Hi,

This week has been all about training and weight. I have stuck to the training plan and keep working hard. After a lot of thought and discussion I have decided to move to -48kg. My weight has gone up and I am weighing 46Kg and my body mass index is pretty low (18) so I don’t have any weight to lose. The extra training is really improving my fitness and strength.

My preparation for Germany is going well and I will be doing extra training this week on Friday and Sunday. Master Peter Adamson of Scorpion Taekwondo is coaching me in Germany and I will be attending his fight training sessions to complete my final preparations.

Simone and Scott fought last weekend with a number of other fighters from Chi Taekwondo at the Scorpion Open in Barnsley. They both medalled with Simone taking Silver in the Cadet -39Kg category and Scott taking Bronze in the Senior -63kg category. Well done Scott and Simone. The Chi fight team did brilliant and won second placed team overall. Well done Chi. I decided not to complete as I need to stay injury free in the run up to the Germany, Holland and Belgium and two weeks before Germany did not leave enough recovery time.

My training for this week is
Monday – fight training Chi Squad training Tuesday – fight training Chi Spennymoor Wednesday – fitness training Chi Spennymoor Thursday – fight training Chi Spennymoor (double session) Friday – fight training Scorpion Taekwondo Doncaster Saturday – day off (Chi has a grading on Saturday and fight training is cancelled) Sunday – fight training Scorpion Taekwondo Doncaster.

Our travel plans for Belgium are now sorted out and we will be driving there by car. This is the first time we have driven aboard by car for a competition and the journey will be different and I am not sure what impact this will have on my performance. It will be different as we normally fly or go by coach although it is going to be loads cheaper.

So I am training hard for Germany and preparing for the busiest few weeks of the season as I will fight in Germany, Holland and Belgium in the space of five weeks.

One last think Master Michael we have the Chi t-shirt and we will bring it to the German Open for you.

Well I am just about ready for the German Open and have three training sessions before I travel.

The training has gone well and I am feeling fit and confident and looking forward to the competition. I will be fighting on Adidas electronic body protectors which I have no competed on for about a year. I am wearing and Adidas EBP in training as they weigh twice as heavy as a normal one. I will finish training this week wearing EBP and practice scoring on them.

My schedule for the next three weeks is really busy.

Monday 8th – last full contact training session

Tuesday 9th – light training

Wednesday 10th – stretching exercises

Thursday 11th – travel to airport

Friday 12th – fly to Germany – weigh in for German Open

Saturday 13th – light training meet up with my coach and watch other Athletes in German Open

Sunday 14th – compete in German Open at -48 Kg

Monday 15th – fly and drive home

Tuesday 16th – ASDA Sporting Chance workshop at St James Park Newcastle

Wednesday 17th – light training

Thursday 18th – light training

Friday 19th – travel to Airport

Saturday 20th – fly to Eindhoven weigh in for the Dutch Open and watch other Athletes

Sunday 21st – complete in the Dutch Open at -48 Kg

Monday 22nd – fly and drive home Tuesday 23rd – day off and rest

Wednesday 24th – day off and rest

Thursday 25th – fight training

Friday 26th – fight training

Saturday 27th – fight training

Sunday 28th – day off

I have had a tough couple of weeks and fights. At the German Open lost in the first round against a Croatian who went on to win bronze and the Dutch Open went out in the first round against a Dutch player and have another black eye. Both games were tight and could have gone either way.

The German Open was the most frustrating as I had trained on Adidas EBP and when we arrive we were told we would fight on normal body armour. Slight adjustment to my game as the scoring on punches seemed low and my tactical game was based on punching. Still I am playing better and just need to be reproducing what I am doing in training in competition.

The Dutch Open was the first time I fought on Daedo EBP and they are by far the best electronic system I have played on. A tough game and I made a couple of mistakes and received a couple of head shots which I normally would have avoided. The first head shot cut my eye lid but I continued and received medical treatment at the end. The corner judges were not scoring punches as the Daedo system has no scoring button for punches and they would have to stop fights so again my game plan was slightly off.

This is by far the most difficult year of my career as I have never lost this many fights in a year before and it is only March!

Back from Holland on Monday night Tuesday morning and trained Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be training tonight Thursday and having the day off on Friday.

I spoke to the British coach Steve Jennings on Sunday in Holland and his advice and words were greatly appreciated and I know I have the ability to move forward and need to remember this is my first year in juniors.

At the weekend my sister Simone is fighting in the Chi one2one at Catterick and I will be going to support her. I was going to fight but two weeks before Belgium after such a busy schedule I am going to have a rest and stick to the training plan.

This week I am going to spend some time doing video analysis and understanding the key moments in my fights and learn how I can do better.

I went to the ASDA sporting chance workshop on Tuesday 23rd (only seven hours after I got back from Germany at three in the morning) and had a brilliant time meeting all the other athletes, the sporting chance team and Chris Tomlinson. Chris was brilliant and gave an insight into what is required of a top athlete. It was good to hear from Chris that all athletes have high and lows and just as Steve Jennings explained on Sunday it is your own self belief that gets you through. Chris explained you need to believe in your talent and keep working and success will follow and the lows are part as life as an athlete.

Well next I will be preparing for the Belgium Open and have a full programme of competition until the end of June. I know the A class win may not come this year but I am getting closer and working towards my goals.