Titans !

Today I went to help out Nitta at his fight at the Titans, he was scheduled to fight against Ali Gunya from Turkey. Last time we saw him fight, it was against Albert Kraus in the elimination for the K-Max finals. He is a strong stable fighter, with nice technique. And fair enough he was all over Nitta in the first round, but in the second round Nitta hurt him with the lowkicks and the pace of the fight clearly changed. In the third round Nitta had Ali up against the ropes for most of the round, and I was sure that it was going to be a draw...But he lost 2-1! It was really sad to see him loose yet again, I know how hard he works and I know how much it means to him to win. But this was just not his day, this fight was very important for him and I think that the outcome is a reflection of how his training has been going this time. I just whish that I can get him out of this loosing streak and then bring down some real champions. I was fortunate enough to speak to JWP, John Wayne Parr, while at the arena, I can tell you all that I whish I had a camera, but he he is a really cool dude. A lot of his fans were coming up to him and trying to talk to him, so I helped him out a few times with some translating. His fight against Mike Sambidis got cancelled and that is a shame. Well, I am out of here gotta go to bed because I have a wedding to go to tomorrow down in Kobe.

Nicholas

今家に帰ってきた、今日はTITANSに行って新田さんのセコンドをやりました、今日はAli Gunya選手と戦うことになっていたので。周りの人はみんな辛そうな顔をしながら、大丈夫？を聞いてくるけど、俺はそれに対して、あいつはみんな強い強いって言ってるけど、こっちだって強いから何？とりあえず試合を見てくれって。ま～結果的に言うと負けてしまったけど、普通だったら５ラウンドはあるので。。。それだったらよゆうで勝ちます、３ラウンドは相手が背中をロープにずーとかけたままでで一発を狙っていたけど駄目で３ラウンドはずーと新田ペースでした。最低でもドローにして欲しかったですが。。。まー今度は相手を倒してチャンピョンなりましょうね！新田、あの佐藤選手も待っているし。お前諦めるなよ！俺たちみんな応援しているから、しかも俺は今試合させてもらいないので俺の代わりに勝ったくれ！頼んだぞ。

ニコラス

Mas. Oyama ! 大山総裁 ！

大山総裁が亡くなってもう１０年以上たちます。。。俺は未だに毎日頭から離れないです、総裁は僕にとって日本に来てからのお父さんであり、空手の先生でもありました。大山総裁は最高にいい人でした、世界中の人々に感動を与えること出来きました。よく言ってくれた言葉は”やればできる！、やらないから出来ないんだよ！”それと”自分は苦しいとき、相手も苦しい！”意外と単純な言葉なんですけど、よく考えると非常に面白いです。

ニコラス

It has been more than 10 years since Oyama Sosai passed away, and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think about him. He was my farther in Japan, he was my teacher in Karate. I have been blessed with the same gift and love for Martial Arts that he has been able to pass on. I am his last student, when most had already written him off as a figure head of an organisation that was founded years before, I was there to see that he was still a true lion on the top of his kingdom. I will never forget his teachings, nor shal I ever forget the way he treated me. And therefore I am always true to the people that come to me, like the way I went to him. Always keep your door open to a hungry and thursty traveler, and he will smile upon your grace. Train with anyone that you think you can learn something from, and pass on the teachings of Martial Arts as where they a script meant not for you, but for your childrens children to learn how to protect themselves. Stay true to the way, and strive to become a person that people can look up to and admire. Those were words from my former Master, guide, teacher and Farther, take to your heart without regret and you will find that obstacles in life become easier to overcome.

Nicholas

Fortissimo、 富士山を円の中に。。。丸山！

Just got back from Nagoya, were we helped out at the new event Fortissimo. Ryo Pettas was scheduled for his 3rd. pro. fight, and Maruyama a kid I have been holding back for a while finally had his debut fight. Ryo was in great shape and just didn't stop hitting guy, for 3 rounds he tried with everything he had to knock him out, and although he did get close a few times the other guy was very tuff. Ryo ended up winning the fight on ponits but it was well deserved. Then after that it was Maruyama's turn. I had had made a pair of kickboxing pants for him, my friend Hiro was kind enough to draw the design of a Mount Fuji within a big circle. This would symbolize his name, Maru-being a circle, and Yama- being a mountain. The shorts were in red and the final outcome was really nice. He looked great and although I could tell that he was very proud to wear the shorts, he also was very nervous about the fight. The first round was a hard one for him because everything he did was meant to hurt the guy, and he wasted a lot of energi. So coming out into the second round he relaxed and didn't try too hard, and yes soon enough he dropped the guy with a right hand. And that was the end of that fight. What a debut! Gongratulations, next fight is already lined up so keep up the work Maruyama, May 13th. is just around the corner.

