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.

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".

stop the madness

I don't know what it is, but lately I have noticed something about a good number of famous people. There is some really bad plastic surgery out there. What would make an attractive person subject themselves to multiple surgeries? It never works. Yes, maybe one procedure might help, but anymore than one is a guaranteed trip to grossville. Joan Rivers looks like a ghoul. Bruce Jenner is really freaky. Need I say a word about Michael Jackson? I think Pamela Anderson looks like she is made of plastic. The really scary part is what some of these people are going to look like in a couple of years. The human body is not designed to go through what these people are putting themselves through. Eventually, the payment will come due for their faustian pact.

If you are contemplating ANY kind of plastic surgery, look first at a website called awfulplasticsurgery.com, THEN decide. Hopefully, you will decide the smart way.

joy

I went to a concert Thursday night. It was The Blasters. If you don't know them, they are a great classic roots rock band. It was terrifc concert, but what I noticed really got to me. For the ENTIRE 90 minute plus show, the lead singer Phil Alvin was the focal point. He did all the talking to the audience, he was the obvious music leader calling time and songs, and he sang every song. That must have been a pretty exhausting situation, but you know what I noticed? Not one time did Alvin fail to smile. He was beaming form start to finish. No matter how much he sweated and worked, he was obviously having the time of his life. Now, it was a good crowd, but nothing extraordinary. The band must be performing all the time, yet from watching Phil Alvin, you would think this was one of the greatest moments of his life. And his sheer joy in performing infected the crowd. EVERYBODY was rocking, and everybody left talking about what a great show it was. The other weird thing was there was no physical problems or arguements the entire night. The bouncers basically sat around rocking out with us. I think a lot of that had to do with Alvin projecting such sheer joy. I think it is hard to be in a foul mood when you are watching someone just enjoying themselves. So, I thought while driving home, what would happen if we all just tried to be a little joyful in our everyday lives? Maybe it would act like a contagious disease and spread. I am going to be doing my part in at least a little attempt to find out.

resolution update

Here is a quick update on the status of my NY's resolution to give up soda. Basically, I am still on track. I am down to two sodas a day. Next week I will drop that to one per day. It might be slow, but I think this is the only way I will get it to stick. The problem is, I realized that not only do I have a chemical addiction, I have an immensely hard to break habit of drinking diet soda, so I need to not only break the dependency, but the habituation as well. So that requires time.

As an aside, my wife is doing even better for her resolution to stop smoking. February is looking good!

truth is not pliable

So, there is this guy, James Frey, who wrote a memoir of his life. The book is about his drug and alcohol addictions and the criminal trouble they led to. Oprah has had him on her showed and praised the book for it's honesty. The trouble is, it isn't honest. SmokingGun.com has done an expose where most of his criminal stuff is made up. Instead of apologizing for lying, Frey went on Larry King and defended himself. Now, I don't really care about him, except for this asinine quote where he said that "only" 18 pages out of 432 pages were wrong, and that is "an appropriate ratio for a memoir". What??!??! It is okay to make crap up because it is your story? That is complete idiocy. A quick memeo to Frey. Dude, it is either fiction OR non-fiction, not both. Don't try to tell a truthful story that we should pay attention to, and then pack it with lies. It shoots ALL your credibility right in the foot. Either tell the truth, or tell a made up story. Trying to do both makes you a liar. Period.

An important New Years resolution

I am doing this publicly so it makes it harder to fail. The last thing I want is random people giving me crap for breaking my resolution for next year, so this should help push me when I want to give up. Here we go.

I am giving up soda. Ta-da! Now, you might not think that is a big deal, but trust me, it is. I am a diet Coke/diet Pepsi addict. That first sip of the cold nectar in the morning is like heroin to a junkie. I need to stop, so I am preparing myself mentally for the awful fight. I have almost quit a couple of times, but I keep backsliding like a smoker. This time, it WILL be different. I have a plan over the first 4 weeks of weaning myself off with a really good schedule. By February 1, I will no longer have to have that sweet chemical taste to function.

Wish me luck, I am going to need it!

pay it forward

I am always amazed when I read great thinkers and scientists talk about deep things. I love to try to figure things out that deal with the macro (i.e. "the universe"). But, on the whole, those things have only a small impact on my life. With the things I feel are neccesary to do, I don't have a lot of freedom to try to "fix" the world. However, I can do one thing on a regular basis that I feel makes some kind of contribution. That is the idea of paying it forward.

I am blessed. I have a great wife, fantastic kids, loving family, loyal and trusted friends. I make a decent living and I have some fredom to pursue the hobby (martial arts) that I love. So, wherever I can, I try to do some good for no reward. Sometimes it is bigger, sometimes it is smaller, but it is always something I try to hold in my heart.

For example, buying a nice dress for a teenage girl who otherwise would not have one because her parents can't afford it. Or, donating money to a charity. Or donating turkeys to poor people for the holidays. These are obvious ones, but there are others as well. Letting a person trying to merge into traffic. You don't think that is the same? Then you have obviously never driven rush hour in Phoenix. Plus it is something that can be done all the time. How about making sure you show the guy you are sparring with what he is doing wrong so he doesn't keep getting punched with a counter cross? Or on the mat, showing your partner how to counter the arm drag you keep nailing him with. These might be little things, but if everyone did them all the time, the cumulative result would be amazing.

Anyway, that is my holiday mesage. I hope everyone out there has a great Christmas . Yes, I know that is not a PC thing to say. So sue me. Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone.

Performance coaching

Performance coaching. What does it mean? Simply put, it is a way of coaching so that anyone, regardless of level, improves their performance. It will be an incredibly important concept in the months and years to come. It is a giant leap forward and away from "technique" based teaching. I have been trying desperately to integrate it into my own coaching, but it is not simple. It requires a great deal of work and preparation. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to see it done properly this past weekend. I participated in a seminar conducted by Adam Singer that was miles beyond a typical seminar session. He took a diverse group of people, with all kinds of different experiences and games, and, if the feedback from the people I talked to is any indication, ALL of them walked away with elevated games. And that includes stand up striking, clinch, and ground.

He started off with shadowboxing and then light contact sparring. Once he understood the room, he was off. Everything he showed had immediate application and was done in a way that everyone could grasp, even if they could not quite perform it to the highest level. He went through a progression that integrated all the ranges while tweaking the details within the ranges. At all times, even when we were doing some kind of isolation drill, he always kept us focused on the totality of MMA. And, it was also cutting edge stuff, such as ways of getting off the ground back to stand up striking, including clever ways of using a wall or brace. His coaching intelligence also came out when he smoothly found ways of working in wrestling even when the knowledge base for wrestling in the room was low. He still kept everyone going with the right stuff. I don't think anyone ever got left behind. And, he finished up the final 45 minutes with an open Q & A that tied it all together and made sure everybody was comfortable with the material.

In short, it was an amazing experience. Adam is truly a gifted and hardworking coach. If you ever get the chance to find out firsthand, DO IT! You will not regret it.

Congrats to my buddy Adam!

I was in L.A. this past weekend hanging out with my buddies Jerry Wetzel and Adam Singer. It was a fantastic time involving great training, even better companionship, terrific food, and a fun party. Probably the highlight, besides discussing the scientific properties of helium, was watching Adam get his long deserved brown belt in BJJ. For those who don't know, that is an awesome achievment. Probably less then 3% of all the people who start BJJ stick it out to get as high as brown.

Way to go, man!!!!!!!

no-gi vs gi

A lot of discussion goes on regarding grappling with a Gi or without a Gi. There is a great deal of adamant opinions on both sides of the aisle and I don't think I will convince anyone of the superiority of one over the other. However, what I would like to do is try to get people to stop being so obsessed with the debate. Both methods work, both methods can help you accomplish your goals of being a better fighter, and both are valid. But what is most important is this; there is far more overlap between the two than there are differences.

I really get tired when everytime a new instructional comes out, someone will invariably ask "how much is no-gi?". Over and over again. The fact is; outside of throws, collar chokes, and spider guard; gi and no-gi is about 98% IDENTICAL! This isn't just my own opinion (as important as that is LOL), it is also the opinion of a friend of mine at my BJJ school. His name is Brad Peterson. He was an all-american wrestler in college, and has been doing BJJ for almost three years. If anyone should have a problem with gi, it should be him. I asked him his opinion. Basically, it was this. It takes a second to make the mental adjustment, so just train. I agree. There really is not a lot of difference, at least, not enough to make a big deal out of it. Case in point. I recently got a really good instructional set. Outside of the throws (which are strong judo takedowns) and maybe two submissions that use the skirt of the gi, everything on there can be done JUST AS WELL gi or no-gi, yet I know there are a ton of people who will never watch this set because it is "gi".

I think this mindset is far too limiting. And it goes both ways. There are just as many people who will never pay attention to a no-gi oriented set. Please don't let this be you. Learn from everything, and THINK about what you are watching. Now go put on that gi! Just kidding.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving. The turkey is in the oven, the house is clean, the yard looks good. There is nothing to do for a couple of hours until everybody starts arriving. So I will make a quick list of what I am thankful for.

My kids (best in the world), my wife (ditto), the rest of my family - even my in-laws LOL, BJJ, crazy monkey, savate, BJJ competitions, my close friends -Randy, Doug, Adam, Jerry, etc.., my training partners, Tetley's beer, manapua from Aloha Kitchen, curry from Curry House, green tea ice cream, route 44 diet coke from Sonic, cornbread stuffing (not whitebread!), Kiera Knightley, always learning something about myself everytime I get on the mat, the movies "Hard Times" and "Brotherhood of the Wolf", DVD's over video tape, satellite radio that has an entire channel devoted to alt-country, and really comfortable mattresses at the end of a hard day.

everybody's business

Here is a quick assignment for everyone to fill up the long holiday weekend. Why is it that so many people think they have a right to know everything they wish to know about someone else's private affairs? What possesses' their minds to make them get angry if they are not told all the sordid details of a given situation? This has come up recently involving some friends of mine who decided for their own reasons to do something, and a number of people who don't even know them are basically demanding to be informed of the reasoning. But, I also think about how celebrity gossip seems to literally pollute the TV, newspapers, and internet as well. Does anyone really gain anything in their lives by knowing how Jennifer Aniston deals with her divorce from Brad Pitt? I just don't get it. If anyone has any fun theories, e-mail them to me, and if they are helpful to understanding this, I will post them on the blog. Have a good and safe Thanksgiving!

Congrats Lloyd

Lloyd took 4th place at Grapplers Quest. One of his guys lost but competed against younger guys even though he could have fought in the eecutive division. And his other guy was messed up in registration, so he has to wait for next time.

Overall, a terrific day in my book. Afterall, the victory in competition is stepping on the mat. Everything else is incidental.

Big thumbs up to you Lloyd, and your guys!

the secret ingredient

I am fortunate to be able to train BJJ with some great people, both as instructors and as training partners. The more experience I get rolling with high level people, the deeper my perception of BJJ becomes. One of the things I am finally understanding is that, in my opinion, the most important attribute in BJJ is balance. I am talking about the ability to control your body and tell it what to do no matter what freaky position you find yourself in. After watching the ADCC 2005 tournament, that lesson is only clearer. Really, the difference I keep seeing between a winner and loser is very often who had the better balance. At that level, the technique is fairly even, as are most other physical attributes, but the person who has better balance tends to come out on top. Watch any of the matches from AD 2005 involving Marcelo Garcia, Jacare, Roger Gracie, or Kyra Gracie. They all have amazing balance.

I noticed it myself last year when I was preparing to go compete in Brazil. I trained with an athletic performance coach, and one of the things he had me do was different balance exercises with different pieces of equipment. The elevation of my game on the mat was even more noticeable to me than from losing weight or adding strength. Even better cardio took a backseat to what improved balance did for me.

There are many ways to improve your balance. They range from simple methods anyone can do immediately, to using expensive and complex pieces of equipment. Do searches on the web to find ideas for you, and DO IT! You will thank me later.

Good luck Lloyd

My friend Lloyd Martinez, who runs a really good MMA school in Albequerque, NM is going to Grappler's Quest in Las Vegas this weekend. He is competing along with a couple of his students. I just want to say good luck. I know he will do well.

recommended reading 2

Okay, here is the next installment of good books I think should be read. Since the last one of these I did was all escapist fiction, I will now go the exact opposite route.

Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger : this is a really enjoyable book about a non-martial artist (he is actually an Oxford poet) who decides to finally improve his life while living in Japan by enrolling in a year long intensive aikido training course designed for the Tokyo Riot Police. Very entertaining, even if, like me, you are not into aikido.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford : I have always been fascinated by Genghis Khan and this is the first book that is able to really delve into his story because of the author's unprecedented access to rarely seen mongollian texts. It is a great book about one of the most important figures of history.

Training For Warriors by Matrin Rooney : a physical training book that is written expressly for combat athletes. Rooney knows his stuff. He is the athletic performance coach for the Renzo Gracie team. Easily absorbed information. It WILL improve your game.

Final Gifts:Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggi Callanan and Patricia Kelly: this book is written by two hospice nurses. They try to explain what dying people go through in order for the living to help and comfort them during the last days. It is an extremely moving book, especially for those of us who have lost someone close to illness or age.

cornerstones for a DVD instructional library

There are a ton of instructional DVD's and videos out there. And practically everyday something new is released. You can go crazy trying to make sure you are buying the right ones. Here is a quick guide to what I think should be the foundation of anyone's functional martial art library.

1) Rodney King :
Street Boxing 101, Clinch Boxing 101, Sparring 101 - All three of these are fantastic. Great material that is presented simply and clearly. The best base for your striking game.

2) Adam Singer / Rory Singer / Paul Sharp :
Clinchin ' 2 - Everything you need to have a solid clinch game. Anyone can jump right in and start training this material immediately.

3) Matt Thornton :
Funtional JKD (series 1) tape #3 the ground, Functional JKD (series 2) tape #1 top game, tape #2 escapes from bottom, tape #3 guard game - these four tapes are the perfect start to understanding Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Not only do they teach the "techniques" , but they also show the principles and training methods better than any other BJJ instructional on the market today.


4) Jerry Wetzel :
Red Zone 1 , Red Zone 2 - I have spent literally almost two decades doing weapons. I will categorically state right here that there is no better unarmed against the knife program than Jerry Wetzel's Red Zone. If you think you are doing self-defense and you don't have these instructionals, you are kidding yourself. And it works for anyone, regardless of skill level. Period.



So, here are the DVD's that I think are critical to building a dependable foundation for your personal expression of martial arts. This is not to say that there are not other great discs out there. There most definitely are. But, these are the ones that will make what you learn from other instructionals actually work and just these will give you years worth of training material. Check 'em out!

excuses, excuses

Sorry I have not updated this blog in awhile. I have been really busy at work, and I have been working on what I hope to be an article to be submitted to a major martial art publication. I think I have come up with a nice begining to it, so the rest of the article should flow smoothly. I will let everyone know.

an insight into Megaton

Here is a little anecdote that reveals a little bit about Megaton's ability and his mindset. It is very illustrative and pretty damn funny at the same time.

I had bought a DVD called Grapplebook. In it there is a section on Eddie Bravo doing the twister. It is not really a move I see using myself much, but I still liked it. Since the overall DVD was pretty good, I loaned it to Megaton. After he watched it, I asked him his thoughts on the twister. He didn't like it, since he thought it was a "sloppy" move, like a neck crank or heel hook, as opposed to a "finese" move like a choke or armbar. He said it worked, but it wasn't his kind of move to do much. So later that class, we were rolling. It was my turn to be on the sidelines (we had uneven numbers that day), so I was watching Megaton rolling. I blinked a couple of times because I could swear I saw him setting up the twister. I kept watching, and sure enough, he did it. I started pointing at him and said "what the hell are you doing?" He smiled until Dave tapped. I kept looking over at him through the rest of class even while I was rolling myself, and I saw him do the twister two or three more times to different people. I asked him after class what he was up to. He just basically said he wanted to see how the move worked. Since then, I have never seen him do it again.

So, he saw a move once on DVD, and immediately applied it in sparring against a number of different resisting opponents without any practice of the move. He did it just so he understood the move and knew his judgement of it was correct (too sloppy) and has never seen the need to go back to it. He is that good.

I hate him.