Why We Not Hit Hard?

What's the worst that could happen?

2013-04-07T14:39:00.001-05:00

Usually when someone says that, it's an invitation to find out....

Review: RumbleRoller Foam Roller

2012-08-12T22:27:00.001-05:00

One Liner: If you need to upgrade your foam roller, this is what to move to!

Overview:

Two things come to mind when you look at the RumbleRoller: the first thing, that you think when you open up the package, is, "what have I gotten myself into?" The second thing is what your guests will think when they see it in your living room - "what in the world is that?"

To start with the second question, the RumbleRoller is really a mutant foam roller that is extra-useful. The nubs on it act like little fingers to get into knots and whatever else might be bothering you. They also let you do two really awesome things that you can't really do on a normal foam roller:

You can work side-to-side in addition to back-and-forth. If you've never tried this, this is really cool, especially when you start working on your neck (you can't do that with a normal foam roller!)
You can stop in mid-roll and let the nubs work their way into a trigger point.

The above points really do a lot to take some use out of your TheraCane. They also combine to make the RumbleRoller a lot of fun to use. I get a lot more use out of this than I did from my normal foam roller.

About firmness - I debated the relative merits of the black (extra-firm) and the blue ("original density"). Having no clue about the difference and not knowing where to find one locally to try out, I decided that I'd be just as well to get the blue one. And I'm glad I did - the blue version is just about as dense as I'd feel comfortable with. To be fair, it's great for glutes, shins and my back - things that a normal foam roller just wasn't working well for. Then again, despite the control you have over the pressure, I think it might be a bit too harsh for my IT bands.

And that's an important thing to note: with a normal foam roller, I could get good use out of it for a couple things - namely the IT band and maybe something else if it was particularly tender. The RumbleRoller gets a lot deeper into things that you might not have realized that you could get to (like glutes).

This hasn't replaced the other two parts of the get-well triumvirate (TheraCane and tennis balls), but it has become the primary device I use.

The Good:

Very sturdy construction - I've only had this for a couple months, so can't comment on the manufacture's claims of it lasting basically forever, but I believe it
The nubs are really excellent at digging into trigger points that you might have missed before using a normal roller
One interesting property of the nubs is that they allow you to move not only up and down but side to side too - allowing you to really dig in where you need it

The Bad:

Honestly, the only thing that I can think of is it attracts dust like crazy
May be a bit too harsh for beginners

Recommendation: Once you've learned your way around what is good-ouch and bad-ouch, and your current foam roller ain't doing it for you anymore, I think the RumbleRoller will be a welcome addition to you setup.

Remember: Wrap Your Hands (especially when using MMA gloves)

2012-08-05T14:02:00.003-05:00

by Mike

I'll spare you the site of my chewed-up paws, but I should like to remind everyone to wrap your hands when using the heavy bags.

This is especially true when you're using MMA gloves that have cutouts for your individual fingers - not only do you have to worry about cutting up your knuckles, but you also have to keep in mind the possibility of ripping the webbing between your fingers.

Having a nice layer of cloth between your tender, babylike skin and a shifting layers of persperation-wicking material that's cut just a little too big (so you can put handwraps underneath of course) makes all the difference....

Review: Everyday Genius Institute: The Core Strategies of Genius

2012-07-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Review: The Core Strategies of Genius

Link to Amazon
Link to Everyday Genius Institute

One-Liner: The best introduction to Neuro-Lingustic Programming available - the techniques in here are applicable to pretty much anything you'd want to do in life.

Overview: This isn't strictly a martial-arts related review, but this The Core Strategies is a wonderful tool that could be used to help you achieve goals and overcome blocks in martial arts or anywhere else in life.

That said...I really dig this series and this book in particular. The Core Strategies in particular addresses some of the biggest complaints that I've encountered regarding NLP in general - the books read like computer manuals, it's difficult to get feedback and therefore know if you're on the right track or not, not to mention that the instructions seem to only make sense to people who are already familiar with the material. What the Everyday Genius series has done is to make what is essentially a seminar-in-a-box.

The ideal way to work through the book is to start with the appropriate video section - there's an introduction where Tim Hallbom and Taryn Voget walk though the background and high-level concept of the strategy and then Tim performs what would be a session with someone using that particular strategy. From there you read the appropriate section in the book and then perform the technique on yourself.

