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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

The title Say’s it all really get your Free Pressure Point Fighting DVD Here well the link is at the bottom of the page.  We can get to that in a minute for those of you who are unfamiliar with or have some small knowledge about pressure points may find the next few paragraphs helpful.

What are pressure points put simply they are areas of the body which for our purposes are the weak areas.  In traditional Chinese medicine for example acupuncture use these areas to heal.  We do not, we use those self same areas to attack and defeat the body.

Please do not confuse what we practise and train with what you may have seen in some cheesy kung fu flick its is not about beating someone with your little finger or causing your heart to explode with some secret touch.  There is nothing mystical or magical about pressure points it is just simply how to take advantage of the bodies natural weak spots.

Russell Stutely my teacher and friend has always said that pressure points are just the last five percent of any strike or technique.  Some people have said why bother then?  My answer to that is you train and work hard to be fast to make your strikes more powerful then why not learn to make them more accurate and put them were they will do the most good.

Part of the confusion about pressure points has been the mistaken belief that it is a system or style of its own.  Nothing could be further from the truth in fact the training and application of pressure points will fit seamlessly into any martial art.  In modern parlance look at them like an app for your art an add on if you will.  Just like chokes and strangles have been added to traditional arts over the years.

The last thing I will say is what an add on please see for yourself from a truly gifted martial artist and coach Russell Stutely.

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

Do you realise just how important Balance is to your Martial Arts?
Just think about this for a moment… If you are off balance, then what are your defensive options? What are your offensive options?
They are pretty limited..
Now.. consider the case of your opponent being totally off balance… How are your options now?
You have a ton of them..
Balance is one of the keys to earning the right to land your technique!

It is easy to talk about balance and just say, take their balance and you will be in an advantageous position. That could be in stand up, on the ground.. for sport… or indeed in a real fight.
The key to understanding balance, is to understand the principles upon which the body is actually balanced.
Once you understand the principles… then you can apply them in all situations.
Look at it this way… If you ONLY LEARN from a Monkey See, Monkey Do perspective (as most systems are taught) then you HAVE TO REMEMBER what to do.
It’s like learning your times table.. I remember having to chant these as a kid at School… we did not learn how to multiply, we had to REMEMBER all the answers!
Learning from a principle based perspective TEACHES you how to multiply.. so when you are faced with a question, you can work out the answer.
So it is with learning the balance points of the body… once you understand how and why, you can work out the answer!

So.. now we know that we MUST learn from a principle based system, so that we only have to remember a few formulas rather than a ton of answers!
How do we learn these formulas of Balance?
Simple… I have done all the work for you!
My DVD – Balance Points explains everything in great detail. It is packed with instruction and EXACT methodology required to learn these formulas.
Then all you have to do, sounds easy huh? Is practice practice practice
Drill the training procedures till you are the best that you can be… then keep drilling them. That way you will OWN the formulas!
Here is the link for this DVD… which includes a hard copy DVD delivered to your door.. PLUS 2 download versions.

Balance Points 2010

Grekland

In 2010 we have witnessed in the United Kingdom no matter what the government statistics may tell us a rise in violent crime that is unacceptable in a so called free society. In London alone according to figures published in the Times newspaper and I have no reason to disbelive them eighty three young people lost there lives to knife attacks. Country wide two hundred and fifty three people died as a result of knife crime. How many other attacks were not fatal this figure will run into thousands,street robbery is on the increase and criminals are getting more violent. Hardly anyone I know has not had personal experience or have known someone who has not been affected by this tragic and often stupid story.

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 <<<<<……

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As promised I will be reviewing self defence and martial art DVD’s and books, the first of which is taken from the huge collection donated by Master Russell Stutely Europe’s leading authority on the use of pressure points in the martial arts.

The first DVD I will be reviewing is titled Balance Points this DVD is available as either a download or as hard copy DVD. The viewing quality of the download version is excellent with no problem playing on full screen.

