JC's Martial Arts Experiences

Moving...

2013-09-14T22:54:00.001+01:00

Moving over to www.blog.wiredma.com
New fitness posts/articles will be available there!

Will training with more clothes on help me lose weight?

2013-08-26T19:34:00.001+01:00

First of all, losing weight is NOT the same as losing fat.

Wearing more clothes (clingfilm or a bin liner etc) during training (usually cardiovascular) will make you sweat more, but will not help you lose fat. You will sweat more, therefore decreasing the amount of water in your body (weight drops temporarily), but when you rehydrate after training your weight will rise again. Think about a sauna, people don't miraculously lost fat and get fit just by sitting in a sauna.

I would not recommend this approach for weight loss, unless you're specifically looking to drop weight for a short period of time for example a weigh in before a boxing bout.

Notes from weight training eBooks (BFFM and Holy Grail)

2012-03-03T18:32:00.000+00:00

I've been reading two eBooks about resistance/weight training and diet: burn the fat, feed the muscle; and the Holy Grail. I made some notes, because I'm geeky like that, and thought I'd share them with you:

Repetition guidelines:

Strength/Power 1 – 5 reps
Hypertrophy (size) & some strength 6 - 12 reps
Local endurance/ little size 12-20 reps
Abs & Calves 10-25 reps

More sets and exercises are not necessarily better. Better training means more intensity, good exercise form and continuous progression

Eat both protein and carbs in the post workout meal. Carbs eaten after workouts will replenish glycogen, restore blood sugar, and cause a beneficial insulin spike, which will suppress the catabolic hormone cortisol, and drive amino acids into the muscle cells.

Do cardio and weights separated into 2 sessions, if possible.
To maintain good flexibility, you should stretch three or four times per week. To increase flexibility to the maximum level possible, you need to stretch on a daily basis.
Goal Setting:

Focus on one goal, not conflicting goals. 1) fat loss 2) Muscle gain 3) gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time (the Holy Grail!)
Set long term and short term goals
Goals must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound

Body fat % classifications:

Lean = 10 – 14%
Ripped = 3 – 6%

Coaching and Competitions

2012-02-29T22:44:00.003+00:00

I’ve been coaching the GTI Squad which has been a great experience, although I did underestimate the amount of work required sorting out the logistics for competitions.

Keen GTI sparrers travel up to three hours on a Sunday morning to train, which is greatly appreciated. However, this is now becoming a barrier for some people, which is a shame and I’m not sure what the solution is…. I could rotate the squad sessions in different venues, but then if I go north, it makes it difficult for the people in the south and vice versa. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be much appreciated!

We have our first “away” non-GTI squad tournament coming up, in Scotland. I’m hoping this will be a good chance for people to bond and improve the team dynamics. Things are looking good, although a long drive, it’ll be a nice little road trip and we can also enjoy the sites of Glasgow.

The following week is the PUMA World Championships, which I’m hoping a formal GTI Squad will be debuting. I’ve made the next squad session compulsory for those who want to be considered to be in the team, we’ll see how that goes…

Two other points before I sign off: I’ve bought the squad a bunch of skipping ropes, which is turning out to be a great little investment – it provides an effective and “fun” warm up. I do 3 minutes skipping, 3 minutes jogging and repeat this two times (will probably need to cut it down to two minutes and do three rounds – people were hanging last time)! Final point, I used a round timer in the last squad session – big LED screen and loud beeps indicate rest period, round times and 10 seconds to go etc, and its programmable which means I can join in too :-)

Worthwhile kit investment

Update and Isometric training

2012-02-29T22:28:00.000+00:00

It’s been a while, so I’m going to spoil you with a three post wammy! I competed at the GTI English Open championships the Sunday before last where I lost second round in points sparring and narrowly won the continuous sparring category. This (and the upcoming comps) has motivated to get my ass back to training.

I’m still working in London, so am trying to cram in as much training during the weekend as I can. There is hope though – I may have two leads for good clubs in central London; one kickboxing club and one ITF club. If anyone knows of any decent clubs in central London I’d be happy to hear them!

Before this surge in training I was hitting the gym, mixing it up with some isometric training; static resistance training. For example one of the most common isomteric exercises is the plank.

