Wow! What a year it has been

December 2015 · 6 minute read

Wow! What a year it has been. In some regards, I feel like I’ve done so much, in others I feel like I’ve done next to nothing… Where to even start. I’ve made some amazing friends, had some great experiences and hopefully set myself on a new path.

My year started off with high, not working on New Year’s Eve for the first time in 8 years. Not that I did anything crazy, just went to a friend a low key BBQ and was home by 1 am. Woke up without a hangover on a sunny day. What a way to start the year.

Next was my trip to South-East Asia, I spent the month of February travelling around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam with one of my best friends and we had the time of our lives! It was 23 days of non-stop activities, 8 am – midnight every day where some of the highlights for me at least, were watching Muay Thai at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok; attempting to eat duck foetus’s in the back alleys of Saigon, and exploring Siem Reaps rich history in 38-degree heat. We saw things on that trip that can never be unseen, but it was such a fulfilling experience. After far too long working in the hospitality industry and losing almost all hope in mankind, this trip is truly what restored my faith in people.

This was the first time I’d been overseas for an extended period of time or travelled somewhere not knowing exactly what to expect. The first time was not fully prepared for everything and not in complete control. I came back feeling more alive, more relaxed about things, excited about what was coming up. And what came up next was my second Muay Thai fight, it was unexpected and on only two weeks notice in Taranaki. Weighing in at 54kg I dominated the fight showing some definite improvements on my first match last year. It was good to be able to walk away with confidence and spend a fun weekend out of town with friends.

Almost immediately after, I landed the first break of my potential future. I worked as a Junior for two months in a small start up for a payroll company writing software in node.js. I got to work directly with the CTO and learned all about MVC, SQL and HTML in a real world application from one of the smartest people I know. I had such a good time learning and going in to work every day to a new challenge. I can’t wait to have that again.

Next up for the year was my third and final novice fight, short lived thought it was. 1min 7sec into the ring the fight was stopped with my first TKO by a left knee to the ribs. That was exciting. That felt good. Not that I’d hurt the other girl, just that I’d done exactly what I’d planned to go in and do. I’d nailed the techniques that I’d been working on at training and I shut down my opponent quickly and efficiently. That was the plan. And what that plan got me was a spot on Lethal Ladies in Auckland. 1 month to train and a chance to show my real skills in my first official amateur Muay Thai fight at 55kg.

This was exciting news and an exciting weekend too, fighting on the same card as some of the best female fighters NZ has to offer. This was going to be the highlight of my year and a fun weekend for my last fight of 2015. Before going into it I had already decided to take a break from fighting for a bit and focus on my career. Get into software, that’s the goal. And free up more time for training. Unfortunately, though, this time round luck was not on my side and the fight was stopped early. After dropping my opponent six times by the third round, I eventually landed on a bad angle, elbow first and subluxated my shoulder. The pain was excruciating but quickly relieved as my trainer immediately reached through the ropes and popped it back into place. I left the ring feeling disappointed and embarrassed about the loss when I should have won. I’d trained hard enough and I’d waited all day and half of the night to get in there!

I flew home the next day, depressed, with my arm in a sling and waited for an hour at the emergency ward before being sent home with 2 panadol and bright blue shoulder immobiliser. The next day it really sunk in that the pain wasn’t going to stop anytime soon and the first thing I did when I woke up was to get out my computer and research the injury. I found out a much as I could before heading off for ultrasounds, physio and acupuncture rehabilitation. I had every intention of taking a break after that fight, but this wasn’t the way I’d envisioned doing it…

My inability to train, though, meant I focus my attention a lot more heavily on software and web development. I next spent almost two sleepless months learning the basics of Ruby on Rails before deploying a very basic application, two websites and writing my very own blog. Development was my big focus in the second half of this year, learning as much and from as many people as possible. Everything from systems administration and domain routing, databases, the rails framework, the Symfony framework, html5, CSS and better understanding the basic concepts I’ve already been introduced to.

In November of 2015, I saw my family together for the first in over a year at my elder sister’s wedding in Taupo. It was good to have everyone together, even if only for a weekend. It was a weekend of celebrations, too much makeup and crying babies at that.

Back home to Wellington and nearly time for summer. I’d always wanted to fight again after a small break, but now I’d made a decision that it’s going to happen sooner than anticipated. I can’t wait to get back in the ring, so now I need to focus on getting strong. My new weight training program started at Les Mills Extreme where I could focus on building strength specifically in my shoulder due to my previous injury. When I fight I love to clinch, and strong shoulders are a must for clinching. The gym facilities are also so vast and open from early ’til late that it meant I could train at any time of day and focus on either specific muscles groups, run or just kick the bag for an hour.

Now, it’s officially “The Holiday Period” and while just about everyone I know is with family, on holiday or relaxing, here I am. Working towards my 2016, training twice a day, eating better and smashing out some real progress in my programming skills. In two days I’m hoping to wake up without a hangover, in two weeks I’m hoping to be back training at Jai and in two months I’m hoping to officially be a developer. 2015 is going to be a hard act to follow but if there’s one thing I love, it is a good challenge!