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No Pain, No Gain for Martial
Arts Master
Andy Michels ultimately would like to be a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
fighter. In the United States, we refer to MMA as the UFC
(Ultimate Fighting Championship).
“If you really want to fight on
a high level here in Germany, then you have to train three to
four hours a day,” he says.
Andy’s day consists of various
sport activities throughout the day. He goes to work at a rehab
center where he trains a beginning and an advanced class. The
class consists of people who have been in rehab for four weeks.
On Fridays, he trains the
advanced class by doing more interactive activities such as
volleyball. He also has a class where he teaches his own
students in MMA. He feels he is a better trainer than fighter
because he can monitor what needs to be done and express it in
an effective way.
Besides work, Andy continues to
train himself whether it is through MMA, Ju Jitsu or some other
form of martial arts.
There is a competition in four
weeks that he will partake in. He is not sure whom he will be
fighting yet. In order to prepare for this fight, he
participates in open competitions on Sundays. There are
challenging fighters that come to these open competitions and it
is a good way to train for the upcoming event.
“They got an
ego problem and so do I, but I have to do it normally because I
am too good for my students and I will not progress,” he says. |
