tallgeese

Not so much these days. Since I've moved gyms to a closer location, I'm able to actually be at the gym more. It makes the need for it considerably less. If you can make it to the mat 3x/ week or more, I don't think anyone would need one. But if your stuck with only 2 or 1 then I think they are well worth the time of constructing one.

9/19 Drilled side to mount transition. Finished with an ankle lock from side and an arm bar. 45 min free roll

bushidoman makes a great point, the small home gym, even if it's just a hanging heavy bag, can make the difference between an endurable time away from your regular training and a slow decline into insanity and dulled skills. For the grappling side, consider a dummy. There are plenty of home made plans on line if you don't want to shell out the 600 big ones for a commercial model. I used one of these for a long time with great success when I was tied up with work things.

9/18 Drilled bottom escapes/ sweeps from side control. 45 min free roll. Some no gi work with the fighters.

Reading this again got me thinking, the last 3 months for me have sucked from a training stand point. I have found myself in a new line of work, Law Enforcement. From June to August I was sequestered(SP?) at the State Police Academy. This was a good experience, however it totally wrecked my training schedule. Furthurmore i will soon be working the afternoon shift at my department, this will further wreck my training schedule. I will still be able to squeeze in a couple day a week hopefully, but it won't come close to my regiment of the past. The point i am trying to make is that as martial artists we must make the most of the training opportunities that we have, because sometimes they can be in limited supply. Don't take training partners or training venues for granted. Also due to my change in employment my focus in martial arts has shifted somewhat. Prior to becoming a cop I focused mainly on manipulating a person into a position where i could stomp on their head...This is not conducive to a long career in law enforcement. When i can train, I have been focusing on BJJ and some Greco-Roman wrestling as a way to control a subject, definately a more peaceful means of gaining compliance than massive head trauma. To all members of the Bujin Clan and KF, make use of your time and make use of the knowledge available to you. GS, you make an excellent point here, we ALL need to truely take time to value our mat time. No matter if it's easy to obtain or difficult, it shouldn't be taken for granted. All sorts of things can interfear, as with you job scheduling is difficult, family, injury- all things that can side line us from action. No matter why you train, but certainly its more pressing if you're looking at a sd aspect, each minute you waste of mat time is time that you're less prepared. I try to press it to all my classes, don't waste a second of training time. And, I've learned from friends who've had to leave along the way due to injury, cherish it. A bad injury (ma realted or not) can take you out of what you love to do instantly. Train hard, and more importantly, train SMART. Lastly, welcome to the fold of LE as well. You'll do great, love it, and you will never get a better oppoturnity to pressure test yourself and your skills. You'll find your coming endeavors to be the greatest crucible you could find for your art. It will shape what you do and how you look at conflict remarkably. Welcome aboard.

Thank you, sensei8. Beleive me, the feelings are reciprocated. It's always been a please to hear your thoughts on matters as one who has give such a substantial portion of his life to the arts. Hopefully, one of these days we get the chance to meet up and log some mat time like you and Brian did.

9/17 Drilled esacpe from bottom side. Worked from facing away from top control. Started with a head hunting manuver. Went to a greko style upper body lock from an over hook. Last we worked a roll back into the top guy and used a kimura to sweep. 45 min free roll.

9/16 legs/ tris abs I just can not quite shake this shoulder thing. Keeps me out of chest work altogether. Well, at least it's better.

9/15 Drilled mount escapes from modified mount. 45 min free roll.

9/14 2 mile run

Plenty of arts have a competitive side. Most times, an art moves from being an "art" or combat form and then transitions to the competitive arena. In the case of MMA, we started with the evolution of sport and now people are using it for more than just fighting in a cage and as prep for self defense, fitness, ect. It's kind of gone backwards in the case of MMA. We started seeing what established art beat what, then codified rules led us to RELATIVE standardized product. Then, this product went from being taught exclusively for fighters to compete and went more mainstream where people use it as a base for whatever they are doing ma's for. Just because it's not the traditional progression does not make it less of a "martial art"

9/12 Drilled escapes from mount. 2 versions of upa. Knee escape variant. Finished with a knee sweep. 45 min free roll.

