It 4:02 PM on Saturday, May 11th 2024, the day before Mother’s Day.
My boys and I participated in our dojo’s Fighter’s Cup tournament last weekend. We do the semi-knockdown which allows thin foam pads over the feet, shins and hands. Regardless they are thin and my division with huge guys, don’t offer much protection at all when getting punched and kicked.
As always I was anxious in the two weeks before. The fights are two minutes and in a full on fight you’re out of gas in 20 seconds if not careful. Two minutes in high school wrestling was agony until you got into shape and now that I’m in 46 and much less in shape, two minutes is eternal agony, especially when beating and getting beaten. For me, it is not so much the pain, which I don’t really feel during a fight but the stamina part I hate. So I was anxious indeed and just wanted it to hurry up and be done with.
For adults there are only two weight divisions, lightweight, under 165 lbs and heavyweight for those over. That means I often have to fight guys over six foot and 220 lbs and up! Actually, I’d prefer not to fight but feel I should do so since I ask my boys to do it. I ask them to do it because it is good for their confidence as well as for their standing in the dojo.
As for the results I was very proud of both of them especially given my worries for them both. My oldest would be the youngest in his class where the size difference of the boys is dramatic and my youngest cried last year. Fortunately the organizer noticed this and separated them into two groups and my oldest came in first. My youngest also did very well getting second place with no tears at all.
For my fight, there were only three people. I guess as we get older and wiser many fighters prefer not to put their bodies through such torment. I fought the same guy from a dojo that is primarily for tournaments. He is four years younger, and twice my size. Again, I took him to overtime but am not quick enough to land a head kick for easy points. So it turns into a leg kicking match and he being more powerful than I ended up with the win on a judges decision. We were both out of gas during overtime and I made him grimace quite a bit so I can’t be too unhappy.
In the evening is when the pain sets in and I was absolutely moaning with pain given the pounding in my swollen leg and a week later am only begging to feel somewhat better. I think this may be my final Fighter’s Cup as we’re not going to do it next year. Both boys will be at an age disadvantage and I’ll most likely just have to fight the same guy again. I know I could win if I trained for it but the reality is I don’t want to do such intense training. I’m more of a slow, moderate training type of person and just regular class is enough to make me sweat buckets and need a nap afterwards.
Normally, for an event as momentous as this, I’d throw a few pictures up on Facebook; I’m over social media however as it gives me the ick from which I derive no pleasure at all. At 46 I’ve grown apart from all my old friends which the passive ‘like’ no longer serves to maintain even the weakest links for me. I’m someone who likes to keep relationships alive but I seem to be the only one to initiate and when I do rarely receive responses.
I sent a few very nice catch-up e-mails out when I was feeling particularly nostalgic over the Christmas holiday but only received one response from Ron, a small one-liner from a few others and nothing at all from the rest. It has taken a decade as well as political upheaval to bring me to the point where I’m finally over it and will only contact those that have had the decency to contact me back. Reading Reddit on the matter I see that this is the natural course and quite common. I’ve found that my best connections are with those I met overseas in work and study rather than those friends/acquaintances made in my hometown.
Regarding life on the overall, I’d say I’ve been a bit down over the past year. Much of it may be due to isolation since I work primarily from home as well as some dissatisfaction with work. I start to think how I might increase my finances to be enough that I could retire early. To this end either crypto has to substantially increase in value or I’d need to explore writing something that might actually sell. There have been other job opportunities but as far as I can tell, one only gets rich at work by making it your life and sacrificing everything else which is not a rode I want to take. As for starting a business, also too much effort and risk. So I prefer investments which should be enough to ensure a nice retirement but hopefully the crypto scene will grow and I could retire early.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to an evening on the patio as the weather is fantastic, but we’ve got a menacing cloud bank sitting right off the coast that often comes inland once the sun goes down. Hopefully it will respect Mother’s Day and stay put.
I’ll try to write a bit more in my blog here going forward. As I’ve said, I’ve been a bit down thus haven’t felt like writing much. I’m still attracted to doing something on the internet and since social media is no longer something I wish to participate in, the natural activity is to work on my blog here. One silver lining in feeling a bit lethargic over the past year is I’ve been getting a lot of reading done as you can see by all my recent book highlights. I’m learning a lot and my sense of adventure, travel and love of history is being rekindled. I just need the motivation to increase a bit more.
