Countering Low Kick Defense

Found this video the other day and wanted to share it with you guys.

It's from Dustin Johnson out of Acadiana Muay Thai in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Very good stuff:

Shoulder Health for Fighters

A lot of  fighters spend most of their time worrying about improving those attributes that make them a better fighter - like strength, speed, reaction time, etc... But very few spend much time thinking about the correction of muscle imbalances and the injuries that are associated with those imbalances.

This is a shame since muscle imbalances are extremely common among martial artists and these imbalances can lead to injury. Obviously, injuries will take you away from your training and that'll keep you from progressing and competing

Nobody wants that.

Among the most common places for a fighter to experience muscle imbalance and injury is the shoulder girdle. So, in this post, I'm going to share with you some strategies and exercises I use to my shoulders and the shoulders of those I work with healthy and strong.

Fighter's Tabata Drill

To be an effective fighter you need to develop many different skill sets and physical attributes. In addition to highly developed striking ability, grappling skills, and reaction & timing, you also need to have solid levels of physical strength and power as well as superior anaerobic power and aerobic endurance.

Today I'd like to talk with you about a simple, but very hard drill for developing both aerobic and anaerobic benefits: Tabata Intervals.

 Originally developed for Japanese Olympic speed skaters, Tabata style interval sessions can be an excellent method for fighters to utilize - if used properly. The tabata is a very short, but highly intense interval session developed by professor Izumi Tabata and speed skating coach Irasawa Koichi.

In this post I want to share with you why and how I utilize tabatas in my own training and with the fighters I work with.

How Useful is MMA in a Street Fight?

photo credit: andriuXphoto via photopin cc

Recently I was reading an article by a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner titled, Why Jiu-Jitsu is Not Suitable for Street Fighting. It got me thinking and,obviously, it reanimates the old dead-horse debate of whether or not combat sports are useful in the streets.

I've taken part in quite a few of these debates in the past. Typically they devolve into name calling, whining, and absurd claims/assertions. For the last couple of years I've avoided such discussions like the plague.

At the same time, though, it's still a topic many people are very interested in. And not just the protectors of various martial arts or combat sports. Beginners, who are new to the martial arts world, are genuinely interested in whether or not MMA is as effective in the street as it is seems in the cage.

The answer is not as cut and dry as some in the martial arts world would have you believe.

Simple Focus Mitt Drill - The 8 Count

Wanted to show you guys a basic focus mitt drill, we use at Raja Academy Muay Thai here in Greenville, SC.

 


The 8 Count Drill -

How to Improve Your Shitty Kicks (in 3 Steps)!

For a lot of guys, kicking does not come naturally and they tend to focus on punching. The result is many fighters do not fully develop their kicking ability.

This is a damn shame.

Delivered properly, kicks are devastating weapons that can be used to beat your opponent into submission or knock him out in one shot. You can't truly consider yourself a "well rounded fighter" without fully developing your kicks.

If you're ready to get your ass in gear and fully develop your kicking ability, here's my 3 step plan that'll give you awesome kicks in no time!

Basic Muay Thai Pad Drill

Thai Pads are an essential training tool for any fighter. If you aren't using them, then you need to start - now.

If you're new to using thai pads and you want some good drills to get you started then you can certainly find some great examples on Youtube.

But I also want to share a video of one of the thai pad drills we use at Raja Muay Thai Academy here in Greenville, SC.

It's a great beginners drills that'll get you started on the right track.

How to Combine Swings and the Heavy-Bag for a Kick-Ass Workout!

I'm always looking for ways to save time when training.

In addition to my day job, family life, and social/community obligations I also have to juggle networking, blogging, and find the time to train and workout.

I get the impression that a lot of martial artists and fighters are having similar issues.

So, I want to share with you guys one of my favorite workouts. It combines two tools every fighter should be using: the heavy-bag and kettlebells.

Fedor vs. Dan Henderson

"People know me...I'm very important.
I have many leather-bound books and
my apartment smells of rich mahogany."

So....have you guys heard of the is guy, Fedor Emelianenko?


Yeah, he's kind of a big deal.


If you've been living under a rock, Fedor is a MMA fighter. In fact, he's (arguably) one of the top heavyweight fighters in the world.


Here's a partial list of the fighters Fedor had taken down:


Heath Herring
Antonio Nogueria
Mark Coleman
Mirko "Cro Cop"
Matt Lindland
Hong-Man Choi
Tim Sylvia
Andre Arlovski


Fedor is an amazing and exciting fighter to watch. (more after the jump)

Frank Shamrock's MMA Kettlebell Circuits.

So, I was digging around the Dragon Door articles section this morning and found an article detailing Frank Shamrock's strength and conditioning training as he prepared for Strikeforce: Shamrock vs Gracie.

In this bout, Shamrock knocked Gracie out 20 seconds into Round 1 - pretty impressive!

Now, the article (which was written in 2006) doesn't really do a great job explaining how fighters can utilize the training described to maximum effect. So, in this post I want to clarify why and when fighters should use these kettlebell circuits in their own training.

Anderson Silva's Front Kick Knocks Out Vitor Belfort!

I'm a little late on this one...but, man, this is one AWESOME kick!



It was more like a "jab"-type of kick than a push kick.

Definitely hit Belfort on the button!

Train Hard,
Josh Skinner

GSP vs Josh Koscheck At UFC 124!!!

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/6-Fights-Official-for-UFC-124-27520


6 Fights are now official @ UFC 124. I'm still only excited about seeing GSP fight.



Josh Skinner (donjitsu2)

Does MMA Have Crappy Strikers?

So, Sherdog.com recently featured this answer to a reader’s comment/question on their site:

The Doggy Bag: One of These Days.

