Insight Part 2

Q: How many psychotherapists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: One. But first the lightbulb must be motivated to change.

It's an old joke but one that rang true for me as a substance misuse worker (Drug Counsellor). I lost count of the number of times I heard colleagues talk about clients “....you see he's just not motivated to change, there's nothing I can do to help him.” Perhaps I even rolled the same hackneyed line out myself when frustrated with the lack of progress a client was making. I don't believe it any more if I ever did.

What's this got to do with reflections on my recent(ish) experience of competing?

Motivation.

Once I'd competed I had a real sense of there being no need for, and therefore no point to training, watching my diet, working on conditioning. After all, I'd done what I set out to do, I'd even won my fight and lost a significant (20lbs+) amount of weight in the process. I was a bit lost.

It was amazing to realise that I'm a person who needs an end goal to aim for, or if not needs then benefits from having a target. That's the first point I want to make. It would be easy and clichéd to talk about this as having been a journey and having discovered new things along the way, but it would also be true. I found out:

1. That I can benefit from setting goals if...
2. ...they're real and
3. ...meaningful and
4. ...I actually CARE about achieving them.

So much has been written about goal setting that I'm not going to rehash it all here and contribute to the 95% of psychobabble that passes for goal setting advice. My experience was that having a goal I cared about and could conceivably achieve gave me the motivation to hurt, ache, eat a lot of fish and greens and drag my sorry backside on to the mat or in to the gym five nights a week for three months. But that wasn't the only thing that kept me going.

People did. Firstly, I told people what I was trying to do – at work, at home, at the gym. When you tell a lot of people whose opinion you respect about your goal you'd better deliver. When Nathan (Head Coach) at the gym found out what I was aiming for he talked to me about it and when asked said, yes, it was possible. That was important. Someone else believed I could do it. Other more experienced fighters at the gym also helped with training, especially sparring, and never intimated that it wasn't worth training me, especially guys like Jake Constantinou who had his own fight in Japan to prepare for but still spent time with the beginner amateurs. Finally, John and Rob who were competing in their first MMA competition were great training partners and motivators. I hope I served them the same.

The final group of people who provided motivation were the faceless forum members on T-Nation and Ross Training. Not only did I get some really positive and encouraging comments on my training log but whenever I felt like sitting a session out or taking it a bit easy or not hitting a number of reps I'd think of what I'd be putting in my log. What would it look like if I didn't post any training or if what I did post was weak. Shallow, maybe, but helpful all the same.

Outside of people, I've always found motivation in the writing of others. I've written about them before but whenever I need a literary shot in the arm I go to:

• Dan John Strength, conditioning, athleticism, rambling, eccentricity.
• Jim Wendler Strength, conditioning, misanthropy, Drone/Grind/Dark metal.
• Marshall D. Carper Cauliflower Chronicles easily bears repeated reading and inspires.
• Sam Sheridan Fighter's Heart and Fighter's mind are required reading

It's not just about the information contained in these authors' books, it's that the stories they tell inspire. Quality information does not necessarily an inspiring read make. The story and the writing have to be good.

Finally, I'm a sucker for documentaries. When they're good (cast + story + direction + quality) I can draw a lot of motivation from them, specifically:

• Strong (Joe DeFranco)
  
  
  
  
• Choke (Rickson Gracie)
  
  
  
  
• Rites of Passage (Bobby Razak)
• UFC all access series.
  
  
  
  
• Destiny (Kostya Tszyu)
• Legacy (Renzo Gracie)

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting but you get the idea.

To summarize, for me to ensure my motivation it is important to: 

1. Have a goal - achievable, realistic, worthwhile, specific.
2. Be surrounded by the right people.
3. Know what inspires and use it - preventatively and reactively.

I know that I'm working on all three again, when I've got a goal I'll let you know.

I could write more on this and maybe I will in future, but for now Good Luck and Godspeed!