An isometric exercise : the plank

I used the same isometric principles during my weight sessions e.g. dumbbell chest press, pausing for the count of 20 at the bottom of the exercise and at the top. Likewise for bicep curls, shoulder press, lateral raises and tricep kickbacks etc.

From this experience I found it somewhat frustrating, as you don’t work up a sweat and it’s a different kind of burn, which meant that I felt like I was barely working. I used to think, if I’m not sweating and if it doesn’t hurt then I’m not working hard enough – with isometric training this is definitely not the case.

I’ve now moved onto plyometric/ballistic training for that explosive power which is much needed in sparring. See next post for an update on my plyometric/ballistic training experience.

Punch bag training

2011-12-02T19:44:00.001+00:00

I have a punch bag and would like some new training routines/workouts for it.

If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Thanks :)

M100

2011-11-02T12:16:00.000+00:00

Another exercise for you, which is a lot shorter but more intense. This should take between 2 - 5 minutes and works on a fairly new training principal I've been reading about called the "after burn effect".

It's called the M100 (or Mandatory 100):
1. 10x Burpees
2. 30x Hill climbers (alternating leg squat thrust)
3. 10x Semi-squat jump
4. 10x Burpees
5. 30x Hill climbers
6. 10x Semi-squat jump
7. 10x Burpees
8. 30x Hill climbers
9. 10x Semi-squat jump
10. 10x BURPEES!

Important: there is no resting until you complete all ten sets!

Basically repeating three exercises for three sets and finishing on one final set of burpies!

For example (skip to 1:45):

The Dirty Dozen

2011-10-16T17:55:00.001+01:00

I spent a year working in Taunton, Somerset, where there's a Royal Marines base. I trained there a few times and picked up an exercise routine called the Dirty Dozen!

It consists of 12 reps of each exercise. Each Round is cumulative (must include the previous set of rounds):

Round 1 = 12 Should Width Push ups
Round 2 = 12 Crunches
Round 3 = 12 Lunges
Round 4 = 12 Star Jumps
Round 5 = 12 Tricep Dips
Round 6 = 12 Shuttle Runs
Round 7 = 12 Leg Raises
Round 8 = 12 Diamond Push Ups
Round 9 = 12 Burpees
Round 10 = 12 V-Ups
Round 11 = 12 Squats
Round 12 = 50 quick sprint starts (25 on each leg)

I tried this out on my University Kickboxing club, who took ~40minutes to complete. I showed people it when I was working in an American summer camp and I started a little competition to see which pair could get the fastest time. From what I remember ~24minutes was the best.

I suggest people give it a go, record your time and try and beat it next time.

Enjoy :)

GTI Fight Club/Squad Training/Competition Improvement?!

2011-07-21T23:27:00.000+01:00

So I've been tasked with bringing back GTI (Global Taekwondo International) Fight Club/Squad Training/Competition Improvement - not sure what to call it yet as:

Fight Club sounds a bit thuggish (and cliche with that awesome film with Brad Pitt)
Squad Training sounds elitist and may intimidate others from training
Need something along the lines of what it is like Competition Improvement (but that sounds rubbish)... let me know if you have any ideas!

I'm a little apprehensive but excited at the prospect of heading it up and I've got the full backing of the committee which is great. I guess it'll be a good test for me to see if I can put on a quality sparring session with them all there and show them and everyone my vision for the team.

Losing weight

2011-03-19T09:14:00.001+00:00

So the day if the PUMA Black Belt World Championships finally arrives...

Sparring has been scarce due to working in London and I think this has contributed to me not being able to cut weight as easily. I was at 83kg and only had to lose 2kg in 3weeks, which ive done more than before. I haven't been able to this time so its resulted in a 24hr fast before weigh in. Man I'm hungry!

Just checked the scales and I'm 79.5kg, boo yeah! I wouldn't recommend fasting, eating better and increasing the cardio is much healthier! My pee/urine is yellow and I do feel dehydrated. Oh well, since my division is not competing until tomorrow; its time to eat and drink lots :-)

Good luck to all that are fighting this weekend!

