First,  my heart goes out to all Utahans that may have suffered ill effects from the sustained heavy winds (75-100 mph) and power outages on 12/1/11 to 12/2/11.  It sucks to have a 30-year-old pine tree ripped from your yard and placed not-so-gently onto your car, or to have your truck flipped over by sheer wind-power.

With this recent calamity in mind, I’d like to draw a parallel between emergency preparedness and overall fight preparedness.  When the storm comes – be it literal or in the cage – you know in that moment what you don’t have.  Many folks here in Davis county (where I live) had the power out for 18+ hours; they immediately realized a need for candles/flash lights, extra blankets, and non-electrical heating/cooking.

In that moment, when your opponent is hitting a solid double-leg takedown, you realize your deficiency in wrestling. In that moment, when you cannot get past your opponent’s jab, you realize your boxing is sub-par. In that moment, when you are gasping for air, think back on your cardio time in the gym.

In  that moment, all you can do is try to make the best of things.

However, let this be a lesson to all of us.  You cannot prepare for every contingency but you can prepare for many contingencies. If an emergency beyond your capacity hits, your self-reliant attitude and survival practices will help you see another day.

I hope that when our moment finds us, it does not expose our weakness but reveals our preparedness.

Hope you guys enjoy your trick or treating, pumpkins, and dress up.  Don’t eat too much candy.

At length, I finally got what everyone was talking about.  My hope is that with a few visuals, beginning students don’t have to struggle like I did. My intention is give them some thinking tools to demystify groundfighting and the structures they see.  Below are two videos I shot in my spartan home-gym/dungeon while going over some wrestling with my friend John Ares. Certainly, I’m no a master, but I found this type of explanation to help me out a good deal.

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More to come.

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Risk Management

The problem with ego isn’t that it drives us to achieve something – masculine grit and fortitude is actually the positive side of ego.  Its the blurring of goals and boundaries along the way that are the hazard.  Similar to Dave Camarillo’s remarks in the vid, it is okay to say, “Man, I want to smash everybody today; I’m not going to tap.”.  The line you need to walk is how far you’re willing to go to achieve that goal or maintain your self-perception as a tough-dude.

Remember, there are limits beyond which additional exertion become very dangerous.  When you “need” to smash all the guys you roll with, do you go ape-shiz with strength trying to get your submissions, even though you might injure them?  Would you do tactics (biting/gouging/etc) you normally wouldn’t just to the results you want?  It is okay to train with vigor and force – as long as you keep the risk-reward ratio set to a good level and never abandon your standards. At some point of exertion/tenacity, you leave reasonable behavior and hurt yourself or others.  Why would you trade a six month layoff due to a broken arm just for anything? If you were in the UFC and a six-figure payday were at stake, I might consider it. But for an extra nod from my Sensei saying, “Nice submission defense”,  I wouldn’t risk the medical bills.

Luckily, almost every injury I’ve ever had (or caused) has been after~2.5 hours of training. I failed to acknowledge my body’s dwindling motor control but kept the tempo and activities static.  (The other main failure is to not know how intense you are exerting yourself – since I’m not that strong nor angry, I typically don’t get this one.)  The likelihood of injury raises with the intensity and length of a training session. You want to find that sweet spot where you stay in control enough to keep injury probability low while still milking the training session for every ounce of improvement  you can get. My personal preference is to stay one or two steps back from that edge. Know these boundaries and be disciplined about keeping them. I feel that staying safe is the only legitimate long term strategy for perpetual growth.

(BTW, my rule on tapping:  joint locks I tap early, but chokes I wait a little longer.  Your brain probably won’t get destroyed that bad if you wait till the blood really starts to be slowed/shut off.  Your joints, however, can seriously get damaged by a 1% degree change in angle.)

Think about it this way.  If I told you that you could give up 2% of the skill you might gain in the next year with a guarantee that you would not be injured, would you do it? I would.

