Fighting Again 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[R. Devane]

By now, most of you know about my BIG announcement this summer, all 9lbs 1oz of him This video was fun to do and is dedicated to all the over-serious sports parents out there - sure poor Bobby may not even have any interest in martial arts!



I was hoping to apply to fight at BAMMA 16 on the 13th of September and to hopefully catch up and train with Paul 'Semtex' Daley (who's main event on the card) and my buddy Tom 'Kong' Watson for my training camp. However, it would have been a big time commitment for me at a point in my life when I need/want to be giving my time to Louise and my new-born son. I knew what I signed up for Ya see, I would have wanted/needed to have been out of the country to train for the whole month of August at least, to get ready for it. I'm sure there are many new fathers who have made this commitment but it wasn't for me. Hopefully things will settle and I'll look at a pro mma fight early next year.

That's not the end of me though. It turns out that I will still be competing this year which is great news. The World Karate & Kickboxing Commission are holding their World Championships in Dublin this year at Citywest Hotel on 4th to 9th October. The M.A.I. instructors, Eddie, Joe, Sinead, Louise and Stephen all tried out for and successfully made the Irish team for it. I've been on the Irish team a few times in the past at various Worlds and I've been lucky enough to have gotten a place on this team too. I'll be competing in both the points & continuous kickboxing sections in the over 35's sections at minus 85kg (bit of weight to lose so!). I haven't competed in points & continuous kickboxing since 2008. My body has adapted for mma over the past 6 years so I'll have to train hard and differently to be ready for this type of fighting again. I'll be able to stay home while training at Martial Arts Incorporated and it's awesome to have the others to train with.

THIS IS OFFICAILLY THE LAST TIME I WILL COMPETE IN THE SPORT OF POINTS & CONTINUOUS KICKBOXING.
It's my farewell to the sport that I started with and have so many great memories from (and Gold medals ha ha ha)
Many people have asked if they can attend to cheer us on and the answer is a big YES. Here's the official website:

www.wkcworld.com/

There is considerable cost involved (training fees, competition fees, team uniform, tracksuits & gear) so if anybody would like to sponsor the M.A.I. crew in our quest, we'll gratefully accept

Thank you to all the M.A.I. training partners for the help sparring & training.

[Deleted]

Great read man and great for me and everyone else your training with us for the WKC's. I can't wait!

[stephenlarge]

Absolute classic video probably one of the best poor Bobby...this is war

[R. Devane]

.....so the weigh ins take place this Saturday. I'm competing at minus 187 lbs (-85kg) and I've come down in weight from 210 lbs so for you mathematically challenged out there that's over 23 lbs lost. See, we do lead by example here at M.A.I.

I'm fighting in the continuous kickboxing section on the Monday, the points kickboxing on the Tuesday and the finals on the Thursday!!!! Cocky? Well, if you can't even imagine being in the finals then you'll have no chance of getting there!

I've enjoyed the training for this competition but it has been tough. My body has changed so much from my younger days involved in this sport. I've adapted a lot more for MMA over the last 6 years. Yes, 2008 is the last time I've competed in points & continuous. This is definitely my farewell to the sport. I guarantee exciting & interesting bouts. It's mad that some of the people I competed with years ago have moved on top be coaches for their respective countries.

Training with the others has been great and a big motivating factor in giving these World Championships a crack.

Thanks for all the interest at the Dojos. We'll keep you posted as best we can.

[stephenlarge]

Thanks Rob for the opportunity to compete at this level and represent Ireland. Weigh ins went grand for everyone yesterday and we got our Ireland kit some pics are on facebook. We've been training since May for this and are ready to go tomorrow. Many thanks to my teammates for all the training throughout Rob, Eddie, Sinead, Louise and Joe best of luck to you all this week. Thanks to everyone who jumped in throughout the training especially Declan Kidd who jumped in before his busy Saturday schedule and to everyone at MAI for all your words of support. For those of you looking for more information on the event taking place in the Citywest Hotel here is the website www.wkcworld.com/ Go Team Ireland!