The strategies included in the book are:

Well Formed Goals - which allows you to look at goal setting in new ways - how to set goals, and sub-goals, that you are more likely to achieve
New Behavior Generator - a way to basically "install" new behaviors into you
Piece of Cake - a method to reframe difficult tasks that you may not have fun doing as something that you enjoy and that is easy
Eye Movement Integration - a way to overcome fear and anxiety
Mental Mentors - how to get advice about a situation from different perspectives
Circle of Excellence - allows you to more-or-less instantly feel confident and in control of asituation
Motivation Strategy - sort of an 'energizing' way to get excited about your goals, even when the going gets tough

These are a well-curated selection of techniques and put together in a way that compliments and builds on the previous steps - and some of them may be techniques that you're familiar with already, albeit tweaked in a way that you might not be familiar with. For instance, the circle of excellence is basically any pre-class or pre-fight ritual you've done before, even if it's as simple as bowing in. However, the Circle of Excellence includes some ways to supercharge that and make it even more powerful.

Taken in conjunction, this book present a really powerful way to obtain your goals. The best part is they are applicable to any goal you might have, both large and small.

The Good:

The multimedia approach to learning the techniques is great - before even thinking about the technique, it's presented in a friendly, conversational way and then followed up by a successful implementation - you can therefore model success before you try it yourself - one of the downsides of most other NLP books is that it's difficult to know what success looks like. Even though you haven't necessarily done it yourself yet, so you wouldn't know how it feels, seeing success really puts you on the right path
The book's graphic design is freakin' awesome. The writing style is great, but the graphic design and use of icons to represent various steps in the strategies really allows you to think about and 'internalize' the strategies in a different way. Using the icons to help anchor steps really makes them easier to follow than reading lengthy and wordy explanations
The strategies presented here are meant to be used in sequence, to define goals in a way that's helpful to you, overcome limitations and internal objections to those goals and get you excited about the goals in ways you might not have thought of before

The Bad:

No page numbers in the book
Black edging picks up finger prints on a hot summer day

Recommendation: The Core Strategies is an excellent work that should benefit anyone looking to take whatever it is they do to the next level.

Review: Tennis Balls

2012-07-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

One Liner: If you're already using the TheraCane and Foam Roller, you should pick up some tennis balls to complete the trifecta - if you're not using those things, then start with tennis balls while you're waiting for the others to arrive.

Overview:

To round out the series of reviews we did on self-massage tools (aka myofascial release devices) which started with the TheraCane and Foam Roller, we present the tennis ball.

The tennis ball fits in nicely where the foam roller and TheraCane don't - they stand up to a lot of abuse and are especially good for the calves and feet. Make sure that you use them on an exercise mat or other somewhat "grippy" surface - trying to use them on hardwood floors can cause them to shoot out at odd angles and with unexpected speed.

For use on the calves: sit in an "L" position and use your hands to keep your butt off the floor. Put the tennis ball under your calf and shimmy around while you hit all the little crunchy bits in your calf. To use on your feet, just stand up with one foot on the ball and roll until you feel relief.

Take advantage of lengthy sitting time by rolling your feet while you sit. Obviously, one will need to take their shoes off while they do this, but it can be done while you work on the computer or are at the office.

They can also be used to work out spots in your upper body by placing the tennis ball between you and the wall. Lean and roll as you will. As with hardwood or non-covered floors - be careful that you don't send the ball shooting into something that you'd rather it not and possibly hurting yourself. Also, make sure you're doing it on a sturdy wall and not a thin layer of plaster over some decayed lath. Just sayin'.

One could also use the floor, but you likely won't get the same mobility or control over pressure.

The tennis balls can also be used for grip strengthening.

The Good:

Small! Cheap! Portable!
A good substitute for the TheraCane if you haven't got one yet. Also the best for the feet.

The Bad:

Using on slipper surfaces (hardwood floors or walls) can cause them to shoot out at weird angles and possibly cause you to fall. Be careful!

Recommendation: Get the 12 pack and keep some at the office and at home and/or in your bag to squeeze on the train.

Stretch the good side first

2012-04-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder, we know to stretch from the top down, but an equally important thing to remember is that if you have an imbalance or some sort (being tighter on one side than the other), stretch the "good" (less-tight) side first.

If you've been doing your joint mobility drills before working out and/or stretching, you should be able to determine which side is tighter pretty easily and work accordingly. And if you know beforehand that something is tight, you can work the opposite side for these mobility drills.

Why stretch the good side first, especially when some will tell you to do the opposite? Well, in the interest of correcting imbalances, we need to know how far we should be moving before we can figure out how far we do need to move.

As Mike Robertson points out:

Stretch the good side first to determine the range you want to achieve on the other side. Then simply stretch the tighter side until you can achieve that same range. It may take only a little while longer (or significantly longer) to achieve, but making your stretching program outcome based ensures that you’re doing everything possible to iron out imbalances.

Ironing out imbalances is a good thing to keep in mind - imbalances are usually where problems start and get worse....

While injuries or time constraints might not allow you to achieve a balanced stretch on both sides during every stretching session, working the good side first will also "open up" the muscles, making it easier for you to increase range of motion especially for joints where the muscles either meet or cross over (hips and shoulders mainly).