Likewise, this risk/reward interplay is applicable to personal relationships.  Yes, you could smash faces 100% of the time, but would this degrade your friendships with your training partners? I am a big believer of win/win scenarios and the tribal-health model of team building.  You get so much more out of your training camps and partners when they respect you, stay injury free and you keep to mutual goals and boundaries.  When one guy decides to get advantage by leaving those boundaries – like going way too hard while sparring – he might be getting a little extra juice out of the session but at the cost of the health of his teammate which will ultimately reduce his long term rewards within that team.

Altered States of Perception

I’m not going to get all Joe Rogan on you – so no need to start smoking the ganja to see the “real world”.  This evil of ego is straightforward to describe; when you have a bad ego, you see the world through colored glasses. Rose-tinted, dickish glasses. You lose a match but don’t accurately attribute the reason you lost to the outcome.  One of my buddies current peeves is when guys tell him that the 10lbs he had on them was why they lost the submission match.  Certainly, those 10lbs helped, but so did the 3+ years of skill gap. Moreover, when you have an unhealthy ego, you seem to automatically defend yourself perception instead of taking data for what it is. You just don’t see what is before you.

I’ve seen guys get injured because they didn’t know when to tap. Usually, these are either the guys with big egos or dudes without a lot of experience.  Once you’ve been around the block, you know how far you can go. You know the limits because you know the terrain so well. That perceptual gap of what you think is happening and what is actually is happening gets slimmer with alive training.

On a different note, I don’t really mind when guys know they are good. If its true, its true.  No reason to lie to yourself on either side of the spectrum. Again, its a boundaries thing.  Being good at fighting means what? That you can cut in line? That you can shout at police without consequence? No, being a good fighter means you’re a good fighter. The problem starts when being X parleys to getting some undeserved privilege in Y.  Because you’ve got the ego-glasses on, you see everything under the guise of “I’m good at X”. Everything gets interpreted, filtered under this belief.

The fix is generally to compete more, try to listen to your coaches and critics and not always defend yourself.  Take things for what they are.  Some dude trolls your youtube vid of your last amateur MMA bout?  So what?  Does his or her comment have merit – usable or actionable knowledge – or is it just, “you suck monkey turd.”  If someone’s right, their right. Get over it and adapt. Scientific type thinking will go a long way.  Looking at results objectively helps diminish that gap between who you think you are, who others perceive you as and the “real” you.

Your ego is much like a your physical body, or a trait.  It responds to training and modification.  Disciplined effort, over time, can shape it – just like your body can add muscle or lose fat – but generally your ego won’t change overnight. If you think you have a problem, go talk to somebody – a friend, a mentor, a coach.  If they really care about you, they’ll be able to help you shift your attitudes without needing to get in their own personal jabs just to wound you.

Bottom Line

Have an ego. Think of yourself as a tough dude. Don’t give up.  Balance that with a proper sense of risk-reduction – both for physical safety and maintaining your relationships. Try to do gut checks about who you are vs who you think you are. Keep those feet on the ground and strive to have a more empirical view of your identity and skills.

But enough of what I think – what do you guys and gals do to keep your ego in check? What is your take on the role of ego in training?

I’ve been digging sumo wrestling recently, and really enjoying their sense of  grappling. Those fat dudes have an amazing grasp on head positioning, hip control and that full box of twinkies.

But seriously, as I watch some matches,  I’m taken aback by how quick and powerful these guys are.  For guys in the know, you’ll recognize a lot of judo and wrestling.

I wanted to just start your weekend off right by providing a couple of pics, vids and links.

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After I see one of these big guys slamming down on the ground, I think of  Gandalf  in the LOTR: The Two Towers: “From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak I wrestled with that obese giant … until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side.”

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When you hit a solid throw, it feels amazing.

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I like to watch how these behemoths use under/over hooks and head placement. Kinda reminds me of fighting with your back on the cage in MMA – you’ll see it better in the vids.

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You’ll see a huge man get knocked out with a palm strike to the face in the video above, Bas Rutten style.

Enjoy your weekend!

