It Feels Good To Be An Idiot

I'm not a big fan of thinking. If I'm not doing anything, I get anxious, and I can get into my own head with simply overthinking everything in my life. I basically need to be constantly doing something for happiness. Although I prefer to be active physically, something as simple of a process as reading and writing is enough. If my brain is working, that's good, if it's thinking, that's bad.

I think that is why training in mixed martial arts has been such a good feeling for me. It's a sport based on action and reaction, and if you're thinking, you're probably losing. It's a high to get to turn off my brain for 60-90 minutes and just get after it.

Although it is a controlled violence, training in jiu jitsu and MMA is still purposely inflicting pain on whoever you're going up against. In its simplest form, it is putting a person in enough pain for them to give up and concede defeat. That is kind of animalistic, but when training, I'm never trying to hurt anyone, but I am trying to put them in a whole mess of pain, and I expect them to want to do the same.

And logically, this is all very stupid. I'm not saying people who train for fun are stupid, but I am saying that the act of training for fun is an inherently stupid activity. It is dumb to go through pain When I am training, I am an idiot. As I let my instincts take over, my brain takes a back seat, and that's good. I laugh at stupid jokes and don't really worry about anything. Through it all, I can temporarily attain an almost childlike presence of mind.

And ultimately, a person can find peace in the constant transition between offense and defense of pain. Not thinking, and just doing, doing, doing until practice is over leaves me in a state of euphoria. Letting my mind become so slow and stupid is a super pleasant experience.

All of this is just a long-winded way of saying, "Thinking sucks; be an idiot instead."

I'm Training MMA Again

Let me just start by making one thing clear: I am not tough. Although I have learned how to deal with a moderate amount of pain through training, I do not like pain. If I see a bee buzzing around, I freak out, because getting stung sounds awful to me. Pain is terrible, and I would way rather be comfortable. But for me, MMA has never really been about the pain, it has been more about hte competition. As we become adults, we really don't have many outlets for competition. Most sports are beer leagues, which may be fun, but it doesn't really fill that competitive void.

I have had the itch for a while. Some of that itch is an admitted Napoleon Complex. Other times I think it is just the pursuit of competition. Maybe I'm just the world's biggest sissy masochist where I want to feel pain but not too much pain, because pain hurts. And it may just be that I want to be good at something. Since my job search has been a frustrating mess, just being able to go out and be good and get even better at something definitely has appeal.

Last time, I had the time and lack of responsibilities to go to a world class gym. This new place is different. As far as I know, they haven't produced any UFC fighters. Still, they have legitimate trainers who are good enough to help me keep improving for the foreseeable future.

On my first day, I got partnered with another guy who had not done it for a while but had experience training. I realized I had definitely retained some knowledge as I ragdolled him like I was a boss. I was feeling really good about myself.

I should have left after the grappling side of things.

Instead, I stuck around for Muay Thai. I strike like an 8-year-old girl So after flailing around for an hour, at the end of practice we went three rounds and took turns kicking each other's thighs. In the final round, I got partnered with a girl, and I had to bite down on my mouthpiece as hard as I could just to avoid tears from streaming down my face. I am not a tough guy.

But it's okay to not be a tough guy. Fighting is for tough guys. Training in MMA is not for tough guys, and I'm living proof of that. I don't know exactly what void MMA fills for me, but the physical pain usually ends in mental bliss (after practices, I have so much adrenaline that I feel nothing; unfortunately, the adrenaline wears off after a while, and I feel like death about 15 minutes later), so we'll see how long a wuss like me can stick with it.

Why CM Punk Will Never Fight in the UFC

This past weekend, the UFC announced that CM Punk had signed a contract for the UFC to fight in 2015. This was a big time news story for the UFC and will undoubtedly get them a lot of mainstream publicity. If CM Punk steps in the octagon, it will no doubt be one of the UFC's highest selling PPV's of the year. However, I still do not think CM Punk will ever fight in the UFC.

To become a mixed martial artist at the caliber of the guys in the UFC, it takes incredibly difficult training that involves a ton of pain and misery. Don't get me wrong, pro wrestling training is on the same level as UFC training, so it is not that I don't think Punk is tough enough. It's that he's 36 years old and has a body that has been ravaged by pro wrestling industries. With that against him, it will be incredibly tough to make it through a proper training camp.

Punk seems like a guy who is doing this to do his best, and I think his body will not allow him to do that. He is making the step up from hobbyist to fighter, and that is an incredibly large leap. He has primarily focused on jiu jitsu, but full honesty, jiu jitsu is one of the easier martial arts. It's fairly easy to stay injury free as the people you are training with are looking out for your health. Most people can handle that, and I think Punk can probably handle the striking aspects as well. But man, that wrestling part is brutal. Mentally or physically, wrestling will break you. It breaks everyone. A guy with no real wrestling experience cannot go through the proper training in one year to prepare himself for a fight in the UFC.

And that last point is the biggest issue. There is no way to train for a year and be ready to fight in the UFC. The UFC will do everything they can to make it happen, but I have serious doubts he will ever get in the cage. Even if he does, it will only be a UFC fight by name. It will not be the caliber that people are used to seeing in the UFC, because no athletic commission will give him a legitimate UFC fighter. He's going to be fighting a guy with a couple pro fights and no elite skills. And that's best case scenario.

Nothing against Punk, but I don't think he'll ever end up fighting. I think he'll struggle with injuries and realize that he can't put on a fight that is worthy of his own high expectations. I know this post seems negative, but it is nothing against CM Punk. He has an incredible opportunity, and it makes sense for him to take full advantage of it. I hope he proves me wrong, and if he does, I can guarantee I'll be watching.