First Batch of Ear Juice

So… About 2 weeks ago I noticed my ear was a bit swollen and the first thing that came to mind was, “I am not going to get cauliflower ear.” After a few days the swollen part of my ear (top of ear)  did not seem to be getting any better so I played around with it a bit and noticed that there seemed to be fluid in it.  I went on a trip to Texas the next day and that week got my girlfriend, Adriana, to try and poke it with a safety pin.  I don’t think we stuck the pin in that much because all we got was a tiny bit of blood.  When I got back to Bainbridge I picked up a medial needle and syringe and poked it and sure enough, lots of pretty clear fluid came out and a touch of blood.  I thought, great, glad that worked.  About 24 hours later the ear seemed to be filling back up with fluid so this time I drew the liquid out with the syringe rather then just poking a hole and squeezing my ear.  As you can see by the picture I took, there was quite a bit of fluid and that was only half the amount from what I was able to get out of my ear just 24 hours previous.  Over the next couple of days I went on a trip to NY and sure enough, the ear filled back up with fluid.  I was able to acquire a insulin syringe and needle from my long time friend June who had just gone though a bout with cancer and had some unused ones in her medicine cabinet.  I got back to my fathers house and was able to draw about 2 CC of fluid out of my ear.  This is when I decided to do some research on Cauliflower Ear.

Here are two articles I found.  I have post the links to the original sites as well as excerpts from each of the articles. Looks like a trip to the Dr. or a bandage on my ear is in the near future.

Medicinenet.com Article on Cauliflower Ear

http://www.medicinenet.com/cauliflower_ear/article.htm

KidsHealth.org Article on Cauliflower Ear
http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/cauliflower_ear.html

I know I went to MMA and we drilled ground and pound as well as did some light sparring where I was teamed up with Sifu Rick.  It is the best working with him because I know that he will not really hold back and give me my monies worth every single time we roll or spar.  I noticed when I was sparring with him how quick and accurate he was with his punches and shots.  On the other hand I was very telegraphed and slow because it is not second nature to me.  I felt like he could probably land shots on me at will.  It was actually a good feelings to be able to assess some of these things because it really helps me to be aware of where I am at and what I need to work on to get to that next level.  Great night.  I loved the sparring and I feel like I am getting better even though I have a long way to go.

Thanks MMA…

My next workout was at Next Step Conditioning with Coach James.  Myself and about 10 other Bainbridge Island Fire Department members worked for an hour doing lots of kettlebell work, snatches, cleans, swings, wood chops, and combination of all of those together.  We also did some wind sprints with resistance bands and an ab workout using the kettlebells.  Lots of sweat.  I will go heavier next time.  I used 20KG kettlebells for 90% of the workout.

I ended my training day with a great MMA workout at my adult class at Bainbridge MMA.  We worked pummeling, pummeling for position and then shooting for the double underhooks and takedown into mount and side control.  We also drilled 4 out of the 5 moves we drilled last week from the guard.  Guillotine Choke, Triangle Choke, Kimura and Hip Bump Reversal.  We first just went through the motions.  Then added some resistance and finally tried to attack them live.  I played in my training partners guard most of the night because I am trying to get better in the guard.  I did really well.

Warm-up:
Suicide Drill w/ 3 burpees
7 rounds

WOD
For time:
800m Row
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Wallball
KB Swing
800m Row

After the CrossFit workout I went to Bainbridge Family MMA and sparred with Tony a bit.  We also did some jumping and diving drills with the kids.  The sparring was great.  We are trying to amp it up while at the same time get some good hits in so we can work out fitness conditioning as well as condition ourselves to live movements and reaction time.  Hope to spar some more on Monday after the Tabata Class.

Tony

Sal

Come and join the fun. Plus, we need training partners…

Today was a light workout.  No CrossFit, no Killsport Kettlebells.  I went down to Bainbridge Family MMA at 10 and hit the bags for 20 minutes with Tony.  After that we had 3, 4 minute rounds of ground and pound defense.  I was on bottom.  I wanted to train this so that I could better work my jiu jitsu during a real mma match, not just jiu jitsu.  It is a lot different when you have someone on top of you actively hitting you pretty damn hard.

The first round I took some good shots to the head.  I was able to use my legs, knees and wrap up his arms a bit but he was able to get me good with some shots.