Work Training Balance

2011-01-27T19:06:00.001+00:00

I'm missing training tonight as I'm stuck on a train coming back from work in London, and its not the first time!

I'm interested to hear how other people adsress this balance. Especially now that I've been contracted to a job in London for the next ten weeks, with a big comp coming up in march.

Any ideas?

General Update & New Years Resolution

2010-12-26T12:18:00.004+00:00

Apologies for leaving this blog unattended to - to be honest I had almost forgotten about it, but thanks to an interesting comment by Yakattack, I've made it my New Years Resolution to keep this updated more often.

Since my last update in October 2009, I was peer pressured into competing in a full contact kickboxing match for my university. Having come back from four months in America (on a rubbish diet), I was a bit dubious. To cut a long story short, three weeks is not enough time to prep for a fight, which resulted in me breaking my jaw.
I didn't realise my jaw was broken until four hours later when the adrenaline had died down and the pain started to kick in. It turns out my jaw was fractured in three places, from just one punch! I had surgery where two metal plates were put in and my teeth wired, to keep it all in place. Three months later (~March 2010) there's no cosmetic damage and I'm back in training :)

Soon after that I spent three months in Italy working as a graphic designer, unfortunately no training and an Italian high carb diet meant I started to gain the wrong kind of weight. Following a few days back in the UK, I flew off to Mexico and travelled around Central America for two months (again, no training).

I've been back in the UK since September and have been training at my old Tae kwon-do club, where training seems to have gotten easier - I enjoy a session where I get to work up a good sweat! I entered a few competitions in November, which showed me I had a long way to go to get back up to my "peak".

December/January is always a bit light on the training front, but rest assured I will be training hard once Christmas/New Year celebrations die away.

I'm back!

2009-10-14T12:03:00.003+01:00

After graduating I immediately went on a family holiday - cruise around North Europe. They had a gym on board with head to toe windows covering one side of the wall, so the view was magnificent! Anyway although I hit the gym everyday with my brother, it was inevitable I would put weight on because we were eating five huge meals a day (that's what all inclusive cruises do to you)!

When I came back to England I had a few days of hard training, but before I knew it I was offered a job as a fitness (and archery) instructor in America, working at a children's summer camp. I took up this offer and spent the next two months, eating quite well and working out quite well. I was also on the whey protein, which is really cheap in wal-mart. I met some great guys at camp and we decided upon a road trip around America!

After ironing out a few problems, we were restricted to the west coast, which was still bloody amazing! But during our road trip we hit the gym twice in three weeks, but each session were long three hour sessions doing all over body work outs! It was the same deal when we returned the car and there was just two of us left backpacking.

So now I'm back in England and I'm finding it tough getting back into it. I went for a short run and was dead! I went back to my old long term club and was shattered after a short session and I can feel some of my old injuries coming back. Plus flexibility has gone down hill. With all these negative thoughts, it's easy to give up but it's tough to suck it up and put in even more effort to get back to the standard I was. I am determined to get there. I'll keep you updated of how I progress!

Charity TV advert for Help for Heroes

2009-04-09T14:38:00.003+01:00

A few posts a go, you may remember me mentioning a varsity charity kickboxing fight night (Bath VS Loughborough Uni). This post continues on from Being a star for a day, by showing you the final TV ad! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dStuXQoLZHE

They did shoot a lot more footage but things get cut, oh well I still get my two seconds of fame! I’m surprised by the amount of people who that quick glimpse! Watch out for it on all most TV channels (so far it has been seen on Sky One, BBC1, ITV, and Channel 4).

Martial Arts for Martial Artists

2009-04-04T10:13:00.001+01:00

In my opinion to become a great fighter (as well as building on the Triangle hypothesis: technique, power, and speed) you must be skilful in long , mid, and close-range combat and ground fighting.

By long combat I don’t mean metres away from you opponent using guns and ninja stars. Instead, I mean an adequate fighting distance, i.e. before someone invades your personal space. This often tends to be around two metres. Since, most people’s legs are longer than their arms, I suggest a kicking martial art (and obviously from my background), I recommend Tae kwon-do (TKD). One aspect of TKD is learning how to cover distance (by stepping behind, skipping, and jumping etc), which is ideal for long range combat.