As you can see the reader talks about the “lack” of striking skill in MMA. With a few notable exceptions (Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, and Georges St. Pierre come to mind) there really aren’t that many “great” strikers in Pro MMA right now. I think there are a few factors that have led up to this current situation.

From the very beginning the MMA has been dominated by grapplers. With Royce Gracie's early domination of the UFC the BJJ craze was born. Many grapplers have been drawn to MMA events ever since. Especially because it was one of the few ways a grapplers could make a real name for themselves.

Strikers have had access to numerous popular ways of “making it big”, such as boxing and kickboxing, for quite a while. Up until the first UFC martial arts publications had been dominated by articles and features centered around arts that are primarily striking arts. So, MMA just hasn’t been quite as attractive to the strikers has it has been to the grapplers.

However, as MMA becomes more and more mainstream I think we will see more proficient strikers enter the cage. This could, perhaps, lead to a new era in MMA were the sport is dominated by fighters with a strong background in striking who have learned a little grappling to supplement and round out their skills (as opposed to the grapplers who’ve learned a little striking that currently dominate the sport).

Who knows?

I’d like to hear some of your thoughts so leave a comment to let me know.

Train Hard,
Josh Skinner

Check Out How Ralek Gracie Trains for his Fights HERE!

Pro Fighters Use Qi Too!

If you’ve ever been to sites like Bullshido or, really, any other MMA forum you will get the impression that all MMA fighters (and all combat athletes for that matter) completely dismiss the idea of a universal energy (like Qi) and other related topics such as meditation, yoga, and qigong as being useful in the quest for improved fighting ability. Those who actively participate in the discussion at sites like Bullshido openly mock internal martial artists, qigong/yoga practitioners, and traditional martial artists alike. But do all combat athletes REALLY dismiss “esoteric” practices like yoga or qigong?

Surprisingly, the answer is: No. In fact, a few famous names in MMA are actually quite fond of practices which those at Bullshido consider, well, bullshit.

Lyoto Machida – This guy is, by far, my favorite Mixed Martial Artist. He also happens to be an avid practitioner of various form of meditation (1). Machida’s father even attributes much of his son’s success in and out of the ring to the more spiritual side of his training (1).

Rickson Gracie – Here is a BJJ guy who is really into meditation/breath control, yoga, and developing and maintaining a strong connection with nature (especially water) (2). I’ve seen some videos of this guy working out and it is clear he has fantastic tan tien control (2).

Cung Le – Le is one of the best strikers in the world and recently made the move to MMA from the San Shou circuit. Le has a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as part of his training/coaching team and attributes much of his success to the Medical Qigong sessions he and his TCM doctor work through(3).

So, I guess what is important to take away from this post is that, despite what certain promoters of “bullshit” want everyone to think, the relationship between real combat athletes and more metaphysical or “esoteric” practices (like meditation, Yoga, and Qigong) isn’t exactly always one of animosity or derision. Perhaps what we should learn from these elite level fighters is that we should all be looking for ways to further enhance our martial skills even if it means taking up practices that aren’t exactly mainstream.

Train Hard,
Josh Skinner


Works Cited:

1. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/josh_gross/05/22/machida.dad/index.html

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB_KRHXU1BA

3. http://morningcrane.com/clients/


Fa Jing and the Secrets of Explosive Power
Chen Style Tai Chi Progressive Silk Reeling, Series III

True Strength Yang
Explosive Body Toughening - 2-DVD set

Sport Jujitsu...

So I’ve been doing a lot of searching online recently for fighting tournaments I can enter. The Toughman Contest I entered back in Feb. has really sparked an interest in fighting competitions and I’m eager to compete in another event. I would really like to enter into an MMA type event because I want the freedom to be able to fight in all aspects of true combat (striking, takedowns, and grappling). However, I also really like the tournament format (you fight multiple people in one day). To my knowledge there are no MMA Tournaments in the U.S.

That's when I stumbled upon Sport Jujitsu.

Sport Jujitsu (not to be confused with BJJ) is a combat sport very similar to MMA, in that the fighters are free to utilize all aspects of true combat – striking, takedowns, and grappling. There is a time limit on how long fighters are allowed to grapple on the ground (15-30 seconds) and fighters must execute a takedown within 5 seconds of engaging in a clinch. Not really a big deal, such rules would make the fight more entertaining for the crowd (more action) as well as enforce and promote the idea of being able to quickly and efficiently take one’s opponent to the ground and submit them as quickly as possible (more carry over into actual combat mindset). The striking pretty much follows MMA rules except striking to the head is to be “light” or controlled. This takes away a bit of the realism of the fighting, but it makes Sport Jujitsu a more appealing alternative to MMA for the amateur level athlete and the weekend warrior who doesn’t need his/her face smashed in/bruised up when they return to work on Monday. (I should note that a few of the videos I found on Sport Jujitsu show competitors utilizing very hard strikes with the hands and feet to the head)

A typical Sport Jujitsu tournament will require competitors to wear a semi-traditional “Gi”, or Japanese martial art uniform. Besides Freestyle fighting, tournaments will usually feature a “Self-Defense” event where competitors show off either unrehearsed or rehearsed (depends on the tourney) responses to various attacks and holds. I’ve even come across a few tournaments with a Kata event for the competitors.

All in all, Sport Jujitsu sounds like a very good idea and I’m pretty much sold on the free-fighting aspects of these tournaments. Expect to see me in a few sometime in the future.
I’ve included links to the major Sport Jujitsu organizations as well as a few Youtube videos.

Enjoy and Train Hard,
Josh Skinner

http://www.sportjujitsu.org/index.html

http://www.jujitsuamerica.org/sportjujitsu.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPWHK1gQV1U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0OprCc07Cw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITmDdJgI6Nw&feature=related