Adam Blake

Adam Blake, muay thai practitioner ,mma fan and certified rock star. When he is not trading kicks with sparring partners and trainers he is entertaining scores of rowdy concert goers with his bass guitar. Adam Blake is a member of the wildly popular New York hardcore act H2O.

Some people at first glance would figure that Adam is just another transplant British "rocker" who is more interested in the rock and roll lifestyle than in staying in shape. Unknown to most people however is that Blake is an avid muay thai kick boxer who trains several times a week when he is not on tour.

When he is on tour he admits it can be a struggle to train with all of the distractions "A tour for me usually starts out with me being really focused. Two weeks in I start to party more. By the third or fourth week I will start to feel it and then I will train really hard once a week."

Life on the road can be tough enough for your average fight fan so how does Adam keep in touch with the fight game? "We have satellite on the bus so I can usually keep up on all of the big shows." When questioned about which promotion he likes the best " I would have to lean towards pride because of the ring, don’t get me wrong I like the UFC a lot." In addition to the pay per view set up Adam also brings along the latest instructional tapes and books to keep up and expand his knowledge. Not to be forgotten of course are his handy striking pads that go along with him to stay sharp.

Growing up just outside of London, Adam, now thirty started kickboxing in his early teens. "I just kind of got into it and really liked it. I had three or four kickboxing matches and I really enjoyed those."

While always interested in the Martial Arts , his other love of music soon began to take over as he became more and more involved with the music scene. "About ten years ago I moved here from England and hooked up with the boys in H2O." added Blake "and about 4 years ago I was living with Ian Robinson (the popular MTV vj) in the city and we decided we needed to get back into shape. So we looked around , found a ninjutsu school , and then a JKD school that also had muay thai and grappling. So we went with that."

When questioned about the popularity of martial arts in England, Adam responds quickly" It is way more prevalent over here, you can go anywhere and find a studio or tae kwon do studio here. In England it usually run out of a community center or church or something. Here the martial arts are huge , I love it." adding rather jokingly "I guess some British people aren’t into staying fit."

When asked about his future plans he explains ‘ I just want to keep training and playing music. We have a new cd coming out and we are always touring. I spend a lot of time on the road." When asked if he had anything else to add he wanted to thank his instructor Dan Anderson and encourage people to visit the H2O website at WWW.H2OGo.com.

by Dustin Fielding, freelancer for Badbreed.tv s - 8 July 2003

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