jluchau
06-26-2007, 08:31 PM
Another lesson learned; be ready for change
Sentinel Sports Reporter Jeremy Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
I know this might sound redundant, but it isn't easy being a mixed martial artist.
Just ask Hanford's own Chris Botelho.
The 2-2 fighter was scheduled for the biggest bout of his career, a Palace Fighting Championship welterweight title eliminator against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Jason Von Flue (12-8-1) of San Luis Obispo on July 19.
But Von Flue lost by technical knockout to Luke Stewart (3-0) last Friday at a Strike Force event in San Jose and was suspended for 45 days by the California State Athletic Commission.
This sport can mentally break you down at times, but it's this adversity that can only make you stronger.
"Disappointed is an understatement. I really wanted to fight this guy and show people that I belonged fighting bigger name opponents," Botelho said. "But stuff like this happens and you have to roll with it. I wasn't training for him, I was training for a fight, so either way it makes no difference."
Botelho and I have trained pretty frequently at Valley Fight Club and at VQ Fitness. I've been able to learn a lot from him.
"The thing you need to work on most is your mental state. You have to get that killer instinct inside of you to come out and be more aggressive," Botelho said. "I will give you a perfect, first-hand example of that on July 19th."
Everyone knew Botelho was going to be disappointed, most of all Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup.
"You feel for both guys really. It's a sport, but at the same time it's hand-to-hand combat. I've seen both these guys train for this fight and they were both treating it like the biggest fights of their career," Printup said.
That's the drama in the sport. I've come to learn that the fight cards are never etched in stone and as a fighter you have to be prepared to change opponents at the last minute.
It's a good lesson to learn now, and with the help of Botelho, I've come to grips with the fact that I really don't care who it is I fight and I really don't want to know all that much about the person.
I don't mean this in a cocky way at all. I just don't want to slip into training for "one" person or a certain style.
I just want to enter the ring on Oct. 18 at the Tachi Palace for PFC 4's "Project Complete" as well-rounded a fighter as possible.
"You never expect a fight to fall out, but it never surprises you," Printup said. "You have to put your body through so much to prepare for a fight, that injuries and things happen. The fight is really the easy part."
And I've been preparing my body for this for a year now. My weight is stable at 165 pounds and my endurance is picking up rapidly.
"Your jiu-jitsu has come a long way, especially your cardio when rolling. I remember when you couldn't roll hard for a minute and you're doing a lot better now," Botelho said. "Your biggest strength is your willingness to learn.You have a good attitude that makes people want to help you and you're self-driven. I see you work out at the gym even when you don't have to, which is good because character is what you do when no one is around to see it."
A lot of my mental preparation comes from working with my strength, speed and conditioning coach Steve Novencido at VQ Fitness.
"We are at mid stride with our training phase, max strength/conversion to power. These microcycles have actually been entertaining for me. It brings back the memories when I assisted the Fresno State Bulldogs Football team with complex exercises incorporated with the Olympic movements," Novencido said. "Again, the use of plyometrics has been paramount in your training. You have also seen first hand what impact medicine balls can have on your training.
"I like to use the application of Newton's 2nd law: Law of Acceleration, when taking advantage of medicine ball training. By taking a medicine ball and accelerating it to a magnitude proportional to the amount of force applied to it, it will increase your power development. These complex exercises will also aid in your muscle endurance.
"Additionally, this movement aids in elastic energy... muscle capable of developing more force when it is stretched immediately prior to contracting. A muscle that is stretched in this fashion will respond like a rubberband, snapping back with greater force upon contraction than it could generate if it were not stretched.
"A pre-stretch that could help in the quickness of your punches and kicks as well as your throws. I must also re-emphasize that your opponent will pay for your pain."
Anyone seeking sports performance training, strength and conditioning, speed and endurance training, biomechanical performance analysis, can contact Novencido at VQ Fitness. Additionally, he can design any athlete a resistance training program for any sport.
As for Botelho, he's still going to be the feature attraction and has an opponent that he's eager to get in the ring with in Bakersfield's Josh McCartney (1-1).
McCartney and Botelho fought to a no contest at PFC 1 in January. The fight was stopped and ruled a no contest after McCartney struck Botelho with a few shots to the groin.
McCartney was scheduled to take on Tulare standout Caleb Garcia (4-0), but Garcia had to pull out with an injury.