Nicholas

日曜日は名古屋に行ってきました、Fortissimoの手伝いや選手の参加がありましたのでみんなは土曜日にバスで行きました。そのバスの時間はゲームをやりながらいろいろと面白かったですけど、やっぱりなにごとも無くいけないと思いますのでパーキングエリアのトイレに一番大切の人は財布をおどしましたハペニングは多分一番面白かった。運がいいのかよく分からないけど、次の日の帰りにその財布は全部帰ってきました。。。Ryo PettasとMaruyamaは試合が決まっていたので、げんりょうと戦いながら会場に向かっていきました。当日は体重二人ともO.K.が出たのでまず一安心。Ryoは最初から最後までパンチを打ち続けました、どうしても倒したかったので全面的に気合が入っていました。何度か倒せそうでしたけど、相手はかなりタッフで最後までがまんをしました。Ryoは３－０の判定で勝ちでした、そして帰りのバスの中で反省会をしました。結果はよかったけど次回はどうやって相手を倒すのかはもっと練習しなければならないともいます、お疲れ様！Maruyamaはもう二年を見ています、彼はデビューを遅らせた理由は言わないけど結果的に言うとそれは正解でした。緊張をしながら２ラウンドで右フックをあいてをきれいに倒して、すばらしいデビューは出来ました。今になって言いたいのは、俺を信じてよかったでしょう？って言う一言。おめでとう！次はもうすぐですので、５月１３日幕張メッセでまた会場を盛り上げましょう。Keep up the good work !丸山君にキックのパンツはプレゼントをしたけど、それは友達のヒロさんにデザインをしてもらったので何も知らない丸山にお前今日これを入ってやれば、とわたして彼の笑顔を見ただけで満足しました。すごくかっこよかった、ヒロさんの富士山を円の中に入っていた絵は丸に山だった意味で本当によかったです。

ニコラス

人生は続く！And life goes on...

そうですよ、今は僕の人生の中でいろいろある時期です、いろいろがありながらこれからは私はどうなるのか、どうするのか？っという質問はたくさんありながら、朝になれば起きなければならないので人生は続いているんだな～と思いました。ジムは閉店って言うか、閉めてしまいました。人生はある意味でサーフィンと同じです波に乗るかそる！波に乗っていけば最高の気分にはなれるけど落ちれば頭から落ちます、これを書いたら皆さんは今のニコラスは大丈夫ですかって考えるかもしれないけど、俺は本当に大丈夫です、来週はドラマもテレビで放送されるし。来月はDEEPでMMAルールでエキシビションマッチも決定しましたし、昨日後楽園で行われたDEEPで佐々木代表が記者発表しました。そのDEEPでメインはRyan選手を応援していたのに残念ながら負けてしまった。次回頑張って欲しいです。TEAM　SPIRITはGOLD'S　GYM中野店でお世話になっているので、みんな試合が近いし。今は一番気合が入っているかも！この前だって俺の試合もあい言う感じで流れてしまったし、REDEMPTION！っていう一言が頭にしかないです。今、毎日４時間から５時間も練習しています、それはまた幸せです。本当に何年ぶりにこれだけ素直に練習できてて本当に気持ちいいです。俺は復活しました、早く皆さんの前に姿を見せしたいです。それよりも、先週からうちの娘が小学校に上がりました！なんて可愛いですか？本当に朝起きるのは早くなったけど、一緒に学校まで歩いてて自分もその気分になったらして。。。家族のことは基本的に書かないですがこれだけは口はかゆくなりました。

ニコラス

And life goes on, I just thought that I might tell you that my first daughter has just startet school! It is awesome, from one week to the other she has gone from a little girl to a little woman. I can tell that she has grown as a person just in that short period of time. The first morning we walked together to the school together, and then when we turned the corner that leads down to the actual school, she let go of my hand and said, "Daddy, I want to walk alone from here" And...I was like, "Oh! OK. well then, you lead the way..." She is taking everything in a full stride, and I am just turning into a grownup that sees my girls growning up a lot faster than I expected. I normally don't like to write about my family, but this was just too good to keep out!

Nicholas

The Spirit Gym ! Closed ? Not really...