[stephenlarge]

Thanks Rob for the opportunity to compete at this level and represent Ireland. Weigh ins went grand for everyone yesterday and we got our Ireland kit some pics are on facebook. We've been training since May for this and are ready to go tomorrow. Many thanks to my teammates for all the training throughout Rob, Eddie, Sinead, Louise and Joe best of luck to you all this week. Thanks to everyone who jumped in throughout the training especially Declan Kidd who jumped in before his busy Saturday schedule and to everyone at MAI for all your words of support. For those of you looking for more information on the event taking place in the Citywest Hotel here is the website www.wkcworld.com/ Go Team Ireland!

[R. Devane]

Hopefully everyone will be able to post up about their own personal experiences and I can only fully account for my own. Needless to say, I am absolutely over the moon that the 6 of us have come back with 9 medals.

The standard at this years WKKC World Championships was high but it was a quiet competition for a World Championships (I thought anyway). Quite a few people are curious about how I got on in the continuous section so here's my account of it: I was up against the top seeded fighter in the section and that was cool with me. Yes, I did feel a bit competition rusty (this style of competition I haven't competed in since 2008). The fight started fine and I blitzed in. He seemed a bit shocked by my initial exchange because he was obviously looking for a more conventional light continuous style to which he was more accustomed. This was my full intention. I like to mix points & continuous techniques together when fighting. He came forward and I blitzed in again. He clinched and held on tight so I clinched him back. Neither of us loosened up and I initiated a trip. When we landed on the ground he immediately punched me in the face so I got the hump and swung an overhand right. While all this was happening the referee was screaming "BREAK! BREAK!" I was pulled off him and subsequently I was disqualified. I'm not quite sure what I was disqualified for exactly because when I confronted the referee he wasn't 100% sure himself. Maybe he thought I was going to take out my frustration on him but Eddie & myself were actually very articulate and calm. My point was that it was unfair to disqualify only 1 of us as there were 2 of us in the exchange. Both of us wanted to keep on fighting but they wouldn't let it happen. Takedowns are legal but not the takedown I used (but neither was the clinch he used). It wasn't a dangerous takedown so at most I should have been given a warning (you can receive up to 3 warnings per bout) or a point deduction. One of our own fighters (JOE!) did an 'mma' takedown in one of his bouts and nothing was said. Someone asked me why I used it. The answer is simple: It's fighting. There are grey area techniques (as well as fully illegal techniques) used on both sides. Always has been and always will be. It's very much a battle of wills. Excess grabbing, holding, throwing and striking will always be a part of it. I've used that particular takedown when I won the continuous kickboxing section at the U.S. Open in Florida back in 2008. In hindsight I should have simply and actively encouraged the breaking of the clinch instead. Maybe I've done too much mma. It's impossible to know how referees are going to react to things. Fighting is about making quick decisions in quick time and then having to live with these decisions. I think the part that really sealed my fate was the fact that the exchange ended with myself in the advantageous position and I think the referee got a fright. My opponent is a very sound fella and he was very supportive. We were all amped up and this was one of the first fights of the competition. It was a small section and my fight was already a semi-final so if I had played the game a bit better I could have been in the finals and won the GOLD! Would have, could have, should have! Them's the breaks and that's the fight game for you.

The next day was the points fighting. I realise people can think that I don't have any self doubts. In fact, someone at the weigh ins was asking me about how I was handling all the pressure of being expected to win! It was very much in my mind that it was 6 years since I last did points fighting properly. I was drawn against an English opponent first and that did bother me because England have one of the best standards in the World in this sport and they also have so many competitions that it's possible to compete every single weekend of the year. I did fight well enough to get the win and to get rid of some of the ring rust. Next up I fought against a Canadian fighter - I personally think that England, Canada and America are the toughest countries in this sport. Again this fight went my way easily enough. The third fight I had was against the top seeded American with an excellent right leg. The fight ended 4-2 in his favour. Yes, I should have moved around more and timed things better. That's the lack of this type of competition experience over the last few years as well as having no 'kicking style' training partners. Plus I can't kick the same way that I used to. I'm happier with this bronze medal because I worked for it but I'll never be the type of person that is happy with bronze, even if it is a World medal. Shi£$y Gold is what I call it and that keeps me aiming for the top.