You'll also be more aware of whatever limitations you might have coming into any given training session.

Glossary: What's the Opposite of an Uke?

2012-04-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

We all know that the person getting the technique done to them is the uke, but what do you call the one doing the technique?

I've most often heard of the person performing the technique as the tori ("grabber") while I've only occasionally heard nage ("thrower"). Wikipedia suggests a third common expression, called the "doer." This makes the most sense, however, the Japanese word for this is shite, probably not something you want to call your partner.

I'll stick with tori.

Redesign

2012-04-02T20:20:00.001-05:00

Four years in, I think it might be time for a redesign...bear with us while things get finalized.

Troubleshooting Drills: Pay Attention to the Uke

2012-04-01T19:06:00.002-05:00

I once watched a student-turned-insturctor teach BJJ to some beginning students who hadn't really been exposed to BJJ before. He showed a couple techniques out of the guard and then went on to show the omoplata.

Most people picked it up right away, but one pair of students didn't seem to get it. They tried talking through it themselves a few times and couldn't quite figure out what was up then called the instructor over. He ran through the technique a few times and saw that the omoplata was being applied properly, but somehow the arm wasn't ending up in the right position.

What he didn't notice was that the uke was the one goofing up the drill. The uke somehow managed to flop down and to their side as they came down, so when the partner applied the lock, their leg started slipping up the arm.*

The instructor was too focused on making sure the omoplata was done correctly that they didn't notice the uke was the one causing the problem here.

Moral being: If everything looks right with the doer, the problem might actually lie with the uke.

Sometimes, it's pretty easy to see the error - someone holds the pads incorrectly or doesn't give the doer the space they need (or gives them too much, goes too fast, etc.) and sometimes it's a little more difficult to see.

In this case, you'll need to spend some time educating the uke as well.

Also, check out How to Be a Better Uke.

* This description doesn't do it justice. It was a pretty sweet defense against this one technique. However, it would have been impractical to do in a match when the opponent has the option of doing something other than an omoplata.

Leather vs. Vinyl

2011-11-06T10:28:00.003-06:00

I was looking for a new pair of MMA style training gloves (what the real old-schoolers called "knucklers" and found the Underground Series 3 hybrid gloves.

I got a kick out of this line:

You wouldn't feel cool in a club wearing a vinyl jacket, and it is not cool to wear vinyl gloves in the gym.

Which is a fun way to point out that for gloves, vinyl sucks. Stick with leather.

As a side note they seem to be closing down the UG store, so things are 50% off for the time being. I have no idea if these gloves are any good. I think I'll probably pick up a pair of Century bag gloves though. The last pair I had lasted several years of hard use until I forgot them after class and some jagoff stole them.

Also, as a reminder, always write your name on your gear.

Savate for MMA - A couple techniques

2011-10-14T07:54:00.005-05:00

BJJ Savate posted this cool video over at the Underground Forum.

Prof. Armando Basulto shows a couple techniques to get you thinking about how to use Savate in MMA (or in any situation, really).

Shown are the chasse lateral (side kick) and the chasse italiano (outside side kick).

A couple things to note when drilling these techniques:

Make sure you land with the heel - The tremendous power of these strikes comes from the hard shin onto relatively soft muscles as well as the extension which is like hitting your opponent with a spear (possible with the chasse lateral if not necessarily the chasse italiano).

Hitting with the ball of the foot or the arch is effectively hitting your opponent after running your technique and hard work though a shock absorber and can potentially injure yourself. Think Jack Dempsey's "power line"but applied to your kicks.

Chamber the kick back when you're done - This will help you keep your balance, make you more mindful of where the kick is going, keep you in good range to continue attacking/moving and make a miss less disastrous. That said...

Be ready with a counter - There's always the possibility that you will overcommit to your strike and/or end up missing (this is surprisingly common with bare feet on sweaty skin), so keep a contingency in mind - depending on how you land relative to your opponent it might be your best bet to throw a spinning backlist while you get out of the way or clinch up.

Drop your weight into the kick - These kicks don't look like much - but review the video a couple times and watch the way he drops his weight into the kicks - they're small movements, but anything you can let your weight and gravity do instead of muscles if energy you've saved. If you've never been on the end of one of these, believe me, they hurt. And they have a much more immediate and physical and psychological effect on your opponent than a Thai kick.

When you are sick/injured, getting better is your JOB

2011-08-29T21:20:00.002-05:00

by Mike

Regarding training injuries and getting well after a sickness: a lot of people (myself being a good example of this) tend to slack off and kind of half-ass a recovery. To be sure this might be a good way to handle illnesses and injuries that are the result of stress or otherwise working too hard, but many times, more discipline, not less is what will make the recovery go smoother (and faster).

