A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

I wish you all a merry X-Mas and a stronger, injury free new year!

Disclaimer: Geeky stuff ahead. If you're afraid of physics, do not read. Also, I don't have everything in order just yet, but I wanted to release this before going to Poland, so the missing Figures will be inserted ASAP. Now Anna, a good friend and student of mine, decided to work on her high kicks. Determined, she told me she was going to stretch a lot. That's the point where, as a trainer, I felt the need to intervene and set things into persepective. You see, while some people might definitely benefit from some targeted flexibility training, what most need is actually mobility. Where's the difference? Well, in a nutshell, flexibility measures the "length" (or rather, the ability to relax) of your muscles, whereas mobility measures the range of motion (ROM) you can take a joint through under control. For my german speaking readers, this is pretty much the difference between "aktive Beweglichkeit" and "passive Beweglichkeit" [WEI2010]

So today's post just shows some highlights of last saturdays training. This time, it features Valentin, Anton and Dominik. Valentin and Anton are preparing for both semi- and light-contact fights in Poland next Sunday, hence there's a strong emphasis on kicks. Speaking of kicks, my next post is going to deal with fixing the high kick, so stay tuned. So long, don't get hurt

Today's post is all about Anna, one of my students who are going to fight in [Poland] . During alactic capactiy training, Anna hit the pads with 13 left roundhouse kicks over the course of 6 seconds (although the video shows the previous set, which comes at 12 repetitions) - definitely not bad. "Hitting like a girl" takes on a different meaning here. The following video just gives you an impression of Anna's impression during yesterday's class. Countdown until departure is at T-8 days. Stay tuned. So long, don't get hurt

So here's some of the [promised] footage of our last sessions. The kids are pushing the pace hard when it comes to light contact and semi contact sparring. Guess we're going to have a blast in [Poland] . Without further ado, enjoy. As always, I'll keep you posted. So long, don't get hurt

Today we had a boxing masterclass with [Tom Knöbl] . Since I'm currently handicapped, I wasn't able to do most of the stuff he taught, but that's ok. At least, I know what what we'll be working on over the course of the next couple weeks. In essence, what Tom covered was weight distribution during stepping and striking. Especially, he explained something of a pendulum jab, where you bob into your strike to increase effective mass and thus, punching power. Tom also covered the importance of conditioning, as fatigue leads to a decrease in concentration and situational awareness, which in turn puts you at a greater risk of being knocked out. That's exactly what I preach all the time. Strength and conditioning first and foremost fulfill the role to keep the athlete injury-free and enable him to actually exhibit his technical and tactical skills over a longer time. 'nuff said. Below, you'll find a couple of pictures of the class. Note tha

Just a quick follow up on my [last post] , where I outlined my plans for my strength training over the course of the next 8 weeks. Here's what my sessions actually look like: Weighted Push Ups: Do a modified [PTTP] program, i.e., take three steps forward and two backward with the weights. In essence, this means that the weights go up by 7.5kg over the course of a week, and 2.5kg from week to week. E.g., 40, 42.5, 45; 42.5, 45, 47.5; 45, 47.5, 50; ... I deviate a bit from a "pure" PTTP program because I'm resting for just a minute in between sets. Also, I'm reducing weight from set to set. Basically, I guess you could say I'm doing something of a hybrd, staggered [drop set] , where I stop when I cannot hit 5 reps on a given set anymore... So it's rather the "How to become a bear" program outlined in PTTP.  Front Squats: Same thing here, only I don't come as close to failure as with the weighted push ups. Safety first. Handstand practice

Time for an update, I guess. A week ago, while attending a [Luta Livre] workshop with Daniel D'Dane (watch the video above for some info on that guy. Note that obviously, it's not the workshop I've been to.), I ruptured the extendor tendon in my left pinky finger. No big deal, but then again, the doc says 16 weeks no grappling or boxing. Now that's a big friggin' deal. Especially since we're about to go fight in [Poland] again. Great. Another tournament where I'm sidelined and just attend as a coach. Well, nevermind, though, since four of my youngsters are going to compete, so there'll be quite some work for me anyway. Ok, now what do I do with no boxing or grappling? Pout and sob - a lot. But when I'm done with that, I'll be going to work. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are     --Theodore Roosevelt I can still kick, so that's what I'll be working on. No rocket science here. I can shadow box and I can wo

Disclaimer: This is the first part of a new installment on sparring. In this first post I'll outline the general idea and make an introduction. More specialized and practical posts will follow. Everything comes at a cost. This can be an increased risk of injury, unfavorable anatomical adaptation, or simply a missed opportunity of doing something more sensible. As a martial arts trainer, it is my job to make each of my  rip to the Dojo my fighter's trips to the Dojo worthwhile. Biggest bang for buck, so to say. I'm a teacher, after all, not an entertainer. Therfore, before jumping ship on anything I do in my classes, I ask myself the following : "What is the purpose of [insert activity]? What is the cost of that? Is it worth it? Is there a way of achieving the same result at a lower cost" In general, that last question boils down to finding something that is more time efficient or comes at a reduced risk of injury. What is the purpose of sparring? W

Without further ado, just enjoy. Until next time, so long, take care

  Disclaimer: This one's going to be a bit lengthy, so I tried to include as many videos as possible to keep things fresh.  Since December, 2014, I'm in charge of the athletics class we run at the Shinergy[base] here in Vienna. In a nutshell, the athletics class is pretty much a functional strength class for small groups. In contrast to other systems out there (which all have their benefits in their own sense), out athletics class follows a simple periodization and is preceded by an individual assessment of each athlete. Our assessment usually doesn't take as long as, say, a full [FMS] , but then again, we screen for the selection of exercises we're actually planning on employing in the current program. This means that, although it might be beneficial for general health or long-term improvement of a functional movement base, there is no pressing need to screen for overhead competency if the plan calls for a horizontal upper body push. We can ḱeep our initial screens

Wow, so it's been quite a while since I've last posted video footage of our training. So, without further ado, let's get ready to rumble... Music courtesy of Fallen To Flux.

So last weekend I took the [FMS] (functional movement screen) certification course. Still need to take the online exam to actually get certified, but I don't believe that'll be much of a big deal. After all, I worked through the book a couple of times and I guess I got most of what Gray and Lee are saying. In case you've been living under a rock for the last decade, the FMS is a simple screen that aims at establishing a (more or less) objective measure regarding movement quality, a minimal acceptable baseline against which individual can be evaluated and scored. To achieve this goal, a battery of seven simple tests is performed, with each test being scored from zero to three points. Three points means perfect movement with no compensation whatsoever. Two marks acceptable yet somehow compromised movement. One is dysfunctional movement. Zero is pain. Obviously, a zero would mean referral to a healthcare professional, this is where my job as a trainer ends. As soon as som