Job Done

Leicester Shoot Crew, from third from front left: John, me, Rob, Nayan, Levo, Daywalker

And so the journey comes to an end.

Last Sunday I was part of a four man team from Leicester Shootfighters that competed in the Combudo Amateur MMA tournament in Milton Keynes. Those of you who've followed the blog up to this point will know that this is the culmination of seventeen months of training, the last two being significantly tougher through the addition of sparring sessions in to my training schedule.

The fight itself seemed to be over in a flash and conducted at a lightning pace, though how much of that was due to my emotional/mental state – I don't remember much of it in any detail - and how much to the actual pace of the fight... In one light it seems crazy to have trained for even the last two months for 3 minutes of scrapping but in hindsight I know that I would have liked to have done more rolling, sparring and conditioning work in preparation to compete, that it would've made me able to do better than I did. Ah, hindsight, the only truly exact science...

The Friday two days prior to Combudo I weighed just under 96kg on the scales that I have been using since January. On the day of the competition I weighed in at 98kg. I knew I was pretty much bang in the middle of the 90 – 100kg with little chance of being over or under so I didn't attempt to cut any weight and ate pretty much whatever I felt like. I was far more concerned with running out of energy due to getting my diet wrong than with hitting any target weight.

As is the norm for me, my opponent was at least four inches taller than me and went off at a blistering pace utilising his reach advantage to land what felt like plenty of strikes. I was struggling to get my punches and kicks off first and grabbed a knee on a couple of occasions without managing to finish a takedown. Finally, realising that I wasn't going to win the fight standing I fully committed to a shot and a (single? Double-leg?) takedown. Rather than try to finish it by pivoting or going to the corner, I drove through taking him to the mat on his back. It's difficult to recall much detail but essentially I passed guard to the side and, despite Leicester Shoot Head Coach Nathan Leverton telling me to improve my position, maintained side control in spite of my opponent's best efforts to escape, and laid in to some ground 'n' pound. Not pretty, but it got the job done and got my the decision win. Looking back I would've liked to have moved to mount but on the couple of occasions that I tried I felt like I was losing the dominant position. As it was I moved between north-south and side control as well as switching hand positions to maintain control. If I showed any grappling skill it was through the maintenance of the dominant position.

As an aside, as I was working to stay in side control a female supporter of my opponent was shouting 'he's got nothing!'. This riled me a bit and I have to admit put a bit of spite behind my punches as well as drawing a little chat from me to my opponent(!).

The whole experience taught me a lot and in the next post I'll reflect on what I learnt. One thing I do know, this part of the journey may be over but I think there's further I'd like to travel....

Leverage Grappling System Seminar Reviews - Part 2: Half Guard

One month on from the side control seminar the Leverage Fundamentals Open Guard + Passing seminar was running at Leicester Shootfighters.  I was very interested in attending this but the lure of Terror playing in Nottingham that night was just too great.....

Anyhow, the following seminar came up pretty quickly and I decided that I couldn't afford to miss another (it's my aim to attend all six) booking in as soon as it was announced.  This was the final session in the Fundamentals series and covered the half guard and "extras" on which more later...
The half guard portion of the seminar was split in to bottom and top sections, both covering the essentials of posture with bottom taking in transitioning to guard, taking the back and sweeps, whilst top position covered passing.  As is his method, Nathan demonstrated and coached through each step of whatever he was showing before setting people to work in pairs, coaching and correcting around the room.  It bears emphasising that a key part of Nathan's method of coaching/teaching is to break things down in to bite-sized chunks so that, for me at least, there's more chance of remembering the technique and being able to drill it.  Coupled with a very articulate manner and an understanding of his subject that is clearly deep and expansive, this makes for quality and accessible coaching.

