Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Ultimate Fighter

The Ultimate Fighter
Recently I met a young man named Matt Hirsch who is a
professional fighter. He is a professional ultimate
fighter. At our first meeting I suggested to him that I
could show him some things that would help his core
strength and also his striking ability. He thought that it
would be a good idea so we've been meeting twice per week
to work out together.

We met yesterday and both of us started by going through
pieces of the Intermediate Combat Endurance Training
workout together. We went through about 25 minutes at a
pretty good clip and Matt impressed me with his strength
and endurance. After our Combat work we went to work on his
boxing skills. He has very good hand and foot work. I was
impressed.

Let me draw a picture of Matt for you. He is a former state
champion high school wrestler who also went on to the
Olympic trials. This was pretty incredible in that he
didn't really have a coach at the time and made it as far
as he did by working with other wrestlers and having the
guts and willingness to work. He stands 6 feet tall and
weighs a rock solid 230 pounds. It is his desire to move up
to 240 pounds and grind with the big guys. In addition to
being a strong, highly conditioned athlete Matt impresses
with his cat like quickness and a willingness to follow
instruction and learn.

I asked him about his training regimen and he mentioned
that he lifts weights and does quite a bit of sprint
training. Even though he is in very good shape he mentioned
to me that he was very excited after our first conversation
because he knew that he needed work on his core strength in
order to become the fighter that he wants to be. In
addition to the training that he does Matt also owns his
own wood floor installation business.

I mentioned to you earlier that he is a young man. I guess
he is young when compared to my 50 years but he must be
considered older when looking at other ultimate fighters.
He is 34 years old. His goal is to fight on the national
stage very soon. He has had two professional fights and won
both. The last fight he was paired against a pro fighter
who had a 35 win 5 loss professional record and Matt won.
He has a vision and a determination to get where he wants
to go. Sometimes preparation and belief in oneself can win
out over experience and normal thinking. After all, what
great things were ever produced by people who think only
average thoughts?

I'll keep you posted on Matt's progress. He is scheduled to
fight again in April with the possibility of a fight or two
before then. Keep an eye on this guy. He's got big plans
for himself.

Here's to thinking big,

Fred Nicklaus


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You can find out more about the workout that Matt is doing
by going to http://www.CombatEnduranceTraining.com

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