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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

14 Days!

It has now been 14 days since any diet soda has passed through my lips, and yes, I am surviving. I am not sure how I am doing it, but other than a couple of really bad cravings, I have abstained.

I have heard that the 21st day is the important one. By that time, your body is supposed to have "forgotten" it wants a particular substance. I hope that is true.

Updates to follow.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

jab in Crazy Monkey

this is something I posted on the STWA forum (www.mymalife.com) in response to someone asking about jabs in the CM system.


<< I've heard it many times that having a good jab is one of the most important skills to have in standup fighting. I've also heard that in order to do so, you have to be able to hit from many angles and start the jab from a variety of positions.

However, in the crazy monkey system, all punches should begin from the top of your head.

Isn't it then harder to develop a good jab, because it's a bit predictable that all your jabs will start from the top of your head? >>


Here is the problem with that. Starting your jab from ANY other place means you are leaving your head open. Period. If you have fantastic attributes or have been able to train boxing hours every day for years, you probably can pull it off, MOST of the time. However, at some point, someone else with greater attributes or more experience at boxing will nail you the instant your hand moves away from your head. With CM, defense (specifically, protecting the vulnerable points on the head) is the number one priority. Everything else is after.

So, yes, in a sense, it is harder to develop a jab because you are a little more predictable. BUT..... in actual practice it is a moot point. Because I am protecting my head at ALL TIMES, I have more actual freedom to punch because I know I am covered. I am not going to eat a power shot while I encroach on my opponent's territory. I can throw a commited jab, and not get knocked out. That gives me many, many more opportunities to throw that "predictable" jab. As soon as that happens, I can dictate what is happening in the fight, not my opponent. At that point, more and more targets open up. So I accomplish what a varied jab game does WITHOUT opening myself up needlessly.

Here is one of my favorite demos when I am coaching someone in CM for the first time. It is a good way to show them how well CM defense works, as well as how to be offensive out of it.

I tell them I am just going to jab to their head, nothing else. Their job is to punch me however they want. I make sure I throw a jab while keeping a tight cover with the other hand (as close to perfect CM as I can). Maybe 3 out of 5 times, I don't land the punch, but 5 out of 5 times I don't get hit! So, going easy I can be at 40% success offensively, but 100% success on defense. Then I let them do the same thing. The offenseive percentage drops a little (2 out of 10 times landing maybe), but they don't get hit. They immediately build confidence and they start to have a better "game".