Wastelander

Well done, Drew! It looks like you kept your guard a bit wide and invited his jab straight in, but the hook-clinch-throw progression worked out very well--I love a good throw in MMA! I will admit that I was a bit concerned when you stayed in the scarf hold position up against the fence and he started working that escape to take your back, but you recovered well. It's not very often you see someone put to sleep by a Guillotine, too, so good on you! Hopefully my amateur debut this year goes as smoothly. Thanks for sharing!

Well, you could just ask what kyu rank you currently are--that would tell you what the next rank you will be testing for is. Honestly, that is more useful than the belt color until you get to shodan, because everybody arranges the colors differently until then, but they typically have a similar kyu level structure. Of course, rank isn't actually all that important unless you want to teach someday and have "credentials" so you don't really need to know what rank you will test for next. Just keep training and you will get there eventually, wherever "there" happens to be

I believe that depends on your organization and dojo. If you are a green belt and just had to demonstrate Saifa for that ranking, I would guess that you would be testing for a brown belt ranking--maybe sankyu (3rd kyu)--when you test with Seiunchin. I had to learn and demonstrate Seiunchin to earn my sankyu rank in Shuri-Ryu, but since it wasn't Goju-Ryu I can't say how accurate that is. You would be best served by asking your sensei

I have never studied Uechi-Ryu, but I do find it to be a very interesting art and I have read up on its history a bit. I have also watched quite a few videos and documentaries on it. The tactics and techniques are often quite different from the ones that we use in Shorin-Ryu, but I have incorporated several of the ones that are similar because I find them to be quite useful. Would you be willing to share some of your insights on the style, its kata, its bunkai, and its overall methods?

Is there proof to these claims? You lose range of motion by not stretching. Guys with big, strong legs can still kick high; Van Damme comes to mind. Wesley Snipes and Michael Jai White are big guys, too, but they kick well. I'm sure there are many more I am missing, but you can see big guys compete in the old K-1s, and they had some big, strong legs, too. Still kick high and kick well. I assume that you are referring to me saying "there might be a point where you get too bulky to move quickly"? If so, I can tell you that I don't have proof, which is why I said "might"--I have known a couple people who bulked up and got slower, but that's all. Just an anecdotal observation and musing on my part . I definitely agree that being muscular doesn't make you slow, I was merely thinking out loud that there may be a point of diminishing returns.

Normally, when you do uchi-mata, your body is in front of the person you are throwing. When you do tai otoshi, your body is slightly to the side of the person you are throwing. A side-step uchi-mata is, basically, doing an uchi-mata from the same place you would do a tai otoshi. There is a little more to it than that when it comes to how you use your arms, but it works well on bent-over people. It should land you in their half-guard.

I would highly recommend that you seek proper instruction for iron body training, because there is a lot that goes into doing it properly. You don't necessarily need to learn it from Chinese martial artists, however, if they are not available where you live. Goju-Ryu or Uechi-Ryu karate instructors can also teach a variation of iron body training, and it is typically one of the first things they teach.

Ultimately, it is your instructor's decision what color belt you wear. If he/she wants you to wear a white belt, then you should, but I would think you would progress through the ranks again fairly quickly if you pick it back up easily. If your instructor wants you to wear your rank, then go ahead and wear it but make sure that people understand that you've had quite a long break or they will expect you to be as knowledgeable and skilled as everyone else wearing that color belt. If your instructor does tell you to wear a white belt again, don't worry about it. Martial arts training is a life-long journey, so it really doesn't matter what color your belt is or how long it takes you to progress from one rank to another, as long as you keep training .

Well, I have trained in judo, not BJJ, but the BJJ people that I have grappled with have a tendency to grab me and pull guard or immediately shoot for double- or single-leg takedowns. When they don't get those, they tend to have a rather bent-over posture that lines them up perfectly for a side-step uchi-mata or a tai otoshi. As I said, though, I don't train in BJJ and I don't grapple with BJJ people on a regular basis, so take my advice on this with a grain of salt. If a side-step uchi-mata or a tai otoshi will work for you, then use it, and if not, don't .

Congratulations! Tournaments can be pretty stressful, so it's always more fun when you come out with an award for all your hard work

Some instructors don't see much point in ceremony when it comes to belt ranks--especially lower ranks. From the instructor's point of view, they are testing you every single day. They see how you progress from day one, and they know when you are ready to be grouped with the rank above the one you are currently at. The test is often a formality, because they already know you can pass it, and ceremony only makes sense if there is a collection of people to witness it.

To some extent, I would call myself experienced. In martial arts, I am more experienced than my kohai, and less experienced than my senpai and instructors, and outside of our dojo there are thousands upon thousands of people I am less experienced than. There are also some things about the martial arts that I have less experience in, or no experience in. It all really depends on how you view it

Happy birthday!

