Taking it E.Z. (An Eric C Weekly Section)

So i figured i would start trying to throw down a weekly blog section with me just rambling some thoughts and goals and things, so that people could realize what life affords me these days.
1 week ago i had my 3rd Muay Thai fight (being my 6th legit fight of my 'career'). I decided to fight 1 month before the fight and i hadn't trained for a month and a half prior to taking the fight. The gym i fight out of is Master Toddy's, but i do have some friends i enjoy training with from the Warrior Training Center, which is kind of like our sister gym. Well this fight in particular was to be against a guy from Warrior, which kind of sucks, because sparring with those guys is one thing i like to do pre-fight. The next thing was this guy has more experience then me AND is a fellow southpaw(left-handed stance). I felt good about taking it, because from what i knew he is a really nice guy and sportsman, so i trained. When the fight arrived, i wasn't as conditioned as i have been in the past, which usually is one of my strong points, but getting laid off really has messed with my normal routine in things(mentally and physically). Anyways, my technique has gotten better over time and i went into this fight thinking about trying to work technically and try kicks and things that don't favor my trademark 'boxing and brawling' method, but could be beneficial to my progress as a fighter. So i went in and fought... This guy hit HARD and was a good fighter. Needless to say, we pounded on each other for almost 3 full rounds, back and forth. His conditioning was better than mine and being hit that hard enough times takes more wind out of you than normal. With about 10 seconds left he hit me with a hard knee to the body with the ref separating us when he came back in my guard wsn't quite up and he hit me with a hard straight left, bouncing me off balance off the ropes and buckling me to a knee and the ref called it with SECONDS left in the fight. I won't say premature stoppage because im not a ref, and i know i got hit hard. So i took a TKO loss. My point is not to relate the fight to everyone, but to let everyone hear out my thoughts on the aftermath, SO HERE IT IS.
Never in my fight career have i learned soo much from a fight. I was able to do things more technically than i ever had before in a fight. I had ONLY a tiny bit of nervousness right before, but was thinking clearly the entire fight. I had conversatons with my corners and stayed calm throughout the whole thing. Every new technique i had practiced was the basis for how i fought. I scrapped my old methods and did the new things my instructors told me. The only thing i didn't do were the things that i was too tired to do the last minute(due to conditioning). I have never been more proud of myself. Now if i can step up my conditioning and mix my old style with my new found technique, i know i have some good fights ahead of me.
Why i do Muay Thai(Thai Kickboxing) now and not MMA(cage fighting/ufc style) are 2 important reasons to me. When i moved back to Las Vegas to marry my wife i tried a few different training facilities and they all had similar vibes to them. Everyone's goal was to be a proclaimed "hard-ass". This can be a difficult thing, when you are a team and are there to make each other better. I experienced my first INJURY from someone i was training with, because he cranked an armbar SOO hard on me that it tore my pectoral muscle. If you want to know the lesson i learned that day, it sure as hell wasn't that he was really good... It was that people lack control and are stupid. I've never been a big trash talker with fighting sports, IT'S A SPORT!, not a rule-bound, legal version of Gangland®. So the MMA community got to me, and i was on a search to find something more my style. My borther and I checked out Master Toddy's Muay Thai and decided it was the spot. Muay Thai is an asian cultured martial art, with Thai instructor that emphasize respect and control. Master Toddy hasn't trained over 30 world champions for nothing. I now train as much as i can and have 2 specific goals in mind. 1) I want to win a belt(of any kind) and 2) I want to fight a full rules fight in Thailand. I dont plan on making a career of fighting, and i dont have anything to prove to anyone. I dont hate the world and i dont take ultimate pleasure in beating people up. For me the sport is a physical chess match and a good way to stay more relaxed in normal life situations and physically fit. Too many people talk trash about the way people perform in the ring, my only thought is if you're not going in the ring yourself, keep your damn mouth shut, cuz it takes quite a person just getting to the point where you're ABOUT to even get in and fight. As far as anyone who has a "LOSERS SUCK" attitude, i have no use for them. We all lose in life, it's what we take from our losses that matters. Anyways, i've rambled enough for now. I'll change the subject next week.

--Eric C