Rich67

That's terrible news. There is nothing worse than getting injured while training while doing something you enjoy and is fun for you. A torn muscle or tendon?? Which one? If you tore your muscle, I hope you are getting some medical attention for it! Same goes for tendons! If it just pulled, ice it and take it easy for a few weeks and you'll be good to go. I tore my ACL MCL and partially tore my meniscus in my right knee playing deck hockey. That was a miserable thing. But I am rolling around in my BJJ class and not having any problems. It'll get better, and you'll be right back into it....have faith!

A lot of people fail to realize that BJJ teaches a lot of stand up submissions and clinches as well, where you can strike from if you are versed in a striking art. Even BJJ tells people not to take a fight to the ground unless conditions dictate it is beneficial. In a multiple attacker situation this isn't prudent.

God vid. Thanks for that!

Jean-Jacques has been training Norris since I was training in California under UFAF. Gad...that had to have been way back in the early-mid eighties. I remember going to one of the Machado dojos on Ventura Boulevard with a buddy of mine to train. I attended only a few classes, but when I was there I remember seeing norris training there. It was strange, seeing Norris as a student there, when he was the one I took my black belt test in front of not a year or so before this. They have had a long relationship, Norris and the Machados. My sensei in UFAF, Roger LACombe, was currently working closely with Jean_jacues in a self defense program called "Fit to Defend". The whole UFAF and Machado system has had a long-standing relationship with Norris. It's kind of like the "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" system, and I think it is awesome.

BJJ is not recommended for multiple attackers. This question always bothers me too. What situation would you be in if you were to get involved in a fight with multiple attackers? Why would you even think you could singlehandedly take on 2 or even 3 people?? That is just called a "bad decision". You have to know when a fight is not winnable. A fight with 2-3 people puts the odds in the other's favor. If you must defend yourself in a situation such as this, and it is unavoidable, I always liked the philosophy my San Soo instructor taught: Go after the biggest guy and hurt him bad. Punch him in the throat, kick him in the groin, or take him down quickly and hope he hits his head on the pavement. Then, you have evened up the playing field at least. But if you feel that your skills are no match for the people you are up again, beat feet and live to fight another day.

Hey Nuts. I am 38 (will be 39 in OCtober), so I can shed some light on this topic for you. My metabolism started taking a dump a few years ago, so I assume you may be there too. One thing to remember, the older you get, the less empty calorie foods you should be eating. Everything you eat has to benefit you, so here's my rule of thumb: 1) Breakfast: high fiber cereal with skim milk. Cup of orange Juice, multivitamins, water, and fish oil supplement. 2) Snack: Protein bar or granola bar. 3) Lunch: Lean meat, veggies, and rice. Fist-sized portion of each. Iced Tea (unsweet) to drink. 4) Pre workout: Piece of fruit, big container of water. 5) Post workout: Protein shake with milk and bannana. (Within an hour) 6) Dinner: Depends...if I am full after the workout shake, that's it. I'll usually have a yogurt before sleeping. Drink a lot of water all day, either plain or with Crystal Light. In addition to your MA workouts, do cardio during the week, 30-40 mins of moderate 80% of target heartrate work. This will eliminate the flab if you have it. Weight workouts should also be in there somewhere, unless you do a lot of calisthenics in class. Make sure you have two back-to-back recovery days in there somewhere. I am 6' and 205, and at 12% bodyfat. Not bad for an older guy, soon to be 40.

I have to have music when I lift and run. My MP3 player has Cauterize, Dead Poetic, Revolvo, Nature Living, Sex Machineguns (japanese metal), Underoath (local screamo hardcore band), Foo Fighters, Funeral For a Friend, and Boy Sets Fire.

^Good advice. DO NOT do weighted pullups until you can comfortably do 12 or more regular pullups in a set. Also, try using the assisted pullup machine (if your gym has one), and gradually decrease the assisted weight weekly. Once you can crank out a couple reps on your own, you should stay on it and keep progressing each time. Pullups require bicep strength, lat strength, and trap strength. It also requires balance and overall muscle control (so you don't swing too much). Work on these muscles more, but make sure you do the pullups as the first exercise...doing them after the "isolation" exercises will only hinder your progress. Watch your form on the lat pulldowns...don't use your back to pull the weight down. Because if you are doing that much weight on a lat pull and cant do one pullup, I'm thinking your form is incorrect or you are using too much upper body momentum to yank that weight down.

You will naturally get stronger doing BJJ. And it is more functional strength than what you get with weight training. Strength is a factor, but BJJ helps put it on a somewhat level playing field. If you sink a good rear naked choke, you can still tap someone out if you have good technique and not much strength. But you may have to work harder, since some of the stronger guys can muscle out of a hold you have on them. I can do this with some of the smaller guys, but they always have something in their bag that catches me...sometimes.

I agree, form was probably part of the issue. But I disagree with you saying the bench is the greatest exercise out there. Bench (flat) is actually not a true gauge of strength; deadlifts are. Flat bench is actually not practical for functional strength. Incline is more practical due to the direction of the pressing movement. Repetetive use injuries can be had by doing pushups alone, true, but benching with extreme weight hastens rotator cuff injuries and ligament issues...ask any doctor who does sports medicine for a career... they'll tell you that is true. Heavy resistance benching exercise is the culprit in most shoulder injuries. Whether that be from form or not, can be debatable. I know a guy who benched 450 at his prime, and competed in some tournaments, and now he's lucky if he can push 305 without any pain. His form was ideal, if you ask me. I have yet to talk to a guy who is debilitated due to pushups. Here's a good article for you benchers: http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=26 Just do it, but do it safe and correct.

Bas Rutten!

I maxed out at 275 one rep, and I weighed 190 at the time (when I was about 34 years old). I no longer bench; my shoulders are messed up because of it. Don't place too much of an emphasis on benching. If you overdo it, you will end up with chronic shoulder problems later in life. I am 38 years old now, and I benched a 1 rep max the other day for the hell of it, and got 240. Not bad for a guy who does nothing but pushups, dips, and dumbbell presses. I don't bother with flat barbell bench press anymore.

I love hanging leg raises. Or knee raises using the dip bars.

Royce lost that fight because he had refused to adapt along with the new UFC's rules and fighters. He still firmly and honestly believed that BJJ was the end-all of martial arts. Hughes showed him this was not the case. Since he introduced BJJ to the world in the early UFC, fighters have learned his art, adapted it to the UFC, and learned more about it than Royce could have imagined. What he did for martial arts and the UFC can never be understated. He is still a legend and always will be. The new fighters are more well rounded than the UFC fighters of old. Tank Abbott? The guy is a has-been. He's fighting in Pride and looks pathetic. The guys these days that are at the top of the game are Ortiz, Franklin, Hughes, and Liddel. They are ideal and well-rounded UFCers, IMO. Any one of those guys would have given Royce a beating, sorry to say. Royce needs to work on his stand-up game (take some Muay Thai) and also put some muscle on his bones. He wasn't ready for Hughes and what he threw at him, and if he wants to come back like he said and impress, he needs to be much more powerful.

It's hard to "gain muscle while losing fat". Those are two different types of programs that can conflict with each other. Hudson put it the best. Do a bulking phase to gain the muscle, then hit the cardio with an easier weight lifting plan to lose the fat. You will lose the fat quicker since you have extra muscle to assist with calorie burning. But to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time can only be accomplished easily by taking steroids. Bruce did a lot of cardio, and a lot of unconventional weight training- bodyweight exercises, machine work, etc. Bruce had good muscular definition but wasn't seriously muscular-in the sense of the word- he just looked that way because he had seriously low bodyfat.