The road to London: Week 2.

My body felt really tired from the first week of training, but I did also start out with six days of rolling in one week, so maybe it was my own fault. This week, I have been training five days and sitting here on Sunday, relaxing at home, I feel surprisingly well. I have experimented a bit with different sleeping positions, since I usually have a lot of pain in my back in the mornings and I think it has made a difference for me.

 Thursday, I jumped in on the MMA competition class and rolled with the guys there for the first time in years. Competing in the No-gi Europeans in November, I miss a little of the raw, wrestling based pressure I get more there than in my regular gi-training. It was fun to grapple with strikes again and I will definitely try and do it regularly again, just to broaden my training a bit.

Saturday, I taught a seminar in Odense, a city about an hour and a half away from where I live. There was around 25 people there and afterwards, we had a three hour long open mat sparring session, so I really got to roll with lots of different people, which was great.

All in all, my back feels good and I have felt no pain down my leg this week, which is a good sign. Still doing my daily physiotherapy as well, so hopefully I will be fit for fight in London next month :)

The road to London: Week 1.

Last week I was my first "real" comeback on the mat after being out for close to six months with my back injury. I must have done well with the rehab, because I actually managed to train six days out of seven, only resting on sundays. My back feels pretty strong and I am optimistic about the next four weeks of preparations.

Last time I competed was at the Europeans in January, so with the long lay-off without training and competition, I don't have high expectations for the results. My goal so far is to complete the five weeks of preparation and be able to step on the mat with as healthy a body as possible. It will also be my debut in the black belt division, but I am not really thinking much about that. There will be guys I can beat and guys I definitely cannot beat, so I can do nothing but to just lean back, enjoy the ride and see what will happen.

Got the MRI scan verdict today

I got the answer today, that I expected; slight herniated disc in lower back, touching the nerve root to the left leg. It really doesn't change anything for me, as it was exactly what I thought it would be. Good news are, that the doctor said, there was an approximately 100% recovery rate with the size of the herniation I have, my age and physical shape.

So I'll just keep doing my daily rehab routine as I have done for the last five months. The last two evenings have been milestones for me, as I have managed to roll with the two heaviest guys in my gym (+/- 100 kg) and my back felt pretty good still.

My goal right now is to be able to participate in the London Open and No-gi Europeans next month. I am not expecting to win anything, but it will be a victory for me just to be able to go through the preparations and step on the mat in London.

Baby steps!

Rolling with kids in Tokyo, Japan

Last week, I came home from a two week trip to Japan. I was mostly there for vacation and to meet up with friends, but I also managed to drop by AACC a few days for rolling. I recently had laser eye surgery, so I couldn't do much, but I managed to go a few rounds with some really good guys and some really good kids.


I know I haven't been updating this blog for a while, but nothing has really been happening. I have been off the mat because of my back problems and the eye surgery, but have just started rolling this week and is aiming towards competing in London next month.

I've had an MRI scan, that I will get the results from tomorrow and the laser eye surgery should be a nice improvement for looking at scoreboards at the competitions.

Tune in shortly for results on the MRI and preparations for the London competition!