9/11 2 mile run abs legs

I ran across the following links recently when doing some research. I had the opportunity to attend one of Paul's classes several years ago and a couple of training sessions since then. He's a top flight guy (former Delta) who really has a passion for teaching LE tactics and firearm skills. What he's teaching is really good stuff and some of it we see done wrong in the LE arena. The following are all out there on the internet already, so I'm not giving away anything that's not already very findable. If you get the opportunity, certainly go train with him. He does stuff I won't put out here because it's not easily findable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX9Y9FAK51U&feature=related Just some of the ones out there. Personally, I think his points in the second about the tactical reload are huge and taught so incorrectly at so many different trainings I've seen. Also, the taking a knee tip, while sounding simple and rudimentary, I've seen experience SWAT guys make this mistake during training. Lastly, his point about shooting steel is right on, it's easy to let that become a fun game at the end of a range day. All points to be well taken. I also highly recommend his book "Leadership and Training for the Fight" to everyone who train in ANY martial endeavor. If you're an instructor, again in ANY martial venue, you should also read "The Tactical Trainer" in which he goes over lesson planning and course building. Anyway, I don't get to contribute much to the Weapons section here, so here's my chance. Everyone who has an interest in sd and/ or firearms will find it time well spent. LEO's should find the clips really valuable.

Agreed. In addition to ma's, it's the prevalent attitude in law enforcement training these days as well. Very rarely do you run into a group training that stops the actions of an officer due to their being struck by sims rounds. The standard has become fighting on to build that mentality. The only time one of our guys goes down is if an instructor or commander puts them down so everyone else has to deal with the element of an officer down. Grossman, an individual who's books I think everyone who carries a gun for a living should read, talks about the amount of time studies have shown an individual can live AFTER sustaining injuries that will prove fatal. It's often longer than one would think. His point in this is two fold but goes directly to your point MP. 1) Medical science is better than it's ever been, and in fact is a controlling factor in how few deaths we have from violence despite the record number of violent acts being committed. Because of this, you have to train to take on the responsibility of training to get to self, or buddy, aid despite wounds. This could save your life compared to laying down to die. 2) If there's no saving you, you've dedicated your life to living a certain way, how do you want to be remembered for your last few seconds on earth? Bleeding out on the ground or taking it to the bad guy that just ended you and seeing that he doesn't do the same to your partners or others. So yeah, training to never stop is important. Moving through mistakes rather than resetting is a key component in developing that mindset.

9/10 Drilled escape from mount, elbow escape then with leg hook and leg lift. 10 min roll mount v. escape 35 min free roll

Indispensable. Here's my thoughts on the matter: http://www.karateforums.com/focus-mitt-training-for-the-multi-disciplined-fighter-vt34351.html

9/7 Drilled more top side. Worked north and south shin control to kimra and arm bar. Worked on tightening the arm bar up. 45 min hard free roll.

Could be, but the whole truth being stranger than fiction is often correct. If it is staged, it will come out. I kind of doubt that they'd run the risk of being caught in a story like that though.

Here's the Gracie Mag link to the attempted mugging of Renzo. It's a whole new use for social media. http://www.graciemag.com/2012/09/renzo-makes-history-and-reports-mugging-real-time-over-twitter/ Yes, you can argue that it could have gone different, one could comment on the attitude. However, I have to give him props for situational awareness and aggressive, preemptive action that turned the tide.

Welcome aboard KF! Look forward to hearing from you.

Welcome to KF! And I love the avatar!

Welcome aboard! It's been great reading your thoughts so far, glad to have you!

Welcome to KF!

Agreed. The diet has to go lean. All the way down to tight portion control. It'll be a battle for sure. Shori is right, if you can weigh in the night before, then rehydrate, 17 pounds becomes WAY easier, if not more miserable for the last couple of days. If you have 24 hours to get back on track, I'd look at even dropping 7-10 pounds the last week on just water (granted, it will be WAY healthier to do the calorie work earlier, I'm not arguing that). Also, look at adding more cardio to your regimine. I know, you're boxing, you do a lot already. Add a longish, slow run every day. The idea is not to bring up your fight cardio, but to burn caloires. When I had to pull my last big weight cut (to 155) I was on the treadmill all the time, watching TV, talking to the wife, reading. ect. If I had down time, I was on the treadmill. Good luck and keep us posted.