I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself before I start spewing information about my training and life in Women’s MMA. I suppose I could go into a long winded explanation on why I fight, but the truth is much more simple, I am just an adrenalin junkie with extraordinary athletic abilities who likes to test my limits every chance I get. I tried to sit down and write out a long detailed description and over-analyze every aspect of my training for your reading pleasure but I found it to be far too extensive and quite frankly, just boring to read. My first interview from when I began boxing kept flashing into my mind as I was trying to write and it made me laugh. It was right after my first boxing match in 2004 and I was doing a live podcast interview with I don’t remember who, but the first question came out, “So Ashley, being a woman, what made you want to get into the sport of boxing?” Answering truthfully, my answer was simply, “I wanted to box so I could fight legally.” There was a long awkward silence and I thought maybe I got disconnected, but after the host came back on stuttering, clearly forgetting what the follow up question was supposed to be, it suddenly struck me that wasn’t quite the response they were looking for. . . . .oops. It was one of those things that you remember forever and reflect on later and just laugh. Needless to say, that is not why I decided to get into MMA, and given the opportunity to answer that question now, “What made me want to get into MMA?” I would have a different response. I would say I missed the consistent hard training, driving toward a goal, pushing through the pain, and mostly the adrenalin rush I get when the cage door closes and I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, not out of fear or nerves, but out of excitement and the desire to defeat my opponent, and at that moment, the bell rings, and I know, This Is Why I Fight!
There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that you put everything you had into every aspect of preparing prior to entering the cage. I have been training 3 times a day, 6 days on, with 1 day off to prepare for my first MMA fight on March 13, 2010 in Chicago, IL. Thanks to Need To Build Muscle, Inc. who is sponsoring me with an incredible line of supplements, I do not feel over-trained in the least. (As a side note my favorites are the N2KTS before workouts and the Better Protein Bars as snacks throughout the day.) On a daily basis I do strength, conditioning and fight training and I feel faster, stronger and smoother than ever before which I typically judge by the way I feel when I spar. Recently, I found that I wasn’t thinking about each movement and the proper response to it, my body was just flowing on its own and responding effortlessly without thought. To me, that is the ultimate payoff to pushing through all the hard training and long days at the gym, knowing that you have worked so hard that your body knows how to respond before your brain even knows what happened.
At the end of the day it is the effort that I put into training that makes it worth it. It is the look on my coach’s face when he tries to act disappointed that I lost another sparring partner because I beat her senseless, but he can’t help but smile. Likewise, it is the look on my sparring partner’s face when she’s leaving and says she will see me next time, knowing that I will never see her again. It is the “You’ll put your eye out” speech my parents give me every time I tell them I am fighting. It is the undeniable pleasure in my boyfriend’s demeanor when I defeat my opponent. It is the friends that are willing to travel across country just to watch me, even though I am still an amateur. But ultimately, it is the feeling of victory after beating someone down until they no longer have the will to continue that reminds me why I fight.
I must say that with a little more than 4 weeks to go until my fight I couldn’t be more pleased with the amount of support that I have received from my sponsor: Need To Build Muscle, Inc., my coaches: Coach Dino, Dave Reeves, Larry Lindenman, and Leo Dalla, and my family and friends that have stood beside me during my whole fight career. Having such great people behind me makes it easy to focus on my goals and continue driving forward so that I can put on a victorious performance for everyone on fight night. I will close my first post with a quote from Bruce Lee, “The attitude, ‘You can win if you want to badly enough,’ means that the will to win is constant. No amount of punishment, no amount of effort, no condition is too “tough” to take in order to win.”
A great inspirational quote and words I live by, this is why I fight!
Next Fight Date: March 13, 2010 in Chicago, IL. Don’t miss it! As soon as I have venue information I will post that up as well!
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i really think there should be more ppl writing in a similar style you do ^^