From the off, there was a lot of detail in this seminar.  The basic 'safety' position when using half guard filled a page of my notebook with points on posture, basing the foot, the importance of blocking the crossface, getting the underhook, and on it goes........ What's more, looking back through my notebook as I write this I realise that I remember it without prompting.....mostly.  Once we'd got the posture down we started to work on improving position - getting back to closed guard or open guard.  Finally from bottom position we looked at two sweeps including the 'Old School' sweep before moving on to top position.

Again we started with posture and looked at the two main positions; Underhook & Crossface and Sit Through.  I have to confess to never really using the sit-through position previously feeling a little vulnerable when presented with the opportunity to use it.  However, the details taught by Nathan have given me more confidence in the position and in switching between that and the underhook-crossface.  We worked three passes from these two positions, one I was familiar with (if not competent!) and two others that were new to me but easily learnt and practiced and again, given some more drilling I'd be happy to try them when rolling.

The Extras...

First up was learning some flow rolling drills.  Flow rolling - and forgive me if this isn't the best explanation - is non-competitive, non-strength-based, rolling for position with the emphasis on smooth transition rather than speed, and compliance rather than competition.  In order to do this  Nathan showed us two drills:

• Passing guard - transitioning to mount - being reversed to guard - beginning again with opposite roles.
• From being mounted - regain guard - sweep top man - transition to mount position - begin again with opposite roles.

We didn't spend a lot of time on this but I can imagine that this type of rolling can improve your transitions, your techniques and your thinking/reacting.

The final part of the day was spent looking at things that don't fit anywhere else in the Levergae system, for example, dealing with an unskilled opponent on the mat or off it in a situation that requires you to utilise some restraint rather than flatten your opponent, e.g. the friend of a friend down the pub who knows you 'do some of that UFC stuff' and wants to test you out... you get the idea.  Within this we looked at breakfalls and getting up safely, releasing wrist grips, bodylock takedowns and escapes, guillotine defence and standing and ground headlock escapes.  There's some interesting debate going on at the moment - in Jiu Jitsu Style magazine for example - about BJJ having lost some of the self-defence type elements due to the focus on sport BJJ.  It'll be interesting to see how this develops and how the ideas shape schools and styles in the future.

By the end of the five hours I was saturated and really struggling to take any more in, though to be clear, that's about me not about the seminar itself.  Once again an afternoon's top-class instruction in a friendly environment.  I can't recommend the Leverage Seminars enough.

Next up:

Sunday 20th January 2013
Fundamentals 01: Theory, Basic Skills, Mount.  (I'm already booked in for this).

10th February 2013
Leverage Submission Grappling Fundamentals Seminar 02: Side Control (Repeat)


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Dean Lister Seminar at Leicester Shootfighters

This Wednesday I had the privilege of training with The Boogeyman himself – Dean Lister. Dean has given a seminar at Leicester Shootfighters previously but I was fairly new back to training so didn't feel confident attending, so glad I did this time.

Dean set the tone for the session as soon as he came in, getting on the mat and shaking the hand of everyone on the mat, and the mat was packed. Taking us through a warm-up that he promised wouldn't be hours of running, Dean focused on a quick jog round the mat before some tumbling and then a shrimping drill for which he first demonstrated correct technique and some details that make a difference when hip escaping. He also used the drill as an opportunity to provide correction or coaching for those needing it.

The seminar moved on apace but Dean's coaching style makes it easy to pick things up. There's a fine line between not showing a technique, drill, etc. enough and showing it too much – For me, Dean gets it just right and is able to illustrate his point through experiential anecdotes. After all, whether it's ADCC, PrideFC, UFC, KOTC, whatever, he's been there and probably has a story to tell. Anyway, Dean showed some interesting side control positions and attacks. Starting with shoulder pressure in to the downed man's face(!) that turns his head away from you (can't see what you're doing) and it makes it difficult for him to turn in to the top man to effect an escape. From the control position the far hand/arm is freed up to attack the leg by grabbing it. As the guy on the bottom tries to flatten down it leaves him open to a pass to mount.

