Cung Le Wins! Breaks Shamrock's Arm! Makes Side Kick Cool!

by Mike

And for the next six months, I'm going to be showing every new guy that walks in the door the chasse lateral (that's Savate for "side kick").

Why? Because it's useful? Because it's a secret technique that your opponents will never figure out? Because it's the missing piece in your becoming a complete fighter? Nah, because it's trendy and everyone will think that it's the secret technique that will give them the edge.

This sort of thing happens all the in MMA where most fighters, especially most amateur/beginning fighters simply can't afford the time to learn the esoterica of the core components of the styles that make up a complete fighter, much less plum the far reaches, or what may as well be the style-of-the-week.

Minotauro and Randy Couture win by Anaconda and suddenly, the perfect submission had been found. George St. Pierre and David Loiseau nail their opponents with the spinning side kick and suddenly guys who can't even throw a Thai roundhouse properly are working them into their game. Lyoto Machida runs through his opponents and karate becomes something worth looking at again.

Will the side kick help out your game? I dunno. Compared to the "standard" MMA kicks (the Thai roundhouse and the teep/front kick), the side kick requires better balance and fine motor control. It's a little slower than the aforementioned kicks and it's sometimes hard to sneak your sideways foot in underneath elbows which means that you're either got to kick to the head (which presents massive balance/flexibility issues) and/or move while you do it. Though I'm jinxing myself by saying so, it's pretty easy to see coming and a cinch to block.

Unless you spend hours and hours doing thousands and thousands of reps both on the bags and against sparring partners, in which case it becomes a very effective technique (and one of my favorites). Getting hit by a properly extended side kick is among the stiffest shots you're going to take, even if there's little power in the kick. Taking a chasse lateral to the chest (where it's best used) can rattle your teeth and give you a case of shaken baby syndrome.

Notice that we mentioned the little-kid measurements of "hours and hours" and "thousands and thousands," that's assuming that you've got a good basis in kicking to begin with - and if you're like most MMA guys, you probably don't. In that case, it will probably take longer to learn properly.

Coming from the opposite direction, say you do have a good background in kicking, it will still take some time to work your chasse into a form that will work in MMA - though I can use the chasse to great effect in kickboxing/Savate sparring, Peterson would steamroll over me anytime I tried it in our MMA sessions. Until I figured out the timing and movement necessary to not get stuffed when throwing the kick, knocked over when it's blocked or especially end up in a bad spot if I throw it and miss.

Some diligent hours later, I get the request, "throw some kicks, but but no side kicks. I don't want a broken nose" - not that I've ever broken a nose, side kick or otherwise.

Compare that to adding the anaconda choke to your game - as long as you know some basic jiu-jitsu/wrestling (front headlock, gator roll), you're basically there. If you don't know basic jiu-jitsu...you've got some stuff to think about before you work on your anaconda.

Evolution of a style (if MMA can be considered a style) and more importantly, your personal implementation of that style is important. There's only so long you can work on your jab before spending additional time on it starts hindering our overall progress. But, at the same time, you need to remember what you're doing and figure that maybe this additional technique isn't going to fit into your style, or even be worth spending the time learning when you could be learning/improving other aspects of your game.

Moral of the story: It's good to learn new things, but you need to ask yourself: will learning this new technique really add to my game? If so, will it be worth spending the time and is that time that would be better spent working on something else, even if it is merely polishing up things I already know?

CC licensed photo from gevan444.

Making hard things easy the hard way

by Mike

Over at the Karate Thoughts Blog, Charles Goodin writes about "Making It Look Easy." The basic idea should be familiar to pretty much anyone, martial artist or not: when you see someone who has been doing something a long time doing something you've just started (or perhaps have been doing a long time and have been having trouble with):

The assumption is that the expert is doing something hard and is just making it look easy. In fact, because of his understanding and skill, what he is doing is easy...

It may sound trite at first, but meditate on it and it soon becomes a very interesting point of view - with diligence, hard things become easy. Mull it over for a bit longer and then it becomes a why-didn't-I-think-of-it idea - hard things are hard until they're not hard anymore.

How does your technique go from being something hard to something easy? Hazmat talks about The Magic of Muscle Memory - aka drill, drill, drill; test, test, test; refine, refine, refine.

Keep in mind what you're doing isn't hard, it's just not easy yet and I think you'll find that changing your outlook will help accelerate your progress.

CC licensed photo from O pirata.

Glossary: Respect

Respect is used as a euphemism to describe hesitation and/or timidity in a fighter. Often phrased like, "X respects Y's striking too much to engage."

If said in the beginning of a match, it often just refers to the feeling-out process. If the match continues with no engagement, it often becomes a chide against the respectful fighter.

Remember what you're doing

by Mike

Trying new things in the gym and trying to evolve your style is all well and good, but one also needs to keep the ultimate goal of their training in mind. 

While watching some guys doing MMA sparring, one of them busted out the Philly Shell.

"Dude, what are you doing? Get your hands up!"

"I'm working on my Mayweather."

"Mayweather don't fight MMA. Put your damn hands up!"

