The Sanda Fight, My first public fight

"I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life."

MUHAMMAD ALI, comment after losing to Ken Norton, Mar. 31, 1973

Yesterday I took part in my first Sanda competition at the NZ national wushu champs, Weighing in at 69.1 Kg, and having trained about 4 times between the announcement of the competition and competition day without any sparring in between, I wasn't over confident nor naive to think I would do well, relying on natural ability and drive. However I thought that the experience of the fight and the opportunity to test myself against an opponent outside of the club was too big to be missed. Not only would this help me grow as a martial artist, but it could also be a catalyst to help me get my life back together . It didn't disappoint.

I knew in my heart I wasn't prepared and they say a fight is won or lost before you even step inside the ring. I thought that even so, I would be OK. A couple days before the fight I learnt some takedowns from Sifu and one of his talented students, but as brucelee said, you shouldn't punch but let the fist hit all by itself. I can kick and punch without thinking, but takedowns and counter attacking is still very thought taxing for me and I believe that downtime cost me this fight. (And obviously, the lack of real life training thanks to my car and transport issues. )

Walking into the gym bleary eyed and heart beating at 9 in the morning (fights at 11.30) I was instantly struck by the level of fighters there. I could already see from the build and the way they conducted themselves these guys had been training very hard for this, and possibly do this thing all year. I definitely felt way out of depth here. We warmed up in a nearby gym outside of the main stadium, before the organisers went over the rules.

Then we went back to warming up and they called the draw out. Murphy's Luck they called my name for the first fight of the tournament. The guy I was fighting was called Jack something, he was a member of an mma club (they told me after he had fought before), and he took me by surprise with a square sock to the face, a little dazed I continued fighting, trying to work my way in, but my efforts tired me quickly. His takedowns were pretty efficient and he made good work of the thigh kick punch combo, in fact, it really impeded my efforts to fight my thigh was so bruised from the whelps.

Anyway, The fight ended near the end of the second round having been thrown off the mat 3 times. He went on to win the gold medal so I'm not complaining, Well done to him, it's uncontested that the better fighter on the day won that fight. I'm grateful to learn this lesson the hard way. Since then I have fought in the ring at my club, with a slight limp, but did well, dominating and in control, not on the back foot retreating like I did back then, now I'm back to my normal self, dancing to my own rhythm, striking with my own trigger. When takedowns become second nature to me and a punch is nothing more than an annoyance instead of a threat, I'm going to get one of those medals next year. Til then, I'm going to train, train, train :)

Here's some pics, 

and here's my bruise from my opponents leg kicks. thanks friend ;)

I'll post the video too once I edit what I have together in one coherent clip. Til next time!

End of September Status

So, here we are at the end of September, and I am still standing on the shore, waiting for the boat that will take me across the ocean to the promised land. So much has been going wrong, money problems, car problems, creative blocks, fitness problems, relationship challenges...It just seems like when it rains it pours, but I am a positive guy, and I try to implement Dale Carnegies dealing with worrying method (pretty much imaging the worst outcome and working backwards) which generally works for me, but it doesn't keep the banks/partners/and self disappointment at bay....but God helps those who helps themselves so I have the calls out ;)

There has been some filmwork offered from the agency to its members but I haven't been tall/big/available enough for any roles I've submitted for. I've also looked at student stuff and industry opportunities but sadly in Auckland alot of the work is unpaid or requires heaps of experience which doesn't suit me as I need money to fund the vehicle to get to these places and the film course I did is practically worthless as a qualification, the thing I got from SAE is some time to plan and practice films. 

Anyway, Job hunting for a real wage job has been fun (sic) I was about to do an interview last week at the airport when of all the days it could have happened, that was the day my car broke down. It's blown the head gasket and needs several changes and replacements. Overheating, it looks like how I feel. Crippled again by my lack of cheap reliable transport I figure now is a good time to make the most of the free time, But the 6th rewrite of Chase keeps stalling and I can't train as I don't have a car to get the gym in town (half a city away) without my club it's a little hard to self motivate, I try to go to the gym here but just end up punching the heavy bag, and doing some basic weights, skipping rope and chin ups which doesn't really help my sanda chances. Fighting empty shadows, its like dry land swimming as Bruce lee said..I need real training partners, The car is supposed to be fixed this week, so I'm on the mark, waiting for the gunfire. Plus sifu has mats now so I'm super excited to practice wrestling!

