Self Defence Made Easy.Com

What is mma? Mma stands for mixed martial arts. Mixed martial arts is the blending of two or more fighting systems. The most common styles combined are striking and ground techniques. In the early days of mma competitions in the U.S., The ground fighters had an advantage because most of the stand up fighters were not prepared if the fight went to the ground. An interesting transformation took place. Stand up fighters began to train in submission fighting, ground fighters began to train in stand up, and a new breed of fighter was born into the world of mma in the U.S.

There are several components to mma. Striking. This is where the fighter attempts to punch, kick, elbow, or knee his opponent into a K.O., submission, or referee stoppage. Submission. This is when a fighter forces his opponent to “tap-out” (give up) due to a joint manipulation technique such as an arm bar, or a strangulation technique like a rear naked choke. Ground and pound. A fighter takes down his opponent, mounts him, and pummels him with strikes until a K.O. or referee stoppage. Take down. When a fighter takes his opponent to the mat with intention of submission or ground and pound. Sprawl. A tactic used when an opponent shoots in for a take down. The defending opponent will place his hands on the shoulders of the attacker and sprawl his legs out behind him to prevent the take down. Shoot. To dive in on an opponent’s legs for a take down. There are many more components to mma, but these are the basics. More will be covered in following articles.

Mma Physical training. Along with their mma training, most fighters incorporate a rigorous Physical training program. Many fighters use weight training styles that increase muscle endurance, cardio styles that include rope skipping, sprints, and other high intensity activities. The goal of this training is to prepare the fighter to withstand several rounds and still have enough energy to fight efficiently.

Mma safety. To this day not one report of serious injury or death has been reported during a sanctioned mma fight. The same cannot be said for boxing. In mma events if you are knocked senseless you do not get a standing count to recover and get pummeled some more. The referees are very careful not to let a fighter get severely injured.

The recent popularity of mma has come to be due to the popularity of a certain reality show. Mma is a difficult sport to be involved in and requires a lot of physical and mental training. It also requires a lot of time to reach the level of the guys that you see on TV. Mma stars are not made over night. Most of them have spent a lot of time competing in smaller amateur circuits.

Mma events are exciting to watch and lets man get in touch with his inner self seeing modern day gladiators go toe to toe with respect in a modern day coliseum!

This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not instruction.

Martial Arts are the various forms of self-defense, usually weaponless, based on techniques developed in ancient China, India, and Tibet. In modern times they have come into wide use for self-protection, as competitive sports, and for exercise. Jujitsu teaches skills that enable one to overcome a bigger, stronger opponent.

A popular style of jujitsu is aikido, which uses wrist, elbow, and shoulder twists and graceful falls; it is noncompetitive and incorporates various spiritual concepts. Other popular forms of martial arts include kung fu, karate, and tae kwon do, all of which emphasize blows with the feet and the side of the hand, and kendo, in which leather-covered bamboo “swords are used.

All styles emphasize allowing ki (cosmic energy) to flow through one’s body. This belief in ki connects aikido with t’ai chi ch’uan, a meditationlike discipline that emphasizes slow, graceful body movements. The most popular form of individual exercise in China, t’ai chi is often performed publicly in large groups; it has been claimed to reduce stress and lower blood pressure. Judo, a Japanese sport created in 1882, makes use of jujitsu principles. Capoeira, a dancelike Brazilian discipline, is gaining in popularity.

martial

Pronunciation: ‘mär-shl

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin martialis of Mars, from Mart-, Mars

Date: 14th century

1 : of, relating to, or suited for war or a warrior

2 : relating to an army or to military life

3 : experienced in or inclined to war : WARLIKE

- mar.tial.ly / adverb

Martial Arts

The term “martial art” is used in (at least) two different ways. This can be confusing. Some dictionary definitions only make things worse.

The dictionary definition handy at the moment defines a martial art as “Any of several Oriental arts of combat or self-defense, as karate, judo, or tae kwon do, usually practiced as a sport.”

Typically this group uses “Martial Art” in one of two ways:

1) The first definition is a generic one, which defines a “Martial Art” as the study of any kind of combat and/or self-defense techniques.

