Well done guys

Big up Norm and Leon, who both passed their Stan Pike kettlebell certifications at the weekend.

Testing Strength - Building solid foundations

From combat sports to waterpolo, we are all vulnerable to injury. At http://www.med-evil-phys.co.uk/ or http://www.kettlebelluk.com/ , you will find details of a pound for pound strength test which has methods behind the madness. Peeps out there will be saying "strength test, held over the xmas period - no way" Think of it like this - you will gain a solid body without an increase in body weight which is superb for those in combat sports etc. If you have any questions on a routine that will produce the most strength without affecting you current routines etc then you can contact me on ljar@hotmail.co.uk and I will be happy to help. The test has been designed to promote strength and well being for the newyear and reduce the risk of injury.The test will no begin on Monday the 18th Dec, you have 6 weeks to post your achievements giving you until the 22nd Jan. You must post proof of your efforts in the form of either a picture or a video. Lay a good foundation and then build upon it. Details will not be posted on medievil until monday morning.

This was in the rules sheet at Sportfight Scotland -

Appearance -

(a) All contestants shall be cleanly shaven immediately prior to competition, except that a contestant may wear a closely cropped moustache.

Weird.

Bannockburn

Craig represented well at Sportfight Scotland, he implemented the game plan excellently and showed that he has the potential to be as much of a force in MMA as he is in Muay Thai. John Quinn pulled off the armbar late in the first, and Craig had to tap. Apparently he needs that arm for punching people with. We'll keep developing the jiu-jitsu, and hopefully get Craig back in MMA after he's won the Power of Scotland 8 man tourney. To summarise - bad result, cracking performance. Well done Craig.

Ian put on a Marcelo Garcia-esque display of back control in the first round, but just got overpowered as he was giving away 45 kilos again.

Dave Elliot saved the day for the Geordies with a Rumina Sato style all out grappling attack, ending in a leglock battle and victory via heelhook for Speedy.

Stalwart Peter Tiarks deserves an honourable mention for driving once again, this time half asleep, through pissing rain and with terribly diminished range of motion in his injured neck.

Anybody remember this guy?

Photo from Sherdog.com

Apparently he used to be pretty good, I think his name was Tizats or something.

"So you've got the dreaded worm? I'm afraid we'll have to operate" A public health announcement

One horrendous case of Ringworm
(Ringworm is so called by the identifiable ring around the edge of the affected area.)

From time to time we grapplers do get cases of the dreaded lurgi. You can't assign blame to anyone with any assuredeness, least of all our stricken comrades (it's always the clean freaks that get it, the scruffs just spread it) We can stop it from spreading though, just follow the rules-

1.No shoes on the mat
2.Wear flip flops or trainers up to the edge of the mat. Don't walk off the mat and back on again barefoot- that defeats the object of rule number 1, especially if you go into the toilets, that's just obvious. I'm not going to name names but you know who you are. Dirty beggars.
3.Shower off A.S.A.P. after training. Use antibacterial soap if possible, not bar conventional bar soap.
4. Don't put the same clothes back on, get clean shirts and shorts every time you grapple, and evry time you shower off.
5. Check yourself, before you wreck yourself...and everyone else on the mat. Give your body an examination, especially if you have an itch. Sometimes it takes a while to manifest in the typical appearance.
6.Infections often get in through cuts and abrasions, if you get them cover them and protect others from velcro burns etc by taping up your gloves. That is, if your MMA gloves don't have properly fitting wrist straps because you bought knock off gloves from ebay becasue you tried to save a fiver. Cheap bastards.
7. If you are infected you can not grapple! Covering it up doesn't work! Wearing a rashguard, shirt, bandage whatever doesn't stop the spread. If you see someone who has it refuse to train with them or fight them.
8.Don't share gloves and shinguards. Get your own and keep them to yourself.
9. Rule number 1 again, since every fucker seems to forget after 10 fucking seconds. NO SHOES ON THE MATS!

