they always wanna come back....

ok, here we go....

just a quick rant for this blog post!

i am always amused at how fickle people are when it comes to training. recently i had a client return to train with me after seeing if the grass was greener on the other side! (i.e tried training with someone else) lucky for this person i am emplyed by someone else who fills my schedule AND i had an opening. so life is back to normal for this client right????.....well, not in my books! as an employed trainer at a facility my job is to train my client base the very best i can, each and everyday i am on the floor. so when a client who you feel you gave the very best to each and every time togeather decides to train with another fitness consultant i gotta be honest..it burns alittle and it burns a little bit more when said client trains with another trainer at the same facility! maybe i should just take it like i'm glad said client is back with me and we can continue on our successful path togeather, but if you know anything about me, this doesn't sit easy and again i am reminded that for all we do for people and their health sometimes we are made to feel like a part on an asembly line, waiting to be put to use until they don't need us or want something with a fancier paint job!

until next time...
hands up, chin down and keep on pushin

from ashes, rises new life

ok, here we go.....

it has been a very long time since my last talking to my self entry. lots comes to mind but i won't bother writing it all down with this entry. what i wanted to mention is that i have, after 6 years decided to close down my own gym "the phoenix FC fightclub". after much discussions with my loved ones and close friends i decided to put up the gym and its contents for sale(quietly) after a few phone calls, one of my students Steve proctor has agreed to purchase it and move it to his new location in simcoe. i will continue to teach out of simcoe but the market in Hamilton is littered with wanna be trainers/fighters, false prophets and what i like to refere to as car sales man fight coaches.

i was going to partner with what some might consider a reputable martial arts coach but after seeing how this person conducts business and "fighter training" i pulled my interest, and what do you know...he talks shit about me to other coaches, not a surprise as this is the norm for martial artists that where never fight coaches or competitors themselves.

i don't ever talk shit about others on my blog but this is the reason for my closing of the fightclub. for 6 years I've trained people that have come to me and said they had what it takes to be champion. the truth is guys/girls, most of you don't have it. one trip into my gym in the summer when it is 45 degrees(96) in the other temp will show how bad they want it or think they want it. my gym has broken these wanna be fighters many, many times over. "can't you turn the air on?" or open a window is some of the requests i get! NO is the answer i gave. you tell me you want to fight and i train you for the worst case scenarios that might happen or be present in a match. guess what...most quit, run to an air conditioned mma gym with pretty girls trampin around looking for someone to turn them into a model or ring girl!

i have been busy training in simcoe at my student's gym and have recently been heading up the thai boxing program at the adrenaline training centre in London on. these guys/girls know how to train and this is the dedication, desire and commitment it takes to be a champion. weather they fight or just fight fat these people get it!

during my gyms existence we have produced 1 world shoot boxing champion, 3 national champions, one provincial champion, one north American champion. not too shabby eh? now it's time to move it on up the road. to bad....don't think this city was ready for that type of a gym!

until next time....
hands up, chin down, and keep on pushin!

return of the murph

ok, here we go....

another week is half over and my blog is more than half late! a quick shout out to my newest fighter from the simcoe gym, dan "imal" coyne who ko'd his opponent in his debute fight via a 3rd round right hand. dan is a notorious party animal(hense the nickname) and was able to focus for six weeks on his diet, training and most importantley his opponent to earn a victory. see guys and girls focus and determination results in success!

on a diffrent note monday marked the return to our studio, one of the most focused and determined clients i've ever had the pleasure of training. mrs. sarah murphy! this excited me because when she first came to our studio she was already in great shape with an incredible work ethic. how am i supposed to train this machine was my though at first. after our first meeting we got done to business and just trained hard, fast and focused. skip ahead at least 2 years and now the machine has returned, married, has a new 8 month old baby girl(sorry ladies she came in to the gym looking like she never had a baby!) and full of the same focused energy to achieve her goals.

we as trainers see all types of people from all walks of life that come to us for guidense on their health and well being. some are easy to train, others more difficult. i enjoy working on and designing all my clients programes, but once in awhile i really really like fine tuning a fitness machine! welcome back mrs. murphy...this will be fun!

until next time...
hands up, chin down, and keep on fighting.

grab a nap!

ok, here we go.....

well, another training week is upon us and after a few days off i feel refreshed and ready to rock! it's amazing what a few days of doing nothing but spending some down time does for you. i have always believed in cat-naps as a way to recharge my battery and i do these quite often. a cat nap is a short quick rest usually no longer than 20-30 mins and man if you get the chance to grab one when you've been going through a busy day, these are a life saver! i usually work anywhere from 12 to 15 yours a day training people at my job as a fitness professional at all canadian fitness and then later at my own gym the phoenix fightclub. to say that that is a taxing day would be an understatement! i have found that when i take a cat nap or power nap i feel really refreshed and re-focused at my tasks and seem to attack them with alittle more focus. so if your job can allow you to grab a quick couple of zzz's then you may find yourself in a more productive mood!

until next time....
hands up, chin down, and keep on fighting.

Heros, i still got some

ok, here we go....

this weekend is gonna be big!(well for me) we got on saturday night UFC 111, my boy george "rush" st. peierre against dan "the outlaw" hardy. a good scrap if your watching the hype build up. st. peierre should smack this brit around as hardy is nowhere near the level that our canadian boy is at, but..........george has shown, in the past a relaxed attitude towards opponents that are considered HUGE underdogs and on one ocassion been the victum of what many consider the biggest upset in mma history when at UFC 67 an underdog named matt "the terra" serra whumped st. peierre's ass. serra was a huge long shot in that fight and drove the bookies and betters bonkers in vegas. i was one of the very and i mean very few that gave matt serra a shot at winning. if you are looking at the odds in vegas right now on the fight and have a few extra bucks that you might want to blow, bet it on hardy! the pay off will be HUGE!!!! if the brit can pull it off.

the second big of the weekend is WRESTLEMANIA 26. i know i know, wrestling? come on, what??? hey i've been a wrestling fan for as long as there has been a wrestlemania! i live for this shit! i can't tell you how much influence wrestling
has had on my fighting life. i dreamed of being a wrestler all my life but instead chose the "real" world of combat sports in the form of professional kickboxing and boxing. but i always thought of myself as a preformer going out there and giving the crowd what they wanted to see...an action packed match. hell even my barber is an ex wreslter, "terrible" terry morgan! me and him have some great conversations when i go visit him and he's always blown away by how much of a student of the history and backstage stories i am. but the BIG reason this weekend is so special for me is that on this particular westlemania there is a return to the ring from a very famous canadian and a hero of mine...Bret "Hitman" Hart. this guy is my absolute hero and i would probable gush like a little school girl if i ever got to meet him! he represents our great country everywhere he goes is an embassador of good will and an all around nice guy. i thought when he got into the hall of fame years ago, that that would be the last time anyone ever saw of the hitman.

so in ending this blog post, welcome back bret! in a world that has forgot what it was like to be a kid and have a hero. it is great that a retired professional kickboxer can sit back on a sunday evening with my son and watch a hero step into the ring one more time and remember why i ever wanted to step into a squared cicle in the first place!

until next time....
hands up, chin down, and keep on fighting!

ok, here we go....

what a weekend eh?! lets see...we dominated the ice rink...again and took our rightfull spot as kings/queens of the hockey mountain. served notice to all other nations and our government about our small dedicated athletes are for real and should be supported. i don't think there was a person in this country that didn't at some point over the last few weeks tune into the olympic games. we at the allcanadian fitness studio had the games on from the begin of it right up to the closing ceremonies. what an imense feeling of pride i had watching the opening/closing cerimonies and a select few events. not to mention a few of the athletes were pretty damn hot! i love spandex....on the ladies!

that was just the end of the weekend for me as i took one of my fighters to a match in london as well on the sunday afternoon. this particular time out i had my newer fighter tyler livingstone matched up with a tough young fighter from the "PURE BREED" gym in lampton on. this match was explosive from the start as both boys exploded out of the gates and proceeded to hurl shot and kick after shot and kick at each other. my boy tyler had me worried for a bout a second when his head was snapped back acouple of times during the first few seconds of the match. but as per usual my boys weather the early onslaught of attcks, and then proced to open up their own can of got somethin for ya! tyler waided in with some heavy low kicks to decimate his opponents legs and force his opponent to be tko'd at the begining of the second round.

what is amazing about this particular fight was that up until sundays match, tyler was on a 3 fight losing skid and had yet to win a thaiboxing match. now most of the time people that think they want to fight have a match, lose and then they are never seen from again. this drives us trainers nuts as we have put just as much time into training the athletes as they have themselves. but tyler was diffrent, he trained harder each time he lost a match, determined to better his results next time round. he never cried to me about his loss...something that seems to be the norm these days for fighters.(since when was it cool to cry after you lost a fight?) we just buckled down and put our work in that much harder the following day. i remember sitting by myself just before he was to head to the ring and one of our teammates asked if i was ok? i told him i was but i was nervous for tyler as i had seen how hard he was training and wanted this win for him so so bad.

nothing can explain the feeling of fullfillment a coach gets when all the hard work is done and the goal is reached. unless you've been there your self you don't know the feeling. seeing tylers face after the ref waived it off was a moment that will stay with me for a long, long time! it's not about the championships i win with my boys , it's the moments like sundays match that i live for! seeing someone lose and comeback stronger better and more deternimd than every is amazing!

a big congrates to my boy tyler, you did yourself, your gym and your coach so proud, enjoy the moment and feeling. there is nothing like it in the world.

love, respect, and believe.

until next time....
hands up, chin down, and keep on fighing!

the "angry" trainer and the cold weather!

ok, here we go. another blog by the "angry trainer" thats what i should've named my blog. a place where i can go and rant about anything. so todays is on the weather!

i am canadian, proud of this, proud of my healthcare system but damn do i hate the cold!!!! i hate the cold so much that i think canada should stake a claim into cuba and makie that a province. after all we canadians are welcome to visit and enjoy cuba any time of the year(can't say the same about our american neighbours!)

anyways, i was recently down at westdale high school for a "fun" run to beifit the people of haiti. i droped off a little donation, shook some hands, kissed a few babies and just as it was time to commence our run/walk, made a quick exit stage left back to my warm car! those people are true troopers, man it was too cold for this boy. i am glad my running ladies that i see every tuesday/thursday mornings had brought this run to our attention and i was glad i made it down to the highschool to show some support for the people of haiti.

if you haven't made a donation or at least prayed for the people of haiti, please try to do so. any and all help is greatly appreciated.

until next time....

hands up, chin down, (stay warm) and keep on fighting!