Here’s a belated reminder about the Marcus Aurelio seminar this weekend at America’s Best Defense in Colchester. It should be awesome! There will be two classes: one is no-gi MMA style and the other is a gi class. Click below for the details.
Here’s an article I wrote for Experts123 a few months ago. School’s back in full swing, and I’ve been getting to know my new students. Quite a few are into martial arts, and it reminded me of some of the reasons why I wrote this.
They're clearly excited, but are they really getting everything they need?
Kids all over the country go to karate classes, gear up for wrestling, and watch MMA on TV with their friends. For many, especially parents, martial arts becomes a series of events: buy a uniform, drive to and from class, spend all weekend at a meet, click “purchase” on the remote control. Over the last forty years or so, martial arts have gone mainstream and Americans have adopted them into our busy lifestyles. We have become comfortable with martial arts and they no longer seem exotic. We have permanently added martial arts to our to-do lists, and they seem to be here to stay. That’s a good thing.
But what America lacks is a martial arts culture. Children are often dropped off at a “Tiny Tigers” class for the afternoon in place of the YMCA or grandma’s house. Tournament trophies are awarded and displayed at home and in training halls. Kids schedule martial arts around soccer, piano lessons, and birthday parties. Parents help to juggle scheduled events, and martial arts have their specific, defined place and time within our busy lives.
This outlook–that one “does” martial arts–is limiting. It robs children of the true benefits. It keeps them from seeing the great role martial arts can play in their lives.
In Japan, traditional karate is taught in schools. Children learn and practice respect and discipline early on while training in self-defense. They understand the appropriate situations to use force and the judgment to avoid needless confrontation. Thanks to such training, children have a better chance to grow up much more mentally and physically fit than by merely doing exercises or playing sports.
In Brazil, jiu-jitsu is a communal activity. We see this with BJJ’s first family, the Gracies. Members explain that growing up Gracie not only means having a lot of family pride, but it means learning to live the martial arts. It permeates all aspects of their lives, and the values derived–virtue, persistence, honor–are lost outside this context.
Growing up with the martial arts differs greatly from the typical American experience. Instead of tasks and achievements, someone who truly grows up with the martial arts sees the big picture and understands the long-term benefits. It’s not a matter of staying busy or winning matches. It’s not a lifestyle you can advertise on a T-shirt.
Now that many of the Americans to begin training as children are all grown up, they need to share the values of their arts with the new generation of students–not just techniques or how to win competitions. Kids can and should understand that they can pursue martial arts through old age without feeling pressured to rush workouts so they can move on to the next thing, or, perhaps worse, to lose sight of the joy of practice beyond mere competition. Martial arts are good in and of themselves, and America needs to learn the many benefits they can play throughout our lives.
Do you have children in martial arts, or did you grow up with them yourself? How do you allow the martial arts to influence your family life? Do you have any tips on how to instill the proper martial values at home?
This is somewhat unrelated to the blog, but it’s fun. The previous owner of my house planted Concord grapes, and I usually get a pretty good harvest from one very mature vine. I usually eat a lot of them and give the rest away. There’s one problem though and that’s seeds; these grapes are very flavorful but can break your teeth!
What to do?
I toyed with the idea of making jelly, juice, or even wine. After discussing it with my parents, they loaned me an old juicer they used once upon a time. I decided during the process to make juice, and here’s how it worked out.
Is anyone else into juicing or smoothies? I was a little slow in picking the grapes this year, and some went bad before I could grind them up: it was easy though, and I got a few glasses from it. The flavor was rich but not as sugary or syrupy as the bottled stuff. I hope to try it again next year!
I saw this video a few weeks ago and thought it would be a neat idea to attach an arm to my makiwara, like this guy did.
After thinking about how he built it, it looked like the modification might be permanent, and I’d like to be able to remove the arm for other training options. So, I decided to go a different route by adding arms to my free-standing heavy bag.
Step One: get wooden handle, ratching tie-downs, handy duct tape.
First I sawed an old shovel handle I had lying around into two “arm-sized” pieces. Then I taped them to the ties.
You really can't use too much.
Be sure to tape close to the hook. This way, the arm will attach to the side of the bag leaving enough wood to block. I formed a loop with the tie and slipped it over the top of the bag. It’s a little hard to ratchet it once it’s on, so I had to experiment a little with the size of the loop before tightening it a little extra to make it stay.
Start with a tight fit for success.
Finally, I leveled the arms and tried out some of the techniques from the video. It works pretty well, plus you get two to play with. They move around a little bit, so you’ll have to readjust after awhile. It’s nice to practice pivoting and turning movements while blocking and countering with punches or kicks like in Uechi-Ryu hojo undo exercises. You can also drill agile fighting combinations–à la Lyoto Machida. You can’t do that as easily with a makiwara.
