tallgeese

today- chest/tris/abs That's it. Sleep has been hard to come by lately due to the job. Need to do family time too.

Bushido man- it was actually real easy to get on on him. As it turns out, he's pretty well proportioned. I used an old karate gi rather than tie up one of my heavy gis on him as well as my original white belt from eons ago. That way, I can grip and use it for memory building. The only down side is that the sleeves tend to ride up and collect in the joints fo the shoulder and arm. After a session, I usually have to re situatethem to hang properly. today- BJJ nite: Drilled from half guard all night. Worked position and submission series from the bottom and countering the half guard from the top. 5, 5 min rounds of free roll at the end.

I'm not much of a trad guy, and don't know what the scene is like in Britain, so I can't help you there. However, I can say welcome to the boards, looking forward to hearing things from your perspective.

I tend to consider all physical conditioning I do as related to my ma's in some way. In that regard, any lifting or cardio you're working will be benificial. It also makes it a bit easier to stay in the gym to think of it like this. As to actual ma training, drilling on the heavy bag is great. Make sure you're working your defensive movments as well as your striking. Integrating the two here will really pay off in the long run. Try to find a place to hang a double ended bag as well. These are great tools for upper body movement and a reat workout to boot. If you're into the makawra thing, this would be a good example of a time to utilize it as well. Same goes for a speed bag. I've also recently constructed a grappling dummy to assit in drilling movement series on as well. This has been a great addition and if you're into any sort of grappling I think it's a good idea. The additional reps you can garner without a partner will go a long way to helping you ingrain those motions. Finally, shadow boxing, or kata if that's your thing, will fit into this as well. If some of your stuff isn't reflected in any of the kata you know then it's a good idea to use those motions in your shadow boxing drills. These are also great for foot work and I really advise focusing on this while you're doing it. Just some thoughts. Good luck.

today- 2.5 mile run

today- am- 2.5 mile run pm- 40 min of drilling side control series, then, moved into adaptions for handcuffing and weapon retention. Kind of a focus on job related stuff in regards to grappling. Finished with 30 min of free roll

Got out and saw it. It was a great big Saturday morning cartoon, cheesy, over the top....and I loved it! Go in looking for Private Ryan and you'll be disappointed. Go in looking for a fun romp of nostalgia centered on toys you loved as a kid and you'll be pleasantly surprised I think.

Perfectly normal and a good idea to boot! This kind of thing will give you instant feedback on how your game is working against a committed aggressor who is resisting. For this kind of thing, I highly recommend the Blauer High Gear armor over Red Man. It actually lets attackers move like real opponents, not determined zombies. Really good idea to train this way from time to time. There will be safety catches in place if the guys running the training are good. One can still get hurt in those things and precautions need to be in place; however, good trainers will account for this. No drill is 100 percent combat, but this kind of thing will get you closer, quick. It will also help you learn to deal with the adrenaline dump that goes with a fight and how to manage it. Defiantly go for it.

I too am a book guy. I think it works easier for both. Personally, which you'll get more out of, I think it depends largely how you're wired and what you're already good at. Book both ways.

BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian................Penn Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin.....Silva Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks....Hendricks Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida....Grove Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino.............Pellegrino Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley............Nelson Tamdan McCrory vs. John Howard.....Howard Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara........Leites Matthew Riddle vs. Dan Cramer.........Riddle George Sotiropoulos vs. George Roop.Sotiropoulos Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort.........Lennox

this week- Wed- off Thurs- am: chest/tris 3 mile run pm: back/bis 2.5 mile run today- 1 mile run legs 10 min of gi choke work on Boomer

today pm- BJJ nite: Side mount series. Reviewed variants and spent time working on leg hook specifics and north/south transitions. Drilled rounds of side mount transitions vs. escapes 30 min of free roll.

Fedor vs. most of the heavyweight roster is something people have been waiting to see. Not to mention, he'd go along way in shoring up the division. I can really see why White wants his guys exclusive. Aside from people seeing them elsewhere for less, you don't want a guy you've invested big money in going and getting hurt is some fight that you're not banking any coin on. Dana White's trying to get him because he knows that the fans will shell out for the fight, no matter his opinion of either guy. Hopefully, we'll see him after his three fight deal, but at this point I'm not holding my breath.

Relaxed on initial movement, tightening during impact, strike though target. Hand is positioned however it's most effective to make good contact with a given target.

today- Stared cutting back on striking training to focus on grappling for a couple of upcoming tournys. On the down side, I also started adjusting the diet to make weight. Drill transition to high guard from last night. Worked flower sweep for reps today however, then moved into triangle set. 5, 3 min rounds of free roll. 2, 3 min rounds of working out of guard/ attacking out of guard. Finished with movement drills on stepping around the feet.

Most of my forearm training comes from gripping during training and holding db's and pull up bars. That said, I'll occasionally work into a weight routine with wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. I'll also use one of those grip training devices between sets on a couple of lift days just between sets.

today- BJJ nite: Drilled moving from full guard to high guard and worked the triangle from there. Spent time drilling a no-hands triangle familiarization drill as part of the process. Started free roll with 15 min of working guard passes. Guard man uses no hands and was encouraged to open the game up and not squeeze in to hold full guard. All passes were on for the top guy. Great drill. Finished with 30 min of free roll.

Thanks, I'll try to get a hold of them.

The importance of forms really depends on what school you end up in. They do serve all the purposes listed above, my feeling is that there are better ways to do the same thing now days, but that's just me. The best place to start is to check out all the places you have access to and see which ones are going to fit your needs best. Check out your rapport with the instructors and the rest of the class. It's this chemistry that will help you get the most out of what you want. Good luck.

You might want to consider keeping the ones suffering the most proactively taped.

today- Drilled an alternate spider guard and repped triangle from there. Reviewed yesterdays work from spider. Moved on to drilling side control and working postures. Finished with 30 min of free roll.

That makes sense to me.

I wonder if your problem with mats has to do with the particular movements of your art? If there is some body mechanic that predisposes your lower extremities to injury? Not that it matters, it's an academic question. I've just spent alot, like nearly all, my training time on mats over the years and have rarely had an injury that I could point to the mat as a proximate cause of. It's interesting. I do know the frustration that can come with the "this isn't how we do it in....." statement. I've usually found that it's just to repeat the "this is not that art...." mantra to them. They will either eventually come to realize this, or leave. On another note, I have indeed had to both breakfall and roll out of things on non matted surfaces. One was even in gravel. Yes, it stinks, however, it's better than not doing so. Even if it leave marks now and then .

We've talked about the mistakes on tests, even bb tests and still passing somewhere else. It depends greatly on how much weight each system puts on each aspect of the test. Waaay back when I did kata, I botched on real good on a bb level test. Luckily, we've never weighted them much, even when we did them so it didn't throw my final results. Depends on what you value.

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you.