Glossary: Solving the Equation

"Solving the equation" was a phrase made famous by Stephen Quadros when he was announcing Pride FC events. On it's face, it was used to describe one fighter changing up their gameplan after finding that it wasn't working as expected. In actuality, solving the equation was used a a euphemism for a fighter having no idea about what to do and looking lost or trying to work around a stalling opponent. 

New here? How to get started in the martial arts

by Mike

We've spent a lot of time discussing martial arts from the beginner's perspective and trying to show you how the game works from a practical, not marketing brochure standpoint. While the beginners tag is useful, we thought it would be more helpful consolidate the relevant articles in one place.

Here's my series on how to choose a school and what to expect when you get there:

How to Choose a Martial Arts School

How to choose a martial arts school part II: Before your first day

Flipper wrote a great series specific to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but is worth reading by anyone whose wondering if they're up to training.

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 1: Conditioning

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 2: Goals

Starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Part 3: Injuries, Intensity and Schedule

The Staff examined the question of motivation and The Wrong Reasons to Start Training

The Rules Compendium really isn't a compendium, but if you're planning on competing, it's definitely worth checking out.

As always, if you have any questions, please post in the comments or email us @ info@whywenothithard.com.

Martial Arts Gear and More Review Index

There's a lot of stuff out there - most of it is OK, some of it sucks and some is great. Of course, unless you spend a lot of time (and money) using a lot of the gear, it's hard to get a sense of which manufacturers you like and trust.

To that end, here is a compilation of the reviews that have appeared on the site. They're heavily skewed towards things we think are great while there are a couple things in there that were so bad we felt we should warn you away from.

If you're looking for a place to purchase gear, you can check the Why We Not Hit Hard? Store as well as MMA Warehouse.

Boxing & MMA Gloves

Combat Sports MMA Training Gloves

Top Contender Quick Strike MMA Gloves

Ringside IMF Training Gloves

Boxing/Muay Thai Coaching/Training Gear

Fight Gear Bomber Headgear

Combat Sports Air Thai Pads

Ringside Panther Punch Mitts

Fight Wear/MMA Shorts

Sprawl 2005 Flex Fighter XT Shorts

Weaponry

Kershaw Ken Onion Leek

Martial Arts Books

Mastery by George Leonard

Wrestling for Fighting by Randy Couture

Fight by Eugene S. Robinson

Mastering the Rubber Guard by Eddie Bravo

Superfit by Royce Gracie and James Strom

Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge by B.J. Penn

Infinite Intensity by Ross Enamait

Workout/Therapy

TheraCane

Tennis Balls

Web sites

Evolutionary Fitness/www.arthurdevany.com

MMA Workout 3/16/08

by Mike

Theme: Now that we've got a couple months until Jim's next fight, we're able to try to work some new techniques into his game. Ideally, the theoretical bits of this workout should carry over into other parts of his game. Specifically, keeping hips low, maintaining pressure on the opponent when in a dominant position and keeping mobile despite the semi-awkward position. Also some strategic decisions and worked the "Ettish" and Downed Guard.

Warmup:

With little time, we hopped right into pummeling for position.

Worked from this to pummeling to takedown and passing to dominant position.

A little bit of dirty boxing and we were off to

The Fun Part:

One of my favorite techniques is to hold someone in my guard and then let them out. When they stand (either to slam or pass), I like to break my guard and bust out the Silat, getting something like the Saddle and then working for a heel hook or forcing a takedown into a very strange position to allow for some ground and pound.

This is easily accomplished if someone has their hips high. If they're slightly more clever and following BJ's advice in the MMA Book of Knowledge, you need to get tricky as well.

Staying in the shell/downed guard is kinda boring and doesn't let you do too much except stall and force a standup or wait for the opponent to kick the hell out of your legs and/or try a low-percentage but fun cartwheel pass or even the vaunted somersault pass.

Will probably never work for you, but the crowd sure loves it!

In the interest of staying mobile on the ground, forcing a standup and/or training your opponent to abandon the ground game, we worked on what we call the "Ettish."

Affectionately named after the ill-prepared kareteka from UFC 2, the position is a basic one taught in martial arts schools all over as a "self-defense" technique but derided due to Fred Ettish's not-quite-enough attempt to use it - it may be more familiar to Jiu-Jitsu players as the butt-scoot. But now you get to kick and maybe even roll into a takedown.

We'll cover the Ettish in-depth in the future, but needless to say, the last thing you're expecting someone lying on the ground to do is kick you in the face. Especially when you're about six inches taller than they are and you know for a fact that they can't kick above their waist.

It's a surprisingly strong position, much like the kick is a surprisingly strong kick.

Getting back to the workout:

Working the shell

Moving in on the shell

Working the Ettish

Moving in on the Ettish to pass

Once some basic principles are understood, it's surprisingly easy to pass the downed guard, while it's possible but frustrating to do so to the Ettish.

Don't be a cheap-ass

by Mike

We were training a couple days ago and one guy stopped in the middle of a round. He grimaced and held his elbow.

