tallgeese

Sorry, it's probably buried pages back now. Boomer is my grappling dummy. That's the name my oldest gave him.

I agree with Justice on the tough process that goes into defense at this level of threat. Anything less than optimal responses are less than adaquate. Assult that would cause death or great bodily harm is met with in kind. End of story. If he's not killed or maimed by your counter offensive, well, things dont' always go to plan. But to start from a point further down the force scale is mentally setting up for failure when one can afford it the least. Just my opinion.

today- 4 mile run chest/tris 10 min of repping on Boomer doing guard escape variations. Nice and slow, repping precision and muscle memory.

today- 4 mile run.

Just because it's main expression that is seen most often televised is in competition doesn't mean it's not developing into what we'd call an art. We've been rounds about it's usefulness as a sd framework so I won't start that here except to say it's got a pretty good head start in that area when it comes to an unarmed aspect. Regardless of what rules it's structured around. It has a defined skill set, a methodology to transmit it, and it's constantly evolving and growing as new members take it up. That sound alot like what most ma-ists do, even if it's not covered in traditional trappings.

Ok, it's a bit late, but the info might be helpful to someone else or yourself down the road. Try tactical breathing. The name I know it under is the latest catch phrase of combat training, but whatever you call it, it works. Studies have shown it to slow the heart rate, which in turn will increase performance. I use it for comps, at work, whenever; it's a great tool. Long and short, inhale for 2 secs, hold for 2 secs, then exhale for 2 seconds. Start pre event whenever the hr seems to start sneaking up. Then use it all the way through when you get the chance. Good tool. Now that that is said, how did it go?

One of my pet peeves is trad schools claiming mma training because of something like you stated above. It's in the same vein as everyone "discovering" ground fighting that's existed in their trad system for years and "decoding" it or "unlocking" it in kata. Seriously. When I started importing ground skills into my base system, I was up front that it was from guys I was training with that were shootfighters. Yes, it was new to me too. Later, when I really got into BJJ, I was still up front about where I was getting things from. Either you have the confidence to do this or not. It irritates me when people don't admit it. The same applies to any skill set. Heck, I've stolen the Spear from Blauer's DT program and use it as part of my overall sd scheme. I teach it as well in one form or another. I don't say it's been part of the system forever, I admit I discovered it and credit the source that we adapted it from. As to mma schools being such because of a mix of trad elements, they're missing the boat. It's the integration of those skills into a format that covers a wide range of situations that makes a mma school what it is. Not a couple of different striking arts. The common ideal of an mma school is also based around popular sport rules, so they should display that as well. So, it's hard to have a mma school based around a stand up striking art and a knife art. That's just not what the current connotation is. A decent mma school should be easy to spot. One that has striking programs based around movement and combination work. A ground program based around BJJ or shoot stuff. And an integrated program that does both, this includes training in the ground-n-pound aspect of the game. You'll also see wrestling skills taught and drilled, so expect to see doubles and singles and the whole nine yards. Defiantly a far cry from two schools of Asian striking taught out of the same building. I would hope that many people wouldn't fall into that kind of thing, but I could be wrong. As for trad schools being threatened by mma. They shouldn't be. There are still plenty of people who desire that particular training style. There's nothing wrong with that. It's to each his own. It's part of the beauty of taking up ma's in general- the wide array of choice to suit individual goals and tastes. Schools should be secure enough in their skill set and the role it fulfills to deal with mma in town and vice versa.

There's also a thread running over in Combative Arts that deals with the current state of MMA today. It's last couple of pages deal with some of the topics we're kicking around here and might bear checking out.

today- Drilled for 30 min on half guard and offensive segment from there. 10 min of crushing the half guard from the top. 4, 3 min rounds of guard drill. Top man tries to pass, bottom man has no hands and works legs and hips only. Keep moving and setting things up. 30 percent or so. 7, 3 min rounds of free roll.

As said, backing up is a bad place to be. In any format. Yes, due to the cage restrictions you have to circle to avoid getting crushed there. But, on the street backing up can be just as bad. Aside from giving him a distinct tactical advantage, you can also trip over curbs, fire hydrants, ect. Much better to cut the angles and circle.