This definition includes non-oriental arts like boxing. This definition includes both those arts practiced primarily as a sport, and those arts practiced primarily for self-defense. This definition includes those arts that emphasize only physical technique. This definition also includes those arts that emphasize a philosophical or mental aspect in addition to physical techniques. In its broadest usage, this definition includes learning how to drive a tank or drop bombs out of a plane as a Martial Art. This explains the somewhat facetious references you will see to “Gun Fu”, the martial art of learning how to use firearms (implying, as the dictionary definition does, that a martial art must be oriental to be legitimate).

2) The second definition is much narrower, and draws a distinction between a “Martial ART” and a “Martial WAY”. To offer a gross simplification:

A martial art is the study of an art that emphasizes only physical techniques. Perfection of technique is the primary concern. A martial way emphasizes the study of both physical techniques and a philosophical or mental aspect as well. Perfection of the self is the primary concern. The emphasis on this distinction is very clear for those arts that have Japanese names. Typically, Japanese martial *art* style names end in “jutsu”, such as “jiu-jutsu”, “aiki-jiujutsu”, or “ken-jutsu”. Typically Japanese martial *way* style names end in “do”, such as “ju-do”, “aiki-do”, or “ken-do”.

art

Pronunciation: ‘ärt

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin art-, ars — more at ARM

Date: 13th century

1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation

2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : LIBERAL ARTS b archaic : LEARNING, SCHOLARSHIP

3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill

4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : FINE ARTS (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art

5 a archaic : a skillful plan b : the quality or state of being artful

6 : decorative or illustrative elements in printed matter

synonyms ART, SKILL, CUNNING, ARTIFICE, CRAFT mean the faculty of executing well what one has devised. ART implies a personal, unanalyzable creative power . SKILL stresses technical knowledge and proficiency . CUNNING suggests ingenuity and subtlety in devising, inventing, or executing . ARTIFICE suggests technical skill especially in imitating things in nature . CRAFT may imply expertness in workmanship .

Martial Arts

A martial art is any skill that can be applied in warfare. The word martial means “military.” So, a martial art is a military art. Most people don’t really consider that when they think of the martial arts. The first things that usually come to mind are leaping, kicking, punching, blocking, inverting elbows, twisting necks, throwing, and sword fighting. That is a very narrow view of the martial arts, though. Did it occur to you that horsemanship, javelin throwing, archery, spear fighting, halberd fighting, wrestling, knife fighting, rifle, shotgun, and pistol shooting, demolitions, logistics, and battle strategy are all martial arts? Anything that a soldier might do in battle is a martial art.

When you are talking about self defence people automatically think of what weapons or training they can use to protect themselves and their loved ones.  They also imagine that violence of some sort is the way to go that self defence is all about your ability to fight off any threat.  Now this may sound funny coming from someone who spends his working life training and teaching martial arts but the avoidance of violence is your biggest weapon in self defence.

To explain this idea a little more, just because you have had some training and you are hot stuff in the gym or dojo does not automatically prepare you for the reality of a confrontation in a bar or on the streets.  In fact very little can really prepare you for what can be the most terrifying and debilitating moments in your life.  Even very experienced and extremely capable martial artists have frozen when confronted with a real threat outside of the dojo where there are no rules and anything can happen.  What if the person you are arguing or falling out with has a knife you could be six foot fifteen stone of trained muscle that would not mean a thing if you are stabbed.

Yet some people will say does your martial art not teach you how to deal with a knife attack well we do knife attack training and it is very rare you can disarm or get away unscathed no matter what you may have seen on television or at the movies.  We have all seen Seagal or Van Damme dispatch and disarm attackers with knives and guns this is the movies, not a cold wet Friday night outside the dog and duck with an angry thug coming at you with a drink fuelled fury determined to ruin your night.

Hopefully you can see why I say the avoidance of confrontation or violence can be the best tool in your self defence armoury.  Easier said than done I know, nobody likes backing down or having friends or family thinking you a coward well let me tell you they do not.  There is nothing heroic or clever getting into a fight over a spilled drink or a thoughtless remark or any one of a hundred similar stupid reasons that sometimes lead to tragic consequences for you and your family.

