Lockdown is in lockdown

So, quite a lot has happened since I sat down to write last week. The most significant event has been the announcement by the Prime Minister that on Monday, New Zealand was to enter a level 3 alert response to covid-19. And by Wednesday 11:59pm, the country would be in complete lockdown at emergency level 4. Weirdly, this all seems like a long time ago.

This is obviously a very weird time for everyone. Since I’m a personal trainer and head coach at Lockdown MMA, I am unable to work until the lockdown is over. However, there are some upsides to all this. One of them is that the word “Lockdown” is everywhere. People are pointing and commenting on my licence plate “L0KDWN,” I am getting lots of looks on my Lockdown MMA hoodies; so, in that regard, it is great marketing. In these times, we have to find ways to smile and to have a little fun while staying sensible. 

In my bubble, I have my partner and my son (part time). We have all been training – my partner even held pads for me. It was the first time I have hit pads in years and it was great fun. Having someone else hold pads is always good as she had combo’s and systems that I’ve never used – so it gave me new things to add to my arsenal. The next thing I want to do is some live drills with her (so I can punch her finally). On a serious note, my partner is not a fighter but is very athletic and I am sure she will enjoy punching me. I find when you have a break from training, the hardest thing to get back is the head movement. So, in this small window, some punching in the relationship will be good. My son is only 8 years old, but he has joined in for workouts and has done well. He enjoys wrestling and grappling, so we have been doing plenty of that. The training is to be healthy, but more importantly, it is for our sanity. Getting some oxygen flowing and being active is great for the brain. I live on a little hill and even did some hill sprints. A goal I’ve set in my head is to be able to do 10 by the end of the lockdown (I did 5 the other day and died).

There have been fight replays on sky tv and something that I noticed years ago, and this was a reminder, is that I liked MMA from years ago more than I like it now. We used to have people that were really good in a couple of areas going up against fighters with strengths elsewhere. Now everyone is so damn good at everything, a lot of the fights are all the same. One exception is Khabib as you know exactly what he is going to do, and it feels a bit more old-school and it really appeals to me. 

This is a really hard time for a lot of us and we have to keep our minds ticking over and checking in with others. Sadly, in the lockdown, depression, suicide and domestic violence all increase. We all have to look after ourselves and who is in our bubble first and foremost. However,people in our community also need help (elderly, sick, injured). This does not mean that you leave your bubble, but phone calls, texts, picking up shopping for them and just little gestures so they know that they are not alone.

Getting back into training when this is all over will be a step by step process and people will be very unsure how to approach it. There will be a lot more concern about who you are training with and their habits. I will make sure the next article is a lot more about fight things. Until then, stay positive, keep laughing, be good to the people around you and reach out to people to check in with them.    

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor