The single will drop on the 16th March followed by the album on 19th April.

Ty - Emotions feat. Sarina Leah & Shaun Escoffery

The album itself was a very personal journey for Ty (you can listen to more about this here) .

He’d recently been diagnosed with Diabetes and  to cut a long story short, he had a realisation that his time was finite and therefore wanted this work to to convey much more than his previous material.

It’s all about the lyrics and the stories he tells and the messages he conveys. If this single is anything to go by this album could be a contender for best of 2010.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on tracks from the album in the next few days from Ty, will report back.

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I attended an amazing event on Saturday evening at the Corn Exchange in Brighton titled The Lions Face symposium.

This event was a preview of an opera which is going on tour soon and in addition a presentation and opportunity for the audience to ask questions of the creators.

There was one very different thing about this Opera. It is the first to have been created about Alzheimer’s.

Usually there are only two narratives associated with Alzheimer’s. One is that it is a terrible disease that robs a person of their self. The other that some incredible science is taking place which will eventually provide cures for this disease. The third narrative which is less observed are the stories of people, individuals, couples who are dealing with this disease on a day-to-day basis.

The Lion’s face explores the social, emotional and physical impacts of Alzheimer’s disease. Composer Elena Langer and Poet Glyn Maxwell have developed this opera through a collaborative research phase with Professor Simon Lovestone and his team at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King’s College, London.

The Opera takes a typical care home, which is usually a closed environment, in that it contains patients and people treating the patient, and their families and injects a 13 year old girl into the equation.

Like Alice (from Alice in wonderland) she has rampaging curiosity about the patients of this care home and this is what takes place on the stage.

One of the things I discovered, and this is covered in the opera is a condition called agnosia. This is quite common with Alzheimer’s and it is where you fail to recognise objects you were  once familiar with.

Imagine right now, a stranger stood in front of you, putting your shirt or blouse on for you. you’d be perhaps angry, terrified, annoyed?

Take this to another level and you have something called autoprosopagnosia. This is where you fail to recognise your own face.

Could you imagine that, looking in the mirror and seeing a face that you do not recognise. I’d find this frightening I think.

My father died from Alzheimers a number of years ago, when in his 60’s however we need to stop thinking about this disease as being a disease of old people only.

I read a story recently of a guy who had been diagnosed with Alzheimers at the age of 36. And in another story a boy of just 7 who had been diagnosed with a particular form of dementia.

Their was encouraging news about drug trials. 10 drugs are currently in Phase III of trials. Typically 90% of these do not make it to production. This means that one of these drugs may make-it however if they don’t there are 25 drugs in Phase III trials at present.

The opera will premiere at the Brighton Festival in May and then go on to tour some of the UK’s leading music and theatre venues.

The Lions Face website

These “forget me not” rings are rather cute I think.

Whilst some of his other creations seem, I dont know, just a little unusual….

How about a retainer (worn after braces removed)

Or a rather nifty gumshield

Perhaps you’ve always felt left out because you didn’t get taunted for having freckles. Never fear, these glasses have freckles “built in”

Or perhaps some well chewed gum

And finally.. Think that wearing a real camera round your neck is a bit too much? Here is a necklace with a small camera.

It’s great to see a new gym opening in Brighton and the best thing is, they appear to have taken on board most people’s gripes which is usually associated with restrictive memberships.

They will be offering memberships with no joining fees and you will not be tied in to lengthy contracts either.

The promotional material also states there will be over 170 pieces of state of the art equipment and also (and this is a first I think) that it will be open 24 hours.

Be interesting to see how this pans out.

For a limited period they will be offering memberships at £9.99 per month.  Sign up here

Creative workspaces in Brighton and Hove

It’s maintained by the Creative Brighton Organisation.

Part of our warm-up routine consisted of the following.

10 press-ups

10 kettlebell explosions

10 sit-ups

10 kettlebell chest press

10 double handed swings

We worked in pairs, writing down our times after each round. Sunny went first, then me. Then we repeated the drill.

My times were

round 1: 1 minute 20 seconds

round 2: 1 minute 12 seconds

Then to really push us for round 3 we did it all again except this time we each did the above routine twice over, without a break.

You’d think that perhaps you’d be so knackered from the first two rounds (and doing two sets one after the other) that your times would be a lot worse however get this…

Round 3: (all of the above twice over) 2 minutes 28 seconds

Now that is actually quicker than the first two rounds added together (and when we did those I got a break in between them)

Their is a lot of psychology involved in this stuff and it fascinates me how when we push ourselves we can achieve so much.