Now to the fun bit the content, as the title suggests this is about balance points and how by following simple rules you can easily unbalance an opponent whilst keeping your own. The importance of balance in any martial art be it boxing or traditional karate can not be over emphasised. Put simply if your opponent is off balance there punches or kicks carry no real power there accuracy goes out of the window in fact they are in a bad place where with you in balance can hit with full power and accuracy. The principles laid out in this amazing DVD apply to any and all martial arts and when you incorporate these principles into your own style you can not help but improve.

Russell makes learning very easy as each lesson is shown slowly from various viewing angles so that the viewer can get to grips with each lesson very easily. One thing he keeps saying is start light and slow to begin with and as your confidence grows increase the power levels. Obviously letting your training partner know as good training partners are hard to find and you do not want to break any.

I have previously stated that the principles laid out in this DVD can be adapted to any and all martial arts this is because we are talking about the body here and what will unbalance the body it means it is the same for everybody irrespective of style or art.

This is a DVD I heartily recommend to any martial artist beginner or black belt you will be bowled over by the simplicity and effectiveness of the techniques shown.

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The following article was written by Eric Wong one of the worlds top strengh and conditioning coaches for pro MMA fighters.

Power is the component needed most by mixed-martial artists. The ability to knock an opponent out with one punch, execute a big throw or takedown, and escape a dangerous position all rely on your ability to generate a lot of force in a short period of time. But training for power is often done incorrectly or is missing components that are necessary to maximize your effectiveness in a fight.

The equation for power is as follows:

Power = Force x Velocity

That means to generate maximum power, you need to be able to a apply a lot of force very quickly. But force and velocity have an inverse relationship, which means that as force increases, velocity decreases, and vice versa.

There are 3 ways that you can increase your power in the gym: use a heavy load to increase your ability to generate force, use a light load to increase your ability to move fast, and use a load that strikes a balance between force and velocity.

All 3 methods should be used to get the best effect. However, your body will adapt best when it is allowed to focus on one or the other for a given movement pattern within a workout. That’s where periodization comes into play.

Let’s say you have 12 weeks until your next fight, you lift weights twice a week. We’ll use the bench press to keep things simple. Regardless of the phase, your goal should be to move the bar as fast as possible during the concentric phase of the exercise. Lower the bar under control, neither slow nor fast.

For Weeks 9-12, focus on building your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, using 6-10 repetitions for 3-5 sets, twice a week. Rest up to 90 seconds between sets to maximize your strength endurance and create some hypertrophy.

In Weeks 6-8, focus on building maximal strength with 2-5 repetitions for 4-7 sets, twice a week. Here, you’ll want to make sure you get at least 2 minutes rest between sets, because you want to allow your neuromuscular system time to recuperate, which takes longer than your muscles. A lot of strength building is due to increased activation of motor units, not just hypertrophy.

Now for Weeks 3-5, I’ll have my athletes train maximal strength for one session as in the previous phase, and maximal velocity another session. To train maximal velocity, pick a weight that’s about 65% of your 1-rep max, and lift for 8 sets of 3 reps. Rest about 1 minute between sets. Alternatively I’ll use exercises like explosive clap push-ups instead of the bench press, since it allows you to not slow the movement down.

For the 2 Weeks leading up to the fight, I have my athletes go down to 1 weight lifting session a week, where they’ll train at approximately 85% of their 1-rep max, and perform 6 sets of 3 reps, resting about 90 seconds between sets. This is the tapering phase, which will keep the athlete both strong and fast.

So this template can be applied to any exercise, for example it works well with Back squats, Deadlifts and Rows. Following this template will maximize your power and explosiveness, bringing you one step closer to winning the fight with a big knockout or submission.

http://0e32a6lmoh3myp2a9cy4w7pn9u.hop.clickbank.net/

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Kata – The basis for all fights

Just the title should get most people upset? Over the coming months
I will show you how this is the case, as long as you are prepared
to take the time to truly understand what Kata can be!

To start on this path you have to go back to the very beginning and
learn your Karate all over again. You have to be prepared to become
a white belt again!

