"So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive"

A weird and slighty embarrassing feeling came to my attention the other day when i saw this pic on my pc. Pretty soon im leaving my precious home for one of the biggest adventures of my life. Im heading towards one of the hardest and most dedicated trainingsessions of my life. Thats awesome, of course, i have loved and been passionate about martial arts and training since this pic was taken and way before that. Its just that.. when this pic was taken.. i was just 18 years old and in way better physical, "martial arts-shape" then i am in now :S I was also on a whole other level in judo-techniques then i am in mma-techniques today. But since im all into mma today I defend my ego with that the 24 year old Johan would completely slaughter the 5 years younger Johan in a mma-fight because of improved stand up, overall technique and a quite significant advantage in strength. but when it comes to endurance, flexibitlity and cardio the younger version of me is the way to go if i want to come even close to the martial arts level and success i seek.
So to go back to some of the inspiring words in the eye of the tiger song. I feel a bit like "i traded my passion for glory" recent years and trained more for looks and focused on methods that merely looks impressive, but in a martial arts training or in a fight, they are useless without endurance and technique. In thailand i will learn technique from some true professionals in both muay thai and mma so i dont wanna ruin those great sessions by having to focus on catching my breath all the time. So im looking at my 5 years younger "clone" who was, in this pic, training for a big Judo competion in norway. And say to myself "Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past" and i will definatly "fight to keep them alive".

ITS CARDIO TIME!

Du är jävligt imponerande du!