In the not-so-distant past weight training was discouraged for martial artists. "It will make you slow", "it will make you muscle-bound", and "all you need is technique" were common opinions from the 'experts'. Times have changed! Athletes in almost every sport lift weights now. Coaches and trainers recognize that it will make their athletes stronger, faster, and more resilient to injury. It is … [Read more...]
Injuries
A Girl’s Guide to Grappling What You Need to Know Before You Start Rolling
Although the sport and art of grappling is currently mostly a male activity, many female readers have commented on how important it is for women to learn to grapple (see Why Should Women Grapple?). In this article Liz Bader, an active mixed martial art competitor and instructor, explains what women should be aware of before they step onto the mat for the first time. … [Read more...]
Frank Mir’s Kimura on Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140
UFC 140 last Saturday night was one of the best MMA shows in recent memory. There were lots of exciting matchups, but THE fight of the night was the much-anticipated rematch between heavyweights Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir. This fight displayed the highest level grappling ever seen in the heavyweight division of the UFC! As soon as the match ended I looked at my good friend and … [Read more...]
No cauliflower for you!
Some grapplers think that cauliflower ears are a status symbol. Others think that it's gross. Some people can train for 20 years and still have perfectly shaped ears. Others need to wear headgear all the time or their ears start getting lumpier and lumpier. … [Read more...]
Don’t make this classic training error!
About 10 years ago I was talking to a pioneer of early MMA. This fighter trained all the time, even between fights. But whenever he had a fight coming up he'd go absolutely mental and grind himself down into an exhausted mess. … [Read more...]
Podcast EP3: Erik Paulson; an MMA Master Coach Shares His Secrets
Erik Paulson is an MMA Master Coach. He's trained tons of fighters competing at the highest levels of Mixed Martial Arts. And he held the Shooto light-heavyweight title in Japan for 5 years. He's also my friend and a mentor. Click Play Below to Listen to My Conversation with Erik Paulson... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx7gT-EXohM Recently I asked my newsletter readers if there was … [Read more...]
BJJ Wrist Injuries and My Guilty Conscience
Today's tip comes from my heart, because I learned this lesson first hand when I injured my first BJJ teacher (and friend) Pshemek Drabchinsky. Once upon a time we were grappling. I was on top and things seemed to be going well (this was unusual at the time because he was way more skilled than I). However on this day I almost had him pinned! Pshemek is one of those Daddy Long Legs kind of … [Read more...]
Bring ‘Em Back Alive: More On Recovering From Chokes
The last blog post (Choke Recovery in Grappling) prompted some lively discussion and debate when I posted it on the Sherdog Grappling Forum and on MMA.tv. I also received a number of emails on the topic. … [Read more...]
Choke Recovery in BJJ and Submission Grappling
The first time I saw someone choked unconscious it scared the crap out of me. And it was made worse by the fact that it was a friend of mine... It was many years ago at a local tournament. My friend was winning his match but got caught in a sneaky gi choke. He was (and still is) a stubborn bastard, so he refused to tap and passed out. He might have been out for about 10 seconds before anyone … [Read more...]
Emergency Rx for Cranked Necks and Strained Backs
Yesterday I was training my side mount escapes. My partner and I repeatedly started with me pinned, and then we worked until I got out or until someone tapped. Well I got sloppy and ended up on the receiving end of this rather horrendous armlock/choke/neck crank technique that's one of Marcus Soares's signature moves. … [Read more...]
Hernia Recovery and Prevention for Grapplers
A few weeks ago I wrote about getting an inguinal hernia on New Year's Day and my subsequent surgery. (For those of you who don't know, this type of hernia is when your intestines start protruding through a weakness or tear in your abdominal wall and show up as a bulge on the outside of your belly. … [Read more...]
Coming Back from a Training Layoff
Coming back to training after a layoff is a tricky thing. There is a real danger that you jump back into full intensity training and re-injure yourself right off the bat (especially if you've been gone for a while and/or are coming back from an injury). … [Read more...]
Off to the Glue Factory? Jiu-Jitsu for Middle-Aged Adults
Here's a question I received recently: Q: "I'm 56 years old and in pretty good health except for a few old injuries. My question is whether it is it too late for me to start training in grappling without wrecking my body too badly? (I'm not interested in competition)." … [Read more...]
Functional Training Gone Bad
Today I'm going to tell you about one of the sillier ideas I've ever had... About 10 years ago I got interested in functional training and sports specific exercises. I wanted to get away from the Pec Deck and do exercises that more closely mimicked the movements I was using on a daily basis in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo and wrestling. … [Read more...]
Catch and Release – What to do if your opponent just won’t tap?
Back when I was mostly training in Judo I heard that there were some traditional dojos in Japan where tapping out to a choke was frowned upon - even in club sparring sessions you were supposed to fight the choke right to the bitter end, and your opponent would release the hold only AFTER you passed out. I thought that this was pretty hardcore, and felt lucky that the Judo club I trained at … [Read more...]
The Two Meanings of the Tap
Tapping out is sending a message to your opponent. The most common message is "OK, you got me with that submission. Now let me go" Many grapplers don't realize that tapping out can also be used to send a different message … [Read more...]
The Pre-Fight Check In
A few days ago, in class, it was time to spar. I walked over to an older white belt, new to the club, who was standing by himself at the edge of the mat. I introduced myself and asked if he wanted to do some rolling. … [Read more...]
Lets Get The Groundrules Straight!
One of the worst organized MMA shows I ever saw was a small local show, back in 1996. Before I talk about that particular show though, I have to set the stage: UFC 9 had just happened. … [Read more...]
Refusing to Concede the Sweep
I trained with Denis Kang for the first five or six years of his MMA career. At some point during that time he became very, very difficult to sweep. Partially this was due to his increasing technical knowledge, but it was also more than that. … [Read more...]
Slumps Vs. Plateaus
Acquiring new skill sets and polishing your existing skills is the very essence of training. When everything is working properly and you're surfing up the learning curve it is an exhilarating process. … [Read more...]