Here are some clips of a previous performance.

If you ever get a chance to see him, do, your face will be hurting from laughing so much.

Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, ‘Steve’s Place,’ and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket.

It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket…..

Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I inquired, ‘Why the spoon?’

‘Well, ‘he explained, ‘the restaurant’s owner hired Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) to revamp all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.

If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.’

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. ‘I’ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.’ I was impressed.

I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter’s fly.

Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter, ‘Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?’

‘Oh, certainly!’ Then he lowered his voice. ‘Not everyone is so observant.. That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the restroom..

By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%.

I asked quietly, ‘After you get it out, how do you put it back?’

‘Well,’ he whispered, ‘I don’t know about the others, but I use the spoon.

I have to say it was the most enlightening yet humbling experience I’ve had for a while.

I never realised quite how much effort goes into making boxers movement seem so effortless.

It was a fantastic session, I learnt loads about how correct technique is far more important than a “big punch”.

Get the technique correct and the powerful punches will follow.

One thing I hadn’t realised is just how much importance is attached to flexibility in the lower back and hip flexor region.  I’ve put together a number of stretches to do every day that will ensure these areas remain flexible as they have a direct impact on the ability to be successful at boxing.

I’m aiming to see him once a week, I’ve got drills to do between sessions, and look forward to seeing the improvements.

If you are wondering what “from big mick to fit mick” is all about then please read this post about my wake up call re my health and also my goals

Many news stories, were as you’d imagine, full of the typical finger-pointing and where can we apportion blame.

The reality is that no sport is 100% safe.

Amongst the many news stories, I discovered one which painted a different picture.

Nodar voiced his concerns about the speed of the track through one particular corner to his father, David, also an experienced luger.

His father, as you might imagine, told him that if it worried him then he should use his feet to slow down.

Nodar’s response was “Dad, I want to be in the top 10. I want to do my best.”  He was angry.

He said: “Why are you telling me to slow down? I have come such a long way and now you are telling me to put my legs on the track?”

He was, as any athlete will do, pushing himself to the limits of what is possible to see if it can be achieved.

He paid with his life. Yet he died doing something he loved, a passion that consumed him. We must not forget that.

He was only 21, yet he had probably done far more in those small number of years as a man than many do in an entire lifetime.

His dad’s response to his death is something we can all learn from. He said  “I am not going to blame or sue anyone. My son proved that he is a strong sportsman. And he proved it to the whole world. God will decide who is to blame.”

What I learnt to do was to have a large glass of water when those feelings of hunger came along as this can curb the desire for food that your head is telling you about.

If you are wondering what “from big mick to fit mick” is all about then please read this post about my wake up call re my health and also my goals

That is because everything effects everything else, our actions change our reality, and that reality is the world around us.

Someone once said “everybody wants to change the world, yet nobody wants to change himself”.

It’s true, think about how often you have got involved in a world changing cause, something much bigger than your self, whether that be a donation, a march, even joining a group on facebook, yet how long do you spend in front of the mirror taking a deep look at yourself and making changes.

We fear change, we wonder what might happen to the people and things that surround us as we continue our journey, however if we are not moving, we are going backwards.

Life isn’t easy, it’s not supposed to be, it is full of pain and discomfort.

Rumi wrote a poem about a chickpea being boiled in the pot and it’s trying to climb out and the chef is pushing him back in with the ladle and the chef says to him “you think I’m punishing you but I’m not”. He says, “I’m just trying to make you sweet so you can sit with the rice and the herbs”. And when the chick pea realizes that he’s not being punished he says, “push me in twice because I want to be sweet”.

We need to marinate in that discomfort, work with it, and through this, amazing changes will occur.

However, when you look into just how few extra calories you have to consume, to put on weight, it is quite staggering.

A daily 60-kcal cookie would be expected to produce 0.2 kg (0.5 lb) weight gain in a month and therefore 2.7 kg (6 lb) in a year etc.

This is based on the assumption (frequently used in textbooks and scientific articles) that a pound (454 g) of fat tissue has about 3500 kilocalories (kcal).

If you are wondering what “from big mick to fit mick” is all about then please read this post about my wake up call re my health and also my goals

Four weeks ago I found myself sitting in McDonald’s having an early morning coffee. I love McDonald’s: most mornings I’m there at 7.30 a.m. waiting for the first pot to brew. This morning was no exception. I sat with my coffee, paper and a couple of hours to invest ahead of me. Bliss, It doesn’t get much better than this, I can tell you.

