Dazed and Confused

When you say "is not "comparable" do you mean it is a weaker style in the context of mma or just that it is different? I guess my hope was that it would be tma (JJJ) as a foundation with some other striking and grappling styles mixed in. I have to work late tomorrow so unless things change I won't get to go until the new year which is annoying.

Has anyone else noticed self defence schools are developing their own version of "business speak"- phrases that sound dynamic and exciting but are used by absolutely everyone and could mean anything- "advanced training system" for example. I think some of the ideas look pretty good- I don't know what the execution is like because I can't access any of the vids for some reason, but the stuff about facing the fear of being punched in the head etc. sounds like something that is missing from a lot of MA schools. On the other hand the photos of him teaching people to disarm gunmen look a bit irresponsible, and naming your "art" after a cheesy horror film is not the way to get credibility. I like the T shirts though.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I wanted to stick it under the noses of you grapplers! I have never grappled before (besides sumo, but I don't think that counts!) but I am looking for a club near me to train at and I'm not exactly spoiled for choice! Would you guys have a look at THIS LINK for me and tell me what you think (its very brief!)? I have never heard of freestyle jujitsu, only BJJ and JJJ. Which is this likely to be, and what are the gradings it refers to? I know there's not a great deal of information on that link, but from your experience I was hoping you might be able to guess better than me. Also, from the description of the style does it sound like I am going to get my head kicked in(it is in Darlington after all...)?! I am all for sparring and training full on but being from a TMA background the idea of being "grounded and pounded" does not appeal! Finally I have bad knees (along with 90% of the people on KF by the looks of it!), is this an issue for grappling?

Tengu-Raven I think I agree with you and YoungMan, but to clarify are you saying that rather than bounce between styles (which I confess I am currently doing, but not by choice) you should focus on one style or that you should learn a couple of styles simultaneously but stick with them?

Well I'm back in the getting started in MA section again! Having greatly enjoyed studying JKD and sumo for a while I have now moved to the North East of England where the nearest JKD school is about 2 hours away. In fact the nearest ma school of any description is about an hour away. I have lost physical condition while backpacking around the USA on the Greyhoud for two months (incidentally, thats a beautiful, wonderful country you have there, filled with some warm, friendly people- loved every second of my time out there), so I'm basically starting from scratch. I am now working a very demanding job (both time wise and sometimes physically), and the access to where I live is rubbish, so I'm not going to be able to go out trying new styles every night like I did last time. I have new found respect for all those of you working long hours and still dedicating time to your training! Anyway, I was hoping you might be able to help me narrow down the options I have here, considering the fact that I really enjoyed JKD and Sumo. I will list what I have found in the order of how near to me they are! Boxing Hapkido Kyokushin Ninjitsu Various other Karate styles Freestyle Jujitsu (For a better description go to this site. Fencing So those are my options. I enjoyed the fact that I left my JKD classes feeling like I had actually developed as a fighter after every session, and was learning practical techniques. Sumo was just great fun, and I enjoyed being able to "fight" someone without holding back yet not getting hurt (much)! Sorry for the long post, good to be back!

I agree entirely, I just lament the death of the traditional British styles such as Lancashire Catch as Catch Can and Cornish wrestling. I started to read a book the other day about how these styles were killed off by a combination of Eastern MA and professional wrestling. Unfortunately I was reading it in a book shop and they evicted me as I had already made my purchases, and now I can't find it again.

Sorry GZK I was assuming you were American for some reason. You're probably right- the immense popularity of wrestling in its various forms in other countries would probably qualify it for a spot in an international top ten. To be honest I was just voicing my own frustration at the lack of wrestling in the UK (I practice Sumo as its the only wrestling I could find!).

Just a quick point on the international perspective: wrestling in its Olympic forms is almost unheard of in the UK, which is a real shame, so it wouldn't make the top 10 over here. I've not seen many fencing schools either, but I know there are a few around. I would have put JJJ and Krav Maga in there I think.

Lower ab thrusts should be fine, but its never a good idea to rely on one exercise or the muscles might get stale. Perhaps substitute leg lifts or knee raises one day a week? As for the frogman crunch, its quite an odd exercise but my instructor swears by it. Basically get in a normal sit up position, knees bent, feet on the floor. Now press the soles of your feet together and let your knees flop outwards so they are as near to touching the floor as possible. Pull your feet as close in to your body as possible. Now in this position try to perform your sit ups as you would normally. The abdominal muscles are so isolated that you'll barely get your shoulders off the floor, but you'll really feel the burn after just a few reps. Doing sit ups in this way works the whole abdominal wall, but I would still do the lower ab stuff and the bench/military sit ups. Hope that helps!

