Liver Punch

I think the guard is in the same place exactly as 15 years ago: against people who don't train it, you can close it and attack off your back safely and effectively. Against people who do train it, you can use it to avoid punishment until you can move yourself to a more advantageous position. When the first UFC happened, it wasn't the first time the guard had been used - just the first time that the masses had seen it being used against fighters from other arts on PPV. Against game opponents, you will probably see a lot more active guard, use of modified guards and open guards, but against laymen...it's the same old story.

I think that in our system (Myself, Tallgeese, Masterpain, Groin Strike) we wear our black belts to schools within the same organization even though the arts are different. If we aren't affiliated with them, we wear a white belt. Even then, if I'm not in our dojo, I don't feel 100% comfortable wearing my black belt. I feel that choosing to wear a white belt in another school is the same thing as saying "I'm here to learn and will attempt to pretend to not knowing anything unless you teach me." For me, putting on that white belt is just a sign of respect and the willingness to learn. Having respect and self-control pretty much eliminates the need to be wearing a black belt anyhow. I don't need someone to show me respect based solely on belt color, nor will I "beat people up" because I'm more skilled than they are.

Suplex to suplex to suplex? Dan Severn did it...

It's a tough one to set up against an opponent who has grabbing you and dragging you to the ground in mind. Another big concern of mine is accidentally hitting my opponent in the groin. In an MMA fight against someone with a tight stance, I shy away from inside leg kicks - it only takes on on the cup to end a fight prematurely.

In my opinion, the most important attribute of any strike is its ability to be the most effecient and effictive manner of reaching a specific target. The role of circular attacks for me then, are to reach places and to enter at angles that a straight strike would not allow.

I don't do anything with a barbell if I don't have to, dumbbells get the core involved a little more and are a bit handier in my opinion. I seem to get a lot more out of body-weight exercises and general fitness type stuff than I do out of lifting weights.

6/6/12: 1 Hour of MMA wall work & no-gi grappling BJJ Practice: Half Hour of Fundamental Guard Sweeps and a half hour of free roll Muay Thai: 1 hour of technical striking/conditioning followed by about 20 minutes of instructing my new (to the chagrin of my wife) female "understudy." See if you can get me Michael Winslow's autograph.

Speaking of range time, I've been putting in plenty indoors, but they tell me firing a shotgun indoors is dangerous. I'm planning on bringing it home, so perhaps we can get an hour or two in some morning.

If an adult wrestling program exists in the area, that would be number 1 on my list. Beyond that would be BJJ, Judo/Sambo, and Krav Maga

Currently, and this certainly fluctuates, I'm spending about 12-14 hours per week working on technique, sparring, etc. and about 4-6 hours per week working on conditioning by itself. Maintaining a good diet, getting plenty of rest, and making sure I have a dedicated recovery day is crucial to keeping this kind of schedule up long-term. If you take care of your body and can avoid suffering from burn-out, I think you'll be just fine at three times a week.

I remember Peterson's SCARS books in the old Johnson Smith junk magazines back in the day. They also sold the first two Paul Vunak books, which were probably a better investment.

Removing patches is, if nothing else, a huge pain in the butt. What's the lineage of the new school? When our gym over here switched from Ribeiro to Monteiro, it made a huge difference for the good in my opinion. It's amazing to see the differences in evolution of a sport/art that's less than 3 generations old.

For what it's worth (and I'm certainly not a "normal" person in any sense of the word) I couldn't put on much for muscle as a teenager. I could lose weight, and I could gain muscular endurance like crazy, but packing on muscle and making huge gains in the weight room just wasn't something that happened for me. By my estimations, I hit "16 years old" when I was about 24. That aside, I can't stress how important it is that if anyone is going to spend time in the weight room, that they avoid the "1980's style meatheads." There's still plenty of weigh rooms out there with a group of guys in it that do things without any regard to modern knowledge or training techniques. Doing nothing but bench press and steroids for 8 hours a day isn't a good recipe for fitness.

I can tell you what "to kill with one blow" doesn't mean to me: To use multiple techniques in the process of not killing someone. If your "one blow" doesn't kill anyone, it's not much of a death blow. Perhaps something is lost in translation...

I'm in charge of our certificates, and the good new is that once they're set up, things get really easy. I recommend doing the final print on something like 100 lb. card stock paper, and get it done at Kinkos. (the print quality of their equipment is much better, and they can print further into the margins than a home printer typically can) Off the top of my head, I believe our certificates say something along the lines of the following: Be it known that (Blank line for a name) Has fullfilled the requirements of (blank line for their new rank) in the art of Bujin Bugei Jutsu And then we have at least one signature line (more for ranks past 1st dan) and a line for the date

I think he's shown he's capable of looking phenomenal in fights outside of the UFC. He embarrassed himself in the Bisping fight and again last night. For not bringing his "A game" two times in a row - or even his "B Game" for that matter, I think Dana White made the right call. It's got everything to do with performance, or the lack thereof.

