I recently visited Stockholm with a buddy and it was only a matter of time before I wrote a blog post about it. You see I wrote a blog post about the fact that traveling can be a form of escapism. So most people were assuming that I was escaping a job in a factory but I wasn’t. I didn’t have to escape anything. I just wanted to visit that city anyway and I wanted to train MMA over there. Some top competitors come from Sweden so I figured that I could improve even more by training there. Oh, I also wanted to interview Alexander Gustafsson; he’s a top MMA fighter for those of you who don’t know him. Well, enough chit-chat let’s see what happened during the trip.
The Stockholm experience
So my goal was to train as much as possible in a day while visiting the city. Believe me, it’s possible. My buddy just wanted to score a Swedish girl or multiple. So 2 guys with completely different goals in a foreign country can only turn into a funny blog post.
Adversity went on a trip to Stockholm as well
Kicking adversity
Most people can’t deal with adversity and that’s why they break so quickly. We had to face adversity multiple times and we didn’t break once. Well, my buddy got frustrated once but we handled the rest pretty fine. We arrived pretty late in Stockholm so I had to pack the gym bag and go straight to All-Star MMA (the gym where Alexander Gustafsson is training). The gym was closed when we arrived due to a summer break. It would have been a bummer if I couldn’t train in those 8 days. That was the goal of the whole trip. Luckily I had been in contact with another UFC fighter on Instagram and he advised me another gym (Pancrase) close to All-Star. Plus I couldn’t interview Alexander Gustafsson since he was on a vacation.
But adversity was far from over. Our flight home got canceled due to a drone that flew above the airport. A lot of people freaked out but I remained calm. We eventually got a nice hotel and free food. I ate a lot that night because I was extremely hungry.
Stockholm and the MMA experience
meditation on the rocks
I trained there for 6 days and I did 3-hour sessions every day. I learned a lot while I was training over there. So I got better and improved my basic stuff (things like the jab). I released that I could learn more because I didn’t understand the language. I could be present at the moment and take it all in. So I turned a disadvantage into an advantage. They explained everything later on in English to point out the details. There was a great atmosphere over there and they were all very skilled. I got beat up in the wrestling training. Well, not literally but I knew that I was dominated in that sparring session. Ground and pound is no joke. Learn how to escape when you’re in the bottom position, got it, Lesson learned.
The MMA sparring was fun and I was only taken down when they pressed me against the cage. I never trained that aspect so taking me down wasn’t the hardest thing. But I knew where I had some holes and improved those things over there and here in Belgium. Bad things are more fun when they happen in training.
I trained once at All-Star MMA and it was great
The last day I got up at 5:45 to get training in before my flight home. I trained 3 hours at All-Star and I learned a lot. I had already implemented all the feedback so I gave a better impression. That’s where I improved my footwork and uppercut a lot. That was the original plan of the trip. I got what I wanted and I was extremely happy. You see MMA is a complex sport and your trainer gives you all the pieces that you need. It’s up to you to make the bigger picture. I completely missed the bigger picture due to my fault but that’s okay. It’s all part of the learning process. I improved a lot and that’s what counts. The learning process is the most fun part anyway.
But what about my buddy you ask?
The date that wasn’t a date turned out to be a date
So my buddy just wanted to get laid as much as possible and he didn’t succeed at it. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have funny stories. I promised that we would go out on Saturday but we didn’t know where to go. We had the plan to swipe on Tinder and just ask people where it would be fun to go out. I don’t like clubs that much but you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone in life. We both had a match and they both wanted us to come over. So we had to make a choice and it wasn’t that hard. The match from my buddy was way too far away from us.
So we went to the club of my Tinder match and we even met. She was taller than me and hugged me. It was a bit weird since she seemed to expect something from it. She and her friends made it a game to score a date for the night. My buddies’ Tinder match eventually popped up at our party with some friends and we left for another club. The girls looked Chinese but were born in Russia and moved to Stockholm. It’s crazy I know. Clubbing in Stockholm is either weird or we went to the wrong places. I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.
The date that wasn’t a date turned out to be a date part 2
looking dateable
My buddy scored another date the day after. He would be dating a model that was taller than him. The weird part was that he asked me to join. We found out that she was a bit taller than she mentioned. It was weird to see a girl hold an umbrella for a guy. The sad part was that he didn’t talk to her. It was extremely awkward so I just asked her question about Sweden in general. I have no clue why my buddy didn’t want to talk but I guess he didn’t want to be with her. She was interested in him and I’m sure that he could have got what he wanted if he did some effort and if I wasn’t there of course. Anyway, that was his decision.
You should still stop chasing girls in my opinion. The fact that he chased girls made sure that he was a bit frustrated near the end of the trip.
Anyway, I’m going to end this post with a famous movie quote.
I’ll be back
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Till next time
Alex
