The "King" has left the building...

So, three & a half years and one title defence later, Alistair Overeem's heavyweight Strikeforce reign has come to an end. Granted, the way in which he abdicated his thrown was arguably more eventful than his title reign. Far be it from me, a humble blogger, to disregard what someone has or hasn't achieved in their career, but I shall lay it out as I personally see it.

Many people have scrutinised the UFC's policy of not allowing their fighters to fight in other organisations, viewing it as Zuffa simply trying to exercise a stranglehold over the sport of mixed martial arts. However, following his success in winning the inaugural Strikeforce heavyweight championship, Overeem went for almost three years before fighting again for the organisation, in the meantime however he fought in a number of different kickboxing matches, but more than this, he fought in a number of mma fights for different organisations also. Now let's put this into perspective - setting aside the politics of Zuffa and her rivals. If the IBF boxing champion decided to carry on without defending his belt for almost three years, all the while he has been trying his hand at mma, and fighting every WBO contender who has challenged him, the boxing community would be in uproar about the legitimacy of his reign, and would demand that he be stripped of his title.

Something that can't be ignored too was his seeming reluctance to challenge genuine contenders; when the

What-er Weight?!

Well, the latest fitness kick has, to the best of my knowledge, lasted longer than any other that I've set upon before! Anyway, I've stuck to the treadmill at the gym and I'm already seeing some improvements - my average speed has increased, and I'm not finding it as hard as I was at first. Not to mention, I forgot to take my inhaler before my workout today and managed over two miles and still didn't feel like I was gonna collapse.

But more than this is the weight! There was a time, following a bout of seriousness illness, that I weighed less than eight stone (I was five foot ten inches tall at the time). I slowly built myself back up again in weight to eleven stone, but couldn't put on any more for a couple of years despite my best efforts. I kept trying though as I was determined to get to 12 stone. Eventually I got there, but shortly thereafter I was diagnosed with Asthma, stopped exercising, and the next 1-2 stone seemed to appear overnight...until now!

I've noticed massive gains in my fitness since starting Jujitsu - just ask my Sensei; I thought I was going to die during my first few sessions! But despite getting fitter I never really lost any weight (and I was skeptical of my girlfriend lovingly telling me that I was 'toning up' and that I was probably losing fat but gaining muscle). Back to the point; I decided that I was determined shift my belly in the process of preparing for this competition, so along with my regular exercise, I've been drinking one and a half to two litres of water a day. I weighed myself yesterday morning (same time as the previous week) and I've lost THREE OR FOUR POUNDS!!! I know that a lot of people lose large amounts of water weight when they begin on an exercise programme, but I don't think that's the case as I've been making sure to drink plenty of water.

I'm still enjoying the exercise, and enjoying the Demian Maia instructionals as much as ever; he makes things that you've never thought of before seem like common sense - and they are oh so effective (reviews to follow...eventually)

Until next time...

New TCG Logo

I've already posted this one on the Facebook page, but thought I'd get it on here too. Like I've said, if all goes to plan I want to start designing T-Shirts etc. and this would be the logo that I'd use. Some of you may have already noticed it being used as the watermark on my photos.

I Just need to get a few designs done that I'd be confident that plenty of people would be interested in buying; I know you lot will be queued up to pre-order them :) I'm working on a design at the minute that I'm actually feeling really confident about, and will put it out there to gather public opinion when I get it finished.

But back to the logo itself, I think it's a clever mix of the letters T, C and G (for 'the closed guard') and I also tried to come up with three words underneath that begin with said letters, and also epitomise the nature of a martial artist. Hope you all like it! Please feel free to comment in the box underneath, or on the facebook page

Hello elephant, I didn't here you come in...

Well...I don't think I've ever been to the gym four days in a row in my life...but I have now! The exercise is going great, and I've not felt this good in a long time. I've stuck with the treadmill and admittedly it's starting to grow on me. I decided to take it a bit easier on the treadmill today and after finishing my run early, decided to do some upper body work with weights, and that's when the elephant in the room caught my eye.

