What Is Formerlyme?

FormerlyMe.com presents “MMA Sessions”

WHAT IS FORMERLYME?

FormerlyMe is an online movement to motivate and inspire people to become the best version of themselves by showing them my journey and experience in trying a new workout and lifestyle regime every 30 days. Every post, update, and video is ‘formerly me’ as I endeavor to become the best version of myself and become FormerlyMe. Each month CP Magazine will showcase a part of my journey to becoming the best version of myself. I hope that in turn this inspires and motivates you to start your own journey as well. For this month’s story we will focus on the “MMA Sessions” of my journey.

From March to May 2020, I took private Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training sessions from Taylor Hickman. Taylor Hickman is the 71st ranked of 242 active US Southwest Amateur Lightweights, and also ranked at Welterweight (56th). Taylor is also the 24th ranked of 89 active Texas Amateur Lightweights, and also ranked at Welterweight (21st). He has 5 years boxing, 3 years in Brazilian Jujitsu & MMA. Blue belt 2 stripe under Alex Morono (UFC Middleweight & Brazilian Jujitsu Black Belt) at Gracie Barra in The Woodlands, TX. 5x Grappling Games Gold Medalist, and is also 5x ONNIT Academy Certified: Foundations, Durability, Steel Club Specialist, Kettlebell Specialist, Barbell Specialist. Taylor studied Kinesiology with Emphasis in Physical Therapy at St. Edward's University. I was excited to experience MMA from inside the octagon besides merely watching it on TV.

Jim West

Taylor started me with striking drills throwing jabs and crosses. The focus wasn’t just in the punching itself, but more so in the footwork. I had to repeatedly move my feet to setup the power in the punch. Then we hit the octagon. Taylor showed me how to grapple and position for takedowns and submissions. I learned several chokes to include Guillotine, Rear Naked, and Ezekiel choke holds. All the while getting them done on myself by Taylor and then practicing them on him. It was eye opening to me to see just how fast a choke hold can make the lights go out for an opponent. It gave me a tremendous appreciation for fighters in MMA. The level of endurance and conditioning fighters have its simply astounding. Every session with Taylor had me breaking a sweat in just a few minutes. He kept up the tempo for an entire grueling hour. I burned over 1000 calories in every session. The best part is I now have learned some things to defend myself should I need to, and now when I watch MMA fights on TV I understand exactly what they are

Taylor Hickman

experiencing in the octagon.

These videos are on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube. com/playlist?list=PLETeUyZdPdyoV3F_wpdB8kWHSyv1wUCpo

I was happy to experience MMA training and recommend it highly for those who want to lose weight while learning how to defend yourself. I was now looking forward to going back to weight training with Gene Labrada at Legacy Barbell. My new goal now was to

focus on my upper body strength for the summer. Follow my journey online at FormerlyMe.com and on the YouTube channel. Next month I will cover my Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training and the other fun activities I have experienced with my journey. Until next time that has been FormerlyMe!

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