I don't really know how to start this entry, but I guess that I just have to cast myself out into it. I have closed my gym. It sounds like a bad thing, but truly it is not as bad as it might sound. I still have my team together and now we have regrouped and are now working out in Gold's Gym in Nakano. Thank you Gold's Gym for letting us work out when we have no other place to go, Mr. Tezuka a long time friend of Andy Hug's is the owner of Gold's Gym Japan, and has been kind enough to let us train there during the day hours when no one else is using the gym. I have had a very long and good relationship with the original owner of Spirit Gym, and although due to some serious bad timing we were forced to close down the gym. It is now run by Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi, two brothers whom are the only true Uchi Deshi of Johan Vos Sensei. The gym has been changed to a Vos Sports School and it is run now mainly the way, they do things in Holland under Sensei Vos' guidance. I am very happy that they both decided to try their best to keep the gym running and also know how big a challenge it is for both of them, but if they work hard then this will be for the better. What this means for me personally is ofcourse that I do not have my own gym right now, and although I am teaching twice a week. Once in Shin Okubo Karate and once in Gold's Gym Omotesando. I now have time to focus a bit more on my own training again, I am not getting younger and I feel that if I am to try to fight at top level again, that I need this time to train and focus a bit on myself and my fighters. Once we have redeemed ourselves for what we are worth, I am sure that the opportunity to open a gym will arise once again. It was a very hard choice that I had to make, and even now after everything has settled down I still miss everyone. Some of the students that I used to teach at the gym have followed me to Gold's Gym, and yet others have come to the Karate class. For this I am truly honored and humbled, and also I feel that I need to do my best and not let everyone down. One guy said half joking that I have abandoned everybody just so that I can fight again, but this is not true, this reason has nothing to do with it. To make you understand me a bit better, I need to go back a little and talk about the passion I have for redeming myself. I broke me leg now almost 4 years ago, and then I left Kyokushin, opened my own Dojo and later started The Spirit Gym. But lying there in the hospital for 6 weeks with my leg in a sling and a ice machine constantly icing it down, I had time to think. I truly had all the time in the world to think about what I wanted to do with myself. And I realized that I was not living the kind of life I would be happy with. I saw many paths for my future and many different ways to becoming happy, but it was not the one I was walking at that time. So I did what most people would never even think about, I followed my heart. I decided to stand up straight and walk on my own two feet, I decided that I was tired of living in any one elses shadow, I decided that if I ever made it into the light that I wanted that light to shine on me for me, and not for what anyone else had done and then a I could catch a little of the reflections. It was a very hard choice to make, but I have never been affraid of following my heart. Hell, I had some money saved up and the world looked ready to take me on. So I did what I knew best how to do I taught Martial Arts to people that were drawn to me. I don't consider myself the best teacher or not even in the same class as many of the greats out there. But I have energi and faith, something no one can ever take away from me. So I started teaching, but as most people would realize, living in Japan for me was never that easy after I had become K-1 Champion. It didn't matter where I went people would recognize me, this is good when you are up there amongst the Champions and doing it in front of thousands of people, and getting paid ridiculus amounts of money. But now I was just me, no money, no fights, just the fame left and all the bills to pay. Well, that was OK, I never really complained and training was going great, the fighters that I worked with were doing good and I could see that my efforts were paying off. But here comes the dilema, since people know who I am they also have and interest in what I am doing, so naturally they see me coaching someone and that is all good until they ask me, " So, when are YOU going to fight again?" I could find myself at the gas station, and the guy would say to me" It is full it will be 1743 Yen, thank you, so when are YOU going to fight again?" or I would be shopping with the kids and someone would come up to me and say, " Hey Nicholas, I saw you in the movie the other day, it was fun! But when are YOU going to fight again?" The stories I could tell you about the places I have been asked this question is just endless, even you guys that come here at my website keep asking me the same thing. The truth is that my hands and feet have been bound together by aggreements of people that are so far out of my reach that I can't even begin to explain it. Well, I guess that says a lot to some and nothing to others, but there are truly things I would prefer not to discuss here on a public channel. Anyway. like I said teaching, acting, doing drama's or whatever I could find to do besides fighting was never really enough. I always knew that I had to get back into the ring and show the people that I can really do this, I am a fighter of heart and I have dedicated so much of my life to give it up that easy. So when I decided to come back to the ring I wanted to do for the love of the game. For the fact that there are so many out there that truly never get to live their dreams, I want to live my dreams and I want to be someone that people can look up to and say, that guy was really something. And to become this dream catcher I must do what others dare not, or will not or just can't. This is my life and therefore I fight again, last year I came back to toplevel fighting after recovering from a snapped shinbone, and 3 and a half years away. I fought not my best fight, but I did what I had set myself out to do, WIN. And win I did, 2nd. round TKO. I can now truly retire if I wanted to because to all those people out there who doubted me I have now the proof that I can do this. I can truly accomplish the dreams and goals that I set myself, and my next goal is to come back fighting in Japan. I don't know how I can do this, but I really want to do it. So now all I am asking for is some time to focus on myself for a while and then, when the time is ready I want to spread the knowledge. I am saying many things here in this entry, and also leaving many things unsaid. But that is just the way things have to be right now, The Spirit Lives and so do I. Thank you Mas. Oyama for making me believe that anything is possible! The claws of the young Lion have not dulled yet, I shall rise once again as was promised and Roar the world.

Nicholas