No one ever said I'm glad I didn't work out today...

Muay Thai was a great time last night. I'll never say "I wish I hadn't gone to MMA." once I'm there its a great workout but also I think it pushes my comfort zone a little which is a good thing.

I did get punched in the head more times than I would have liked... and picked up a few other injuries. I get the feeling that my fiancee is starting to enjoy the progress I've made and the difference in attitude since starting MMA.

We use headgear, shin pads, cup, mouth guard, 16 oz boxing gloves and common sense. No one is there to hurt their opponent (usually). We all just want to learn from the experience and understand where our technique can be improved.

I've managed to wrestle my cold mostly into submission and I think I'm feeling well enough to go to MMA again tonight.

• Breakfast - 2/3c All bran fiber with *Psillyum* (140 cal 24g fibre), 1/2c Skim milk (40 cal), 1c Blueberries (80cal)
  
• Snack - 6 slices low fat chicken "bacon" (150 cal)
• Lunch - 2c Bobby Flay's Perfect Asian Stir Fry (Garlic, Ginger, Green onion, yellow/red/green bell pepper, snow peas, green beans, watercress, carrots, hoisin sauce, sesame seeds. 1c brown rice.
• Snack - 1c Perfect Asian Stir Fry
• Dinner - 2c AB's Diet "Mo' Soup for You" Now to be called "AB's Diet: Southwest Chicken Soup".

Went to MMA tonight, as always a great class!

The first half hour of hard conditioning and stretching kind of made me feel like I was a Spartan... warrior training and such.

Practiced punch combos, elbows, overhead elbow strike, low/"high" kick combos (Mine are still pretty low) and uppercuts. Then we moved to some grappling and learned a new technique to be used when your opponent attempts a take down and you are quick enough to sprawl on top of them. The "anaconda" choke. Place your left arm blade side up across their larynx (similar to a guillotine) and out behind their left arm. move your right arm beside their head and grip your right bicep with your left hand while at the same time placing your head above your right bicep. In one fluid movement rotate your entire body clockwise flipping your opponent over and so you are on your side. Maintain your choke and without delay begin "walking" your body in a clockwise fashion around your opponent. The choke will get *much* more effective. We didn't discuss a defense for this maneuver but we found that as if the recipient matches the aggressors speed of rotation after he has been flipped the choke does not get as tight. After learning the "anaconda" we practiced the triangle leg hold which I am quite fond of and have previously detailed. Three additions from today's lesson: It is important to place your left foot on the opponents right leg in order to turn your hips. This not only allows you to more easily lock down the choke but also to perform it with your legs (and their head) nearly on the horizontal as opposed to the vertical. A typical defense against the triangle leg hold is for the defender to stand up or move forward and higher to put more pressure on the attackers neck (mine still hurts, thanks James). Moving the choke to the horizontal limits your opponents ability to stand or gain height on you without applying even more pressure to the choke. The last thing to combine with the new "horizontal" technique is to maintain your grasp of the opponents right arm ( or transfer it) with your right arm during the entire locking process. During the entire process it is important to keep the opponent's right arm as far across their body as possible as it helps with the submission. The last thing we practiced was what was called a "jack-in-the-box" whereby if your opponent has you in full guard you simply grasp their head and pull it forward forcefully. while keeping your weight on them so that they cannot escape by placing their hands beside their body and "popping" themselves up and back into a sitting position. Pretty hard to do.

After MMA Raegan and I watched "Stranger than Fiction". I'll be honest that after MMA my tastes usually move towards something with a little more testosterone. That said "Stranger than Fiction" was a pretty entertaining movie. I'll leave my Film Studies 101 analysis of it out but it has some genuinely entertaining moments. The concept is (fairly) fresh: "A man discovers that he is a character in a novel. Whats more he can hear the narrator, and he thinks she is going to kill him." Good movie to watch with a "special lady friend".