tallgeese

Yes. I lift anywhere between two and four times per week depending on where we are in the year. Pre- comp, post- comp, maintenance. I think that professional fighting has been a crucible for this over the years and it's shown that higher conditioned athletes are more likely to be successful in their efforts to employ their tactics. This is true for self defense as well, even if one never steps in a ring, the more fit and conditioned one is, well, it's one more edge you have over a bad guy.

2/1 early: Drilled takedowns. Grip fighting. Randori to takedown. 40 min free roll late: leg extension superset leg curls

Welcome to KF!

Like I said, there are plenty of issues to use in training here. Another that has become important for me, is the lack of effectiveness of striking from the cop. It bears repeating here. A lot of cops, and martial artist as well, work under the "I'll just gouge his eyes out to get him to move" theory of grappling defense. If you watch, you'll notice that the cop on bottom tries a couple of times to fish hook the aggressors eye, and then tries to rake the face and eyes in an effort to get space. The efforts are easily defeated by the attacker just turning his head. That's it. The super deadly, reality use only eye gouge is defeated. It's because the cop has NO positional dominance before striking. It's a concept that no cops and very few traditional martial artists understand. Striking from negative positions is rarely, if ever, an answer to poor position. In fact, it will usually make things worse. The best way to defend this position (a position that we can easily see can and will happen) is to out grapple the bad guy.

1/31 1.5 on the treadmill abs bench flies shoulder press tricep press

1/30 am: 2 miles on the treadmill abs leg extension supersets leg curls calf raises pm: BJJ nite: Drilled pulling guard to takedown. Rounds. Drilled spider guard passing via two methods. Lift and shoot and torreando pass. Rounds. 60 min free roll. Worked tactics and positions from seminar with a really good success rate for first time in live application.

1/28 2 hour seminar with Mickey Swafford, a bb out of the Gracie lineage. Amazing experience. Great technical work. I love it when I work with someone who can point out a particular point about a movement that I've been using for years and instantly make it better. Seriously, it makes you feel like you don't know anything about the game. Drilled countering side and scarf, back mount as well. Achivieng comfort in bad spots. 40 min free roll 1/29 3 miles on treadmill pull ups rows curls one arm curls.

1/27 60 min takdown work. Singles, doubles. From clinch, break, shoot. Randori.

I went with "no" and agree with your above statement ps1. If you're training a jutsu art for combat effectiveness then everything MUST integrate. Anything that doesn't in some way push you toward this goal is superfluous and needs to go. Everything that can be supplanted by a more efficient method of training should be cut to make room for the more efficient method.

1/26 90 min free roll, rounds between three of us. GS, yes, there are perks to working where I work from time to time . The up side is that I've gotten a lot of reps with the spear, striking, takedowns and such. On the down side, I've also been thrown, beaten on, and knocked about when I was in the suit. The guys I teach CT with and I are all cool about rotating in when we're not actively training or serving in the suit. It's very conducive to getting more reps.

1/25 8 hours of CT. Ground work. Blauer suit attack and defend. Knife work defense and weaponn retention. pm: Drilled side mount to americana. Side mount variations. 45 min free roll.

I'm big on the "play to learn" philosophy. So are some waaay better people than me:

1/24 8 more hours coaching control tactics. Focused on baton, weapon retention and disarming and moved into ground avoidance and then takedown. 1.25 miles on tredmill pull ups rows curls hammer curls abs

12/23 Taught control tactics for an 8 hour block today. Managed a few reps myself. Mainly combination striking to tie up, spear. BJJ nite: Drilled double under guard pass variant. Moved on to cross side control, americana specifics and then transition to mount. 2, 4 min rounds of side v. escape. 50 min free roll.

I like the double weave. However, the "gold" or "pearl" weave that are in between are really nice as well. For daily work, the double is still my choice however.

Welcome aboard KF!

I've a a couple of Atamas over the years. I bought a size up the second time around just due to a tightness issue. The Atamas shrink something fierce, even when you wash them in cold and line dry. That said, the second Atama I ended up with is near the lop of my list of favorite gis I've had. There are a lot of good options out there. I've also hear great things about Shyoroll but don't own one. The only high dollar gi I own is a Lucky. I can say that it's easily, hands down, the best gi top I own. The pants have a history of easily falling apart. I bought my top second hand, and wouldn't spend full price on one, but the tops really are fantastic. One gi that doesn't get the accolades it deserves is the Spartan. It's affordable, holds up well, and fits great.