The best opponent never hits back! 😉
One last thing. I left a rough cut on the wood and scraped my arm. I remedied that with some sand paper and more duct tape. Also, I had a spare piece of pool noodle lying around (see pic above) that can be used to soften the impact. You’d have to tape that too if you want to use it.
Do you have any other DIY martial arts training tools? If so, let us know.
Will we see signs like these at the next UFC?
Sean Sherk, Shane Carwin, and now Chael Sonnen–MMA athletes are now commonly included in conversations about PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). Over the last few decades pro sports has had an increasing number of scandals, and obviously use has gone on much longer than that. Reactions in the martial arts community are mixed. “El Guapo” is pretty straightforward:
They asked me b4 who I thought would use PED’s, I am just blown Away with who gets caught. What happened to good food, water and some supplements? That’s what I did, and I never had a problem with people being stronger or in better shape.
Listen, if u had shoulder surgery, or whatever surgery, and the doc tells u that u will heal faster, do It, but then do NOT fight!
This is giving the sport a bad name, everything we (MMA) do, is already “frowned upon”, like masturbating in an Airplane, sorry, had to do that, was writing and thought about “hang over”.
But serious, its very sad, and you do NOT need it. If u can’t Train had anymore because u are getting up there in age, then don’t fight, very simple. I could never look at myself in the mirror if I would have cheated, NEVER, and don’t give me the BS excuse “but everybody is doing it”, yeah, lots of people don’t use their freaking turn signal either, that doesn’t mean that I also simply not gonna do it. I use this example because those people stress me out, just don’t care about anybody else But their selves, and that’s the same as using PED’s.
Don’t care about our sport getting a bad name, “as long as I get better”. This, of course, is for guys who are proven to have used. I DO believe that there r over the counter supplements out there that raises u’r level, but If I would have been accused of using while I was not, I would find out 100 % sure, what those supplements were, why? Because that will prove my Innocence! Strange that nobody did this right? That would be proof! OK, way too many tweets, this s*** just drives me crazy. Every pro should write down exactly what supplements they take. Then When they get caught, test those products, if nothing is in there, ban him for 3 years, that will stop it, you watch. The end…. (http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/266380/Bas-Rutten-sounds-off-on-PEDs/)
Apparently Bas doesn’t mind commentators on speed (J/K!), but it’s pretty clear where he stands on the issue: steroids and PEDs are for cheaters and are hurting MMA. Here’s a slightly different take from Josh Burkman—an excerpt from his interview on Sherdog.com:
“I was out of shape because I was in Scottsdale and I was drinking and I was partying and I wanted to take the steroids so I could get in shape faster,” Burkman said. “I cut out the drinking and the partying, and I started to develop a more healthy lifestyle and stayed in shape so that I didn’t need (PEDs) to cheat to get ahead. As the competition gets more fierce, people are going to look for an edge and that’s what I was trying to do. I was trying to get that edge.”
Having to tell the football players he coached about his positive steroid test was another experience that hit home for Burkman.
“I was coaching high school football and told my kids, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be around this season. I’m going on ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ and two weeks later, I showed back up and the kids asked what happened,” Burkman said. “I had to sit the kids down and tell them what happened. It was embarrassing, but it helped me teach them a good lesson in life and it taught me a good lesson in life. I’ve become a better person, a stronger person and a better influence. Sometimes the worst things that can happen to you, you learn from them. They make you better and stronger, and I’m just lucky that happened for me.”
He says he felt guilty about it and regrets it, and I think Bas would be proud of him. This is all well and good, but Burkman went 5-5 in the UFC and is fighting his way back into the organization. Is it from a lack of talent or work ethic, or is there another issue at play? Maybe his record suffered because, in Rutten’s words, “he was the one who got caught.”
Last quote. In a Frank Mir interview, he explains his view:
“I think everything has to be a case by case situation. This is why we have laws in our civilian life. They’re not cut and dry.
“If (the fighter is) like ‘yeah, I had an injury and my competitive nature got a hold of me and I went to the doctor’ or if it was a situation where he was facing not fighting and his competitive nature got a hold of him, I don’t know if that would justify ending someone’s career.
“If the same guy says ‘yeah, I took this so I could smash skulls and I’m nuts.’ That guy’s in a different category.”
So Bas blames the athletes, Burkman blames himself, and Mir blames the situations fighters are forced to deal with. No one seems to be able to pinpoint the real problem, but I think Mir comes closest, albeit unintentionally.