Dean showed another crazy detail from side mount - basically changing hand position in order that you exert pressure with your thumb in to the soft part of the bottom guy's shoulder blade. It's such a small difference and it sounds like nothing but it hurts. A lot. Especially combined with the shoulder pressure in to the head. Dean showed another pass from here that involved putting your head on the mat to the far side of the bottom man. All really easily learnt but seemingly very effective.

At the request of Nathan Leverton Dean showed some stuff from the over-under guard pass position including an entry in to a footlock position (Dean asked that those with cameras & phones didn't splash this all over the internet!) and a kneebar with the legs when the pass is stuffed. Essentially it involves figure-fouring the leg with your own and using them as a fulcrum. It takes a little manoeuvring to find the the right leverages but when it's on, it's on.

We moved to learning the 'armless triangle', i.e. the triangle choke that doesn't require you to have your opponent's arm trapped. Now, try as we might neither I, nor my training partner John, could make this work – our legs and arms were just too short! We called Dean over to get some help and he stopped the class to show us all what we could do in this situation – the Fatboy Triangle. This is a variation that does require trapping the arm but doesn't need the legs locked in the figure four. The legs are kept locked at the ankles whilst the head is pulled down, the legs pulled in and the heels down....simultaneously. Dean explained that this choke/crank takes quite a lot of energy and that if you don't get it I the first 8 seconds you need to think about transitioning to something else. Having experienced the choke/crank first hand I can attest to the effectiveness. Oh, and it's called the Fatboy as it's used by a training partner of Dean's who is a ringer for Shrek! (allegedly).

The final thing that Dean showed us was a Kimura variation shown below. Again, the details make all the difference.

This seminar was awesome, Dean's a fantastic coach and and entertaining one at that. All the things he showed were easily picked up and his coaching style allowed me to retain pretty much everything that I learnt over the 2+ hours. Nathan and Rob keep bringing fantastic coaches to Leicester Shootfighters for seminars, a great way to learn some new stuff from another source. I'll be keeping an eye out for other seminars in the new year and if The Boogeyman is planning a return , I'll be one of the first to put my name down.

Getting the basics right first.

Haven't posted for a while....but don't be fooled, I have been busy.

My shin is now pretty much healed and I've been able to do some grappling and mma training alongside the boxing.  Most of the scabbing is gone and, despite not getting stitched when I shoulda, I don't think there's any risk of re-tearing it.  Next week I'll be re-integrating deadlifts in to my strength work making sure I use the right socks to prevent injuring it again.

I've loved the boxing training recently and much of that is down to the way JD Hylton runs the classes.  I've previously written on here about his style and how it really works for me - I manage to retain a lot of what I learn which is the key thing.  I think that this is due to the fact that JD emphasises a lot of the techniques, skills, tips consistently throughout lessons - he doens't mention something one week and not again for a couple of months; it's there week-in, week-out.  Another thing that I find helpful is the way in which the classes always start the same, emphasising the same attributes - starting slowly to build smoothness, long punches to ensure an ability to fight at a realistic range without having to make huge adaptions, movement.  There's nothing flashy here, and nothing earth shattering just lots of solid technique, not based on attributes, and lots of reps in order to really develop something that's learned.

This is what makes it real and applicable.  When you get to my advanced years (Ahem!) you realise that doing the Ali Shuffle or developing Anderson Silva style head movement is some way down the road if your footwork means you get battered while you're trying it.

At the last lesson JD acknowledged that he's 'not the most exciting boxing coach' but I'm always very suspicious of coaches in any martial arts/combat sports who show the class flashy moves.  One of the final nails in the coffin of kickboxing for me was when our coach showed us some 'self defense' moves.  At the time I was training Kano Jiu Jitsu as well and also studying the work of Geof Thompson, Kevin O'Hagan, Mo Teague, and Dave Turton.  The stuff showed by the kickboxer was useless, but all those in the class were lapping it up and that's worse than useless, it's dangerous.  For me this is too much like death punches, secret pressure points, etc.  Perhaps you can make these work if you're a 10th degree Master in your artform but too many guys turn up to classes wanting to learn spinning backfists before they can move or jab.