For mid-range combat, legs may be ineffective, so I suggest the use of hands through Boxing. Boxing will not only improve your punching power, but agility and body movement.

My choice for close range is a mixture of Muay-Thai and Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ). Once in your opponents comfort zone it’s important to strike as fast as possible without big lavish kicks and spins. Elbows and knees can be effective blunt tools of destruction. However, most close range fights get tied up in clinching or/and go to the floor. That is why I propose BJJ.

So to summarise, I recommend TKD, Boxing, Muay-Thai, and BJJ as key martial arts to learn in becoming a great all round fighter.

Physics behind TKD kicks

2009-03-26T22:44:00.002+00:00

The physics behind three TKD kicks: side kick, back kick, and "tornado" kick.

100 Press Ups Challenge

2009-03-20T15:12:00.001+00:00

A couple of weeks ago a bunch of friends and I were out for a mate's birthday. We were talking about the gym (as alpha male guys do) and one guy said he could do 100 press ups, and still have energy to do more! Immediately I was sceptical and didn't really believe it. He doesn't have a bad physique but a 100 press ups is a lot! Anyway before we moved on to TGI Friday's for our meal, he dropped down and started doing his “press ups”... as you can probably guess he had very bad form/technique. I can only describe what I saw as him “humping” the floor (to be fair if no-one has shown you the proper form how can you know what to do?). Anyway I stopped him and showed him the proper technique: arm's locked, bum in line with your back, lowering yourself down to a fist's height off the floor, back up to arm's locked (and repeat).

During our meal the conversation carried on... he said that he could do 100 proper press ups before we broke up for Easter (three weeks away). I bet he couldn't, so we agreed that if he did it, I would need to take my top off and do as many press ups as I could in the middle of our University campus during a peak time. If he failed, then he would need to do it.

There is one week to go, and from what I hear he is only managing 30 or so press ups :D

Out of interest can any of you (the readers) do 100 press ups (keeping proper form)? I youTubed it and haven't been too impressed.

Muscle strength VS Flexibility

2009-03-14T11:38:00.000+00:00

I believe that training in the gym (lifting weights) helps develop your strength in sparring, for any Martial Art. However, I have always avoided doing leg weights (squats, calf raises and leg press etc) because I do not want to lose flexibility in my kicking.

So firstly, do you think you lose flexibility if you build up the muscles in your legs? And what would you suggest for developing kicking power/leg strength without losing flexibility?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Sparring Strategy

2009-03-12T21:04:00.000+00:00

Great fighters need more than just technique, power and speed. They also need a good dynamic strategy. Strategy ought to be tailored to a specific opponent or situation. It is also good to have a “default strategy” – a strategy you automatically revert to without thinking about it. In my opinion, the best method of this is continuous attacking (some followers of Kung Fu also adopt this approach). When you are hit, automatically hit back nonstop until your opponent is no longer a threat. This will minimize the damage to yourself.

This line of attack relies on the use of combinations of techniques, not just the one hit wonders which often miss. This is one of the reasons why I think TKD (and other martial arts which practice patterns/forms/katas) is better than kickboxing. TKD teaches patterns (a sequence of movements against an imaginary opponent) which can be adapted for use in default continuous sparring.

One advantage of this strategy is that for the majority of the time, you are in the dominant position. If you land your first attack, then your opponent will likely be hurt or stunned, but even if you miss, your opponent is prone to be “on the back foot.” They will be reacting rather than acting, which means you get to dictate the fight.

Obviously, this strategy should be used with caution. You shouldn’t go running in all gung ho. Timing is everything. Pick your moment to attack carefully, as kicking and punching thin air is just a waste of energy.

