Jeremy Stewart

I have seen fragile masculinity so, so often over the years. I just realised I didn't know what to call it. I just used to call it weakness. I've seen it in, muay thai. I've seen it lifting weights. I've seen it in everyday life. Blokes piss me off, alot them never want to over extend themselves. The bloke that looks good on pads, but punch him in the face and he sucks. The bloke who benches 90kg but won't whack on another 10kg because he's scared. I could rant ad infinitum about weakness as I perceive it. I don't regard myself as anything special or hyper masculine, but I do know what I am and what I am not. This self belief has made making friends quite hard all my life. I guess I just don't do bullshit. Oh and I forgot to mention the one who thinks he's tough as nails and knows everything about muay thai. In his mind he's Tong Po, but when it comes to the actual fight he'll pull out with a week to go, or if he actually fights he'll usually throw the towel in. PS. I'm a big Tom Hardy fan.

Hmmmm....... I love it because of the freedom it allows. You don't get that freedom from Karate, etc. That's my opinion. The freedom one gets from expressing their muay. It becomes integral to your state of being, of who you are. Once someone discovers the difference of feeling of training, teaching muay thai as opposed to kickboxing, I believe their lives change. I might be rambling, as this is just coming straight from the heart. I enjoyed my Karate, Kickboxing etc, but I love muay thai. At least as I understand muay thai. My understanding is my own, and will be totally different to anyone else's. They say this feeling can be achieved in other martial arts, but I never experienced that feeling. That's why I gave away karate. When I go to sleep I dream muay thai, I think continually about muay thai and how it can benefit everyone. If I was the all,powerful emperor Ming, I would decree that it should be in every school's phys. ed. programme.

Like women, men do face a lot of pressure. I don't want to sound old, however back in the day, if you weren't supreme alpha in your attitude and full of testosterone you were really behind the eight ball. This wasn't at every gym/stable but it was pretty prevalent. Now days, I feel the pressure is still on men to perform as men, ie. stereotypes. As a man you're expected to be able to fight to some degree. You can see this phenomenon mainly in new comers. Plus they want to fit in. They will fit in over time, but the bromance thing you speak of, is a bond made from blood, sweat, and spew. Men in general aren't that hard to work out. We generally take the piss out of each other as a way of cementing our friendship. We say things to one another that to a woman may seem incongruous with deep seated friendship. As a rule of thumb the more piss you take out of someone, the more you like them. When it comes to training with women, some men do find it hard. Not because of any bias, it's just because you know if you get stuck with a dickhead bloke, (especially in sparring), you can always belt him. Now, if that dickhead is a woman, that presents a conundrum. As well, if you are training with a woman and she gets hurt, automatically the man is looked at as an arsehole. I can only comment on the things I've seen over the years and general observations.

I heart Bas

The grandiosity of the spectacle gets to me. The real or imagined animosity between fighters gets to me. The lack of humbleness some of the fighter have about them gets to me. Basically everything about it gets to me.

To all my American friends on here, I apologise fro what is about to come out of my fingers. The UFC and all it's hype and associated bullshit is just way too American for me. It reminds me of WWF, which was okay when I was ten. Plus, I honestly think it lacks a certain kind of purity.

Dude, if wanna fight..... then fight. Put all the effort you possibly can into living your dream. Don't make the mistake as many of us make and look back over the years and say.... if only. Once your fighting days are over, then teach. Go hard while you can.

You don't do that head flicky thing that some people do when they kick do you?

There's no set thing to shadow. You have to imagine an opponent. Attack and defend. I'd just go with the flow and try things that you'd like to do in sparring. Nail those things in shadow and they should transition to sparring. Are there mirrors at your gym?

Thank you.

Taught my first class, post heart attack, today. Struggled a bit with the breathing but all things considered, I reckon I pulled up ok.

I actually prefer no shin guards. I think not using them promotes more control. But this isn't the general consensus. Most people prefer using them.

Cool, mate.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. For your friend, Tyler. It's called the Ode to Rememberance. It come from a First World War poem called, For the Fallen. It's the fourth stanza of the poem, and is said every evening at 6pm in Returned Servicemens League establishments. And most poignantly on ANZAC day.

Best wishes to you and your family. I hope you will keep surprising your doctors and prove to them how strong a fighting spirit can be. Hang in there. Thanks Tyler. I've always been interested in the ways people devine strength. Most of one's strength must be internal, but I believe strength can be helped by realizing it in other things, be they inanimate or alive and respecting that strength. Alot of people look at me like a space cadet when I try to articulate this emotion. Anything that I would have to say about the sacrifice your mate made, would not do it justice. Same goes for the amount of respect I have for armed service personnel in general. Words don't do your service justice. In Australia we say "Lest we forget " as an admonition to ourselves not to forget the service of young men and women to the country they love. On a lighter note, I have every intention of hanging on. The Grim Reaper is gonna have to fight a bit harder to get what he wants. As long as my Jacky Boy is by my side, I'll be ok...... needless to say when I got home from hospital he chastised me for being away.