It all begins in the training room: The squad was thrilled to watch team mate garry tonon put on another match-of-the-year-candidate performance last night in Oklahoma- but each member has their own upcoming goals – so after a brief discussion, it was noses to the grindstone and hard training time. A specialized triangle (sankaku) session followed by some very tough sparring. Eddie Cummings, Gordon Ryan, nicky Ryan, Matthew Tesla, Frankie Rosenthal, Ottavia Bourdain and Jake Shields show the wear of a hard session with top competitors while I sit there and pretend I was part of it I am always fascinated by the contrast between the the big shows and the humble and tough conditions that make success in the big shows possible. The big shows may be the FACE of the sport – BUT THE TRAINING ROOM IS THE SOUL OF THE SPORT. In thousands of small, obscure gyms across the globe are tens of thousands of dreams and ambitions – from those origins a few will emerge with the skills and attributes to make their dreams become real.