You may think with what I have said so far that martial arts training have little value nothing could be further from the truth.  Martial arts do not just teach you to fight, if you are taught well they also give you the humility and confidence which gives you the ability to walk away without letting your ego get you into the kind of trouble that can have life changing consequences.  This is not to say you should not fight back when attacked but let this be the last resort talk or walk your way out if at all possible.

Some of the toughest men and women I know many of whom work as security in bars and clubs consider that they have failed to a certain extent if they have to resort to violence to remove potential troublemakers from the premises.  They would much rather talk you out of the club than throw you out they try and defuse the situation by being firm confident and friendly in fact the last thing they want is for the situation to escalate to violence.  Not because they could not handle it because believe me these are very accomplished and genuinely tough individuals but to them violence is and should be the last resort.

I had read an article in a running magazine about the benefits you get for participating in regular exercise.

This got me to thinking about my own activities and what benefits I derive.
In fact when I started writing down my thoughts I realized there are some fantastic reasons for someone who is unsure or just thinking about training in the martial arts.
So please read this it may give you the confidence or the push you need to start training in a martial art.

Underneath are my top eight, I realize we are all different and you may have other ideas that are great nothing is set in stone. We should all keep an open mind and learn together.

Respect

Respect in the gym or dojo is very important. If you do not have respect for your teacher how can you learn, no respect for your classmates can result in injury or worse.

Awareness

What I mean by this unlike a lot of activities for example running, where you often see people pounding out the miles listening to music oblivious to what’s happening around them.
In the martial arts mind and body have to work together, you have to be aware of what is happening around you for your own safety and others.

Stress Reduction

Many studies have shown that regular exercise such as cycling,running,aerobics all relieve bodily stress. The martial arts we train both the mind and body so relive stress to both.
This also gives you the added benefits of cutting down the risks of heart attacks or strokes.

Focus

With the mind and body working together you will be focused on what you are doing which allows you to progress quicker than you thought you could.
You may be surprised to learn that another benefit is that it carries on into your everyday life.  For example you may find you are doing better at work as you are able to concentrate better, even simple tasks like driving can improve.

Conditioning

With the martial arts you work your whole body so it is a more intense workout than say just going to the gym and using a treadmill for half an hour. The health benefits are as above cuts down on stress aids concentration cuts down the risk of ill health obesity helping keep you lean and healthy.

Challenge

The martial arts present a challenge every day as there is always something new to learn or achieve. We are all students who I hope are looking to expand our knowledge.
Again this can continue into our everyday lives maybe helping with our ambitions.

Self Confidence

With the mind and body working together you have the focus, conditioning and knowledge to give you automatically more self confidence. The benefits to this are enormous it helps in work, your relationships with others and you feel good.

Self Defense

You now have the awareness, the focus, the conditioning and the knowledge to defend yourself. The self confidence can stop you acting in anger and be able to let you control the outcome of any confrontation. Even if this means having the confidence to just walk away, at least with the knowledge you could have coped if things had got physical.

Well that’s my eight I am sure you could all come up with more or expand on these as I have said before nothing is set in stone except the benefits of training in the martial arts.

If you would like our free newsletter and DVD going into more detail of this amazing system just click the link below.  There you will get a free self defence report plus a DVD showing details of the work we do on power generation, pressure points balance, body alarm reaction and a whole host of other good stuff.

Grab a FREE Pressure Point Fighting DVD For Immediate Download from Europe’s No.1 Expert, Russell Stutely

In mixed-martial arts, rotational power of the core is crucial to the execution of explosive techniques, whether they be throws, punches, kicks, knees, or escapes. Failing to improve the strength and power of your core in rotational patterns will limit your ability to knockout, slam, or surprise your opponents. The medicine ball is an extremely effective tool for developing your rotational power. First, throwing a medicine ball allows you to put your full effort into the exercise, without slowing it down. Just think of doing a lying medicine ball chest pass and a speed bench press – because you can’t let go of the bar during the bench press, your body has to slow the bar down at the top, limiting your power production. But with the ball, you release it and you use full power through the entire range of motion. So exercises like the side toss and chop toss using a medicine ball will go a long way to developing the knockout power you’ve always wished you had. Side Toss 1. Take a wider than shoulder-width stance with slightly bent knees, holding the ball in front of your navel. 2. Do a quick wind-up and throw the ball straight to the side, keeping your spine as tall and straight as you can. 3. Avoid throwing the ball with your arms, instead, power the movement with your core. Chop Toss 1. Same setup as side toss. 2. Do a quick wind-up up and to one side, bringing the ball over one shoulder and shifting your weight to the same side. 3. Slam the ball into the ground on a diagonal while shifting your weight to the other side. 4. Keep tall and continue to look forward instead of at the ball. Now integrating these two exercises into a circuit will help you develop your power endurance. We’ll add 3 body-weight exercises to the mix to simultaneously develop your power and conditioning, using exercises that will specifically benefit a MMA fighter. 1. 10 Lunge jumps – start in a lunge position, jump as high as possible and switch your feet landing and jumping as quickly as you can. 2. 5 Side tosses each side 3. 10 Squat jumps – start in an athletic stance, jump as high as you can and repeat as fast as you can. 4. 5 Chop tosses each side. 5. 10 Clap push-ups – do the push-ups as explosively as possible and focus on clapping your hands as loud as you can. Rest one minute and repeat for a total of 4 – 8 circuits. For the jumps and pushups, think of the ground as hot coals and your goal is to not burn your feet while always being as explosive as possible. This type of circuit is what a mixed-martial artist needs to excel in the cage or ring. Of course, proper exercise technique will prevent injuries, so if your form gets sloppy, do less reps or take more rest between circuits. For more information   Click Here!

Tweet

This article was writen by the world famous strength and conditioning coach Eric Wong

Click Here <<<<<……

When you ask the majority of fighters what they do for a warm-up before training, most will say they do some type of stretching, usually for tight areas like the hamstrings and groin. But research shows that a dynamic warm-up is far superior for performance and injury prevention when compared to static stretching. So what exercises should a mixed-martial artist warm-up for optimum performance and injury prevention?

Well, there are a few general criteria that, when included, will result in maximum performance while decreasing the risk of injury.

1) Movements should be included for the muscles that are going to be used during the training session. If you’re doing the warm-up before a strength training session where you’ll be starting off with bench press, you’ll need to warm-up the pecs, triceps, deltoids, serratus anterior, and lats.

2) Movements should work the muscles through a complete range of motion. The dynamic warm-up will increase your mobility if you do all exercises to the end ranges of motion. For example, if you’re doing basic bodyweight squats, you’ll want to squat right down, touching your butt to your heels if you can. Doing so will help to keep your muscles, tendons, and ligaments from tightening up and shortening.

3) Muscle activation exercises should be included for muscles that are commonly inhibited. One muscle group that is often inhibited is the glutes. Because a lot of people have spent so much time sitting on them, they get sleepy and lazy and need to be woken up. If you have inhibited glutes, you may notice during lunges that your knee will cave in (valgus knee). This is a sign of glute weakness/inhibition. To activate the glutes before doing an exercise like lunges, you can do hip extensions. Simply lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, squeeze your butt cheeks together and raise your hips. Hold for 4 seconds, repeat 8 times.

4) The routine should increase the heart-rate, body temperature, and breathing rate gradually to a comfortable level. In order to do this, you’ll have to move quickly from one exercise to the next, which means you want to know exactly what to do before you get started. Like anything, if you fail to plan, then plan to fail. So come up with a routine before you get to the gym.

So in putting this together, you could do something very simple such as:

20 jumping jacks
10 hip extensions
10 squats
10 pushups
10 lunges

Repeat 2 to 3 times and you’ve got yourself a decent warm-up.

Learn the complete program used to help fighters such as Jeff Joslin reach peak levels of fighting fitness just follow the link.

Click Here <<<<<……

Tweet

Tweet