See, the problem isn’t cheating. The problem isn’t competition. The problem isn’t even the more extreme “win at all costs.” The real problem is that we are a nation who likes to “smash skulls because [we’re] nuts.” Nearly EVERYONE in EVERY pursuit uses PEDs. Fighter pilots use amphetamines to stay alert during long sorties and to improve their reflexes. Musicians use marijuana to enhance their creativity and beta-blockers to calm their nerves during auditions. Students use adderall to pull all-nighters. Porn stars inject Viagra into—er—the muscles they need to perform their best.
Americans are addicted to MORE, not drugs. We are never satisfied with what is naturally attainable. Once we experience something enjoyable—driving a fast car, being complemented on our looks, or the flavor of desert—we almost always want to enhance it or make it more intense. So we burn through oil, get Botox, and eat as much sugar as possible. Naturally sports—the nexus of competition and entertainment—are no exception. PEDs in athletics are merely an aspect of a culture that has yet to learn it has a problem.
I’m borrowing ideas from Bigger Stronger Faster here. If you haven’t seen it yet, get to it. Comments? Questions? Let’s hear them.
Here’s a nice group shot posted on the Okinawan Karate School Facebook page. Thanks to all for the great training!
I’m fresh from the Aki Renshu event at the Okinawan Karate School in Pittsfield, MA. It was definitely a great opportunity to train with Masters Higa and Takamiyagi, and thanks to Senseis Mark and Connie Flynn for hosting.
While I don’t have any pictures to post yet, I do have a little philosophy. After Wednesday night’s workout, Mr. Takamiyagi discussed the importance of “making the art yours” and “expressing yourself through the movements of your kata.” (Sorry to paraphrase.) He also mentioned that “as long as you remember the Five Principles of Sanchin, you will be okay.”
He quickly listed them, but I was sitting in the back of our large group and couldn’t hear what he said. I talked with him for a little while after the Thursday night session, and he provided more explanation. Again, paraphrasing:
“The first is your mind. You must stay focused. Second are your eyes. Don’t close them while you are doing your kata. They should be penetrating. Third, you must pay attention to your breathing. Sometimes it should be hard, and sometimes it should be soft. Fourth is to have good concentration and coordination in your body. Last is the stance. You need to stay rooted.”
I may not be giving his explanation the justice it deserves here. If anyone can add to it or clarify anything, I’d appreciate it.
After training for awhile, I believe everyone learns these principles whether they know it or not. Many of the Okinawan karate styles practice a version of Sanchin kata, and they place similar emphasis on the Five Principles though their movements may differ. (Just Google “sanchin” and you’ll see what I mean.) I think that serves as a great example of the master’s message: your personal interpretation of the kata matters less than your application of the deeper meanings of the form.
One of the great things about karate is its ability to help you live your life. The Five Principles are a great example of this. If I wrote down in how many ways my karate training has benefited me physically, mentally, and spiritually, I would need to upgrade the space requirements of this blog! Here are a few fringe benefits of the Five Principles I can think of that don’t get a lot of press:
1. Mental focus helped me right my car when I spun into oncoming traffic during a snowstorm.
2. Developing “tiger eyes”is great for engaging people in important conversations (job interviews, decision making).
3. Learning to control my breath if I lose my temper calms me right down and keeps me from doing or saying things I know I’ll regret.
4. Learning to “feel” my body and to more truly know it helps keep me from injury and overeating, it reminds me to rest when I need it, and it helps me tailor my training to address my weaknesses.
5. This sounds silly, but I practice my Sanchin stance anytime I stand on a subway or bus. I haven’t wiped out while riding public transportation yet!
His explanation got me thinking, if you couldn’t tell. No matter what style you practice, how do its core tenets positively influence your life?
I was given a free sample of Redline Extreme a few weeks ago at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston. I wanted to post about it sooner, but it scared me. If it doesn’t bother you that the FDA lets supplement companies do whatever they want, it should. Let’s examine the bottle to see why! On first glance, it’s not so bad . . .
Nifty bottle! Maybe I'll give it a try?
But not so fast!
Read the label? No way! Well, maybe . . .
Upon closer scrutiny . . .
Is the warning label supposed to be this big? Should it contain so much fine print? I thought this was a kick-ass sports supplement!
Yeah. If you can’t read that, take a look! I bolded the best parts!
