GOOOOOD MORNING EVERYONE! Today’s feature is where it all began for me in Martial Arts- Combat Fitness in Walnut Creek! I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about this gym numerous times. But this has been an important part of my life, so it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t include it in my #30DaysOfTabije. George Tsutsui, AKA Sir, is the owner of this gym, and warmly welcomed me in the very first day I stepped foot on the mats. I typically went to Combat Fitness in the mornings-I am a morning person, and prefer getting my workout before I start the rest of my day. The classes are also smaller in the mornings, so this allowed more individual time with Sir, which was something I always took advantage of, especially when I was new and insecure.
My motto would be: If I can make it to the gym in the morning, I can successfully conquer everything else that day. Another reason is that working out gets you tired…so if you workout hard in the morning before starting your day, you have no choice but to go to work and finish strong. Whereas with going at night, you start thinking to yourself, “I’m too tired to go-I’ll just go next time.” The amateur and pro fighters would be at the gym in the evening, so if you needed some critiquing or wanted to get a good spar session, that would be the time to go. It took me a while to gain confidence to workout at night with those fighters, but you have to spar and get hit if you want to correct yourself and improve as a fighter.
Another thing that I wanted to recognize is that Sir gave me access to photoshoot during his classes and for his website and promotion flyers. Not only did this motivate me to shoot, I was able to figure out the capabilities of my camera. Lots and lots of trial and error. With me being a gym member, fighters were already comfortable with me being around and shooting often. I would study the fighter’s technique and took notes when they were training. I was new to Martial Arts, so it took me a while to understand the photographer’s perspective and that every millisecond (literally) counted when it was time to shoot live. I was a gym member for 3 years, and was shooting for them in my last 2 years there. These photos were taken in 2017-2018
Thank you to Sir and everyone at Combat Fitness for changing my life in such a short amount of time! I have grown exceptionally since then and now have a new MMA gym 5 minutes away from my house in Chino Hills called Millennia MMA. It took me a while to find the right gym… but I can now say with confidence that I’ve finally found a great place that I can now call home.
To anyone who reads this- If you have any questions about Martial Arts, feel free to ask! I’d be more than happy to help…I’m no professional but we can figure it out together...ooor I can definitely point you in the right direction if I don’t know the answer! Have a great weekend, be safe, and continue to wash your hands!
J Tizzle, my nizzle