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.
Sentinel Sports Reporter Jeremy Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
I know this might sound redundant, but it isn't easy being a mixed martial artist.
Just ask Hanford's own Chris Botelho.
The 2-2 fighter was scheduled for the biggest bout of his career, a Palace Fighting Championship welterweight title eliminator against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Jason Von Flue (12-8-1) of San Luis Obispo on July 19.
But Von Flue lost by technical knockout to Luke Stewart (3-0) last Friday at a Strike Force event in San Jose and was suspended for 45 days by the California State Athletic Commission.
This sport can mentally break you down at times, but it's this adversity that can only make you stronger.
"Disappointed is an understatement. I really wanted to fight this guy and show people that I belonged fighting bigger name opponents," Botelho said. "But stuff like this happens and you have to roll with it. I wasn't training for him, I was training for a fight, so either way it makes no difference."
Botelho and I have trained pretty frequently at Valley Fight Club and at VQ Fitness. I've been able to learn a lot from him.
"The thing you need to work on most is your mental state. You have to get that killer instinct inside of you to come out and be more aggressive," Botelho said. "I will give you a perfect, first-hand example of that on July 19th."
Everyone knew Botelho was going to be disappointed, most of all Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup.
"You feel for both guys really. It's a sport, but at the same time it's hand-to-hand combat. I've seen both these guys train for this fight and they were both treating it like the biggest fights of their career," Printup said.
That's the drama in the sport. I've come to learn that the fight cards are never etched in stone and as a fighter you have to be prepared to change opponents at the last minute.
It's a good lesson to learn now, and with the help of Botelho, I've come to grips with the fact that I really don't care who it is I fight and I really don't want to know all that much about the person.
I don't mean this in a cocky way at all. I just don't want to slip into training for "one" person or a certain style.
I just want to enter the ring on Oct. 18 at the Tachi Palace for PFC 4's "Project Complete" as well-rounded a fighter as possible.
"You never expect a fight to fall out, but it never surprises you," Printup said. "You have to put your body through so much to prepare for a fight, that injuries and things happen. The fight is really the easy part."
And I've been preparing my body for this for a year now. My weight is stable at 165 pounds and my endurance is picking up rapidly.
"Your jiu-jitsu has come a long way, especially your cardio when rolling. I remember when you couldn't roll hard for a minute and you're doing a lot better now," Botelho said. "Your biggest strength is your willingness to learn.You have a good attitude that makes people want to help you and you're self-driven. I see you work out at the gym even when you don't have to, which is good because character is what you do when no one is around to see it."
A lot of my mental preparation comes from working with my strength, speed and conditioning coach Steve Novencido at VQ Fitness.
"We are at mid stride with our training phase, max strength/conversion to power. These microcycles have actually been entertaining for me. It brings back the memories when I assisted the Fresno State Bulldogs Football team with complex exercises incorporated with the Olympic movements," Novencido said. "Again, the use of plyometrics has been paramount in your training. You have also seen first hand what impact medicine balls can have on your training.
"I like to use the application of Newton's 2nd law: Law of Acceleration, when taking advantage of medicine ball training. By taking a medicine ball and accelerating it to a magnitude proportional to the amount of force applied to it, it will increase your power development. These complex exercises will also aid in your muscle endurance.
"Additionally, this movement aids in elastic energy... muscle capable of developing more force when it is stretched immediately prior to contracting. A muscle that is stretched in this fashion will respond like a rubberband, snapping back with greater force upon contraction than it could generate if it were not stretched.
"A pre-stretch that could help in the quickness of your punches and kicks as well as your throws. I must also re-emphasize that your opponent will pay for your pain."
Anyone seeking sports performance training, strength and conditioning, speed and endurance training, biomechanical performance analysis, can contact Novencido at VQ Fitness. Additionally, he can design any athlete a resistance training program for any sport.
As for Botelho, he's still going to be the feature attraction and has an opponent that he's eager to get in the ring with in Bakersfield's Josh McCartney (1-1).
McCartney and Botelho fought to a no contest at PFC 1 in January. The fight was stopped and ruled a no contest after McCartney struck Botelho with a few shots to the groin.
McCartney was scheduled to take on Tulare standout Caleb Garcia (4-0), but Garcia had to pull out with an injury.
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.