So much to say on the topic, but most of it can be summed up by stating that I agree with MMA Jim. Nicely done. There are about a million reason one would want to train in any sort of martial arts, everyone has different reasons and there's probably one for whatever reason you want to train in. I think most trad guys like watching MMA. I think a bunch more have modified their training in light of what it's shown. I don't know many that won't pick up some modicum of ground skill if given the chance these days. I think by and large the view is positive given the high level of skill seen by the competitors these days.

today- 4 mile run legs 10 min of reps on Boomer. Worked armbar from side and arm trapping motion from north/south.

Yesterday- BJJ nite: Drilled side mount series and transition. Practiced armbar set up and execution from scarf position. Repped this. Finished technical work with breaking a hold from north/south position and a similar variation from mount. Live drilling on holding side/escaping side while setting up submissions. Free roll for about 30 min.

Lats, my favorite: Pull ups, first and foremost for functional strength Bent over rows these are the big two Ground swims Lat Pull downs Straight arm pull downs Inverted grip pull downs V-bar pull downs Tris: so many. Try: Push downs Overhead extensions Nose breakers Inverted grip push downs Kickbacks Some ideas for those specific areas. Good luck.

Congrats!

Still, regardless of the best laid plans, you might be there anyway. I still maintain, unless you've trained on and around the ground, most high school wrestlers can dump the average stand up guy pretty reliably. So regardless of what is or isn't a bad idea, it might occur. Best to learn to deal with it before it happens. Comprehensive sd training these days has to encompass alot of tools and even skilled trad artists will need to cross train outside the traditional mold if they want to really explore all of what that entails. MMA just happens to provide a good, solid, practical unarmed skill base from which to build from. No, MMA isn't the be all and end all of sd skills. But too many trad ma-ist dismiss it because of the sport aspect. The ignore the fact that athletes training in mma are working against live resistance much more often than many karate schools for instance. It's the training modalities that they use that make it very effective in many instances.

And to be honest, in retrospect, some of it was. Most practitioners didn't have a highly technical game at that time and it's really a battle of competing postures and people holding on for dear life, afraid to move or be submitted. Of course there were exceptions, but there was plenty that was not really technical. Now, athletes have really embraced the ground game. Not to mention that with a more vast skill base on the ground that portion itself has evolved. For instance, 15 years ago you could pull guard and look for the same one or two movements. Now, it's a really active guard game. Open guard is normal and transitions are common between postures. People who are doing well are doing more advanced stuff, that makes it more fun to watch overall, but especially in regards to the ground. I too have to admit I did my share of fast forwarding. Learning the game changes that, but it doesn't hurt when everyone gets better and makes it more interesting.

Welcome to KF!

I'm not in any recognized organization. It's a pretty liberating deal. There are down sides, for instance, you can't bulk produce certificates and getting seminars togeter is a pain. But it's a pretty good deal. I'm not out of Shotokan or Isshen, but I can say that it's worked out fine for me.

This will be no-gi in a couple of weeks. I'm going to work the NAGA's so I can do gi as well.

Actually, for the most part, the athletes participating now are much better athletes and fighters than we've ever seen before, particularly the early days. They're also discovered optimal dress for the conditions of the combat. That's all. Skill is skill, regardless of how it's apporached or what is worn. The fighters now are more diverse and have cros trained to a high degree and have multiple disciplines in most cases, those who don't are often in and out early. Much of it might look non-technical, but there is a high degree of skill that goes into holding a good opponent in place while you strike him effectively. This is espicially true when you consider how many people have some high degree of skill on the ground these days. It's highly skilled fighting for the most part at a higher level now than it's ever been.

Both of my big toes are permanently taped during training anymore. Between impact and turf toe they are always killing me. today- back/bis/abs 15 min of drilling half guard series and crushing the half guard on Boomer. 3 mile run Weight is right on for a tourney in 2 weeks time. I'm waking up under weight already. I'd like to keep dropping for a NAGA next month, but I don't want to get too low and short change myself for the weight classes in this one first. I'm thinking of splitting the difference and being a little lighter than I need to be for this one, but low enough to make the cut for the next. One day I want to be good enough that I can wrestle at my natural weight

Yeah, kind of odd. How long had you been with this group?

Granted, and I think Killer said it well. I do think, however, that there are defensive movements that are more useful and realistic than others. That's why I tend to agree with bushido man as well. I don't put alot of stock in the nature of trad blocks. Mainly for the same reasons he put forth. There are simply better tools to accomplish the goals that Miller and joe talk about.

Welcome aboard!