I hope you’ve all been having a fantastic festive break and have a great evening planned tonight to see in 2017. New Year is traditionally a time to reflect on the year and I’m no different. So what are my thoughts as we head into 2017…….

Well in terms of grappling I would never have predicted the year I’ve had. I’ve done some solid training, I’ve had only minor injuries and niggles plus I’ve started to see the result of my training in competition. It hasn’t all been easy and I’ve by no means been an unstoppable force of the mat but this year has been a year of first’s.

Some of these first have been small things but other were well – not that small! These included my first ever gold medal, my first absolute gold, my first major international medal and my first world title and that’s before a couple of Judo achievements so all in all not a bad years work for a minion!

I would love to be able to pin it on some magic diet change or a new training schedule but I honestly think the biggest impact has been the people around me. My gym is a huge part of this including its open mentality which means I can train elsewhere when I want, resulting in me having a beautifully large BJJ family!

I simply have a great tribe around me. Not in the aggressive meme version way but more in the way we simply try to help each other move forward. Win or lose my efforts are respected and everyone is ready to help me try again (only just a little bit better next time!). They believe in me and are always trying to get me to believe in myself more too. But they also keep me grounded by tapping, squishing and tickling me as often as is required! This year would not have been possible without this mad, crazy and loveable lot!

I hope all my readers have a fantastic new year and I look forward to sharing my adventure with you all in 2017. Fingers crossed that we all have an amazing year!