Treatment-
1. Keep it dry, fungal infections thrive on damp.
2. Change all your clothing and bedding every day while infected. The worm lives in Fabric.
3. Apply anti-fungal cream. I recommend Lamisil, Canesten is not strong enough and it's too wet.
Don't over apply the cream, too much or too regular just makes it worse because of the moisture. Just follow the instructions on the label.
4.Anti-fungal oral tablets are available by prescription early but your G.P. won't want to prescribe them. They are very expensive, and you might get a prescription if you've already been 5 times to beg and plead, telling them that if you can't fight then you won't be able to buy back your grandmothers house from Shooter McGavin.
5. Be patient and don't train with anyone else until it's gone.
6. Get plenty Vitamin C, not the effervescent or chewable shit that is mostly sugar with a few other bad additives that probably outweigh the benefit of the vitamin. Get the pure ascorbic acid. Holland and Brrett always has it, it's cheaper and better.

*Some people treat Ringworm by giving themselves a chemical burn with household bleach by holding a cloth or sponge doused in bleach covering the affected area and applying pressure long enough to break down the layers of skin and kill the fungal infection. Although it will instantly kill the fungus, it leaves a scar and a scabbed up area ripe for reinfection. I can't recommend this as a course of action, as bleach is toxic and the scar is permanent. I've done it though, when I had a choice between a major jiu-jitsu tournament or 4 weeks off the mat.

Once again, since saying it 1000 times clearly hasn't been enough, walking on the mats in outdoor shoes is the No. 1 cause of a ringworm outbreak. Think about all the mud, the Chava spit at bus stops, the remnants of dogshit left unscooped unconscientious owners, all the crap you walk through in the course of getting to the gym. It shouldn't need to be said.

One last word on the matter, just to clear up an urban myth - Ringworm is an actual worm that lives under the skin growing and leeching nutrients from your body until it is big enough to burst out from under the derma.

Buy todays Chronicle

Elliot and Irving walk off to establish who picks up the Slashie award for greatest Fighter/Tattoo model of 2006.

Dave Elliot and I appear in the Chronicle today advertising John Welsh's fighters tattoos exhibition at Newcastle University. Have a look in to the museum of antiquities to see what it's all about, you can find it on the main campus, through the archway and it's on the left if you've come from haymarket side. At the very least pick up a chronicle, you can find them at any number of verbally disabled vendors news stands. They'll be shouting something like 'Cuurrrlll!', or 'Bloody Hell!', or towards the end of the day just making a totally incomprehensible wailing noise.

Poland vs. Canada

Photo taken from AKA website

Lucasz Lehmann and Kru B. Norman, after Lucasz defeated Phoenix academy instructor Matt Teasdale for the AKA intercontinental heavyweight title.

Kettlebell hell

Leon Robotham, looking happy about his biceps.

Leon is training Super Double Hardcore hard for his kettlebell certification next week. Good luck Leon, you're the man.

Marcelo Garcia

No prize for getting it right.

If you guessed Rob Mills then you were right.

Guess who?

The identity of the Gorilla pressin' luchador will be revealed tomorrow. Stay tuned.

We ride! We fight! We love!

Photo courtesy of Hywel Teague/Fighters Only

The three Amigos will ride again next weekend, when Ian Malone takes on Irishman Steve McCombe at Sportfight Scotland 2. We'll be getting the choreography down on the Amigo salute for Ian's ring entrance. I've already hired the seqiunned Mexicano cowboy outfits.

Shark Eddy

Eddy Millis and I at the Shark Tank

The Shark Tank fighters went 5 for 6 last weekend at Invincible - Fist of Fury 2.

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone.

Geordie MMA fighters Dave Elliot, Chris McClarence, John Wilson and myself - Peter Irving, are all currently being featured in a photography exhibition at Newcastle Universities Museum of Antiquities. The exhibition documents the history of tattooing in the British Isles,and the MMA fighters section is demonstrative of the importance of tattooing in contemporary subcultures. And also to show that people with tattoos are hard as fuck, and people without tattoos are not as cool, exciting or tough as their inked counterparts.

You can see the Exhibition up until 31st December.

My tattoos were done by John Vasey at Viking tattoo studio in Jarrow.