Characters I Have Met.......

Back in June, I had the experience of a lifetime. My wife, Kelly, sent me to a professional Cage Fighting Training Camp, at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. (Check them out at: http://xtremecouture.tv/)

I detailed this experience here on my blog. See my posts from June 14th, "Countdown to Training Camp," June 23rd, "Back from Camp and a Little Bit Sore," June 24th, "Back From Camp Part 2," and June 26th, Back From Camp Part 3."

While at this camp, I was able to receive instruction and work out with several World Class Athletes, including Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Forrest Griffin. My training partner was a 38 year old guy name Matthew. Mathew was almost as tall as me, and probably 20 pounds lighter. He had a lot more experience and was gracious in showing me some of the finer points of MMA. He had told me that he was a published author, and was now working on a book about MMA. I asked him the name of his book, and he told me it was "American Shaolin." He was very humble and said it was moderately successful. I figured he was probably over stating his success and didn't think much more about it.

Fast forward to August 23rd. I'm looking at the Xtreme Couture Blog, longing to return, when I notice a story, and a link to the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. It turns out that not only was my training partner pretty famous, he actually continued on to train at Xtreme Coture after camp, to continue researching his next book. He also went on to have his first fight which he won.

(Check out the article at: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/23/coutures-son-victorious-best-selling-author/)

This got me to thinking, "hey I should read this guys book." Well I just finished it and it was great. It is the story of Matthew Polly, dropping out of an Ivy League College to chase a dream of becoming a Shaolin Kung Fu guy, like David Caradine in the old "Kung Fu" television show. He went to China, not even knowing where the Shaolin Temple was located. He found it, and actually lived with the monks for 2 years while training in Kung Fu. The book chronicles his journey as he challenges his beliefs on life and begins to learn who he is. During this incredible journey, Mathew actually fights in a National Chinese Kick-Boxing tournament, and actually takes second place.

The book is fascinating, even for those not into the martial arts. This book can stand alone as a travel book, or even a philosophy book. Matthew was being extremely humble when he described the book as moderately successful. He has won numerous awards, made the talk-show rounds, promoting the book, and his book has been optioned to become a major motion picture.

On an interesting side note, one of the guys I work with immigrated from China. One day on our morning walk, I told him that I was reading a book called American Shaolin. He got very concerned and replied "There are no American Shaolin." I told him there was. He was my training partner at Xtreme Couture. I went on to briefly tell him about Matthew's story. He said, "Oh yea, I remember him now. He was very famous in China. He was on television often. He speaks Chinese very well."

The book based upon his MMA adventure is tentatively titled "Full Contact Writer." It is scheduled for release around March of 2010. The book will chronicle his journey to learn Mixed Martial Arts, including his journeys to Brazil, Russia, and of course Las Vegas. I'm expecting at least one chapter on the big, tough guy who was his training partner for Fight Camp at Xtreme Couture!

The New Stuff

So after the consult with the Blood Doc, I went to see the Endocrinologist. She ordered the tests and reviewed what supplements and vitamins I planned to take. I assured her that the Blood Doc was not encouraging me to take any kind of Human Growth Hormones. She ordered me a new battery of tests, and I was on my way.

All of my tests came back great, except one. The test called "Insulin-Like Growth Factor1" came back with an elevated count. I repeated the test, and again the count came back elevated, and with a higher number than the first time. It turns out this test monitors something put out by the pituitary gland. An elevated score usually indicates that something, (like a tumor) is pushing on the pituitary gland causing it to shoot this stuff into your system. Some of the symptoms are fatigue, sore joints, achy muscles and headaches. I have all those symptoms and have been getting increasingly more headaches.

So I'm now scheduled to get an MRI and to check if I do indeed have a tumor on the pituitary gland. The good thing is that they are almost always benign, and can be treated with radiation. The Endocrinologist says that my other tests were too good to be anything cancerous. I guess it was a good thing the Blood Doc told me to get some extra tests!

While waiting for the MRI, I've now started taking my new vitamins and supplements. I can not explain how well my new recovery shake works. I used to take protein and glutamine after my work-outs. I felt that it helped in my recovery, but it is nothing compared to my new stuff. The new stuff consists of Whey Isolate (protein), Glutamine, and 4 Ever Greens. Wow! The protein even dissolves well and tastes good. The 4 Ever greens smells and tastes like lawn clippings, but it actually dissolves pretty well also. Within 20 minutes of taking the shake, I'm actually feeling better. I'm not quite so sore and my energy level quickly begins to return. I think I'm going to like the new stuff.

The MRI is scheduled for tomorrow, so stay tuned for the results!

Consulting the Blood Doc - Part 1

When I returned home from the MMA Training Camp at Xtreme Coutrure, I was sore and tired. I thought it was the result of intense workouts, the heat of Las Vegas, and the depressing thought of going back to work. Time moved on. I started back up with my workouts. I remained tired and just kind of accepted that as part of getting older. Than the worst possible thing happened. No it wasn't the loss of my job, it wasn't my wife Kelly kicking me to the curb, and it wasn't some bad medical diagnosis. It was worse.

For the last couple of years, my daughter Tammy and I have been playing racquetball, about once a week. It's always been fun and a great workout. Fun, because my daughter is very athletic (she runs triathlons) and even more fun because I've never lost. The game is always a great workout because the game forces you to basically run intervals for an hour. Then it happened. The game was no longer fun. Tammy beat me. Not once, but twice. She beat me two games out of two games. OK, it was still fun, but extremely humbling, and being my daughter, of course she just had to rub it in. I had to listen about how old I was getting, and how my glory days were over. To top it all off, Tammy hit me with the ball and I had a huge welt on my back! This was not good.

While I was mulling this over, I was surfing the web. I read a story about some guy called "The Blood Doc." The story talked about how this guy worked with many pro fighters and other pro athletes. The article went on about how this guy works with these pro athletes in helping them to dial in their nutrition. It also talked about how he analyzed their blood tests and sculpted their nutrition to improve their blood tests and their overall athletic performance. I guess he is kind of a behind the scenes superstar in the UFC. Now here is the catcher, the article talked about how he was able to tune your body, through nutrition, to the point where your athletic performance was not reflective of your age. This was starting to sound good. Then it dawned on me. Hey, I know this guy. I met him at Training Camp, and he had invited me to call him or e-mail him with any questions.

When you have gastric by-pass surgery, your body changes quite a bit. You no longer have a normal digestive track. Your body does not absorb things the same as it once did. As a result, people who have the surgery are forced to take supplemental vitamins and minerals for the rest of their lives. About 6 months after surgery, post-op patients are subjected to a complete series of blood tests. The tests are repeated at the 1 year mark, then again annually for the rest of your life. These tests check all kinds of stuff, and depending on the results, you adjust your supplements. Kind of a pain, but a very small price to pay to get your life back. I had my blood work done in March. Things were all in a great range, but I thought why not send them to the Blood Doc?

I converted about 5 pages of blood work into a pdf document. I then sent them, along with an e-mail to the Blood Doc. I re-introduced myself and told him my concerns, and I gave him a list of the current supplements that I currently take. I really didn't expect a response, and was really surprised when I received an e-mail saying "Give me a call and we can talk about it."

Here is my current list of supplements:

• Fish Oil 1200 mg capsules - I take 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening.
• Calcium Citrate 500 mg tabs - I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.
• Super B Complex - I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.
• Vitamin B12 100 mcg sub-lingual - I take 1 in morning and 1 in the evening.
• Flinstones plus Iron - I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.
• Glutamine - I take 5 in the morning and 10 after my workout in the afternoon.
  

As soon as I got that e-mail response, I jumped on it. I called the Blood Doc. I ended up talking to the guy for about an hour and a half. In the next installment, I'll tell you what he told me, and what steps I'm taking now. Stay Tuned! :-)

Back From Camp - Part 3

Well here it is.... Part 3 of my adventure to Xtreme Couture. For my 50th birthday, my wife sent me to a 3 day MMA Training Camp at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Parts 1 and 2 talk about the adventures at camp. For this part, I'm just going to tie up a few loose ends.

Wounds - Overall, I came out pretty good. You can see the bruises on my shins in the above pictures. I also split open the bottoms of my feet. I still have some nasty wounds on my feet, but they are healing up pretty good. At camp, I asked Forrest how do they take care of their feet. He laughed, pulled off his socks and showed me his feet. They were actually almost as bad as mine. He said that every time he starts a new camp, his feet get chewed up. He said that eventually they do get callused and get stronger.

Other Celebrity Coaches - The guy with me in the above picture is the infamous Junie "The Lunatic" Browning. Those of you who follow the UFC probably recognize him from the Reality TV Show The Ultimate Fighter 8. On the show, Junie demonstrated that he had some real talent as a fighter, but wasn't quite there mentally. He struggled with some anger management issues, especially when he was drinking. To put it bluntly, the guy came of as an immature jerk. After the show, Junie found a home at Xtreme Couture. I had read on the internet where he had jointed the team and how they had humbled him. That he was now growing up and maturing as a fighter and as a human being. Sooooo ..... One day, I can't remember if it was Friday or Saturday, (I know that's what happens when you get old), Mathew and I are working on some drill. Out of the corner of my eye, I see this guy walk by with a hand grenade tattooed on his hand walk by. I thought to myself, I wonder if it is Junie. I mean how many other people would choose a tattoo like that? Well, it was him. It tuns out that he had changed quite a bit. He was humbled, and even worked with me one on one. He tried really hard to be nice. Was he cocky? Oh yea. But don't you almost have to be to be a pro fighter?

The Whoops Excuse You Moment - Saturday afternoon, I was hot, tired and really sweaty from a whole day at camp. I parked my car on the 6th floor of the parking garage at the hotel and go into the elevator. I lean up against the back wall with my gear bag behind me. The elevator stops at the 5th floor, and a bunch of about 6 little old ladies start to load in. There really isn't room for them, but they squish in anyways. A little lady of about 80 years of age, starts backing in. She smashes right into me with her backside, pushing herself right into my cup. She squeals, turns and looks up at me and says "Oh my." I just smiled. She just giggled.

Randy Couture - Before camp, I received an e-mail saying that Randy would not be able to attend Camp. He was working on a movie, The Expendables, with Sylvester Stallone, and would not be able to make it back in time. We were told that Forrest would run the camp instead of Randy. I was disappointed, but Forrest did a great job. Randy did tele-conference in for a question and answer session. That was pretty cool, and Randy remains one of my heroes. For those of you who don't know about Randy, he first won the title, Heavy Weight Champion of the world in 1997, then again in 2000. Later, Randy dropped down to Light Heavyweight where he also became Champion of the World, at the age of 40. In 2006, Randy retired, but grew antsy. Randy came out of retirement and at the age of 43 again became the Heavy Weight Champion of the World. That is why he is my hero. Us old guys need to stick together.

The Reality Check Moment - I was walking into class one morning and I was talking to Gary the Kick Boxer. He asked how the Vette ran through the desert. He asked if it smoothed out at about 80, and wanted to know if I took the top off the car. I told him it did run best between 80 and 90 and that I took the roof off in Barstow and drove the rest of the way in topless. He said "Think about it.... You are driving 80 through the desert in a Corvette with the roof off, on your way to MMA Training Camp at Xtreme Couture." "Do you know how many people wish they were you?" I replied... "Yep, life is good."

Back From Camp - Part 2

Well I'm back. Back from Camp, Back to Work, and Back for Part 2 about my adventure at Xtreme Couture. I attend Training Camp and got to train with some of the best instructors and fighters in the world. In Part 1 I described the first 2 days of my adventure, and now it's time for the next part of my story.........

Saturday - I woke up Saturday morning a little bit sore. My shins were bruising up nicely and my neck had a little bit of a crick in it. I took a couple of Tylenol. One of the things after Weight Loss Surgery is you can no longer take NSAIDS like Motrin, Aspirin, or Aleve. You can still take Tylenol, but it isn't quite the same.

I jumped in the car and headed to the gym. As I was parking the car, I met a young guy named Gary. Gary was a hot shot kick boxer. He asked me what year my car was. I told him it was an 81. It turns out he used to have a 79. We talked about Corvettes being money pits. That's how you can tell a real Corvette owner. If he understands that concept, he really owned a vette and not just a pretender. Anyways..... as we were walking in, he asked me where I trained in Jiu-Jitsu. I laughed and told him that yesterday was my first day. He replied "Wow, that's pretty surprising, you seem pretty limber." That made my day. People are so nice here!!!!

Saturday Camp was broken into two parts, with both parts being taught by Coach Ron Frazier. That's Ron in the above picture with me. Ron is the head Boxing Coach at Xtreme Couture. That means he coaches the top pro fighters in the business. He coaches Randy, Forrest, Mike Pyle and a ton of other guys, and today he was coaching us!

We worked on all kinds of drills and conditioning. We hit the bags, we worked with boxing gloves, we worked with MMA gloves, man, we just plain worked. I was literally soaking wet from sweat, but it was so much fun. Ron is such a nice guy and he so wants each student to be the best they can be. He is truly an inspiring coach. He gave a couple words of wisdom to the class that I will never forget. "Getting punched in the face sucks." I guess it was his delivery, but it was hilarious.

After a tough day, it was time to head back to the Hotel. I parked the car got up to the room and soaked in the tub. I then figured I would lay down and take a little nap. I was out like a light. After awhile, I rolled over and looked at the clock. Crap.... it said it was 10:38. Class began at 10:00. I got changed, grabbed my gear, and ran through the lobby of the hotel. As I go by the pool, I notice that it is awful dark for almost 11:00. I look at my cell phone and finally realize it is still night. I go back to the room, take some more Tylenol and go back to sleep.

Sunday - I wake up feeling sore and kind of stupid for the time thing, but I'm excited for Camp. This is the final day and I've almost made it through. Today we are working on wrestling. The Coaches for today are Forrest and Ron. We worked on some take-downs and a bunch of other drills. At one point we did this cool drill. The drill required a lot of room, so two teams got to go into the Octagon.

At Xtreme Couture, not only do they have a large, matted area for working out, they also have a full size professional boxing ring, and more importantly, they have a full size, regulation Octagon, also known as a cage.

The cage is an 8 sided structure with the walls being made from metal cyclone type fencing. The fence is covered by black vinyl. The cage sits up 4 feet in the air, on a platform. It has a foam pad around the top of the fence and at the post points. Even though the fence is covered with a black vinyl coating, it still hurts. If you put your back to the fence and try and push yourself up, you feel it. I have a new appreciation for the fighters. The things that look so easy on TV are actually painful.

Whoops, back to the drill......... So we get ready to start the next drill. This one will require some room so my partner and I get to move up to the Octagon for this one. The drill starts with one partner holding the bags. The other guy kicks the bag as hard as he can. The guy holding the bag, moves the bag to let the other guy know which kick to throw. After a 5 minute round, the partners switch. The other guy now has to hold the bag. After each guy takes their turn, the next round is a wrestling round. One guy gets in the other guys guard and wrestles or uses Jiu-Jitsu to earn a submission. This part is done at full speed. Very, very cool. After this round we start over so that each guy gets to start in guard for a 5 minute round. The rest of the session is spent sweating like crazy. Wrestling is hard and it takes a lot out of you, but the experience was cool.

Training Camp ends with a photo-op session. After pictures, I head back to the Hotel. I'm soaking wet from sweat and I'm tired. I'm also kind of proud. I'm proud that I survived and that I did so well. Training Camp was the experience of a lifetime!

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll post Part 3.