I was set for a great couple of hours or R&R when my past suddenly walked through the door. A large figure passed me and sat at the table opposite, clearly unaware of me. Twenty-eight years after crushing my youth, my aikido instructor was back in my world, looking older and pretty sad, but he was back. Providence had not only brought the man to face me, it had actually orchestrated it so that he was sat right opposite me, the only other customer in the restaurant.

I froze in my chair, my coffee cup suspended between the table and my mouth. For a second I felt the terror of my eleven-year old self return. I felt desperately sad and alone, frightened. Even though I was now the veteran of hundreds of fights against some absolute monsters, I still sat in terror of this man. It took me a few seconds to realise that I was not, in fact, eleven any more and that this man was no longer a threat. If I chose it he was already history. To be honest, for a couple of seconds, I thought about leaving, walking away, and letting it go. No one would ever know. Except me, of course, I’d know.

I was patently aware of what I had to do, what I’d needed to do for the whole of my adult life, but now that the opportunity had been offered me on a plate I was not sure that I could go ahead with this. I put the cup down and made my way over to his table. I stared down at this little man. He stared back up and smiled. When I returned a black look he must have realised that it wasn’t a social visit. As I sat down, he tried to stand, to object.

‘Sit down!’ I said it quietly with some authority. I think he knew I meant business because he quickly complied. There was emotion in my voice, a shake that ran through every word. I had waited a long time for this and now that it was here I didn’t quite know if I could follow it through. I thought it would be easier.

‘You don’t remember me,’ I said.

He went to speak and I gestured that he should not. Again he complied. I was in charge, this was my job.

‘I was one of your students when I was eleven. You sexually abused me.’

At the words ’sexually abused’ his mouth opened in denial but no words came out of his mouth. It was as though he had lost his voice. I continued.

‘You need to know two things. The first is that you sexually abused me and it has affected me all my life. When I was eleven what you did crucified me.’

His eyes dropped to the table. I could tell he was expecting a dig or a verbal bashing at the least. I remained absolutely expressionless, though my voice was now full of emotion.

‘The second thing you need to know is that I forgive you.’

I stood up and looked down at him. I had said it. There was a rush of relief. When I looked at him I felt no anger whatsoever, only sadness. He looked as crushed as I had been as a boy.

‘I forgive you.’ I said it again, for him and for me.

He looked up as I turned to walk away. Again his mouth opened but no words came out. He lifted his hand in a gesture of friendship. It hung embarrassingly in the air, his fingers trembled. I hadn’t expected this. I looked at it for for a very long second, then I looked at him. I know about forgiveness, it had been my sparring partner for some time now, it had been the secret to my catharsis, why I was now so light. I also knew that you couldn’t half-forgive someone: either you forgave them completely or you didn’t forgive them at all.

I shook his hand and made my way back to my coffee, and my brilliant, brilliant, happy life. And, do you know what, I have never been eleven years old since.

I was free.

Whenever I read this passage I am deeply moved.

If Geoff can forgive this man for abusing him when he was a child then I can find it in myself to also forgive people and not hold onto those feelings of anguish, anger etc that so many of us carry around.

In this short clip, Geoff talks about forgiveness at one of his masterclass sessions and also the film Romans 12:20 that has been born from this event.

The trailer for Romans 12:20. A short film by the Shammasian Brothers. Worthy of an Oscar when the feature drops…

Whitehawk amateur boxing club

Cheetah’s Gym

Chris Kent’s Martial Arts Centre

Brighton City Amateur Boxing Club (BCABC)

ZT Fight Skool

You’ve got to wonder what’s going on at this place….

What’s the point of having lockers if you have to keep valuables on you. Plus, and this is the really fun bit….

What are you supposed to do if you are using the swimming pool?

Here is what arrived today.

A pair of red Lonsdale Pro 16oz gloves for use on the heavy bags and some sparring. In addition a pair of lighter weight mitts also for use on the bags.

Gloves came from Boxfit UK Decent prices and great service.

If you are wondering what “from big mick to fit mick” is all about then please read this post about my wake up call re my health and also my goals

This video shows a typical kettlebell fitness class, held at Cheetahs Gym in Hove.

People of all ages, with different fitness levels get together up to five times a week for a fun class which delivers results- every time!

In this video we’re doing a 2-minute drill, to finish off the class, which consisted of:
30 seconds- Mountain Climbers
30 seconds- Upright row to Squat
30 seconds- Mountain Climbers
30 seconds- Upright row to Squat

Come and try it sometime.

Brighton Kettlebells website

If you are wondering what “from big mick to fit mick” is all about then please read this post about my wake up call re my health and also my goals