Riz's Martial Arts Training: The Triangle Hypothesis

2009-03-08T10:12:00.002+00:00

Here's a link to a very interesting article about the theory behind developing as a martial artist:

Riz's Martial Arts Training: The Triangle Hypothesis

Tae kwon-do vs Kickboxing Video

2009-03-07T11:40:00.003+00:00

This is definitely one of the more entertaining fight that I’ve come across on youtube. True showmanship... I felt that both fighters went out not to simply win, but to win in style and to put on a great show. However, the TKD guy is showing a classic example of over using the spinning/reverse turning-kick. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0dCP4nDzU&eurl

Fighting the Chinese genes

2009-03-03T15:50:00.001+00:00

As you may already know form my previous blog posts, I have been trying to bulk up and “get big”... I was told again today that I'm not as big as my (white English) friend, Ben, who is also on this “getting big” programme. It's annoying! And I blame it on my genes! The Chinese aren't built to be big. We don't play rugby; we stick to table tennis and badminton where our small frames and nimbleness works to our advantage. I'm green with envy off Ben... we have been lifting pretty much the same in the gym, yet he is the one bulking up. I argue the Chinese simply aren't built for this!!

On the other hand, another friend said to me today, “It's not all about size.” And I have to agree with this. I believe I am getting stronger, which will help my Martial Arts, and I won't need to buy a new wardrobe because I've got too big for my clothes (unlike Ben)!!

Reasons why ITF is better than WTF

2009-03-01T16:15:00.004+00:00

As I have previously said, there are two main types of Tae kwon-do (TKD) practised in the world: ITF and WTF. The main differences between the two are:

Personally, I don't see why WTF is an Olympic sport. It gives TKD a bad name and when my friends ask what I do, I specifically say not Olympic TKD. They spend most of their time bouncing on the spot, waiting to use a counter-attack knock-out turning kick. It just seems like a lot of pointless noise and not much action. ITF has a greater variation of techniques, and thus is better to watch.

Something not mentioned in the above table is that WTF predominately focuses on kicks, whereas ITF uses hands as well. I would say ITF is a more traditional Martial Art, whereas WTF has developed into a sport due to its Olympic participation.

However, a good point about WTF is its full-contact nature. I wish ITF did more full-contact and according to TKD Times magazine, a merger between the WTF and ITF will happen in the next few years. As a style, TKD has been taking a beating from other martial arts who have been trying to discredit it as a legitimate form of self defence or fighting. I think unification would help strengthen the style and help fight back against this bad publicity. My other future hopes for TKD, is to see a stronger ITF or kickboxing influence in the Olympics and less politics within the two major organisations.

Getting BIG update (week 3)

2009-02-25T22:39:00.001+00:00

It’s been two weeks since the “Get Big Phase” started and I thought it was time to see how effective this regime was… I am now weighing 83.5kg (up 3kg) and my fat index has dropped to 7.5% from 10.5%! I’m over the moon about this result! I thought I had put on some fat (definitely feel a bit podgier) but apparently not! Visually, I can't see much of a change apart from my back looking slightly broader. I will stick with my workout and weigh in in another two weeks.

Peace out.

Origins of Tae kwon-do and its current status in the UK

2009-02-13T18:16:00.004+00:00

Since Tae kwon-do (TKD) has been such a large and influential part of my life, I find it important to understand its origins. I hope some of you will find this interesting too…

TKD is a relatively new Martial Art developed in South Korea by Major General Choi Hong Hi (1918 – 2002) in 1955. It’s popularity is due to the way that it encompasses exercise, self-defence, and philosophy. If you speak to any competent Martial Artist, they will tell you the emphasis of TKD is in the use of feet as a formidable weapon.

“Tae” means to strike with the foot, “Kwon” means to strike with the fist, and “Do” means the way or art. At every grading, the student must answer questions on the theory of TKD; this includes pattern meanings, Korean terminology and personal questions related to TKD etc. There are five tenants of TKD that are engrained to everyone who trains: courtesy, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit and integrity. This requirement to understand the meaning behind the art is a unique approach.

There are two main styles of TKD that exist: International Tae kwon-do Federation (ITF, founded in 1967) and the World Tae kwon-do Federation (WTF, founded in 1977). ITF was formed by Master Rhee Ki Ha and concentrates on all the elements of TKD as previously described. WTF concentrates more on the sport element of TKD and is the accepted Olympic style (a bad choice in my opinion - I think ITF is much more of a spectator sport). Many branches exist under these two main bodies. For example, I train under GTI which is part of ITF. Tae kwon-do Association of Great Britain (TAGB) deserves a mention here, as they are the biggest (ITF style) organization in Europe and have produced some excellent fighters (in particular Warren Vice).