For times like this, it might be best to consider that getting well is your job and you better treat it as such.

Doc/therapist gives you a list of things to do? Do them. I'm sure we all know someone who went into rehab, was told to cut certain things out of their diet or just got back from the chiro and had a list of things to work with. They kept at it for a couple weeks, but after awhile, got bored or started making excuses* and six months after their estimated "return" date, they're still getting calls like ("Mike, when you coming back, buddy?").

When you're injured - make it your job to get better.

* I've got other things to do/it's boring/if I skip one (then two, then three) days, it won't make a difference/I'll start tomorrow, etc.

Ask Sifu Z: Is Savate an unfair advantage?

2011-08-25T06:54:00.000-05:00

Dear Sifu Z,

I am a savateur and part of a freestyle group, so I'm the only one who wears shoes. Many of my teammates refuse to spar with me because of my "Unfair advantage" yet all them except the one who will spar me, out weigh me by at least 10 pounds. Are they in the right? Any idea for a compromise?

Sincerely, tired of breaking his toes

Sifu Z responds:

If "shoes" are an unfair advantage you are training with a bunch of pussies! Seriously, I have had my eyelids lacerated not by a shoe but a fricken toenail!!!! The unfair advantage exists in the superior movement of the savateur. YouTube a video of Ramon decker in 1991 fighting a Thai boxer. Thai rules (no elbows) and he totally wears him out. Find a gym with fighters not posers!

Thought for beginning grapplers - transitions

2011-04-20T14:28:00.028-05:00

Back when I got started grappling and reached that first point of frustration when I first got to the "conscious incompetence" plateau (I think I'm still there many years later) where I realized I had a couple of submissions down pretty well but I didn't know how to transition to them, my grappling instructor said, "there are only so many ways you can twist the human body. You'll pick it up soon enough."

It was good advice, but really, there are only so many ways you can twist a given joint. There are the hell of a lot of ways to get yourself into position to twist a given joint.

Looking back, if I had focused more on the second sentence than the first sentence above, I would have progressed a lot faster.

The transition - the space between position and submission - is where it seems the true art of grappling lies.

Position is largely static. Submission is procedural. The real creativity (and risk, and fun) is in the transition.

The above statement might be more indicative of a fast-and-lose Catch As Catch Can style vs. a traditional BJJ game, but even in the comparatively slow-as-molasses game of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a gi, the same concept applies - it's just easier to shut down transitions.

Those are just some thoughts on a new way to try teaching and understanding grappling. Try spending the next week or so thinking more about the transitions - I think it will help improve your game.

Thoughts on Joint Mobilty Exercises

2011-04-17T14:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some thoughts on joint mobility:

If you have the advanced level (whether doing Sonnon or Maxwell), why bother with the lower levels?

The more advanced levels combine movements, allowing you to get more done in an equal time. That is, the first level is usually linear movement, the second circular and the third is twisting. However, they don't necessarily work the joints in the same way. If I find out that I've got a "sticking point," I can go back to one of the earlier levels and use those exercises to try to work it out.

It's also easier to teach people the drills in order of difficulty. Starting with the higher level stuff, there can be a tendency to not find the 'maximal' ROM (range of motion) for a given joint and as a consequence, someone either starts out pushing too far and potentially injuring themselves, or never gets to the ends of the ROM and does themselves a disservice by not working to their potential.

Besides, I found the shoulder screw to be the single most helpful exercise and for some reason it's not in Maxwell's advanced series. I suppose one could just as easily slow the more advanced movements down and pay more attention to the ROM in the sticking point, but you know....
How often should one do these drills?

I like to do them at least once a day and probably actually do an entire sequence 5 out of 7 days.

On work days, I've found that doing a modified sequence about 3:30 helps me overcome the post-lunch torpor. While everyone else in the office goes to get a cup of coffee, I run into the conference room, spend 5 minutes or so doing some drills and come back much more energized than I was before.

I find after lunch works much better since the cumulative effects of sitting for so long seem to be more pronounced in the afternoon than in the morning (due to the starting to nod off and therefore having worse posture?).

When working out, I find that right before the workout and then again, after I get home (and out of the shower) are the best times.

I usually ride my bike to class, so I've got something of a warmup by the time I get there and doing a joint mobility sequence at the school forces me to slow down, so I don't just throw on the gloves and start on the bags or begin rolling immediately after I get on the mat.

Doing another sequence immediately after class or a workout doesn't seem to be terribly helpful since I find that my time is usually better spent meditating, visualizing or socializing with other students that I might not have seen in some time.

By the time I make it home and get out of the shower, I find that's when I usually start to tighten up and the joint mobility drills go a long way to reducing soreness and stiffness the next day.

