Post-Seminar Checklist

by Mike

So, you used the seminar checklist and got everything that you needed to before you showed up. 12 hours of seminar and one semi-private later, you've got some bumps, bruises, the hell of a lot of illegible notes and a vastly improved game. What now?

When you get out of the seminar:

• First things first - have a beer. It'll kick start your recovery process. If there are people around who aren't sick of you from spending a weekend trapped in your stinky gi, this is a great time to go out, talk a little bit about what happened, what you learned and all the cool ways you're gonna change up your training.
  
  
• Then, shut the hell up about it. Enough already. Don't even think about bothering your friends that didn't go and/or don't train. No matter how supportive you think they are, a) they don't care and b) they're thinking, "you basically put a part-time job's worth of work into one weekend and spent it hugging dudes?"
  

When you get home:

• Take your gear out to let it air out/go in the wash. You'd be surprised how many times people forget to take their stuff out and only remember right before the next class, realize that they don't have enough time to wash anything and show up smelling like a gi or gloves that were used for 12 hours and then sat in a bag for a week. Wash your clothes!
  
  
• Hop in the bath. Hot water, epsom salts and try not to fall asleep in there. Take it from experience that if you stay in over 20 minutes, the salt creeps in your open pores and you'll be sweating medicinal salts for the next few days.
  
  
• Use your preferred painkillers and anti-inflammatories. As my wrestling coach says:

  When you get home, remember: ice. Or if you're that type, ice and Advil. Or if you're that type, ice, Advil and beer.
  

• Be careful about taking a nap. Falling asleep at six and waking up at 8 is a great way to not be able to fall asleep again that night, which not only takes away some prime recovery time, but also makes you groggy and grumpy the next day.
• Instead, use that time to review your notes. You'd be surprised how easy it is to not only not be able to read your own handwriting, but also to forget all those cryptic abbreviations you used to save time.
  
  
  

  Example of notes taken during a seminar. Note the diagram, which I think might have been copied from the Lesser Key of Solomon and not the representation of how to place your legs in the S-Mount like I intended.
  
  

  The sooner you can get back to your notes and use your memory to fill in the gaps, the better.
  
  
• Practice what you learned. Having the notes is nice and all, but trying to learn anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen techniques in a short time only allows for a couple reps - barely enough to figure out what you need to pay attention to and definitely not enough to get the muscle memory to kick in. If you've got access to others who took the seminar with you, try to get together and compare notes/review everything you worked on.
  

Most importantly:

• Share what you learned. Bring your experience and knowledge back to your gym and your classmates who couldn't attend. Sharing what you know will not only help reinforce what you did, but you'll be raising the game of everyone at your school and in turn that will elevate your game even more.
  

First Aid For Fighters: Torn Toenail

by Meredith & Doc Dill

More for the injury journal:

After months of 'breaking in" savate shoes that were a bit small on my right foot (my right is a half size bigger than my left, whatever, I'm not the only one), my big toe turned black. This was unattractive but not too upsetting since I have the nail polish option. It was already starting to grow out, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Then one day when I was sparring, I threw a roundhouse and my partner stuck out his elbow. He wasn't wearing elbowpads and my toenail split in half horizontally. I'd like to mention that I WAS wearing my savate shoes at the time. So currently I'm applying neosporin and trying to keep the remainder of the nail on the toe with bandaids.

Doc Dill says:

Ouch! Busted toenails hurt like a bitch!!

Well, ideally you should trim the broken part to prevent moisture accumulating and developing a fungal nail bed infection. Neosporin to keep it from drying out and cracking and preventing a bacterial infection. Cover it to protect it and wash it twice a day thoroughly trying it. In a couple of months the nail will grow out and you'll have beautiful tootsies once again.

Glossary: The Pocket

In striking arts, the pocket refers to the are where a fighter can stand and throw punches at arm's length.

Properly used, it's when one fighter stands on a diagonal to the other defender, so they can land shots without worrying about the other fighter counterpunching or returning the strikes and cannot defend properly. Staying in the pocket then is used to describe being to the opponent's side, like you're, well, in his pocket.

Example: Panda and Dangerous both fight in a conventional stance and Panda wants to get into the pocket to drop some bombs on Dangerous while avoiding any counterstrikes. Panda will stand to Dangerous' 2 o'clock. Panda will be in a good position land his strikes while Dangerous has nothing to offer in return. Dangerous will want to pivot to face (and therefore be able to defend and attack) Panda, but Panda can keep circling to stay in the pocket.

