Fights / fighters picked last week, and the first Week of ‘Real Training’ has begun.
 
The teams have been split up based on the matchups, so each team has 3 nights a week of scheduled training. The intensity has definitely stepped up, and the balance has begun to shift in favour of technique training instead of fitness.
 
That said, the biggest change is definitely in the mentality and overall atmosphere of the participants. Now that the date is set, and the fights are made, everyone is focused on getting as prepared as possible.
 

 
This is the time where it begins to sink in that you’ll be front and center, under the lights, in front of 1,500 people, with someone coming to take your head off. Naturally, there is a mix of emotions that result.
 
Nervousness, tension, worry, conflicted inner dialogue…it’s all there, as expected.
 
It’s not all bad though. If you can get a handle on these thoughts and feelings, they can be powerful motivators, and sources of additional focus.
 
I’m more interested, even amused by these thoughts and feelings than concerned. It’s interesting that this is how we respond to pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones, and placing expectations on ourselves that are beyond what we have done before. What’s going on here? Are we conflicted? Does part of us want the satisfaction of accomplishment while the other part simultaneously desires to avoid failure?

 
Probably. But that’s the beauty of challenging yourself — the balance of risk and reward.
 
Anyways, I’m sure there is much more of this to come as we continue to ramp up the fight-specific training leading up to the fight, and I’m looking forward to it.
 
Let’s go baby! Bring it!

So I’ve mentioned floating a few times throughout this series, and have been talking more about it with people over the last year or so. I’ve been floating off and on for over three years now, and I find it one of the best ways to recover from intense exercise, relieve chronic muscle/joint pain, de-stress, and in a crazy city like Shanghai, enjoy some ‘total solitude’.
 
For those who aren’t familiar, floating is also referred to as ‘sensory deprivation’, and as the name implies, the idea is to restrict as much as possible the stimuli that are normally picked up by our senses.

To do this, 1000lbs of Epsom Salts are dissolved in water, so you float on the surface, removing the vast majority of gravity’s effect on your body. You are in an enclosed tank, that is pitch black, and totally silent (many offer earplugs to make sure it’s totally quiet). The water is kept at the same temperature as your skin, so you are neither hot nor cold, and if this is done right, eventually you begin to loose sensation of where your body ends and the water begins.

I don’t have enough space here to get in to all the research that has been done on floating, but to sum it up, the results are verified legit. Even if you don’t have any major issues, it’s a fantastic way to relax, enhance a meditation practice, do some creative thinking or problem solving, improve sleep, jet lag and much more.

It’s definitely something that you get more out of the more familiar you are with the experience, so I would recommend trying it a few times before you judge whether or not it’s for you.

Floatasian is offering anyone who uses the ‘buildingabrawler’ coupon code 20% off on their first float, so if you’ve been meaning to try it, or it sounds interesting, this is a great time to check it out!

Thanks for the support Floatasian!