Class this week and Training

A bit of an announcement:

This Sunday, Chris will not be at class. Thus, I will be running the show.

What this means for you:
Prepare to drill! There will be very little technique demonstration. I will be working people on stuff we have done before and drilling out the imperfections. What we will be doing will have quite a bit of light sparing. For those of you who have put in the extra time after class to work with me on my drills, it will be very similar to that stuff. It will be fairly open, but I have a few specifics I want to touch on.

Circular Striking-
Level Changing-
Ground fighting Vocabulary-
Surviving a ground and pound-
Mobility-

I am very excited to have some time to work some drills and move people closer and closer to "sparing". Everyone last week was very safe even though I gave them open reign to punch me in the face. Trist, Victoria, and Jason were all very controlled and safe. The outcome was more reps, more fun, and more learning!

Jack Depsey once said about sparing: "Although some exercises help condition and others speed improvement, there’s one all-important activity that assists both. That activity is sparring.  There is no substitute for sparring. You must spar regularly and often to become a well-rounded scrapper, regardless of what other exercises you may take.  Sparring not only improves your skill, but it also conditions your body for fighting by forcing your muscles to become accustomed to the violent, broken movements that distinguish fighting from any other activity."

In the dark catacombs of the Survival Academy Vault, I found a video of a real fighter training.

Rocky Marciano.

When you are watching this keep in mind: Fighters of his day fought WAY MORE than they do now a days. They couldn't dedicate 20 hours a day to heavy cardio and lifting because they were getting to close to fight night and wouldn't recover.

Put that into your mind for a second: Too Much Exercise can actually prevent you from being an effective fighter.

Where we fight, we must consider that. If you go to our class (or any other) trying to learn self defense, you must balance your exercise and fitness so that you are always in fighting condition. Becoming a sloth, or over doing it, could spell disaster to you if you had to defend yourself. The last thing you want to be when a guy tries to hurt you is sore, tired, or wounded.

So how did Rocky train when fights happend multiple times a year? You might be surprised!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsGIq0t6YY&feature=player_embedded

New discovery!

Hey everyone!

I don't have a ton to say about this particular article, but I needed to share.

We are not only a Survival group, but we are a Historical group.

That is why this article is so damn neat!

100 Survival Points to anyone who can get me a copy of the TRANSLATION!

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/World-8217-s-oldest-sports-manual-found-covers?urn=oly-wp818

One more reason to level change...

I know I sometimes beat a dead horse with "Level Changing". I talk about it non-stop. I find it to be one of the best martial moves you can do in ANY martial activity. Even thing's like football and hockey get dominated by good level changes!

Most street fights stay up high. Head grabs, head punches, hay-makers, ETC.

I think this is why in "Martial Sports" these days, ignore a good level change.

When most people think of "Cool Knockouts" the last thing they think about is body shots. This is another reason why people ignore level changes.

But I am here to tell you that while you level change, throw those shots!

Body shots seem to be less common in modern fighting arts, but I assure you they kick ass!

I found a video that shows this pretty well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNJjfx-Ojc&feature=player_embedded#!

The liver shots are vicious. I have never been K.O.ed by a liver shot, but I have been given HORRIBLE pains from liver shots before.

When Bas Rutten himself says "I'm going for the liver, because it's the most painful knockout there is" you know body shots do serious damage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBUJa7ndYL0

Don't like liver shots? The Spleen works too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2JhhzYqaB8&feature=related

Listen carefully at about 2:30... He explains a type of punch that you may have heard of...

So work those drills! Bob, weave, squat, shoot, level change! Practice moving from high to low, low to high, and develop explosive movement. Not only is a great martial move to learn, but it's great exercise!

For any bears fans out there, you also might like Bas Vs. Urlacher...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGDFr-BXp0I&feature=related

See you at class!

Shadow Training

 "As you shadow-box, go through the same offensive and defensive movements you use in sparring. To be most valuable, your imaginary fighting should be done at top speed. Too many scrappers loaf at this work."


This quote should be branded on the chests of all of our students. 


There is value in slow movements. Yoga style exercises are very valuable. I also would advise against doing sprints with a 100lb bag over your shoulder. Safety first!


However, we all often neglect speed and agility. Speed can  only be really cultivated by fast movements. Do something fast, now do it faster. Over and over again. 


Out of all the drills and exercises that I have done, by far the most helpful is shadow boxing. But I take it a step further...


"Shadow Training" is what I call it. 


Basically, it's the art of using imagery and full speed drills without a real threat. So


So when you get homework assignments from me, class, or the blog to sit at a coffee shop and watch people and imagine that someone tries to rob the joint in front of you, I'm trying to get you into "Shadow Training". Do this with your ground drills too. Don't flop around on the ground like a fish! 


Imagine that you are shrimping to save your life! Imagine a hailstorm of blows coming down as your trying to roll out of an attack. Imagine that there is a shadow-fighter on top of you and if you don't get to guard soon, you will die!


I'm not sure who said the quote first, but always keep in mind:


"Your body cannot do what your mind has not already thought of".


So really use visualization in your training. Imagine shadows moving around you, attacking, surrounding, shooting, or whatever. 


You never know when you might be in a hair salon...


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1013-seal-beach-shooting-20111013,0,4309220.story


By the way, the quote above is from Jack Dempsey. So Don't think I am creative or anything. He is a master and we could all learn more from him.


See you at class!