Float Like A Butterfly Sting Like Jimmy Lee

By Jimmy “The Thunder From Down Under” Lee

I grew up a fan to big boxing names like Ali, Sugay Ray Leonard, Tyson and the rest so when Executive Fight Night 2 come around I was quite excited to actually give it a try.

Do I have what it takes to win? I went in thinking yes, and now as the training is in final stages and fight night in 2 weeks, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be but with everything going on the nerves are starting to set in also…

I’ve lived in Japan for almost 6 years now and in that time have lived in Nagano, Okinawa and Tokyo. While I have grown to love Tokyo, there has been little chance for me to take on physical sporting challenges and I had really fallen into an unfit lifestyle.

Every night drinking in roppongi hills, living the single high roller lifestyle saw many bottles of champagne, delicious foods, lot’s of girl’s and impulse purchases of designer clothes, motorcycles,etc. I was living the dream to some, but often felt like something was missing and I feel like although the past few years have been awesome, it was time to change the pace…even grow up a little.

So when the Executive Fight Night 2 swung around I decided it was time to stop, take control of my life again and really give this my best shot and prove to myself that I have the motivation to change my lifestyle.

Too often I am motivated only for a day when I visit the gym but then get caught up in a busy work and social life schedule, which means a limited commitment to any fitness program. However my participation in the EFN2 event has kept me on schedule with consistent training and I’m feeling much better for it.

It’s the first time I have seen my abs in years and people that know me well are full of support and compliments so far, especially my co-workers. Other points are I feel my personality and maturity have grown and I’m feeling more in control of every day life. Having found a better work/life balance has made me a much calmer person in both personal and business life.

The training has not been easy and the trainers at the Ginjaninjas are really pushing us. Jan is a tough trainer and his motivation for us is high. He is a great person to learn from and I think all of us are grateful for his support. The bootcamp style training gets us all sweating and prepared for the event but I feel if you really want to take it seriously, you need to train more.

At the start of the training, I weighed in at 71 kg and within the first week of changing diet and starting to train consistently, lost 4kg. Now before you say, wow, thats awesome…it’s not the case for me. I’m naturally lean and have been skinny my whole life. Losing weight was (and is still not) an option for me. I’ve lost two belt sizes but managed to build my weight up to the original 70-71 kg, meaning the training is working.

My arms, shoulders and whole body has already gone through a major transformation and I’m loving it. Boxing is a tough sport and stamina is key. Throwing a lot of punches with a clean defense is extremely tiring, both physically and mentally.

At my regular boxing gym, I look around and see a wall of champions. The walls are posted with photos of boxing greats, which are a real motivation to keep on pushing forward. I’ve tried to adapt a great quote from Muhammad Ali into my training, “I hated every minute of training but I said don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion”. I have tried to incorporate this quote and many other motivational thoughts in my head as training goes on to push me forward.

With just under 2 weeks until the big night, I’m ready and looking forward to screaming out support for my fellow fighters on the night. For he who fights me on the night, I hope we can give the crowd the fight of all fights to remember. I’m coming at you to put you down on the canvas, so make sure you come at me with all you got.

Good luck, you’re going to need it!