We were working on Koshi Nage, a hip throw akin to the Hip Wheel they use in Judo, at my Sumo training on Sunday, and I am finding them really difficult. I am a lightweight and was practicing with a guy at least 25kg heavier than myself, and I really struggled to throw him. I could do it but 9 times out of ten I would go down too, my knees giving way under his weight. Also I would tend to turn the throw into a trip, as I couldn't get my partner onto my hip. My instructor told me that this technique is well known to be viable against opponents much bigger than yourself, and says he has held opponents 100kg heavier than himself on his hip with little difficulty. I was wondering if the problem might be my height? I am 6'4 and my partner was about 5'8 or so. Could this be the problem and if so how do I counter it? Just don't use the technique in competition or should I work on getting my hips as low as possible? Will i ever be able to use this technique effectively?

Lower ab roll up is simple, sometimes called a reverse sit up. You basically lie on your back with knees at a 90 degree angle as if you're about to do a normal sit up. You hold your head off the ground with your chin on your chest, then roll the hips back to bring your knees to either side of your head. Perform the slowly so as not to use too much momentum to help in the movement. yes do all the exercises in a row, to maximise fatigue to the muscles. As for cardio this will help with definition if that is something your interested in- a classic 6 pack can only really be obtained if you burn the fat covering the abdominal wall. I personally don't do much aerobic work as I don't see how it helps with MA. I prefer high intensity interval work, but it all helps.

The frogman crunch wil work the Rectus Abdominus, and the the Transverse abdominus will be worked in part by all the exercises listed. If you are worried about the transverse in isolation, which I am not, then muscle control exercises derived from maxalding and pilates are very good at working this. As for the time spent it is more than sufficient to build a foundation of strength. short explosive workouts are far more efficient than hours working the wrong exercises. If you are working on other lifts for functonal strength then your abs will be worked by these two. This does not apply to work done on machines, but lifts, gymnastic exercises and olympic lifts all engage the abdominal muscles in a way that will generate functional strength.

Neither the thrusts nor the roll ups need any equipment, and three sets of thirty of each will work your lower abs plenty. Feel free to do the weighted bench crunches as much as you like, just don't use lower rep patterns! How about this: Day 1,3 and 5: 30xfrogman crunch 30xbench crunch 10x weighted bench crunch Repeat three times Day 2 and 4: 30xlower ab thrusts 30xlower ab roll up Repeat three times Day 6 and 7: Rest That will give you good all round ab development. If you want to mix it up you can then introduce some different ab exercises to your main workout. A google search should throw up some interesting varitaions you can throw in whenever you feel like a change, but the regime above should give a good foundation.

I agree with Night Owl's points, particularly those about corruption, lack of charisma and it being seen as a "low brow" sport. Certainly at grass roots level there is no major effort put into getting people into boxing. In England I have found sort of inverse snobbery about it- if your not a working lad straight out of the council estates you get treated with suspicion. As a boxing fan myself though I think the sport is losing popularity purely because there is a lack of characters to latch on to. In the UK Ricky Hatton generates a lot of attention, but thats mainly among hardcore boxing fans. The only fighter to get more general sports fans watching is Amir Khan, but he's not fought anybody decent yet. I don't think MMA is a major factor in the UK, I've never seen it mentioned in the sports pages or on the news, and iits on very obscure tv channels. Marie Curie those are very interesting figures you quote there. Certainly put me off sky diving. Do they include fatalaties to rugby players?

From my experience people respond differently to different rep/set patterns. I find all those exercises except the hanging knee raises and the weighted bench crunch work well in 3 sets of 30. The knee raises are hard work, and your equipment will dictate how many you can do. If you have one of those slings to hold you up as you do them then you will be able to do more than if your simply hanging off a bar, as in the latter case your grip is being worked as much as your abs (no bad thing). I reccomend finding your own way with these, just work on a steady progression, doing as many as you can while keeping good form. Weighted bench crunches require just enough weight to make ten reps seem hard work. If you use a heavier weight than that you're training for size as well as strength. . I would say three sets of 10 of these. As I said though, this is what works for me, it may not work for everybody. Good luck!