Given the choice I'll take a solid grounding in the basics every time.  When I've got those down then I'll maybe learn some more complex stuff... if I'm up to it.

More soon.

Catching up...

Time for a quick round up to get the blog back on track...

Up to June I had been pleased with my progress. I'd maintained a consistent pattern of training at Leicester Shoot and felt that I was improving. The conditioning still had a long way to go but even that was getting better. The came June, and with it massive work stress requiring extra attention, family members in hospital, an injured shin, a skin infection in the other shin and now finally a nasty gash in the previously injured shin! (Walked in to a broken sheet of glass). All-in-all this has led to me missing 3 – 4 weeks of training and feeling not a little pissed off.

Still, it's a case of train what you can, when you can. I can't deadlift but I can press, clean & use the trapbar. I can't grapple or kick with my left leg but I can box and kick with the right. When I've been pressed for time I haven't stressed about what I'm not doing, just found ways to get some work in – 15 mins of barbell complexes for example.

My last session at Leicester Shoot was an MMA sparring class. It's difficult for me to get to these as I need to look after my youngest on this evening so this was the first I'd been to in a while. Anyway, it was a testing session, building up from drills to limited sparring and then in to less limited for 3 minute rounds. By the time we'd finished I needed to sit for 15 minutes before leaving the gym, and I still looked like this....

 Boxing tonight, on we go....

PS I know I keep saying it but I really am going to try to update more often and add content.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Haven't posted for a while and that kinda sums up how my time has been.  I've really struggled to balance work, Uni, family, etc and find time to train.

The Good

I have been able to maintain regular attendance at Leicester Shootfighters, whenever I've been really pushed for time I've prioritised training & learning.  As a result I've managed to improve my boxing a lot.  JD Hylton's tuition is excellent and I find it really easy to improve under his style of teaching.  I feel like my speed, relaxation, movement and technique has all improved.  At present we're body sparring but the option is there to attend a full sparring session to be organised soon.

The Bad

As my technique and my conditioning (sort of) has improved my strength has nose dived.  Seriously.  Wendler always says that as conditioning increases strength will drop.  In my case this is compounded by not training strength with anything approaching regularity or consistency.  The blow to the ego for someone who's lifted for 20 years is desperate.  Which leads me to.....

The Ugly

.....my technique on the lifts which has been absolute shit.  A recent set of presses was so bad, so mu ch leg drive that it was almost a jerk rather than a press.  To solve this I've reduced all my maxes for the upper body lifts so that I can get the work in and progress and get some volume.  I also need to put sled dragging back in to my programme - it seems to help with most things in life.

Anyhoo, on we go. 

Take care of yourself and if you've got any comments let's have 'em.

Training, training and more training...

Some great training recently at Leicester MMA. Last month's stand up training concentrated on clinch range fighting. The last few sessions were spent working the underhook and thai plum in order to strike. The classes were taken by Nathan Leverton and his usual attention to the details that can be the difference between a technique's success or failure was again in evidence. Nathan spent time ensuring that the basics of each position and the ability to establish dominant control was developed and drilled – pummelling for the underhook and establishing and maintaining inside control with the plum as well as the underhook – before adding in punches and knees.

During the last session, even though we were only drilling, my training partner and I experienced the crescendo effect, whereby the intensity of the drill spirals upwards until you're almost sparing. All the coaches at Leicester Shoot expend a lot of energy reminding classes of the need to relax, slow down and learn. It's a lesson we could all learn occasionally.

This month we're going to be working on guard – playing and passing, I'm especially looking forward to the passing work. Anyway, aside from MMA training, I've been able to fit in two strength sessions each week alongside some conditioning work. The conditioning has included strongman medley, sled pulling and bag work. Strength-wise I'm continuing to stick with 5/3/1.