It's amazing that throughout the day you can come up with a million ideas but when faced with a blank page and a deadline, the ballpark is empty. The reason I have rewrote Chase again and again is because I need stakes. Like every good movie ,believe it or not, the success of your enjoying the film comes down to the character, his/her journey, the obstacles, the resolution and the whole execution of it all (casting, shot types, coherency etc). 

My character Chase, is a middle aged guy who moved to Auckland several years ago to become an action star, he holds down a part time security guard job to pay the bills and isn't sure where he stands with his ex-girlfriend. When a rival actor takes a role that was supposed to be his, Chase decides it's now or never and takes drastic measures to get the role. So, basically I have te first act completed. I have the ending climax location and 20 minute group fight scene in mind, it's just filling in the blanks and making sure all characters grow good or bad throughout the film, and that you, as an audience, care about Chase.  Anyway, in brighter news I saw myself on TV again, remember that day I said we shot in the Italian restaurant for Shortland St? Well It finally aired. Basically Unseenable but at least it wasn't cut :) I'm in the blue shirt eating imaginary food (actually I had a cake and lettuce on my plate which made no sense but so far away from camera it wasn't important lol)

Oh well, thats it from me for this post, I don't want to come across as depressed cos I'm not, but if my life were a movie I'm counting on the next couple weeks being the time where all things start to go right for the hero :) Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon :) And for inspiration check out Arnold below saying what the goal for any of us should be :) And what I came to Auckland to do....I came to Conquer!!!

Emperor Clip, still hunting and new adventures

Emperor made it's film debut at Toronto (TIFF) over the weekend and congrats to the director and his team as they had good reviews and have distribution for spring next year (american time) so our autumn I think ( if it bows on our screens the same time). One of the things I like about this piece of news is they released a clip which i have shared above. It's of 2 days I was on set for so I was stoked to see how it turned out, It does look like the inside of a plane and the airport looks terrific. Plus I can clearly see myself in the same frame as Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones :) Consider me pretty happy :) I screenshot it since I probably won't find other 1 second cameos from myself til the DVD comes out near the end of next year. here are the 3 from 13 seconds on ;)

I'm in the middle right as TLJ passes me then below as they cut angle, I am middle Left looking up at TLJ. I wonder if diff version in movie or night, we as soldiers were all holding something, like I was holding a bible and rosaries. And when he said swagger in person it rolled out more like thunder, but hey, movies are larger than life :) Great to see all the extras and co-actors get their shine on in this clip lol, looking good as a group there :)

In other unrelated news I watched Expendables 2 with the wife this weekend, was as awesome as expected :) Jet Li's fight scene at the start was epic and choreographed excitingly and Statham did get to fight with Adkins after all, I hope that the two make another film together as I would have enjoyed a much longer fight but I guess they were pressed for time. Simon West did a good job directing, better than the Mechanic anyways...

The action in this film was pretty good and the story held together. This movie is EXACTLY the type of movie you want to see on the big screen and not just on tv, to appreciate the enormity of the Explosions and Gunfire as they engulf you in surround sound. I was so happy they had alot of funny one liners and JCVD shined as the villain, Schwarzenegger is charismatic as ever and since seeing (finally) I saw the Devil a couple nights ago (came in the mail after what seemed like forever) I am practically frothing to see Schwarzenegger in a Kim je woon film, The Last stand. Arnies first film as the lead since Collateral Damage and the California Governator :)

Speaking of I saw the Devil, I have been a fan of Lee's since I first saw a Bittersweet Life years ago and instantly wanted to be like him lol, Its great to see him still kicking ass and not caring about the names, He's scored recent Hollywood coups in GI JOE 1 and 2 and now he's been confirmed for RED 2, so I'm happy the rest of the world are learning of his talent. Watching this film reminded me of the tone I was going for in 'Inevitable', the project I plan to film after Chase. Serious, some black humor and some great set pieces, but story is king. Sorry, I'm just excited to finally start shooting something. Anyway watch I saw the devil if you get a chance, very gory and exciting thriller.

In the last of the news I have for you in my efforts of becoming a actor/director in this city, is that a) the job hunt continues, I actually landed a couple but had to decline because the hours wouldn't leave it free for me to do my martial arts at night, or spend time with the wife, something will come up, I'm trying an online venture so maybe I will make some luck. 

and b) I have entered into my first professional fight for Sanda for the Wushu champs this October (less then a month away now, nervous but I'm sure I will do Ok for the first fight I hope) I want a medal. I'm not leaving without one, so I definitely need to train harder on my conditioning since KO's are allowed and head kicks (which suits me fine). You win or lose before you even get in the ring so Bam! Lets get out there! in the words of one of the greats, I'll be back! :)