I'm afraid I tend to workout with a very loose plan--I make sure to get in a few things that I feel I need to do, and everything else happens on a whim--so I may not be much help. I can list the exercises I include in my workouts, though. Some of it would fall under "functional" and some of it would not, but I would argue that all of it supports a function of my martial arts. Kata (sometimes Sanchin or Seiunchin while gripping 5lb plates) Makiwara Chi-ishi exercises (several variations) Bagwork and/or mitts (depending on whether I have a partner or not) Push-ups (several variations) Pull-ups (several variations) Dips Lunges with punches or kicks Fighter press (pressing forward while staying in a fighting stance) Punches with resistance bands or weights Sit-ups or vee-sits with punches Weighted crunches or weighted twisting sit-ups (currently a 25lb plate) Kettlebell swings (several variations) Medicine ball overhead toss and slams Squat jumps and/or barbell-weighted squats Barbell rows Deadlifts Overhead press Bench press (sometimes barbell and sometimes alternating-arm dumbbell) Punches with hikite (chamber) on the cable crossover machine

As Harlan mentioned, most Okinawan systems will have him progress from bo to sai. Those two weapons are kind of like partners in kobudo, since they were the primary weapons of the Pechin class. In fact, there are some kobudo systems that ONLY teach bo and sai. There is nothing wrong with kama, if trained properly--I actually prefer them to sai, personally--but most people do seem train with them for their flashiness. If he wants a weapon that builds on what he has learned from bo, then the eku (oar/paddle) would be a good progression.

Personally, I used to do only "functional movement" strength training and bodyweight exercises. I did get stronger than I was, of course, but I have gotten stronger still since adding barbell training (based on StrongLifts 5x5, actually), and I haven't gotten any slower. Now I do a combination of the two, and it seems to be working quite well for me. There might be a point where you get too bulky to move quickly, regardless of whether that bulk is muscle or fat, but I don't think I have the body type to pack on that much muscle and as long as I train to promote fast-twitch muscle fiber development, I should maintain/improve my speed, regardless. I've seen plenty of very muscular people who are very fast, so it can certainly be done.

I practice at least some of my kata every single day--typically, I try to get through Naihanchi, Passai, and Kusanku. Although it may not be as efficient, I just practice things as the mood strikes me throughout the day, rather than setting aside time specifically to practice and make a workout out of it. My kihon I do practice outside of class, but not on any sort of regular basis--I help with 3-6 basic classes per week, and I get extra kihon practice at that time.

Water should be sufficient, unless you are training for a long time (more than 1-2 hours) at a high level of intensity. At that point, eating about half a banana every half hour, or so, will replenish the electrolytes, sugars, and nutrients that you are losing. Natural is better than artificial, if you can manage it . If you have to have a sports drink instead of eating the banana, for some reason, I prefer SoBe Lifewater Zero to the "-aide" drinks.

Great article--thanks for sharing! We are actually in the process of buying a house, so I will get to set up my garage as a training area, so this was well-timed

I previously trained in Shuri-Ryu, which is an eclectic karate style founded in the 1950's by Robert Trias. I still practice the kata that I learned in that system, and the basics gave me a solid base to work from, but I no longer practice the short forms (ippon kumite kata, taezu naru waza, and kihon kumite kata). I currently train in Shorin-Ryu, as part of the Shorinkan organization headed by Shugoro Nakazato. My sensei is very open-minded, though, and has experience in several other systems, so at this point I mostly just practice a more general "karate" and we call it Shorin-Ryu because we still teach the standards for that system.

Sounds like you are making good progress! If you are on the topic of sparring, you have a lot of things you can cover! I think you should be sure to include knockdown sparring and MMA sparring, if you can

A heavy bag doesn't really promote precision--they are quite large and bulky, after all. You can get around that by drawing targets on it, but that isn't a perfect option because there isn't a physical difference between hitting the targets and missing them. A makiwara does require some accuracy, but since it doesn't move at all it isn't the best option, either. Both will strengthen your knuckles and the structure of your punches, but so will knuckle pushups, as JusticeZero mentions. There are lots of options, really, but you have to find what fits you best. For precision on the cheap, a tennis ball on a string is hard to beat. A BOB is also very useful if you are wanting to work on your precision with regards to specific strikes. Focus mitts are a great addition, as well, but you mentioned you don't have partners for that. For developing power, it's hard to beat the heavy bag and the makiwara, but I prefer to use both instead of just one. A makiwara can be made fairly cheaply, and a heavy bag can be found fairly cheaply through online classifieds.

I remember being quite proud of myself when I passed my yellow belt test in judo, but I also wasn't nervous about it until I stepped on the mat . If they are having you test, then you know all the material--the real trick is connecting the Japanese terms to the techniques! I remember training with a guy who was really good, but it took him a very, very long time to get promoted in rank because the instructor would call out the technique to demonstrate and he would do the wrong one because he didn't memorize the names. Good luck on your test! I look forward to hearing how it goes--and maybe you can get someone to record it for you!

While I have a background in judo, and I am definitely a proponent of learning to fall, I can't recommend our method of falling for JusticeZero. His martial art does just fine at dealing with falling, even if they go about it differently than we do--check out some videos and you will see what I mean!

I highly recommend researching Dillman's history and claims. With pressure points in grappling, they can be useful against some people, although since BJJ doesn't allow striking, for the most part, you are a bit limited. I routinely use the pressure points of the calf, inner thigh, ribcage, and neck during grappling. They aren't fight-finishers that are going to make your partner tap out, but they do help get them to move where you want them and create openings.