That is a bitter pill for most people to swallow… but swallow it
you must.

Last time I mentioned how the MMA Fighter learns to do what he must
do in the cage in his training… ALL his training revolves around
what he must do to win in that environment.

Now, as a Karateka, our training MUST revolve around what our end
goal is. For many, at the moment, it is sports Karate competition
or a sports kata competition.

These competitions are far removed from the real and original
concepts of Karate. Can you imagine one of the old masters, needing
to fight for his life, being confident in a superb display of kata
to music? Or being confident in a touch sparring lunging reverse
punch in a real life or death situation?

Once you start to apply some basic common sense to evaluating these
situations then YOU HAVE to re-evaluate what your karate means to
you. If it is all about sport, then fine, carry on with that… it
is, after all, your journey.

If learning Karate is about being able to defend yourself and your
loved ones, then now is the time to stand back and look at what you
are doing. Ask yourself one simple question “Would I bet my life on
that technique working?”

If you hesitate for one micro-second, then you know deep down that
you would not. You know that you are not 100% confident in making
it work.

I must clarify the above by saying that nothing is of course 100%…
but I am sure you get where I am going with this?

Let’s get back to kata for a moment. In almost every single system,
the first move, in the first kata learnt is a down block, gedan
berai, low section block.

We are all taught that this a block to a front kick. Without going
over the tired old argument of would that work against a front
kick? If you need to ask the question, then you are not ready for
the answer!

Now I want you to think of the following for a moment. We have, in
affect, learnt kata from still images when we are now in the age
of video and real movement.

Years ago, two man forms were designed to “mimic” the reality of
combat. These have denigrated into single man forms. These have
further denigrated into long single man forms.. Kata as we know
them today.

Let’s assume for one moment, that the only Kata move we know is
down block. We only know it as a still picture, a position, a shape
if you like.

We are looking at one frame from a motion picture of hundreds of
frames. We are missing all the other “stills” that make up that
fight.

To give you another way of looking at it. Think of this. Imagine
for a moment that you have no idea what a horse is. You have never
seen one, you can’t imagine how they move.

You see a still picture of a horse at full gallop. It has one leg
on the ground. An “expert” in horses, tells you that all horses
walk around on one leg.

For years this is “the truth”. Till the day you actually see a
horse run, you see what it actually does. The same is true of Kata
and the interpretation. For years we have been told by the
“experts” that this first move is a low block.

When you see it being applied as an arm bar… suddenly your point of
reference changes. Then, when you see it being used as a knee bar,
your point of reference changes again.

When you see it being used as a choke or strangle, then your point
of reference changes again. You see where I am going with this?

The more you see, the more you learn, then the more you realise you
have MUCH more to learn. Then and only then, you can begin to
understand the concept of Karate being a lifetime art. NOT a
lifetime to use of course, but a lifetime of learning and
understanding.

A lifetime of analysis and interpretation.

Once you can put to one side your prior “knowledge” of Kata and its
meanings, can you really start to understand it. Remember the old
saying… “empty your cup”? It is so true!

Now I want you to imagine one more scenario. The shape of the down
block… try and think of a multitude of ways of “getting to that
shape” and getting away from that shape. This will help you get a
deeper understanding of the actual use of this move in a real fight.

I will go deeper into this move over the next few weeks.
Once the full membership area opens up for both free and paid
members.

Then I will put up several video lessons on this subject
for you. Each one more detailed than the next. Each one going
deeper and deeper into the subject.

The “principles” shown just off this one move will massively help
you to understand other moves in other katas and systems.

If you don’t know any kata or are not interested in them, then you
will learn some cracking ju jitsu.

If you don’t know or like Ju Jitsu, then you will learn some
cracking Aikido. If you don’t know
or like Aikido, then you will learn some cracking self defence.

Hope you get my point!

Russell Stutely

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Why bother with Kata?
You hear this all the time don’t you? Kata is nothing like a fight, why bother with Kata? You don’t see any Kata moves in the UFC, why bother with Kata? You don’t see any fancy Kata moves outside the chip shop on a Saturday night, why bother with Kata? I don’t know what those moves really mean, why bother with Kata? Why try and learn something that takes ages to get right? I want to learn to fight NOW, why bother with Kata? I am only learning this Kata to pass the next grade, why bother with Kata? And so on and so on…
Kata is, perhaps, the most mis-understood aspects of the Martial Arts. Some “experts” call it the secrets of fighting, some “experts” say that Kata are weapons only forms with little or no application empty handed, some “experts” claim to have discovered the “real meanings”. Some “experts” who once taught Kata Bunkai now teach MMA instead and have written off Kata. So, what is Kata then?
The simple answer, which sounds like a get out, is this; Kata is what you want it to be! Plain and simple. Look, if ALL you want to do is learn how to fight on the “street”… go pick a few fights… you WILL learn or die trying.
If ALL you want to do is be a MMA Fighter, then go train in that and get in the cage / ring… you WILL learn or get beat up trying.
Those two examples are VERY short lives in the Martial Arts. We used to say that anyone who went from style to style and only stayed a few months at each, was the type of person with no real commitment to learning and usually not talented enough to get a Black Belt.
Today, that person is a “serious” cross trainer taking the best from each Art and making himself a fighter, ready for the cage at a moments notice with the ability to destroy 20 year Black Belt veterans. With the severe decline in the “actual understanding of Karate” in the recent years… that is probably true now!
What does any of this rant actually have to do with Kata?
Quite a lot actually…
You see, that person going from style to style, that our little Karate world used to ridicule so much… is in fact, without knowing it probably, doing EXACTLY what all Martial Artists SHOULD be doing, trying to learn a complete system. He is learning a “complete system” for a cage fight.
As Karateka we should be learning a “complete system” for Self Defence. Which, by the way, is VERY different from a cage fight. If that needs explaining, then you have no experience of one or either. OF COURSE, there are transferable skills before you start on that one.
Back to the guy going from style to style… he is doing Kata for Cage Combat, Kata for sport so as to speak. Every time he shadow boxes, every time he does paired up drills, every time he does situational sparring, every time he does open sparring and yes EVERY time he fights.
His BASICS, look the same as his drills(Kata) and sparring (The Bunkai) , which look the same as his fight(Oyo). He learns one way of doing things. Example; His jab is done the same way in the air, as it is on the pads, as it is in sparring as it is in a fight! Replicate that with each and every technique and you can appreciate why that guy can beat most Black Belts in a very short time period. His training methods and application are simply superior for the job at hand!
As Karateka, we have somehow lost our way. Our basics look little like our kata, which looks NOTHING LIKE our sparring, which just does not resemble our fighting. Where has it all gone wrong?
It’s quite simple really, we have “mixed” up our training process, we have become confused about what we want, what we are trying to achieve, what are our goals?
That MMA guy is VERY CLEAR as to his goals. He then sets about the business of achieving them in the shortest time frame. It is VERY SIMPLE in concept, learn to fight for the cage, get fit, get in and fight!
We Karateka have too many mixed messages going on; Karate is for REAL Self Defence. Karate is for enlightenment. Karate is to achieve a higher level of consciousness. Karate is about “the Way” or the “Do”.
Only you really know what you want to achieve from your Karate training! Karate can bring you all of the above and much more if you let it. It CAN bring you the attributes of the MMA Sporting guy. It CAN bring the attributes of the street thug. It CAN bring you the attributes of the “enlightened one”.
Again, what does all this have to with Kata? Why bother with Kata?
OK… as a taster for you, here is a massive sweeping statement that should get a few people going; Kata is the BASIS for all MMA Sports fights, ALL Street fights and EVERY aspect of your Martial Arts training!
That’s a light the blue touch paper statement right there!
Over the coming months my team and I will “analyse” some Kata movements for you… you will see them in the form of “the Art”; “The Fight”; “The Spar”; “The Drill” and “The REAL Fight”.
Why bother with Kata? Well without it, you would not be training! You will see… Till next time.

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