Review: Steve Maxwell Joint Mobility Movements

2011-04-03T13:20:00.000-05:00

One Liner: We covered joint mobility before, but I think this might be the package you want to pick up.

Overview:

Steve Maxwell Joint Mobility Movements is a series of three videos that takes you through a comprehensive series of joint mobility drills. The videos are divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced, with the movements in each series becoming more complex - essentially moving from straight lines to circles to figure eights.

The videos themselves are between 18 and 20 minutes long, starting with neck exercises and working towards the feet. The last five minutes or so work on multi-joint exercises that don't quite get into calisthenics but provide some different ways of working the exercises. The beginner video shows you how to use a chair or desk as a prop (which makes these techniques usable at the office) while the other videos show some floor-based versions. As a note, these exercises are fairly enervating and while they're a lot of fun, I don't recommend doing them right before going to bed.*

As for putting the videos into practice, the first couple days I did the beginner series once per day, then moved to the intermediate and then up to the advanced series. Over a month into it, while I don't do the entire series every day (probably 4-5 days a week), I have found that taking a couple short breaks during the workday to do even a half-dozen of the next/shoulder/spine exercises and then another one to do the hips really cuts down the number of aches and pains from sitting too long.

While the videos can be purchased individually and it is tempting to only get the advanced series, I'd recommend getting all three. They're built up in a progression for a reason and I've found that while the advanced series is the most "efficient" there are times when mobility might be limited and using one of the previous "versions" is more helpful.

* He discusses using some of the Five Rites of Tibetan Yoga. however, only four of the five are shown. More detail on these (including the fifth one) is here.

The Good:

There are a wide variety of movements and most include several ways to work the same joints, both within a given video and as the videos progress. Sometimes it is helpful to take a step back from the advanced drills to work out kinks that the advanced drills don't.
There are enough movements that parts can be recombined to make custom series depending on your condition or as time allows - while the advanced series is 20 minutes long, I've found that combining movements and working through them a little more quickly I can finish in 8minutes.
The instruction in the videos is good and for the most part the movements are easy to follow.

The Bad:

Rather than a running commentary like Sonnon's videos, Maxwell dubs in his commentary after the fact. The result is that some of the instruction is, "watch what I'm doing here and slow it down if you need to."
One thing I've haven't seen in any joint mobility series is working the jaw. Fans of Min Zin/Burmese yoga know that the jaw is one of the nine major joints (that is, one where if function is impaired you are considered crippled) and it's a fairly important thing for martial artists.

I suppose it's not that difficult to figure out your own movements for the jaw, but the oversight is somewhat curious.

Recommendation: If you haven't been doing joint mobility drills, now's the time to start.

You should start reading All Powers Physio

2011-02-25T17:47:00.000-06:00

Christopher Tack writes the All Powers Physio blog which has some extremely interesting articles on the medical/scientific side of training. Articles include rehabilitation information, the biomechanical/medical side of getting hit, the details of injuries....

These articles are detailed. The best advice I can offer is: start at the back and work your way forward (in blogs, of course, the front is at the end). There text is a little small, so perhaps put it into your feedreader, sort it from oldest to newest and keep going.

There is a lot to read and think about.

Taking YOUR Time

2011-02-25T17:31:00.000-06:00

In The Place of Dead Roads, William S. Burroughs give us something else to think about while you consider Do Easy.

"The basic rule of gunfighting: TYT, take your time."

Strike Defense: The Comic

2010-12-22T07:35:00.001-06:00

Stephen Kesting over at Grapple Arts has come upon an interesting idea: an instructional booklet in comic form. We've got many types of instructionals in a variety of formats (the best by far being Victory Belt's multi-angle approach) and DVD/videos in a number of formats, but this is the first time I've seen a comic book.

Is the comic a valid medium for delivering this sort of information? I think so. Somewhere in the back if my mind, I recall either Scott McCloud or Alan Moore talking about how the US Army hired Will Eisner to write training manuals in comic form during WWII because the comic format allowed both better and faster comprehension/retention than standard manual types.

Without getting too far into the theory of why the comics might work better than standard diagrammatic manuals (but we can start by saying they provide a narrative flow to the action, thereby giving it a context; the abstraction that the art introduces allows for attention to shift around the page and distracting elements to disappear, etc. See Understanding Comics and Making Comics if you want to get really nerdy with this stuff).

Now, is this Strike Defense comic any good? It's a good tutorial for the technique it presents (and as martial artists, that's what we care about!), but is it any good as a comic?

That's where we get back to the theoretical stuff. To be sure, it's just a bunch of photos run through a Photoshop filter with dialog balloons and sound effects. The cover shows Stephen reacting the wrong way when getting punched (a staple of comics, serving composition rather than physics - I suspect they did this on purpose and it's very clever of them) and really it's just a narrativized sequence of diagrams rather than a strict story being turned into panels. There's a lot of white space and it's somewhat confusing to follow with the transitions between panels. But it does get the point across just fine.