The second round was a bit better.  I wrapped his arm a bit and was able to break down his posture.  He still hit me a few good times but I was able to apply a move we learned in class.  I loved to my left when he threw a big right at me and wrapped his head and arm together.  I held on super tight so he could not get his arm free.  I got so excited that I got on the side of him so I eventually had to work my way back under him.  After doing that I was able to get my feet on the inside of his legs and while holding on I swept/turned him over.  When I was on top I held the arm and head which was not set up perfectly for an arm triangle.  I moved out to the side and applied the choke.  It worked great.  I was 100 times more happy then usual because it was in a live drill and not just practicing reps.  I really had to concentrate when I was on bottom just to clear my mind enough to remember to apply the move.  Once I was able to do that it was great.  So much of this sport is just being able to remain composed, remember what you learned and have the balls to attempt it in a more live situation.

The third round was pretty good too.  I was able to get on top for a bit, scramble and also work my bottom guard.  All in all it was a good workout.  Made me want to work more and more.  I need more training partners so we can all get better with more sparring and training.  Come on peeps, come out and play. I will come to your park or you can come to mine.  Doesn’t matter to me…

Thanks to everyone who helps me on this journey.  I love it and continue to work hard.

Warm-up:
1000m row

WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
2 muscle-ups or 15 pull-ups
20 wall balls
8 Sumo dead-lift high pull (115 for men / 52lb KB for women)

When I got to class we were working with the Thai Pads on some kicks.  We worked a series of 9s and 10s/ lefts and rights both mid and low.  All in all we did about 115 on each side.

We also drilled a few combos:
single knee/double knee/jab,cross,knee/jab,cross,knee, right round kick.

After those drills we did some light sparring.  We sparred the combos we learned as well as a few 4 minute rounds of full kick boxing.

I love MMA.  I had such a good time at practice.

Tabata consists of the following (4 minute round, 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest till 4 minutes complete)
The exercises:

Push Ups
Walking Lunges
Bent Knee Crunches
Burpees

I was sore from doing the same exercises the day before as well as falling from some takedowns.  We still rocked the WOD pretty hard and everyone got a great sweat.  This is my last day of doing that particular Tabata workout.

Adult MMA class was also a good workout.  We worked the first six strikes or moves in the 18 point Muay Thai system.  I will get the entire run down and post it Monday when Rick gets back.  It is basically the following steps:

Right low kick to opponents left thigh
Check left inside leg kick from opponent
Left inside leg kick bringing left leg all the way back
Left mid kick to opponents torso area
Right cross
Left hook
Right mid kick to opponents torso area

The workout is pretty intense.  I am really working on my balance, especially with my left kicks.  When you see the entire sub set in motion you realize how good the drill is.  It utilizes different strikes, blocking and covers many hits to different parts of opponents body.  I am planning on setting up a kicking post in my garage (futon around a beam, if anyone has an old futon they want to donate let me know) so I can train the combo at home.  It was a great sweat and I felt a bit more comfortable then when we first trained it a month ago.

Thank you again MMA for a great day, great workout and something truly great to focus on in my life.

• jab/cross
• cross/hook
• cross/L hook/R hook
• cross/L hook/R hook/R knee
• left cut kick to opponent lower leg

We worked those for most of the class and then ended with two Tabata rounds of situps and pushups.  Fun times…

Revgear Platinum Leather Glove

Boxing Boxing Boxing with a little Ground-n-Pound sprinkled on top.  What a kick ass workout today.  Worked it a bit different with the pads today.  We used same (right) hand to hold pad for jab/cross and used the left for hits and hooks.  Here is the progression of what we worked on last night:

• double jab
• double jab/cross
• double jab/cross/hook
• double jab/cross/uppercut/cross

After that we moved to the ground for a few 2 minute (note to reader… Sifu minutes are 2-3 minutes per 1 minute, haha) rounds of ground-n-pound.  We worked from the guard, rose up and delivered a right cross to head region while controlling opponents right arm with our left hand.  After that we worked same drill but to the torso of opponent.  Next we worked the same cross to head and then stood up, passed the leg of opponent to right and came down with a crashing right to the head or torso of opponent and immediately moved to side control.   We ended the night with 2 straight minutes (real world minutes this time) of jabs and crosses to focus mits.  May not seem to hard but I invite anyone out there to do that full bore for 2 minutes and then tell me how you feel.

Again, great night, great workout.  Rolled with Tony for a bit after class.

Thanks for another great day of MMA.