Apply Upgrades (part two, mindset)

We train so many things, as we should, but often forget about mindset. Our day to day lives don't always necessitate the mindset which is of benefit to us in a fight scenario, sometimes it takes us too long to get in to the groove when training and sparring as a result.

When we look back on what was a disappointing sparring session we often fail to realise the reason for our lack of presence in the situation was mindset. Intention and conviction make a huge difference, I remember a turning point for me several years back was after watching multiple highlights and fights of the late Ramon Dekkers. His intensity was brilliant along with his control and awareness. I tried to flip a switch in my sparring session that night and it worked, something really clicked and it was the understanding between intensity and aggression, maintaining your resolve and being calm whilst moving with intention and conviction. Things I'm still always working on!


There are some fighters that repeatedly give dominant performances due to their intention to chop right through their opponent. People like Tyson, Fedor and Ramon Dekkers are examples of this resolve, intention and conviction. It takes a combination of many things to be a great fighter, enjoy the highlights of these greats!

See you in class, oss!

Apply Upgrades (part one, technique)

Hi guys,

These past few months have been great, training and reviewing everything to make necessary tweaks where they're needed. During this time I've noticed the same topics come up time and again at the gym and not just during class time. For this reason I will be putting up a post each week about some of these specific things that we've been talking about which are, rhythm, technique, mindset and body mechanics. Check back each week and you should end up with a little guide to upgrading the way you do things.

This weekend Weidman checked a kick with his knee to devastating effect against Silva now everyone seems to be talking about it. If more people were integrating from these arts it wouldn't have taken this long to be seen or talked about in mainstream MMA. 

People often get caught with things they don't know or do so why not think outside the box? I know I'm not alone in asking why don't we see more of the JKD approach in combat sports but especially Filipino Martial Arts/Silat? The answer may be because everyone is less likely to try out things that are new to them for fear of them being riskier than bread and butter techniques.

Working simple basics and principles and getting creative with them is something we should ALL be doing, but it's great to have some extras in your arsenal to plug in to them!

As an instructor, I love hearing guys tell me how they're having success in other classes against more experienced guys using things I've taught them.

Here's a clip of none other than Bas Rutten talking about kicking technique, it will all sound familiar to those of you I've been lecturing about turning those toes out to open up your hips!


Check out his Jun Fan Gung Fu hoodie, JKD has a longer presence in MMA than most may be aware of and is on the rise. Come along to the classes on Saturdays to train and try out things that are new to you!

Oss!

Rounding off the year

Hi guys,

Despite the busy time of year, injuries and commitments on Dec 15th a keen bunch came together for a solid training session. We bashed pads and kick shields, worked some kickboxing combos and some techniques from the over/under tie up. We incorporated some things into it that we're also looking at in the Saturday classes. We finished off the day with some sneaky stick grappling. 

In addition we talked about the mental approach to training, the JKD mind frame of using everything at your disposal. "Intelligent Combat"

The session was free with the goal of getting everyone to come along and make a charitable contribution and with your kind donations we raised £180 to contribute to The Philippines.

A time when some are is already digging deep for presents it was great to have contributions from those of you who couldn't even take part on the day! Every little makes a difference and every penny will work towards making lives better for those who really need it out there right now. We enjoy the fantastic Filipino Martial Arts and we should give back where we have the opportunity.

A sincere thank you to all of you!

Classes will run as normal over the holiday period but, let's make 2014 a year of progression and growth!

Oss!

Developing your game

I remember something Guro Dan Inosanto said at one of his fantastic seminars I attended, where he was talking about techniques and having options. He said "You can have a 1000 songs on your iPod but only listen to one at a time".

The JKD mentality is one of efficiency, "do more with less" I've heard Guro Bob Breen say many times over the years.

With these things in mind I've recently been using a couple of analogies and examples about technique collecting versus learning via techniques. The first one will ring truer to those of us that still remember making our own mixtapes with 90min audio cassettes! We have a large music collection, maybe 100's of albums yet come back to the same few songs all the time, we go through 20 albums to make a playlist of 20 songs. We have experienced many to choose a few.