However, it's a lot of fun. Would a 300 page book of this stuff work? Not without some major cleanup (BTW, I used to letter comic books, so I've got some production experience), but the interesting this is that it might.

OK, too much time thinking about this. Short review: it's a fun read - both in terms of the sense of humor the Grapplearts crew has and the package they put it together. And it gets me thinking about some other stuff that I was kicking around in my head in terms of new approaches to standard training manual - oddly the other thing I thought was clever appeared in the much-maligned Beyond the Lion's Den....

Here's the link again in case you don't want to scroll back up: Strike Defense.

Pay attention to the person punching you

2010-11-10T11:33:00.000-06:00

I recently saw a class doing some semi-live drills. The instructor called out to one student to keep her hands up and the student looked over to acknowledge the instructor, which was a problem because they were halfway through a six-count combo. The student narrowly avoided getting dropped by her partner.

If you've been training for any length of time, you've probably see this every now and then, so this is as good a time as any to remember that the most important person to pay attention to is the one punching you.

Yes, you will have a referee or cornerman or instructor giving you direction, but none of those people will be in a position to affect you as directly (or as quickly) as the person who is throwing leather at your face.

To be sure, the instructor could have phrased things a little differently. When cornering or coaching, put the person's name at the end of the command or leave it out entirely. Even experienced students will sometimes get frazzled while under stress and hearing their name could cause them to look over. And if you're calling out a command, it's likely to correct them, meaning they're doing something wrong, which makes it the worst possible time to look over.

Compare the following:

Bad: "Mike, manos aquí."

Better: "Manos aquí, Mike"

Best: "Manos aquí."

The student should be able to figure out that you're talking to them, even if you're coaching two people sparring simultaneously. In a classroom situation where you have multiple pairs of people working, the reminder, even if not applicable to a given person will generally cause everyone to sharpen up their game a little bit.

Save your back: ditch the messenger bag, get a backpack

2010-10-18T10:43:00.003-05:00

For a decade or so, I carried a messenger bag with me pretty much wherever I went - school, work, as an overnight bag, on vacations, etc. The load ranged anywhere from a couple pounds to ten or more. For that decade, I also had nonstop back pain.

On a whim, I found a clearance-rack backpack with a compartment that perfectly fit my camera bag. I got home, moved everything from the messenger bag to the backpack and within a couple days, about 80% of my back pain disappeared. The only back pain I still had was from training and a couple modifications eliminated most of that as well.

The short version of why I had so much trouble is that the messenger bag introduces an off-balance load to your back. And the loose-and-low way that many people wear them tends to exacerbate the problem. So, as you walk, you have a weight pulling your back to one side and you need to lean/pull to the other side to keep your back straight, which throws all sorts of things off of alignment, leading to the back pain.

There will be those who say, "well, just wear the thing nice and tight and switch shoulders every now and then." I can understand the theory, but it seems to me kind of like waiting until you're thirsty to drink - by that time you've already incurred the unwanted effects. Why choose being less hurt when you can just as easily choose not hurt?

Anyway, I put the backpack on, went out and realized two things: 1: Back wasn't hurting and 2: Over the course of more years (and co-payments and increased premiums) than I care to admit of chiropractor visits not once did he or his massage therapists tell me to get rid of the messenger bag and get a backpack, despite me wearing the thing nearly every time I went in.

So much for the experts.

The backpack, of course, keeps the load distributed over both shoulders (and if you get a funky one like I did, you've also got a sternum strap and belt to help keep the load in place). Just make sure you have both shoulder straps on. One strap defeats the purpose and puts you back into uneven loading territory.

The next step of course, is figuring out what backpack to get. The first one I got ended up being absolutely terrible (it was a Sumdex, don't buy them) - the lining ripped immediately, the fasteners on the straps failed at inopportune moments, the zippers kept falling off-track and finally broke while I was sitting on a bus, leaving me and several thousand dollars of rented (and now exposed) camera gear to cross a very large and very thug-filled parking lot and el stop.

Apropos of nothing, I spent a lot of time looking for a new bag and settled on the S.O.C. 3-Day Pass (figuring that a soldier would have the most stringent requirements in a self-purchased bag. It also comes in ACUPAT which gives it a certain rivethead chic). Surprisingly reasonable in price, but about as tough as I can imagine and it displays incredible attention to detail (I think the military-nerd term is "overengineered"). The more I wear it, the more I notice little things that at first seem superfluous, but turn out to be thoughtful and helpful. Now I just need to find a "Death From Above" patch to put on it.