Robson Moura Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar

Robson Moura, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and multi-time-just-about-everything champion will be teaching a weekend-long seminar at the Degerberg Academy of Marital Arts Friday 4/25, Saturday 4/27 and Sunday 4/28.

The Seminar will consist of six two-hour sessions covering the following topics:

Friday 4/25 7 - 9pm - Working From the Full Guard

Saturday 4/26 10am - Noon - Side Control

1:30pm - 3:30pm - Attacking the Back/Turtle

4pm - 6pm - Passing the Guard

Sunday 4/27 10am - 12pm - Butterfly Guard

12:15 - 2:15 - Sparring Concepts/Gameplanning

Only a few slots left, so sign up quickly - Pricing is available for the entire seminar or per-session.

$50 per session or $250 for the entire seminar if you sign up by Thurs. 4/24

$60 per session or $300 for the entire seminar at the door (space permitting)

Please call Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts for more info or to sign up 773 728-5300.

Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts is located at 4717 N. Lincoln Chicago, IL.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop on in. Most of the WWNHH? crew will be there and we'd love to meet you.

Review: Free Stuff!

by Mike

Crazy Monkey Defense MMA Training Journal by Dr. Randy Broum and Rodney King RSME Free registration required.

I always knew that if I waited long enough, someone would write a nice, free book with all sorts of useful articles so I wouldn't have to.

This little manual is a very helpful guide to some metatraining considerations - things like setting goals, recognizing and treating overtraining/injuries, as well as maintaining focus over the course of not only individual training sessions but a training career.

Definitely worth a read for beginners, and maybe a quick once-over as a refresher course for veterans.

The Ringside Boxing Manual by Jim Brown.

This manual is primarily of interest those just getting started in a boxing program. Oddly, part of the book seems to be written with coaches in mind while the other half is addressed to boxers. This focuses purely on amateur boxing, which is a very different game than professional boxing (keep in mind the old saw, "amateur boxing is about technique while professional boxing is about punishment").

Diet, training, fighting common styles and "how to win an amateur bout" are covered as well as basic techniques. Sidebars cover basic rules of boxing and a useful list of things to keep in mind (I particularly like #5: "Appear confident at all times" and #6: "never forget that your opponent is as tired as you are."

This is a short guide and many subjects only receive lip service, but overall, this is a useful guide for beginners as a guide to see how their training should be structured and progress. Anyone other than beginners is likely not going to find much value in it.

Seminar Checklist

by Mike

Seminars are an awesome way to progress and grow as a martial artist. We've previously covered seminars and how/why they may be useful for your training, but there are practical matters related to the seminar - logistics if you will.

Whether your do all your training on the seminar circuit with Rorce Gracie and Dan Severn,* or you have the opportunity to take a one-off with one of your idols, you best make sure you're prepared to take full advantage of the situation.

Things to bring:

• Proper equipment. If the seminar is going to be Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Judo make sure you have an appropriate gi. If it's going to be Muay Thai drills, make sure you bring your tombstone pads. If you'll be sparring, bring your sparring gear. If it's not clear from the seminar agenda, ask the hosting school.
  
  
• More equipment than called for. Few seminars have any structure to them, let alone a rigid agenda, so it's entirely possible that you'll end up doing some fun stuff, like rolling with the instructor or sparring. You don't need to bring your whole gym bag, but some "just in case" items might prove to be worth the extra weight.
  
  
• Your notebook and several pens. You are keeping a notebook aren't you?
  
  The notebook is by far the most important thing you'll need during the seminar. You're paying good money for access to a great teacher that you likely won't see again for another year, if at all, so you want to make sure that you not only learn a lot while you're in the seminar, but that you remember it after the seminar's over.
  
  You should take any spare moment you get to start writing down notes - drills you like, things you need to work on, new techniques, etc. I have fond memories of Renzo Gracie teaching a very high-percentage kneebar when stuck in someone's half-guard that I only wrote down, "kneebar from inside half-guard" and every time I get caught in someone's half-guard, I curse myself for not remembering it.
  
  
• Camera. If you're that type that likes to get shots of you and famous people. I'm not particularly, but somewhere a dude from my gym has a great shot of Matt Lindland choking me out that he keeps promising to email me and never does. Shoulda thought to bring my own camera.
  