In much the same way you could be at buffet (sorry for those of you cutting weight or just starting that diet!). You pick up your empty plate, start to make your way through the buffet and try a small bit of everything on offer. Once you've tried it all, your second plate has less variety but more of the things you enjoyed the most.

With our training we try different things, train a range of different drills and techniques to meet different eventualities. Along the way you find things that really work for you and you keep coming back to them, this is how you get better.

It's very hard to pick everything up and get better at all of it together. You're shown different techniques in class where you try them out and drill them, pick the one you liked most and came easiest to you and practice that. Build on it, start looking for it in different situations and in sparring - it's a testing ground, you're safe, it's not a fight!

Soon you'll start to see your game improve, you've just added a tool, a weapon to your arsenal. Once you're comfortable, start concentrating on something new, something to support what you've just picked up! You had to listen to hundreds of songs to find the ones you keep coming back to and when you get bored of even your favourites, you seek out new ones or go back to give others another try. Now you start doing more with a few.

This is what Bruce Lee meant by absorbing what is useful and discarding what is useless. What is useful to one person at one time may not be to another, what's useless at one stage in your development may become useful later.

We don't go through techniques for the sake of it, there should be purpose to everything we do.

Lastly, I want to add that we are what we strive to be. Whatever it is you want in your life, keep working on it day by day, and you will have more of it in your life the more you strive for it. You will succeed a little bit each day and who doesn't want success?

See in you in class, Oss!

Dedication

While I was in London a couple of weeks ago Guro David Onuma was kind enough to make some time for a private training session were we covered a range of things from single and double stick to some empty hand techniques. He gave me some great tips and we caught up and had a bit of laugh.

I remember thinking several times that night how much I value training with him and look forward to every opportunity to do so.

Something I've learned from training with Guro David and Guro Bob is to always appreciate and take in what your instructor gives you, it might not always click on a given day but when it does you should relish it... especially when things start clicking like sticks in a well executed flow drill!

B.I.G Camp Oct 2011

As you guys know classes were canceled a couple of weeks ago as I made a trip to London for a training camp with Guro Bob Breen.

At the camp I saw good friends and training partners and throughout the day thought about how Guro Bob never ceased to amaze me. The variety of things he taught us and the way it all linked together was inspiring. Empty hand counters, locks and take downs as well as single stick techniques and flow drills. All excellent stuff!

After a couple of bruises and scratches from the Velcro of the gloves in sparring, two on one as well as stick, a few of us had a light bite and lost track of time catching up.

Training was amazing, company was great and everything that we covered that weekend was highly valued. I can't wait for next time!

Attitudes towards training and martial arts

Over the past few months I've had the good fortune of speaking to many different individuals about martial arts. What I find interesting is the misconception that martial arts training, is or should be, rough and violent. It's a view I've encountered from experienced martial artists to complete beginners.

By its very nature martial arts training is about learning skills to overcome violence, this doesn't however, mean that we should be violent with our training partners and classmates to see personal improvements and gains. A class should be a controlled environment where you can work towards goals and aims, if it was all about brutish violence there would be a lot of injuries resulting in less training, which in turn leads to less development and skill.

It may be easy to put the gloves on and beat up on each other... But what's the point when your  technique isn't too good and your defences are shabby because you haven't bothered to learn them? You will only progress so much in this way and stunt your growth. 

The same applies to stick fighting, believe it or not I've had people think we go into class and whack each other with sticks for an hour! Don't get me wrong, weaponry as well as the empty hand arts do involve contact and sparring to test what we learn, but the fact remains that we have to first "LEARN" then apply, sensibly. 

To think that martial arts are, or should be, "hardcore" "dangerous" or "rough" doesn't make you those things, martial arts training doesn't have to be those things unless you want it to be. It's no good to think in such rigid and restrictive ways, one cannot plant a seed in stone, instead we plant it in soil because it allows for growth. Having an attitude of stone towards training may appear tough but we know that soil yields more crops.

The study of martial arts is to learn and refine, it takes time but the rewards are plenty. I'll end my rant by suggesting you think about the following next time you go training........

Due to his skill and effectiveness the late GM Wong Shun Leung was known as "King of Talking Hands", one cannot talk without first learning words.