As I was preparing to improve my admittedly feeble upper body strength I looked across at the bench press and saw a guy whom I recognised. I've never formally met him, nor do I even know his name, but I have seen him around many times. The last time I saw him was probably 3 - 4 months ago and he looked entirely normal...but now?...he was almost as wide as he was tall. His arms were almost comical proportions relative to his height and covered in stretch marks, not to mention the steroid acne all over his upper back and neck.

Now I'm not trying to launch a Caio Terra style rant, but it still takes me by surprise when I see guys up close and personal who've been using it. Granted you regularly see it in the news and sports articles.

For me personally, it's an unworthy sacrifice - from what I can gather there are a massive amount of damaging side effects. I'd take my regular, if slightly disappointing physique, any day of the week. What are your thoughts? Comments below or on the Facebook page.

In the meantime I'm off to watch Demian Maia's "Science of Jiu Jitsu" - I absolutely love his style and instruction, and will probably get a review done for you all shortly. I did give Drysdale's instructional a go, but as much as I love him as a competitor, his style was just a bad fit for me. Until my next update...

Hayabusa Mizuchi Rash Guard Review

RRP: £39.99

Admittedly when I first bought this rash guard, it wasn’t because of the advanced sweat wicking technology, the added muscle endurance that you gain from the compression, or the antimicrobial coating that they use on the fibres; I bought it because it looks totally awesome. Luckily, it delivers on all of the sales talk promises too.

The rash guard is 91% polyester and 9% polymeric fibre. In terms of sizing, I scoured the internet looking for a size chart, and even emailed Hayabusa themselves, but to know avail. I took a chance and ordered the large which fits me like a glove (I'm six feet tall with a 43" inch chest - I hope this helps others judge the correct size).

The first time that I trained in the rash guard I was astounded by just how cool it kept my body; whilst my face, head and legs were as warm as usual, my torso was surprisingly cool. It was also a great fit; when it came to rolling my opponents found it impossible to gain a grip on it (I also prefer the short sleeved rash guards as having sweaty forearms really helps with slipping submissions onto opponents, and slipping out of their submissions). The rash guard wicks away sweat brilliantly, and I genuinely believe that my body being less sore and stiff than usual, the following day, was a result of the rash guard’s compression technology.

One major complement that I want to pay to Hayabusa is the stitching that they have used on the rash guard. I have fairly sensitive skin, and so I was worried when I saw the amount of seams on the rash guard that were going to be so tight against my skin. However, Hayabusa have done an incredible job at keeping the stitching flat so as to maximise the comfort of their rash guard.

The one criticism that I have of the rash guard is that after a long, hard session it can start to pinch at the armpits a little; caused by the material bunching up a little. However, this is fairly typical of a lot of compression style rash guards.

All things considered I think this is an excellent purchase. A little pricey, but this is to be expected when buying Hayabusa. The look, feel and performance of this rash guard are all excellent.

Day 1: I could really use a beer right about now

Normally I have jujitsu on a Monday night so I feel like I've actually done some exercise, but there was no class tonight, so I was gonna have to sort out my own exercise.

I had book reviews to get done today so I didn't actually get to the gym until roughly 25 minutes before they were due to close. I decided to put in twenty minutes on the treadmill (I detest treadmills!) in which time I managed a ten minute mile which I know isn't great, but I don't think it's terrible either. Normally when I get home from the gym, despite how ridiculous I know it is, I like to have a beer. However, due to the fact that I'm determined to get in shape, and spurred on by this bjj competition, I've decided to cut out the beer. I'm currently about 195lbs heavy (6 foot tall) so I'd say I'm chubby, but not ridiculously fat.

Gonna get to working on some technique tomorrow, and maybe a few drills. I'll keep you posted!

First competition!

So after a lot of back and forth I think that I've finally decided to go ahead with my first competition. It gives me exactly six weeks to get ready; with the help of GSP's Rushfit, Andre Galvao's drills and Demian Maia's science of jiujitsu. I will keep you all posted about how I'm progressing, and you never know, I may even have some photos of a nice shiny medal to show you by the end of it. At the end of the day, what's the worst that could happen?...