The Floor Bag for Solo Grappling Training

In a perfect world, we'd always have access to a willing and able training partner. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world and many of us are forced to spend part of our time training alone.

While this may not be a huge deal for a striker who can always work on the heavy bag or do some shadowboxing, it is kind of a big deal for a grappler (or mixed martial artist working on his ground game) who's art relies almost exclusively on partner work.

You could do solo drills on the mat, but without some sort of implement to stand in for a live partner those drills can feel a bit empty. Luckily there exists a very simple, very cheap tool you can obtain right now: a Floor Bag.

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.

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.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Fighter Stops Carjacker !

I got this from Bob Patterson's blog, Striking Thoughts:

This guy is a hero!

Man uses jujitsu move on would-be carjacker: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

This video pretty much speaks for itself, but I do have to say I really like the attitude this guy (and his instructor) have: use the martial arts to help yourself and others.

This video also highlights the importance of full-contact, realistic training.

I've trained with BJJ guys in the past and the training is tough. You do a lot of conditioning (both physical and mental) and you do a lot of "free grappling" or rolling - basically sparring for grapplers.

Because of the nature of BJJ you can pretty much go full power and speed most of the time. The techniques allow you to control your training partner without too much risk of seriously hurting him/her.

This is great for realistic training.

It also reminds me that I need to get back into doing more ground/grappling work.


Train Hard,
Josh Skinner

BJJ Hottie Monique Minton!

So...I was surfing around NAGA's site. I was looking up past event results, upcoming events, and checking out some videos.

That's when I came across this little gem:

 Um, yeah...that is Monique Minton.

I will go out on a limb here and say that she is, without a doubt, the hottest BJJ competitor around. Here's a vid. from one of her matches: