[quote]Spartiates wrote:
[quote]Alex Good wrote:
Those were two unrelated comments. I’m doing explosive pushups for speed, but I still need more cardio. I’m one bad runner.[/quote]
I wasn’t thinking they were, I was just talking about cardio, not speed.[/quote]
You know tbat by speed I meant I punch like I’m in slow motion, right?
good stuff! i love these threads…
last year i planned on doing a MMA tournement, but my wife had some health issues that kept me out of it again. still, i took the reigns and started up a team and more or less planned the training myself. while not an expert in really anything, i learned a lot by teaching. i also learned to evaluate techniques…while some BJJ techniques or boxing combos are badass, and very applicable to their individual sports, there aren’t as important for MMA. the basics matter the most for MMA, IMO…
another thing we did was implement counters and combos vs lots of sparring, which i think is the way to go, at least for beginners. for example, we worked on countering a jab with a lead leg leg-kick, etc…
wrestling…i fucking love it, and am pissed i didn’t wreslte for more than 2 months in HS. my double leg is my 2nd most effective takedown, and i have yet to roll with somebody i can’t take down with that, or my hip toss.
training on your own…even if you can’t train technique for some time, you can train cardio, prehab/rehab, etc… i have about 1/3 of the martial arts books and magazines on the market at my house, and even if i can’t train, i still read on strategy and analyze technique.
this year i also realized that i’m kind of blessed genetically in the power and strnegth department…i’ve rarely felt weak when rolling or fighting someone. i think this opened my eyes to the fact i can back off strength training, and focus more on technique, injury prevention and endurance.
for this next year i’m trying not to be so rigid with my training and be flexible and work around life events. i do wanna compete still, and will find a way, perhaps doing a local show vs the tournemenet i had been planning.
i’m also gonna quit abusing caffeine and every other stinkin’ stimulant on the market, and try to go more the nootropic route, as well as easin’ off the booze. i think overall, my energy and health will improve a lot, facilitating better training.
→ my son was born in 2010 and i got a new job which really forced me to step up in competition…
So that changed a lot. i had to realize working for 50 hours and training martial arts and strength and conditioning for 15 hours plus driving time
does absolutely not make you a good father. that was really a lesson to learn because it is hard to give something up.
so i restructured my training, made an simplistic approach and decided to not compete in the national tournament. it was a tough decision but it was the right
one for the baby, the girlfriend and me.
→ being a father is damn awesome. I really don’t know why i put that much pressure on my girlfriend to not get pregnant in the last years.
→ At the end of the year i recognized even with an simplistic training approach you can make still good progress
→ being a 250 pound heavyweight in muay thai and doing a lot of strength work does not really make you faster. Somehow it makes you quicker but when it comes to
dancing around, slipping punches and throwing kicks from all different angles it does not really help
→ incorporating more bodyweight work and plyometric work really started to make me fast. The heavier your the more you benefit from bodyweight excercises.
→ later in the year i had to realise doing lots of strength work and plyometrics really fuck my recovery up… and my conditioning
→ lifting heavy once per week and working on plyos once per week works absolutely best for me. The rest of the time is spent on sparring, partner drills and the heavy bag
→ one special drill really helped me a lot and i have to mention it here. We call it offensive sparring, that means one guy is the attacker and he is allowed to throw a 3 -6 punch or kick
combination. He really tries to hurt you were your open. you will concentrate on blocking and moving (make it hard for him) and when he is finished you have to immediatly throw the same combination back. in the next round your are the offensive guy.
That helped so much ! It really forces you to look what your opponent is doing, defend yourself use your brain and throw the combination back.
Normally i just dit partner drills or normal sparring. but this exercise really helped. try it out.
→ and steady state cardio like a 3 mile run in the morning is extremely underrated. that helps with your recovery a lot and does not harm your muscles
I do better with tons of basic drills than I do learning a lot of new techniques. Black belt execution of blue belt level technique is more effective for me than blue belt execution of black belt level techniques.
Cutting weight does me more harm than good, but it’s mostly because I’m a little baby baby mentally. I’ve always had problems with focus, and the distraction of cutting is worse for me than giving up a few pounds. I’m not very strong by T-Nation standards… but I certainly don’t get manhandled either.
This is kind of the opposite of “learning”, but man, I just don’t understand why judo isn’t more popular. I guess you could say I’ve learned that I really like judo ha
Don’t neglect anything. Prioritize, sure, but to drop something completely because it isn’t a priority is dumb. I might cut some part of my training back to once a week or something, but I’ll never leave anything completely out anymore.
The clinch is what separates people who are good at Muay Thai from… well, everybody else. And if you’ve got good judo to mix in with it, holy crap man, that’s awesome.
It doesn’t matter how good your striking or submissions are if your wrestling sucks.
Fight close to your natural weight, and you’ll find your natural weight when your diet and training are dialed in. I wasted a lot of time starving down to 170 and trying to bloat up to heavyweight. I’m about 210-215 now, and I feel real damn good.
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
This.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
This.[/quote]
Word. “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.” - Bruce Lee
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
[/quote]
What do you mean there when you say “wrestling”? Takedowns and control from the top?
Just curious. Starting this week I’ll be doing wrestling a couple hours a week and am really looking forward to it.
Takedowns, takedown defense, positioning on the ground; basically the ability to dictate where the fight takes place. Make the other guy play your game so you can utilize your strengths. “An advantage is only an advantage if you take advantage of it.” - Dikembe Mutombo