Getting ready: Garry Tonon goes through another sparring session in preparation for his upcoming bout in One FC @onechampionship in manila philippines in two weeks. He will take on Rahul Raju. On the same card, my sensei, Renzo Gracie will take on the great Yuki Kondo in a battle of masters. Working the interface between grappling and MMA has always been one of my greatest interests so its a pleasure to watch over the preparation of Mr Tonon. He is only seven months into his MMA training so every day something new is learned. It's rather similar to our first days in jiu jitsu, where every class you see and try things you have never done before and everything is completely new. That spirit makes for exciting training sessions and a great sense of development and growth. It can be frustrating at times – new skills never come easily, but so long as a person has a sense of forward progress towards a desired goal , I believe they can endure any frustration and disappointment and keep in the game. Just one more week of training in NYC and then it's off to the Philippines! Another marathon plane fight – any person raised in Australia or New Zealand is used to that! It will be nice to be back in the Southern Hemisphere again! Keep that spirit of your first six months of training alive within yourself – keep those feelings of amazement, growth, frustration/desire and your game will never grow stale and will grow alongside you.