I struggled with the training for this competition. I had to contend with a few injuries that did affect my abilities. Loads of times I asked myself why I was doing this. I've won World Medals at 7 different association World Championships. I think that's enough now.

This competition isn't over yet and the very best wishes to the 4 finals that we'll have tomorrow. I'll be fully there by their sides.

[martinh]

Thanks for the report Rob, it's a very good read, and really good for us who haven't been able to make it there to watch and support. Really interesting on the continuous bout, i guess there are some grey areas that some judges see more as a red line, any videos of the fights? Fair play for getting back into the points/continuous, it sounds tough and i know it is tough especially being out of that zone for so long, respect! Anyway it sounds like there's lots of other medals and action to look forward to tomorrow, it's really great for the club. Looking forward to reading the other reports!

[Slug]

Thanks for the updates Rob and hard luck on the DQ, doesn't seem right but then some things never change. Best wishes to the finalists today and well done to all of the MAI crew on their performances to date. It makes me proud to be associated with MAI and to have the opportunity to train with world class Martial Artists when I can.

[stephenlarge]

Good write up Rob. I'll hijack your blog and add my own. Going back to April this year we were lucky enough to qualify for the Ireland team to participate in the WKC’s held in Dublin this year. Basically from then we began training regularly for the past 5 months for the competition and this took a huge effort from everyone on top of normal training, teaching, work, family and other commitments thanks to everyone that jumped in along the way to help us out very much appreciated. This amount of training is necessary to ensure you are ready and I was happy enough that as the competition started last week I had done as much as I could in preparation.

The final few days lead up are always difficult. With this time you naturally start thinking a lot more and nerves build up and you just want to get started. We had weighs on Saturday, registered and got our team gear and as Eddie remarked he looked like a walking flag. Got those out of the way and we went for something to eat. I went down early Sunday morning to see if they had the divisions up but they weren’t. There were the national team presentations with a big representation from Canada, USA, England and Ireland.

Monday was continuous and I was up first thing at 9am. My category was aged over 35 under 75 kg and surprisingly it was a fairly big division. I was first up against a Canadian and whilst I felt comfortable on the mats and that it was going ok unfortunately it was a split decision the other way-it seemed to take longer to reach the decision than the fight. I was extremely disappointed that 5 months was over in a few minutes but everyone said I fought well. Unfortunately I was on the adjacent ring to Rob at the same time so didn’t get to see his section. Next up were Louise and Sinead at 9.30 followed by Joe and Eddie at 12. I got to help coach Sinead and Joe and they both fought really well Sinead getting a bronze and Joe through to the final.

Tuesday was points for us and again 9 am starts. Again my section was quite big and after Monday was more relaxed in the points. Funningly enough in one of my fights the fighter had a very similar style to me so I basically had to fight myself. Thankfully I got through to the semis. I thought I got a few scores that weren’t given but can’t complain as I was well beaten by the person who would go on to win.

Thursday was finals day and Eddie, Joe and Louise making it through. They all fought really well the only downside being that they were all on the mats around the same time so could only get bits and pieces.

Overall the standard of the WKCs was good and it was great to get the opportunity to represent Ireland. MAI did really well with 6 people getting medals and two world champions making all the efforts worthwhile. Thanks to everyone that came out to support us over the week and for those that couldn't make it there are loads of pictures and videos from the event for you to look at.

I don't have too many plans now just get back into training and enjoy it for the rest of the year.

[R. Devane]

Thanks Stephen dude. Very disappointing that no reports ever surfaced from the others. I guess it's very hard to type when your hands are full of medals