It's that Sensei you've got...he enjoys a bit of excessive force from time to time. I'm sure this is something that Alex dealt with (and perhaps still deals with) when he started. In my day to day environment, the option to use force has arisen several times, and I have yet to take advantage of that option. For me, it comes down to reminding myself that I'm here to help these people, and that whether or not they know it, they want my help. A LEO out in public is dealing with way more variables than I am, and the situation is obviously not as secure. Still, you've got a good head on your shoulders (assuming your brain jelly hasn't been thinned out due to trauma) and I think you fully understand the difference between life and death situations, and situations that warrant control. As a police officer, the option to use the appropriate amount of force is certainly there, and I think it's understood by all parties involved. While there may be varying amounts of paperwork to go along with the varying amount of force, you're given the option in good faith that you'll make the right call. I think most of the situations that we go through there while training are done so with an understanding of life or death consequences and often under more arduous circumstances. Back when the school had kids classes, dealing with less dangerous threats was something that considerable time was spent on. Nine year old yellow belts weren't allowed to play with knives, guns, and flying armbars...we had to learn how to dispel or control threats without excess violence. People who joined us later and moved straight into the advanced class got only a crash-course in minor violence before being introduced to "the fun stuff." As you you close in on the eventuality of testing for black belt in the system, I'm voting that your potential change in career be reflected in your test. The idea that our art can be changed and modified to fit the individual is often applied to body type and other physical attributes. It goes further than that though. Beyond the core value of being able to defend one's self is to be able to apply it to your circumstances. In Alex, and perhaps your case, the art should be adjusted to be applied to your job of law enforcement. For someone like this, instead of a black belt test being a brutal day-long exercise in death and destruction...it should be a brutal day-long exercise in shooting, use of force, controlling someone, identifying threats, and trying to get a statement from someone who's been hit with a "smoodie." (inside joke) In short: change the purpose and focus of your training. I think the end result will look the same as what you're doing now, minus simulated dead bodies.

I'll second this, and I think that toughness in this context is really just a "manly" way of saying discipline. Contact martial arts, from technique to conditioning, is just a big exercise in discipline. Being disciplined enough to learn the technique is step one. Being disciplined enough to get your body into really good shape might be step two. The final step is being and learning how to be disciplined enough to apply that technique through conditioning. A lot of guys look good on the pads, bags, and shadowboxing - and a lot of guys can take a big shot and keep going. The goal of sparring with more realistic contact, is to reach the stage when getting hit results in legitimate technique and intelligent counters as opposed to angry hay-makers. A group of civilian competitive target shooters can out-shoot most military platoons, but which one would you rather walk into a war zone with?

And here I was using it to get intoxicated...

I'll fight any member of those no-good Montana Revellers.... I think matching uniforms are a lot more important in styles that offer hard, military-style discipline. Everyone looking the same helps with discipline, and keeps it looking nice and neat. This might also be quite desirable in a children's class. For adults and more relaxed arts, I don't think it matters either way. I'm not sure that the art I come from produces less-quality martial now than it did 15 years ago. In that time things have moved from pretty regimented to quite relaxed and non-formal. My guess is that our rate of producing quality guys has an identical percentage now as it did then. Ultimately, for me anyhow, it's not about impressing people that come to watch a workout or a competition - it's about attracting those few guys who are going to put in hard work, be disciplined, and stick with the art long enough to be good martial artists.

I think his downfall was throwing all those wild hooks. Although, it was quite fun to watch.

Just dropped his third loss in a row in the UFC. Between that and his age, he's probably done in MMA. He's competed in Olympic wrestling qualifiers, ADCC, and is a student of pretty much every form of grappling on Earth. Groin Strike and I had the honor of going through a grappling class with him at Xtreme Couture and the he was among the nicest guys I've ever met in my life. I certainly hope he continues his career in grappling with more ADCC and the like. If you'd like to be entertained and can find his fight with Jamie Varner, you certainly won't be disappointed.

It's your training partner/opponent's job. That's the end of it. Period. Ok, not exactly. We're going to assume that because you're asking this question, you're not some sort of unsavory person. That's a good thing - congratulations. There are a few different situations that you'll probably run into in which people won't tap. 1. You're training with someone who doesn't know he's in trouble. Let up once you know you have the submission and let him know what happened. He'll be happy that you didn't break any of his bones, and he can learn something from the situation. 2. You're training with someone who does know he's in trouble, but he's too "proud" to "give up." If you know you're a half inch from breaking something, let the submission go and give yourself a mental pat on the back. Move to another position and lock something up. When I have to train with guys like this I either won't roll with them, or I just go into positions that aren't submissions but are wildly uncomfortable. If they're paying gym dues to suffer instead of learn, it doesn't bother me to oblige them. 3. You're in some sort of competition and the guy has no clue what's happening to him. I once locked up a North-South Kimura on a guy at an annual karate tournament that had just added grappling that year. He knew he was in pain but had either forgotten how to tap, or thought his best option was to fight it. I had it locked, it was in position, and the next step was breaking something. I calmly looked up at the referee and informed him that I was about to cause some serious damage. The referee stopped it and awarded me the win without any complaints from my opponent. I believe that in major grappling tournaments, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) you're either awarded the win or some serious points for locking up a submission. At that point you've either won or majorly took the lead - let it go and move on to something else. 4. You're in a fight. Tell him to stop resisting or you'll break his arm/leg/whatever. Repeat this statement. If you can't defend yourself without breaking something, I wouldn't hesitate doing so. You've done him a bigger favor than he was willing to do for you by giving him the option to solve things peacefully. As for putting someone to sleep...anyone with a blue belt or darker should know enough to tap. I wouldn't hesitate to give them a nap.

I love the concept of predicting something such a forcible felony. Step 1: Determine that there is a problem Step 2: Determine that the problem places you in danger Step 3: Identify a target Step 4: Weigh all available evidence as though the target were on trial Step 5: Identify if said evidence is enough to place the target in a correctional facility for more than 1 year Step 6: Use the appropriate amount of force based on steps 1-5.

I think it's important, at a certain point, to have group of people that you know understand the reality of the situation. Once you've established that everyone involved is of sound mind and has no desire to go out and hurt someone, you no longer have to talk about the downside of a fight. At that point it's all "strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir" to help build them into something effective in an actual fight. I think there's a real distinction between the mindset in which you teach/train based on individual people. There are 10 year old kids who understand appropriate force better than 40 year old police officers. Perhaps instead of separating classes by age and content, we should just separate them by maturity level.