trying to is not a good idea as i learned the hard way tonight. next time i'll just accept my fate here as a light heavyweight and go into the fight full of piss and vinegar like i usually do and tear the light heavies a new one i've also managed to gather quite the following around here, i was the only fighter that got a rise out of the crowd at the beginning of the fight and i got a standing ovation after i won everytime, it must have been a combination of my friendly attitude towards my opponents, my devilish good looks and my rowdy teammates in the bleachers with signs with my name on them that made me the local celeb

i also coached quite a few of the up and comers around here, i love coaching and helping the new guys, they have so much enthusiasm and put so much into it, it really inspires me. they are all waiting for me to get back on the mat so i can work with them some more so i owe it to them(and my teammates) to stay healthy.

So basically to answer your question i acted irresponsibly, i should have put my mission first which involves me retaining the ability to toss a 260 pound soldier over my shoulder and carry them out of a fight and instead i put my need to win everything i do first in my mind, and that could've cost my friends dearly

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[GQ_jumper 4]

Take care of yourself over there. That way you can make it back stateside and practice "submissions" over here

Quote

Well it's hard to practice submissions in the states anymore because none of my teammates will fight me anymore They don't like the fact that the second lightest guy on the team can choke out anyone on the team at will, I usually weigh in between 180-190 and the rest of my team is anywhere between 210-240. Technique beats strength anyday, I learned that the hard way when Royce Gracie kicked my butt in style despite my size advantage

I'm off to bed for now though, the painkillers for my knee are kicking in and I'm tapped out. night everyone, thank you all so much for the awesome vibes and positive support.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[lilDevil 2]

Big hug just for asking :-)

```````````````````````````````````
" Cant keep a good woman down "
Angels have wings, but devils can fly !

[Squeak 17]

you fuck your body over like that, you deserve every bit of pain you get

I was going to lt this bit slide but that would be uncharacterisitic of me.

If I were your superior i would have had you up on charges.

Quote

the other day when we went to the chow hall and I had half a bowl of lettuce and then passed out on the table while they were eating

and

Quote

the day running around in 40 pounds of gear chasing bad guys, I was so weak and drained that my legs gave out on me running up the stairs of a house we were taking down and I barely made it to the top

First charge would be malingering, then i'd be looking for a charge where you jepodise the safety of the men you're with, by not being physically fit enough to do your job properly, and purposely putting yourself in that condition

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[monkycndo 0]

Quote

Take care of yourself over there. That way you can make it back stateside and practice "submissions" over here

Dude, I think the meds made you miss her reference. Not with your buddies. More like Sub/Dom with a lovely lady. Your choice if you are sub or dom.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[kbordson 8]

Quote

Dude, I think the meds made you miss her reference.

I was gonna let it go. But... I'm glad someone had some awareness...

[Broke 0]

Did everyone except GQ catch that referance



Master and servant

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Did everyone except GQ catch that referance



Master and servant

I think so.... LOL

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[monkycndo 0]

Quote

Quote

Dude, I think the meds made you miss her reference.

I was gonna let it go. But... I'm glad someone had some awareness...

Thank you ma'am!!!!!! May I have another?

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity