Guess, guess, guess, do I play football?
Martial Arts is my passion, I have started Karate at the young age of 10 and after 4 years my good old master went to Germany for work commitments. Since then i have interested myself into kickboxing and Thai Box. Great fun! I have done a few pro fights here and there, some I won, some I didn't but it was real good fun.

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Nice spinning back kick there but I have to admit that he didn't seem to feel it as much as I hoped he would!
 
That was in Weston Supermare, UK. I had to travel 7 hours on a NatEx coach with a very crazy driver, he crashed the side of a car and almost driven into another bus. Man what a trip!!

Anyway, once I got there everybody was very nice and looked after me well. The fight was the day after and so I chilled in the hotel room trying to get my "story right". At weight in the dude was over 5 kilos heavier (b*****d!). My coach could not make it that day and so I paired up with a guy of the local club, nice dude. Stopping with the excuses, my temp corner man told me something like "oh yes, I remember that guy, he is very powerful but he doesn't move; he just stays still for three rounds getting punches and kicks and then he comes out strong on the 4th. You have very strong legs, work him in the first and second and it'll be a joke. You won it already" he said.

"Wow" I though, "cool, I am gonna get him quick, and then I'll tackle a big beer and a burger (I had spent six months on a rigid diet!), ma vieniii!".
Well, the bell goes and before i even realize where I am, this assassin comes in with big swings hooks which reminded me of my Mamma when she was angry (joking, Mamma Maria never really laid a hand on me, well maybe a back hidings when I was really "villano"), it seemed like a giant took my head and turned it to one side and then to the other at the speed of light! 

So after a few big blows I though that my corner man had talked some nonsense and decided that I had escape from the rubber storm. On the dvd you can see that I backed off and shocked my head like a dog does after you splash water on him. It took me a little while but then I started to show my "documents" to Mr hammer glove. Jab, jab, cross and side kick, beautiful! I got him with the precision of a surgeon...

 
... then I go in again, jab, left hook to the body, jab and out, a combination of one twos and a felt good; only until I looked at him and crashed in a black world of realizations... he didn't feel anything, like a tractor on the grass, he came with a BBBBBBBB     IIIIIIIII       GGGGGGG hook that destroyed my guard and got me right in the middle of the forehead! I flew from the center of the ring to the a corner and woke up under the ropes with a man in black trousers and white shirt practicing is count to 10 (on 4 when I came back to life). You know what, in all honesty, I have trained with big guys, I trained with extraordinary boxers and martial artists, Massimo at Carisma in Cambridge (www.carisma.org.uk) is an amazing martial artist, I trained with him too and, with all the respect, I still never felt so stoned after a single punch in my whole life!

Good news is that I got up and had revenge, I got him, hurt him and left a memory for sure. He was really tired, out of breath and with no fuel left but the last of his big hooks caught me again and, even though I didn't fall, I felt like my brain moored to one side. I stopped and simply took my gloves off, I love martial arts and it would have been nice to win, but as said before, I am clever and listened to the voice from inside who was saying "get the hell out you stupid! Go get a pint and the unhealthies piece of meat you can get, watch the rest of the show and get a number of the "round holder chick" (I was single at the time)"

The man in black and white looked at me a little surprised and then said "did you have enough?" and I said "more than, than you". I probably could have won if the Luca Balboa inside of me would have come out, fortunately he was well deep down. I am actually very proud of my decision and would do the same again.

PS: The burger was BAD but it seemed GOOD to me, the beer very fresh and bubbly, the rest of the show was very cool, I also found out that I made a couple of fans. "The round holder" girl was there with her boyfriend by the way.

If you live in Cambridge and fancy getting fit while learning how to defend yourself and having a lot of fun, go to

www.carisma.org.uk

Above there is me and the "Egg Man", a leggendary South African dude who caries a huge hat made of pretty much everything and he pretends to balance it on his head. What's really amazing about the Mr Super Egg is the way he smiles. All he does is going up and down the road and smile ALL the time, amazing.

The photo below is the leggendary Sicily, we went ther in August 2007. I have to say that Sicily is something ELSE, it is a different world. It has bad parts and it has the good ones, overall very different.

A big THANK YOU to Antonio and Renata who welcomed us into their house and shoed the locals and the real spirit of Milazzo. Even though these days we don't get to see eachother very often, Antonio has been one of my closest friends in England and it is a pleasure for me to spend time with him, Renata and their beautiful children, Sofy and Ale.

PS: August, around 1:00am, 39 degrees! Perhaps next time we will go in September.



Have a nice day guys!