meta name="verify-v1" content="mxUXSoJWEFZKrtw31+uRroeKyRmf49ADfeiAbP3JB2o=" / Arizona Martial Gym: February 2008

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Radio Nowhere

Between my IPOD and satellite radio, I rarely listen to regular radio. I like being able to decide what I get to listen to. About the only time I listen to terrestrial radio is weekday mornings when I like to listen to a local morning show. It is on the main alternative rock station and the host, Chuck Powell is a comedic genius. Why he isn't on a national broadcast is beyond me. He is fantastic. Brilliantly funny without ever having to use raunchiness or vulgarity as a crutch (now don't get me wrong, I enjoy raunch and vulgarity - the main reason I have satellite radio is so I can listen to Howard Stern whenever I want- but it is nice to have someone who can make you laugh with something other than poop or booby jokes).

The drawback to listening to his show is that he is still forced to play some music in between the comedy. Now I like alternative music, and the station is one of the better ones (one of the nice things about it is that it is locally owned; it isn't part of some national corporate chain). However, there is just something wrong with the current radio scene. In a word, the playlists suck. For example, on this station, they constantly play older stuff like Nirvana or older songs by artists like Green Day. Nirvana was a great band, but do we really need to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" again? Or, do we need to hear "Holiday" for the umpteenth time?? I mean, how is it different than a classic rock station playing "Stairway to Heaven" or "Freebird" for the gazillionith time or a pop music station playing anything by Elton John?

Here is a piece of free advice to any radio station programmer who might happen to read this. If you listen to me, I think you will take a big step towards doing something different and PROFITABLE.

STOP TRYING TO BE MY IPOD!!!! No matter how much of a genius you are, you will never be able to beat anybody's personal MP3 player. Everyone knows their own taste better than the greatest programmer on the planet. Rather than regurgitate the same old stuff, and bore 85% of your potential audience, try this. Be the source of new music. Be the place everyone listens to in order to know what the good new stuff is. Don't bother with what we already have, turn us onto new music.

And, this is really easy to do. Go to the nearest university, community college, or technical school and bring on an intern (at no charge! - how cool is that) and have their total duties be browsing the internet for interesting songs, or reading the trade journals, or even magazines like Rolling Stone of Blender. What 19 or 20 year old college student wouldn't love to get school credit by listening to music? Every week, they could find 15-20 new songs, put them on a CD and give them to the programmer to check out over the weekend. The programmer could then see if any of them are good enough to add to the rotation. Just think, FOR FREE, any radio station could be constantly adding new stuff. Very quickly, they would be the radio destination for a ton of people, including ones (like me) who don't currently listen. It is a win-win situation.

The music industry is changing, more quickly than anyone could have realized five years ago. The ones who survive, whether they are artists, record companies, producers, or radio stations, will have to be the ones who think outside the box. My idea is one that could very well be the model for the new age of radio.

I am such a genius.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

what is wrong with your CM?


Recently, I read an internet post (I know, I know, I shouldn't even pay attention, but sometimes....) where the poster gave a back handed compliment to CM boxing. He said that CM was okay when you needed a second to handle pressure from strikes, but it didn't work overall. I had to laugh. I actually know a lot about the guy who wrote that post. I know his background, who he trains with, and his overall experience. I know, FOR A FACT, that he has NEVER trained CM with a knowledgeable CM coach. The most he knows is either through DVDs or second hand from someone who MIGHT have trained it. Yet he has no problem making public pronouncements about the system! Amazing. He must be the reincarnation of Bruce Lee to be so insightful.

What is more amusing is the one of the arts he practices is Savate, an art that is often misunderstood. I have seen where this guy gets irritated when someone makes an ill-informed comment on Savate. He will spend a lot of time posting corrections and basically saying someone who hasn't trained in Savate is probably missing a lot of the information. But, it is funny he doesn't see the hypocrisy in his own actions.

As someone who has been coaching CM for awhile, and has conducted or assisted at a good number of seminars, I have seen a lot of people try to learn this system and I have a good idea of the typical mistakes that about 99% of newbies make. I GUARANTEE that the afore-mentioned poster is making almost all of these mistakes and doesn't have the faintest clue he is doing so. Here are the typical problems I see.

1) Too high, not sinking your body down into your pelvis - This is a huge step towards defending against body shots, as well as being able to absorb force without being knocked back off balance. Beginners never realize they are not doing this because they haven't built up their kinesthetic perception.

2) Elbows everywhere but where they should be - Again, newbies don't realize where their elbows actually are. Generally, they are too far forward, not lying on the ribcage, thereby giving the opponent space to go around to land shots.

3) Shoulders down - it takes some practice to learn to keep the shoulders shrugged up. It is easy to let them drop, and forcing the arms to take on more responsibility of the defense which takes away from your ability to go on the offensive.

4) Hips angled - not keeping the hips square to the opponent.

5) Rear foot down - beginners have a hard time understanding the just the act of bringing the rear heel off the ground and leaving it there adds so much to their game in so many ways. It is such a crucial skill, but definitely one that most people lack when they start.

Numbers 1,2,3, and 5 are generally related to fatigue. If you have the proper coaching to make sure you are doing the mechanics correctly, and you actually put in a little time doing the work, they all are easily addressed. Number 4 is just a question of understanding spacial relationships and a basic level of kinesthetic perception, all things that a decent coach can bring out in you.

As you can see from the photo above of the top CM coach in the UK Phil Wright, his torso is dropped down into his pelvis making him look shorter than he actually is, his shoulders are up, his elbows are almost resting on his ribs, his hips are square to his imaginary opponent, and his rear foot is up. This is the right details. Where his hands go at this point is almost irrelevant because everything else is in place to handle the bad stuff that might be coming in.

The key underlying thread to all of them are that most people don't get them from watching a DVD. It generally takes hands on coaching to make them understood.

If you haven't taken the time to actually train it hands on, you might want to pass on public commentary so you don't look like a buffoon.