"You hurt your other elbow?"

"No, same one. PT says it's overuse and I should get a tennis elbow splint. I don't know though."

"Why wouldn't you get one?"

"It's $15, man. I just keep thinking it will go away."

"Dude, it's either $15 and get better, or your elbow is screwed forever."

There are some things in your training that are going to be worth spending a couple bucks on. First Aid gear is one. A decent pair of boxing gloves that will last you years is another. You might not need to pay someone to bring back a pair of Reyes gloves from Mexico for you, but dropping a few extra bucks to get a decent pair of gloves is going be much more cost effective (and better for you in general) than trying to save a couple bucks on crap gloves.

That is to say, buying a pair of $60 gloves that will last you years is going to be much better for you in the long run than buying $10 pair of gloves that you're going to need to replace three times a year and that will potentially injure you through general use.

Getting your ass kicked is a great way to find holes in your game

by Mike

Our school held a tournament last weekend, where I participated in a boxing match. Though I walked out with a loss, I ended up with a much better understanding of the holes in my game, which I hope will serve me much better than having pulled out a victory.

I have a buddy who uses the phrase "I didn't get what I wanted so it was a learning experience" as a mantra.

To some degree, this is true. What I wanted to was to skate through the couple rounds, get the W and show off how good my legs look in a pair of Sprawls. What I got was bullied into corner, had my reach advantage stuffed and spent most of my time covering against combos that fortunately didn't land cleanly. I did get to show off my legs, so at least that worked out.

Note that this isn't to say that every loss is a good thing, or that it's OK to lose constantly because you're learning from the experience, but having that occasional situation where you're taken entirely out of your element* can be a good, if annoying thing.

Especially if there are over a hundred people watching and a hi-def video to be produced.

* I should like to poiont out that in this case, we're not discussing going into a situation knowing you're going to get handled, similar to the situations described in Quit yer bellyachin'. Specifically, this applies to situations where you expected to win and the result was the opposite.

The pic's not me, but it may as well have been. CC-licensed photo by pixel0908.

If you are training without insurance, you are stupid

by Mike

You really should not be training if you don't have health insurance.

Paying for insurance, whether your employer provides it or you're paying it out of your own pocket (especially if you're paying for it out of your own pocket) sucks. Paying for medical bills without insurance is worse.

Do your homework and run a spreadsheet, it might actually be cheaper to get a lower-deductible plan than it will be to get a higher-deductible plan when you factor in premiums and that deductible.

I know everyone knows someone who has managed to train for 18 years and never got hurt but if you ask around, I'm sure you'll find someone who has been injured while training and either a) is really glad they had insurance or b) really wished they had insurance.

Training without insurance is a really bad idea. Hopefully, you'll never need to use it, but it's better to have it waiting in case you do than not to.

Win [Other People's] Free Stuff!

From White Collar BJJ.

Rules here. No purchase necessary, etc. You do have to show up and say something intelligent, however.

Not to be outdone, Why We Not Hit Hard? is working on their ebook, "The One Secret Martial Arts Masters Don't Want You to Learn!" and will hopefully publish it in the coming weeks.

When your name is feared

by Mike

Updated "write your name on your gear!" to note that writing your name in red marker is not as good an idea as it might seem.

Even permanent marker smears and when you write with red on the white palm of your gloves, you start having guys stop in the middle of the round and ask if that's their blood on your gloves.

Stick to black. Or maybe blue. No one I know bleeds blue.

CC-licensed image from Pankration Research Institute.

Advice from an amateur fighter

Talking to a guy who watches his buddy fight on the local/ammy MMA circuit, specifically on the uncertainty of their next opponent. The best advice he had to give was

Always assume that the other guy is going to be a lot bigger than you and the best toughest fighter you'll ever face.

Given all the confusion of fighting on a local/low-level circuit, what with no tape available on opponents (not that it's useful anyway because the most progress they'll make is at the beginning of their career), matches being changed or dropped the day of the event and more, there's really no other/smarter way to approach a fight like this.

Review Combat Sports MMA Training Gloves

by Mike

Combat Sports MMA Training Gloves

One Liner

Great gloves for MMA training.

Overview

Combat Sports MMA Training Gloves let you experience all the fun of MMA training without the terror of 5 oz. gloves. Granted, these are only a couple of ounces heavier, but that extra padding is very nice (CSI claims they've got the "same shock dispersing capabilities as a 16 oz. boxing glove").

I've been using these for years the only problem that I've had was that some of the piping around the palm and the kinda-superfluous thumb pad started to rip off.

The Good

• Padding is nice.
  
• Gloves very flexible and don't hinder your hands when going for submissions.
  
• Wrist straps provide acceptable support, but handwraps can be worn without too much trouble

The Bad

• No sleeve over the velcro, so watch out when you get to sparring on the ground
  
• Some of the piping came around the palm came loose immediately, but over the next couple years of use nothing else has ripped

Recommendation

Been using these for years and am a big fan of them. Bulkier than fight gloves, but you can still get a feel for how things work with these on.