I trained at The Groundlings and was surrounded by some very funny women and also some very unfunny men. I didn't feel a sense of things being different because I was a girl.
You look at teams in college, the MMA world, and beyond that allow bullying, where guys get jealous during training and stuff like that. You need to have a space where everyone feels like they have an equal opportunity - like they have support, people watching out for them.
At my academy, I have a full 20x20 canvas but I don't have any ropes around it and do that for a reason so I don't get on my back on the ropes.
I rock up to training, and Folkesy, Steve Folkes - someone that, to be honest, has never paid any interest in my personal life - he comes up to me and starts saying, 'You're not turning Muslim are you?'
At times, training at home is a distraction, so training in Big Bear was a really good change.
My training sessions were nice, calm, and quiet. Just me and my trainers in the gym.
I love the fight game. I like the brutality. I like the mentality. I like the aggressiveness, but I like the technique and skill. I like the stakes. I like the people around in the gym. I like the everyday, working class feel of a boxing gym.
And my piece of advice is...don't flirt with any of the female instructors. They all have access to weapons bigger than yours.
It was a mistake of mine to train like that, with friends, at home. It was a handicap I should not have given myself. In Croatia, we do not have big camps like in other countries, but I was not willing to go away to train.
The club [Real Madrid] has a fantastic set-up with marvellous people. The atmosphere at training is perfect - it's just wonderful
During such a competition players are there for a long time as well as all the people around them. They need to train, to eat, to go out. There ought to be something in it for everyone. On that particular point, my experience has been a bonus.
It's one thing trying it in training and another entirely on the pitch.
Moving to Flagstaff from the big city of Melbourne taught me what it takes to become a better runner. For one, there is the altitude, but more importantly, seeking the best is about being surrounded by the best.
Although simulators are great for building step-by-step knowledge of a procedure, the worst thing that can happen in a sim is that you get a bad grade on your performance.
You can actually find a lot of gyms that do teach mixed martial arts. But it's just like with any martial art - you've got to look at the coaches, go watch some classes, see how people treat each other and how the coaches treat the students.