You may have (read:never) wondered what my dreams and aspirations may be.  Recently, I had this crazy dream where Steven Seagal was lecturing a group of NBA players on martial arts – all the while playing ping pong with one arm because his other was holding a basketball signed by Lebron James.  He was actually kicking butt at both the ping pong and the lecture – I’ve set a goal to be as baller as dream-Seagal.

The point? I have bizarre dreams and so do you: you want to become a professional fighter. And I think that’s awesome. I know enough about the sport and profession to dissuade most interested persons from pursuing a career in fighting … but you know what?   If you have the spark to go for it, DO IT.  Dreams are a starting point of greatness; they’re an itch that need to be scratched.

What about the fear of failure? What if  you’re not cut out for life in the pros?

So what? Who gives a crap?

Sure, you’ll get knocked out and choked out and tired out from trying – but you’ll be more hardcore than 99.9% of the couch-dwelling mouth-breathers out there.

Your dream is a starting point to a journey and not every dream is the finial destination.  If the dream wasn’t exactly where you wanted to go,  maybe you’ll discover a better-suited goal along the way. Or maybe you find that your dream is exactly where you want to go.

Either way, I’d like to see more people set sail into the deep water.  Enough with the second guessing and the excuses.

Go out there, do your thing, see what happens.

What you didn’t know, is that he was into mixed martial arts in the early days – he had Tapout bumper stickers on his carriages before it was cliche.  In consequence of his love for MMA, Newton postulated three fundamental laws of fighting, which his later works – laws of physics and thermodynamics – were built from.

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(Above, Newton is chilling with “the Iceman” Chuck Liddell; insiders state that Newton’s law of cooling played a large part in Chuck’s nickname.)

#1 Law of Inertia

A fighter in motion tends to stay in motion and a fighter at rest tends to get knocked out.

This law tells us to always be moving, cutting angles, circling.  It also hints at the fact that the more aggressive initiator is generally the winner in exchanges; it is easier and faster to act than to react.

When you stay up on your toes, keeping good head movement and shifting your guard hands slightly, you’re ready for anything.  Starting from a dead standstill takes extra energy – when you’re dancing, you’re nimble. Much easier to adapt while you’re moving; also, you’re harder to hit.

“Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. When a fighter is in a state of perpetual motion, he can seamlessly attack and move. Once he sits upon his heels, it takes energy to re-start the motion and overcome this sloth – such a fighter is likely to get KTFO’d.”    – Newton

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#2  Law of Power

Force = Mass x Acceleration

To hit hard and knock opponents out, you need to know how the classic equation F=MA.  While it may have been murder in Physics class, it will be your salvation in the ring.

The most straightforward observation from this law is that bigger is better; or rather, heavier (mass-ive) is better. Bigger fighters hit harder.  It behooves you to be at the top of your weight class than the bottom. You create more force just by having more mass.

The second observation is two-fold and relates to the generation of power punches and how you should train to create power punches. You want to have your body geometry down, so you can put as much “back-up mass” into punches and kicks.  Many refer this as “getting your body behind your punches.”  This helps out with the “mass” part of F=MA. For the acceleration part of the equation – you need to get that body mass up and moving… quick!

Please note the difference between velocity (speed) and acceleration.  A  distance runner might have a very fast top speed but it takes a while to achieve it; an Olympic sprinter can get to top speed in two breaths. The name of the game, when it comes to power generation, is acceleration.

Some things to check into if your interesting in developing that hard hitting power – plyometric training : jumping, medicine ball throws,  sprint starts; its all about accelerating.  Here are a couple of resources to get your started in that regard.

Beginner plyometric text:

Intermediate DVD+Book combo:

MMA specific plyometrics with Jens Pulver (upper body, lower body):

“Ladies and gentlemen – particularly the ladies – I will finally put to bed the debate if bigger is better. If one wants appropriate force, one needs to be massive. All fighters doth feel they know the root of force and power; I have only added structure and precision to their intuitive conjectures.” – Newton

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# Law of Response

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

For many, it is a natural response to push back after you’ve been pushed.  If you watch fighters on the cage, clinching, one will “discover” foot stomping and the other will follow suit thereafter. Fake low, get a response, go high – fakes/feints will get opponents to drop their guard and then you capitalize on their reaction.