More to post I the next few days, take care.

Training at Fighting Fit Martial Arts

Whilst on holiday a couple of years ago I came across Fighting Fit Martial Arts in Cromer, Norfolk. At the time I had no gumshield or box so even though I wanted to train I didn't feel that I could.

However... heading back to Cromer this year I made sure to pack box, mouth guard, gloves & anklets. I dropped in to the gym one evening and had a quick chat with John Mezzetti the owner and head coach. He seemed very friendly and I decided to train the following night.

John hasn't got a massive space at the gym but he makes great use of it. Most is matted with a cage wall. There're also bags plus a cardio area and a weights room.

We started with a warm-up that included sprawls before moving on to a drill/game in which you had to tap your partner's foot with your own and then knee-taps. This led in to an arm drag drill, similar to the drag that Marcello Garcia teaches first in his DVD series. It had been a long time since I last grappled and it really showed in a lack of co-ordination. I think perhaps John & his students expected more of me as they knew I'd trained at Leicester Shoot.

We moved on to some punching and punching to takedown drills which progressed nicely to sit-throughs. The final 15-20 mins were spent in groundwork sparring. This was great and even though I got tapped to a triangle I should never've got in to in the first place, I really enjoyed myself .

So what did I learn?

That John is a great teacher and a genuine bloke. Very friendly and really knows his stuff. John's guys are also friendly and a real credit to his teaching.

That my conditioning is f**ked and I need to prioritise it in a biiiig way.

That tapping to a rear naked choke isn't always a forgone conclusion.

A new Kimura escape (cheers John!)

That I really want to get back to regular training at Leicester Shoot.

If you're in the Cromer area of Norfolk on holiday drop in and see FFMA, I'll be training down there on my next visit for sure.

Strong(er)

In terms of combat sports I'm a believer in the idea espoused by Straight Blast Gym and Rodney King (I heard it from Nathan Leverton at LSF) that training and competing should not be attribute driven. That is, the way in which you train and fight should not be based on your ability to move with lightning speed, deadlift 2000lbs or catch a fly with chop sticks. Rather, you should use techniques and skills that work no matter how fast, strong or flexible you are. For one thing, when you come across someone faster, etc. your weapons are largely negated.

Now, I'm also a realist and I know that physical attributes are going to determine a great deal of someone's fighting style. As a short man I'm not going to try and develop a game that involves maintaining distance with jabs and kicks – it'd only keep me within range of a taller fighter (everyone at my weight!).

With all this in mind I know that I'm pretty strong and that I've got a good strength base on which to build. So, I am working on maintaining and improving strength as it's always been a key part in the way I train and fight. That's not to say that I'm not working on improving conditioning, in fact this is the priority, just that strength isn't going out the window.

After really indulging in confused and semi-productive training for most of last year, I decided to embark on Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 course. Here's why:

1. It's proven to build strength.

2. It involves big, basic compound exercises.

3. It programmes your workouts so there's no 'what shall I do today?' when you get in to the weightroom.

4. You can be in and out of the gym in 30 – 45 mins.

5. You can train twice a week and get stronger.

6. Conditioning and flexibility are given importance.

7. It's proven to build strength (this bears repeating).

I started back in November last year and haven't looked back. I feel stronger and this is backed up by the numbers. For example, my deadlift has gone from 1 x 300lbs to 10 x 264lbs (haven't tested 1 rep max, don't feel the need). My trapbar deadlift has gone from 1 x 400lbs to 10 x 360lbs.

I'm enjoying my training and looking forward to them again, not getting in to the gym and thinking, 'don't feel like snatches, I'll just do some clean and presses at, er, um, 30kgs?'. I know where I'm going which is the whole point of my training at the moment: I have a goal.

If you're interested in 5/3/1 check it out here and buy it here. If you want to get strong you won't regret it.