The consumer assumes total liability if this product is used in a manner inconsistent with label guidelines. Do not use for weight reduction. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Do not consume synepherine or caffeine from other sources, including but not limited to, coffee, tea, soda and other dietary supplements or medications containing phenylephrine or caffeine. Do not use for more than 8 weeks. Use of this product may cause your skin to be extra sensitive to UV sources, such as artificial or natural sunlight. Avoid excessive exposures from these sources. Discontinue use two weeks prior to surgery.
*When combined with resistance training and the Zero Impact® Diet. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
You don’t have deja vu. It lists that last part TWICE. I guess they’re a little worried about what might happen to you if you actually drink the stuff. Maybe you should be too?
It also says on the other side of the bottle that A TINGLING SKIN IS NORMAL WHEN USING THIS PRODUCT. Really? Here’s how I decided to proceed:
A little common sense . . .
The sad thing is, this stuff actually doesn’t taste as lethal as it should. I licked the cap, and it tasted like syrupy lime Gatorade. The other sad thing is I bet most of the guys who got this probably downed the whole bottle while standing in line at the Expo. No wonder there were ambulances by the entrance!
I’m not trying to get on a soapbox here. I’m a recovering caffeine addict whose been know to down an occasional energy drink. But I never tried one that put my life in danger. Seriously, is it really worth the “significant 7.5% improvement reaction time! 13% increase in energy! An amazing 15% increase in focus!”
I don’t think so.
Required reading: As some of you know I’m an English teacher, and I like to give homework. Watch Bigger, Stronger, Faster to learn more about steroids, supplements, and other performance-enhancers that we Americans rely on everyday. Drugs aren’t the real problem, no matter how many times Henry Waxman tries to make Mark McGwire cry on TV.
This isn't really what I have in mind . . .
At my dojo there’s an old workout we call Death by Kata. The name says it all: we run through our eight katas, three to four times each. It usually takes under 30 minutes, as there’s no break between katas.
Here’s a workout I did on my own today based on the same theme. I ran through the following circuit, and I cycled through the katas between each set.
Max pull-up x4 sets
Max dips x 4 sets
Max Arnold Presses (40lbs bumbbells) x4 sets*
Max flags/push-ups/medicine ball rotation/wrist roller x3 sets
In all, I performed 15 katas, but it’s easy to work in more. I didn’t rest during the workout; instead I used the katas as active rest.
Don’t expect to set any personal records for reps on these exercises because you’ll be fighting physical fatigue the whole time. The best set I completed was my first set of pull-ups; it was all downhill from there!
One of the main benefits of this workout is learning to deal with mental fatigue. By the time I got to dips, I started messing up my katas; by the time I made it through the Arnold Presses, I swear I was doing a different style of karate–one with a lot of flailing about. The important things are to try to keep focus and to try to keep moving! If you’re in a fight, you’re going to get tired. Like Bruce Lee once said, “A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.” Workouts like this will help you to keep your wind and your wits.
Feel free to tinker and to share your results. I didn’t do any leg exercises because I thought my katas would cover that. If your style has a lot of low stances, you probably won’t want to add squats or anything.
Do you have any workouts that combine more difficult exercises with traditional forms and skills? I love to combine them for challenge and efficiency. Let us know.
My wife just got me a new mountain bike for my birthday, and I’ve been riding all weekend. It’s been a long time since I rode on the trails. My old bike was 19 years old, and I didn’t trust it beyond a mile or two from my house.
She will be missed. I still can't believe I got this bike when I was 11!
My new bike is a Trek 4300, and we got it at Pedal Power in Middletown, CT. It’s not a racing bike, but it’s a big step up from my old Trek 800 “Antelope” (I don’t think the new ones carry that nickname). Here’s my new bike just before entering the Wallingford Land Trust, where I often hike and go trail running.
Ready for my first trail ride.
I guess it's okay to ride here?
It’s been awhile since I’ve been out–probably since high school or college–and I definitely forgot how much fun mountain biking can be. Here are a few shots of things I am no longer brave/stupid enough to attempt on a bike.
Ah . . . no.
I can barely walk up this hill, let alone ride it!
I definitely forgot how the fatigue of riding can sneak up on you; there were a few times where I was focusing on a climb (or just staying on the bike) when I was suddenly winded. I also forgot how beautiful it can be to get out and ride–definitely worth stopping for a few pictures!
This field leads up to a farm.
Pretty. Inviting.
I saw a deer just before I stopped at this waterfall!
Riding is a lot of fun, and I’m glad to be back at it. Going over the trails at speed, you have to be aware of everything beneath the bike and all that’s around you. It’s very good training for agility, timing, and reflexes for martial arts! Here are a few links to find rides in Connecticut. I hope to see you out there!
Do you know if any other good links or rides? Let us know, and enjoy the rest of the long weekend.
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