For those not wanting to walk around looking like they call their friends "operators" they also make normal looking backpacks.

Update to the Kershaw Ken Onion Leek Review

2010-10-07T15:15:00.000-05:00

Slight update to the Kershaw Ken Onion Leek Review. For some reason, the screws won't bite when I reverse the pocket clip. The overall functionality of the knife isn't affected, but it is a little annoying.

Michael Jai White and Kimbo on staying tight

2010-10-06T23:02:00.002-05:00

This is a cool little video on the importance of moving in straight lines and not ooking.

There are a lot of things going on here: simple, straight and direct economy of movement allows you, first and foremost, to increase your hit percentage - that is the sheer number of shots landed. And since "putting fist to face as often as possible" is the name of the game, why not make it easier on yourself.*

Beginners especially have a hard time throwing non-telegraphing punches. Going from my own experience and training others, it's largely a matter of wanting to see results. It's all fine and well to throw straight jabs, but it doesn't feel like there's anything behind them. Ooking to bring the fist back towards you and then leaning forward to throw your weight behind the punch is much more satisfying. Unfortunately, an opponent who has even decent footwork and a good eye for catching these ooks will be able to avoid a large number of punches, which leads to frustration on the part of the attacker which often leads to a further degradation of technique.... An opponent who has good timing will be able to counter into the punches, making life very difficult for the attacker.

As one progresses in their training, speed, timing and accuracy will become more and more important than raw power for punching effectiveness. Ooking will erode all three of those traits, making life difficult.

Since most of us were beginners at one point and beginners tend to ook...I'd wager that most if not all of us have a tendency to telegraph punches much more than we suspect. The solution of course, is to get humble and stand in front of the bag perfectly still, throwing hundreds and hundreds of jabs until that gets ironed out. Then, doing mitt drills and having your partner watch for the ooking. Then sparring. A little visualization might help too.

It can be awfully frustrating to spend round after round shadow boxing and working the bags while essentially remaining still, but the energy conservation and ability to throw stiff, straight shots without thinking about it really helps when you start doing your 100, 200 and 300 punch count rounds.

* I'm paraphrasing from Dan Hardy in the prefight talk before the GSP fight.

If it hurts, go see a doctor

2010-09-12T21:29:00.000-05:00

Looks like there was a comment on an older post that the author deleted before I could answer it. The gist of it was basically, "I got hurt in class, should I go see a doctor?"

I'm going to field this one than than sending it over to Doc Dill, "if you are hurt, seek competent medical help."

Flow and Mastery - Part 1: Charts!

2010-08-31T16:31:00.005-05:00

by Mike

This article will assume you've read both Flow and Mastery. The two books are complimentary and we'll examine how to view them, in this case how the Path of Mastery fits in to flow and the optimal experience. Or more properly, how someone on the Path of Mastery can take advantage of Flow. Specifically now we'll look at the three types of people who never get on the Path of Mastery and then the Master, see where they go wrong and how one can use the concept of flow to stay on the Path.

Click on the pics for larger.

The Flow Chart

Figure 1: The Flow Chart

Figure 1 is the standard Flow...chart. The gist of it is that if your skills match the challenges presented to them, you can achieve flow. Note that the flow channel is a channel and not a line - this means that at any given skill level, you can take on a variety of challenges while still being able to attain flow and also, any given challenge will allow for a variety of skill levels to attempt it while still being in flow. If you have some spare time, think about why it is - it's pretty fascinating.

As the level of the challenges you face gets higher relative to your skill, you will eventually find yourself outside of the flow channel and experiencing anxiety. Boredom works in the opposite fashion - it occurs when your skill is greater than the challenge presented to it.

To stay in the flow channel then, one must increase the challenge in proportion to their skill. This of course assumes that you're engaging in an activity that can provide flow in the first place.

Simple enough, right? Note that time is not represented on these charts. Time is necessary in that it takes time in order to learn new skills and complete challenging tasks that will allow you to learn, but your skills and challenges and progress are largely independent of time. It's also largely irrelevant, at least for this discussion. It will become important later when we discuss the Power Law and how to apply it to your training.

As an example, I'm sure you've had the experience of training something over and over and noticing an improvement, however slight over the course of a couple weeks. Doing better at that task moves you to the right of the chart and allows you to take on more difficult challenges, which allows you to move up on the chart. Let's say that your practice lets you move one "skill unit" to the right. It took you a couple weeks to get there.

I'm sure you've also had one of those revelatory moments where all of the sudden something "clicked" and you could immediately incorporate that into your game. Maybe you took a seminar and saw the instructor move a certain way, maybe you were watching a fight and you noticed the practical application of something you knew in theory but could never make it work in practice, or maybe what your coach had been telling you all these years finally sunk in. Regardless, you incorporated that into your game and it worked. You moved up a "skill unit" and it only took you a couple seconds.