1/22 abs 1.5 mile run leg extension super set leg curls squats

Ran across this during my internet ramblings: http://www.cagepotato.com/awesome-story-of-the-day-guy-mezger-saved-a-woman-from-knife-wielding-scumbag-last-month/ I think there are a lot of good points to bring out in this. One being the unexpected nature of a knife being produced and the effects of the adreniline dump to keep one going if you're mindset is acceptably combative. We can learn from this too in the sense that follow up control might have been useful. We, as in the martial arts community, often talk about dropping someone and escaping. Obviously this wasn't the case here, and might not be for a lot of people that have to deploy their skills. Maybe it's the LEO in me talking, but it bears repeating for everyone. If you've seized an advantage and can't leave, maybe attaining a good, dominating posture on the opponant is warranted while he's out. It's a point to consider that get's overlooked repeatedly. Great outcome on this one, great tactics by an excellent fighter. Let's all learn from it not just high five over it. At least it should spark some thought and discussion for those who really look at the possibilities of being involved in an altercation.

I would argue that that is also true in the other two phases as well. You still need that same hierarchy in grappling and clinch range as well. It's what's called positional dominance. Fight or flight is also a choice, depending on how you structure your strategy from the clinch (break, grapple standing, or takedown) and the ground (work for position and leave or position and fight). I'm a big proponent of grappling looked at thru a positional dominance lens. Reading Renzo's work make me look at it out in the clinch and free motion as well. I initially thought it was a slight grappling bent GS; however, the more I think about it, I'm not so sure. For instance, the theory clearly indicates that why ranges in and of themselves aren't a cohesive theory of combat is because striking can occur in clinch and grappling as well. For instance, punching clearly functions in the clinch, not just elbows. And strikes while grappling has evolved into it's own sub form of mma. Likewise, grappling can be induced during free movement's kicking range simply by an extended range shot without dealing with intermediary striking weapons.

I've been working through Henzo Gracie's manual "Mastering Jiu Jitsu", which is a fantastic book. On a quick side note, this book gets panned by reviewers on Amazon and other sites due to its perceived"basic" technique. I'll skip on the argument that this is the most important aspect of anything and move on to my main counter to the poor review. Over half of this book is the thoughts of one of the great jiu jitsu players and mma innovators on combat. It's the history of a modern art which traces roots back to the classic arts of Japan. It's fantastic on so many levels beyond the smaller sections of technique. Read it. One of the most intriguing points he makes is that the idea of ranges of combat as traditionally conceived; kicking, punching, in fighting, grappling, ect., are ineffective conceptually. His argument is that modern mma competition has shown us that effective striking (kicking or punching) can occur at any range and that ranges can be closed so quickly that the traditional delineations are immaterial. He argues that one will (and should) seek tactics that one's physiology and skill set can make work, not based on what "range" one is in. He views three phases of combat as more important. Free movement, the clinch, and grappling. These constitute a realistic look at unarmed combat more than the concept of ranges. Of this, only the free movement phase relies on any concept of ranges. I think it's an interesting concept. One I had not thought of. I, like most people I would assume, came up considering the concept of ranges as a model of combat. After a couple of days of deliberation, I can see this. It at least deserves contemplation. I tend to agree with his hypothesis after testing it and thinking about it. However, I do think that keeping up the idea of ranges as they pertain to the free movement phase is important not just for training in the outer phase of combat but for training methodology. Any thoughts?

Herschel will be a problem after the massacre at the barn. I think the question is how. Does he go off the reservation? Go homicidal? Shane will be a problem in light that it was his actions that kicked off the whole incident at the barn. They've got to deal with that. I'm wondering if this is where the show will catch up to the book in regards to Shane. It's an excellent scene in the book, would be in the show as well, especially considering how much they've built up the relationship there. Finally, I'm looking forward to seeing how/ why they leave the farm. I'm expecting all out zombie horde disaster. Anything less will disappoint.

1/21 early: 10 min takedown work 10 min rounds back mount v. escape 10 min rounds side v. escape 45 min free roll, round robins late: abs bench shoulder press lateral raises push ups

Early in my career is was Sir. After so many years, it's a first name basis by and large. As for the mma and BJJ I"ve done since then it's always first name.