No matter what you do, there is a response.  Typically, as mentioned above, you will try a tactic/move and your opponent will attempt to neutralize it with a counter.  It is uncommon to be able to get the first move, whether in striking or grappling. The first move is the set up to the next.

If you watched UFC 130, you saw Matt Hamill’s takedowns attempts get shut down repeatedly.  On thing that may have made them more successful would be to set the takedown up with a striking combination first; BJ Penn’s book calls this striking for the takedown.

“It is useful to consider how one’s actions are creating reactions in others -in fighting and in life. If you become successful, you invariably will attract haters. As thou knoweth, haters are going to hate; but it is ours to perpetrate; fist to face in the third degree. ”

* The classical scientist P4P rankings list Leonardo Da Vinci as #1,  Isaac “The Force” Newton as #2 and Gottfried Leibniz as a distant #24th.  Please don’t even start with that “Leibniz was the true inventor of calculus” crap. Seriously.

After a short, intense sprint this evening, I sat in my car with burning lungs and reflected upon my level fitness (or lack of it). I’d like to be much more … everything.  I have a number of excuses to allay my dissatisfaction; I have been seriously ill, under pressure, injured, switching jobs, blah blah, blah and blah.  All of these things are quite reasonable explanations, and its not like I’m angry at myself for finding ways to cope with my challenges or put food on the table.

At the same time, I’ve harbored a secret chip on my shoulder against all the guys who have beaten me because they are better muscled, bigger, and in superior physical condition. I can almost hear the nagging ego explanation now. “If I were 15lbs heavier, had the free time to waste my life away at Golds Gym, or were genetically gifted, of course I would pwn these noobs. I’d have a flipping protein shake IV injecting fuel into my biceps 24/7. But I’m better than them, they’re just stronger.”

This, of course, is an lie. The bottom line is that your body’s strength, endurance and flexibility are under your control. Just like your favorite submission, your fitness is a technique.  You make decisions to spend time enhancing it. It takes discipline to take it to the next level. You use it to defeat opponents.

This hit home while was reading 20 Tips to improve your grapling, where it stated that your cardio was one of your techniques.  I can’t use my conditioning as an excuse to explain away my troubles as if it is somehow more honorable to lose because of a strength difference than a technical one.  Have to man up and see the truth.

Your fitness is a technique.  Sharpen it accordingly.

I really enjoyed watching UFC 129 -it had a lot of fun fights for me. The icing on the cake, however, was Lyoto Machida knocking out Randy Couture with the jumping front kick, karate kid style. I pretty much had a karategasm on the spot.

As for the naming convention of the move, the metropolitan intellectuals over at Sherdog pretty much nailed it – the  “Segalian Dragonkick of Destiny”  is it’s correct correct title (cred:  Nihilism). Other acceptable (but not fully correct) names include the jumping front kick, the crane kick, and foot-to-face retirement sender. Personally, I don’t care what you might call it; I could watch that kick a million times and still enjoy it.

Of course, added joy comes into play with the fact that Steven Seagal has been chumming around with Lyoto and Anderson Silva, giving them his fighting tips.  The post fight interview with Seagal is kinda fun, due to his nuttiness and the fact that he must only have one outfit – black leather jacket, yellow sunglasses.  (In that spirit, I highly recommend you watch “Every bone Steven Seagal has ever broken.“  Poster wolffood7 astutely points out that breaking bones must make you fat.)

But one thing Seagal does strike true about is the deceptiveness of the kick. The magnum opus isn’t the kick, but the set up.  Lyoto had landed that fast rear leg knee to the body, and Randy was leery of it. When Machida did a little hip shuffle, it distracted Couture and then the coup de grace spanked Randy’s brain into unconsciousness.

With Karate back in favor, you  can wax nostalgic and relive some of your misspent childhood by watching the original. Just remember to sweep the leg.

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