Of course, as your skill increases, it's entirely likely that before too long you'll hit a point of diminishing returns and and up on what Leonard called the plateau. How you deal with that separates the following three types of people from the Master.

Figure 2: The Dabbler

The Dabbler, our friend who is enthusiastic when he starts something but drops it when he gets outside the flow channel is pretty easy to understand. Jumping in and increasing their skill rapidly, but not increasing their challenge, they get bored and quit. Alternately, they will get so far in that they take on challenging tasks that their skills can't handle. They then get frustrated and quit.

They'll then find some other activity and continue the pattern. I'm sure you've seen these people around the gym. The worst cases tell you they are having a lot of fun but can't come in more than once or twice a week because Monday is kickboxing, Tuesday is motorcross, Wednesday is cooking, Thursday is a TV show, Friday is networking dinner, etc. For guys that sorta stick around, you'll find that they've been training for years, hopping between schools whenever they get promoted, or are about to get promoted, get frustrated or bored and find a new gym to continue. In this, they are much like the Hacker.

The Dabbler has enthusiasm but not drive. He is missing the Master Key of Practice.

Figure 3: The Obsessive

The Obsessive is particularly dangerous to himself and possibly others, depending on where you find them. For purposes of our discussion, they're the type of guy that starts out, gets good pretty fast, but hits a plateau or finds that he's progressed beyond his class level/training partners but hasn't been moved up yet. So, he compensates by either trying to sneak his way into the advanced classes, starting a powerlifting routine before and maybe even after class, starts doing yoga, etc.

Sooner or later, you see him using any excuse necessary to get the advanced guys in the ring for some full contact sparring and shortly thereafter he ends up injured, burnt out or not welcome because he pissed everyone off.

The obsessive has no understanding of feedback and/or an inability to accurately judge his own skills. They also tend to be control freaks and unable to surrender themselves to their practice (Leonard's 3rd Master Key).

Figure 4: The Hacker

The Hacker is our buddy who spends his time reinventing the wheel (and reinventing again, and again) rather than progressing. In effect, he has traded novelty for complexity. This is not to say that he is unskilled, but that he's topped out with how far he's going to push himself. In flow terms, we could say that the hacker moves horizontally through the flow channel - when he starts to hit the upper bound, instead of moving towards increasing his skill to meet the challenge, he instead probably takes a step back down to a less-challenging (but still at the edge of the flow channel) position where he just figures out another way to do whatever it is he's been doing.

While doing this, it's likely his skill will increase, but if he hits the lower bound of the flow channel, he'll just figure out another way to keep performing the same task in a different manner rather than increasing the challenge of the task.

Thus it's possible that the hacker will increase his skill, but that's rather accidental and much slower than it would otherwise be if he were working towards increasingly difficult goals - the biggest failure of the hacker is improper goal setting. He doesn't understand Master Key 5 - The Edge.

As an aside, the hacker is unfortunately named - Leonard means it in the sense of a tinkerer. To him, the hacker just wants to "hack around with fellow hackers" (Leonard, 23). This is different than what most of us think of as hackers, those who understand the limitations of a tool and either use it in unintended ways or modify the tool in question to improve it's effectiveness.

Figure 5: The Master

The Master succeeds where the other three fail by combining their positive traits, mitigating their flaws and adding a couple things in besides.

How does the Master use the Five Master Keys to stay within the flow channel?

Instruction - aka. feedback. Whether the Master has an instructor or some detailed metrics, they will know when it's time to ease up and when it's time to work harder. The Obsessive either lacks or ignores their feedback.
Practice - Unlike the Dabbler who likes the thought of doing something more than they like the practice or the Hacker who mistakes busywork for progress, the Master enjoys (in the Flow sense of enjoyment leading to greater complexity) practice and understands its necessity in increasing skill.
Surrender - Csikszentmihalyi describes a loss of self-consciousness as being one of the seven characteristics of a flow activity, but Leonard uses it in more of a meta-sense. Here, we see the Master say, "I'm going to do this thing...it requires certain thing and I'm going to let it tell me what I need to do to get better."
Intentionality - Leonard discusses this in terms of visualization and aligning what some call the "inner game" with the outer.
The Edge - Really, being at the edges of the flow channel. Sometimes you will need to set more complex goals and hang out at the upper bound to give yourself something to work towards, but you risk anxiety. Sometimes you need to increase your skills before you take on the harder challenges and risk boredom at the lower bound. The Master knows that he will have to

To be sure, not everyone can be in the flow channel all the time. Different factors will result in ending up anxious or bored, but the Master will stick with their practice to ride these out and get back on the Path of Mastery.