On 12th March 2012, the Sheffield University Muay Thai club made their way down to Raw Physique in Nottingham in an epic minibus!
More about the minibus later.
With my second interclub fight in less than two weeks (20th May 2012, Wicker Camp) , I thought I’ll write about my first one. As the nottingham interclub was my first, I didn’t really know what to expect. I stepped into the ring thinking it was just going to be like the sparring sessions that I’d been doing with the Sheffield club, but of course not, this was a fight. And there were two of them for me!
After the weigh in, it was game on. Three 1.5min rounds and it was soon game over for the spectators. But those 9 mins (I fought twice) fighting seemed liked the longest minutes of my life. The first round of the first fight, I did not have a clue what I was doing; I was all over the place. Less fighting, more dancing around the ring. All good fun?
I took the second and the third rounds a bit more seriously, knowing that the other guy was taking this a bit too serious: with my guard up, and the definite height advantage, I remember throwing some good kicks in. Getting up close into a clinch and BAMM! I was stopped. I was given a warning for nearly kneeing the guy in the head. WHAT? It wasn’t my fault he decided that the best way to get out of the clinch was to get under it and try slip out… foolish much? Soon it was over. A good first fight.
I had badly, badly bruised my left shin. Earlier that week, I’d dropped a flight case on that leg while working with the Technical Services Committee to put on Space (Friday night disco at the Octagon). That hurt. It had left a bump and a scar. With a badly bruised shin, after the fight I sat on a bench using whatever cold thing I could find (water bottle? a can of diet coke?) and applying it to the bruised area. I wasn’t going to disappoint the second guy by not stepping into the ring in half an hour!
The second fight was much better. I was tired, I was injured but this time I knew what I was doing. I’d learnt from my first fight not to give the other guy the time to think. Pulling out longer combinations and dangerous kicks, I stopped the fight in round 2. The other guy’s nose was bleeding and I was in no mood to getting any of the blood on my gloves. With that cleaned up, we carried on through the third round and there I was, having just fought two different people in my first ever interclub fight.
That feeling of stepping into the ring is something that I’ve never felt before. It was amazing. The adrenaline, the blood, the battered shin. Amazing.
And no, I haven’t forgot about the minibus. The minibus was full of tech. It wasn’t a minibus, it was a media/entertainment room on 4 wheels. On board were 2 x 14” JBL subs …4 x 7” LCDs …1 x 18” LCD …5 x surround sound JBLs …PS2 …4 trays of DVDs and Games …the most legendary minibus I’ve ever been on !!
Anyway, my second interclub is only 13 days away. BRING IT ON! This time I’ll have someone filming the fight, so I need to make sure I pull out some head kicks lol and look good on the camera.
The results? Well it was an interclub so ‘no winners/losers’, but instead I like to say… Of course I won both the fights.
Some more photos from the Nottingham Interclub…
