MMA...Are you crazy?

About a year ago, I was at a turning point in relation to the training I had been doing.  For over a year I had been working towards competing at the National Indoor Rowing Championships.  It was then that I received the news that after having been postponed previously, the competition was being cancelled indefinitely (it has just recently been brought back to life some 12+ months later).  I was shattered.  After having put in hours upon hours of arduous training, I had the proverbial rug pulled out from under me by circumstances completely beyond my control.  The effort was not without rewards however, as I was fit, had lost over 40kg and felt great.  Having said that, it was a big blow to my motivation.

To fill the motivational gap, I went searching for something to do with my new found fitness.  I came across Tough Mudder.  It seemed like a real challenge that I could use to finish off my weight loss and improve my fitness whilst preparing to participate.  The trouble was, whilst I genuinely committed to the idea of taking part, it didn't end up motivating me enough to continue the hard work required.  So over the period of several months, I went away from what had been working for me and fell into old habits.  About 20 hard earned kilos lost now found again, I went in search of something different.  Unfortunately, Tough Mudder turned out not to be right for me.  It did do something for me though, it helped me in a small way in my move towards taking up Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Whilst searching for more information about Tough Mudder I went looking for training information in order to prepare myself.  On their training page they have to this day a video of someone now known forever as "The Moustache Man", which is a combination of funny and impressive at the same time.  Some of the exercises he does are certainly beyond my abilities.  You can check out the video on his website.  Here's a direct link - Tough Mudder Training.

I sought to find out a little more about The Moustache Man as I tend to do when I find something or someone that interests me.  I came across his website and a blog that he writes.  One article in particular sticks with me to this day.  Not only is it very well written, but, its sentiments resonate strongly with me.  The article is called Meet Fred Ettish.  Whilst I won't spoil the interest of reading the article for yourself, the crux of it is about a man who competed in the very early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and the impact he had both on The Moustache Man and perhaps more broadly across the martial arts world.

The UFC was then and remains to this day, the premier arena for testing martial arts skills. It really served as the birthplace of modern MMA as it appears in the mainstream consciousness today.  Having said all that, the blog post tells the story of the impact that Fred Ettish had on The Moustache Man and beyond. I have to say, whilst I don't share many of his experiences, Fred's story certainly had an impact on me too.  If you do nothing else, take the time to watch this short clip about Fred Ettish.

History Of MMA: Fred Ettish from Bobby Razak on Vimeo.

To me, whilst I do not have a martial arts background, both the Moustache Man's post and Fred Ettish's story combined speak to me so much of what MMA must have meant to those practising the more traditional styles across the world.  A revolutionary change that no doubt would have shaken many of their beliefs to the core.  I find the concepts and the history of it all quite fascinating.

Without any experience in martial arts other than as a fan of MMA and the UFC more specifically, this story gave me the inspiration and wherewithal to take a chance on trying out an MMA class where I now train regularly at Synergy Self Defence and Fitness.  What I found, is everything that I have always envisaged the culture of martial arts to be about.  The measure of the man is his character not how old he is or any of the other myriad of superficial traits we can so often get caught up in.  Perhaps most importantly, you get out what you put in, both in terms of your physical effort, but also in what you give of yourself.  The people at their core are their to better themselves and contribute to the betterment of their counterparts at the same time.

No matter what direction my MMA journey takes the nearly 40 year old me, I take a lot of encouragement from the story of 53 year old Fred Ettish.  The man who stepped back into the cage to answer only the humble questions he had for himself, after all the impact, good and bad that he had across the globe.  Chalk another one up for Fred, who certainly still inspires me to make more of myself.