  Be aware that not all instructors are cool with pictures for whatever reason (personal preference, contractual obligations with sponsors or instructional video/book companies), so ask before taking pictures and especially before setting up a video camera to record some or all of the seminar.
  
  
• Cash money. Most, if not all, seminar instructors will have something extra to sell after the seminar. Books, t-shirts, videos, knives, etc. They probably won't take credit cards or checks, but definitely will take cash.
  
  Also useful for having if there's an unexpected break in the seminar and you want to go out and grab a snack, or otherwise go out to dinner/the bar with other attendees after the seminar's over.
  
  
• Water bottle and snacks. Most seminars are going to bring out many more students than the space they're held in normally hold. Thus, when there is a break, there will be a line of nerds waiting for the drinking fountain. While they're holding up the show, you can take the opportunity to take some notes.
  
  If there are going to be multiple sessions or the seminar is particularly long, having some well thought-out snacks is going to serve you much better than heading out with everyone to the 7-Eleven to get some crap to fill up on. Nothing funnier than watching people come back to an afternoon session of an all-day seminar (which are traditionally harder than the morning sessions), full of burritos and spend the rest of the day looking like they're going to puke.
  
  Unless they're your partner.
  

Other considerations:

• Make sure you arrive early... Traffic and/or your sense of direction are often worse than you thought they were. Showing up to a seminar late is bad for two reasons 1: you miss out on some learning that you're paying good money for and 2: it pisses off the instructor.
  
  Case in point, I attended a Maurice Smith seminar at the ComicCon of all places (see Bas Rutten vs. Dracula) and, due to there being a surprising amount of traffic at 9am on a Sunday, I got in about five minutes late. My hopes of being able to sneak in the back were dashed when I walked in the room and saw everyone was spread out and starting to work on drills. Big Mo was kind of annoyed as I kicked off my shoes. I bowed and said, "I apologize for being late, sir.** Can I still jump in?"
  
  He softened a bit, "No problem, just line up and we'll get started."
  
  About five minutes after that, another guy walked in, looking like he just got out of bed, kicked off his sandals and said, "uh, I'm here for the Maurice Smith seminar."
  
  Maurice looked at him and said, "You're late. Hurry up, you're wasting time."
  
  
• ...but don't expect the seminar to start on time. It's entirely likely that the seminar teacher will be in town visiting his friends the host and therefore was out all night with them, catching up and/or crunked.
  
  
• Careful with lunch. If your seminar is long enough that it has a lunch break, be careful with what you do. You certainly want to avoid the stitch and you definitely don't want to go out and eat something that's going to result in you farting on your partners for the entire afternoon.
  

Also, check out the Post-Seminar Checklist.

And the other, helpfully named Post-Seminar Checklist.

--

* This is a joke, please don't email me about how I misspelled Hoyce.***

** In case you ever have occasion to meet the man, don't call him "sir." I'm pretty sure it's also a bad idea to call him anything other than what he tells you you can call him.

*** That was also a joke.

[Updated 10/18/09]

Kerstin wins the Gloves!

by Mike

WWNHH? classmate and sparring partner Kerstin fought and won in the Chicago Golden Gloves this weekend. After this win, Kerstin is a svelte 3-0 in her boxing career, with two of those wins having comefrom fights taken on remarkably short notice.

Kerstin picking up the W.

Ask the fighter: What do you say to your opponent after a fight?

I've always been curious about what fighters say to each other after the fight? I understand the hugging/hand shakes as far as sportsmanship go, but is it just, "good fight, man?" or something like, "damn, you kicked my ass?"

Eric answers:

In my experience there has never been any ill will. "Good fight," "damn that was fun" and "damn I'm tired" have been the responses.

After the fight we are cool and friendly to each other. So long as no one takes it personally I'm cool with them outside the ring. Inside, it's business.

Eric Rasmussen is an amateur mixed martial artist preparing for his pro debut.

Do you have a question for the fighter? Email us at askthefighter@whywenothithard.com

Glossary: Banging

Banging is most often used in MMA rather than boxing and would be more familiar to fans of the sweet science as "slugging" or "brawling." Generally used to describe a style where the fighter prefers to stand in the pocket and overwhelm their opponent by sheer number of strikes, often "bombs" or haymakers.

Those who choose to "stand and bang" generally display sloppy or unsophisticated punching skills (and rarely kick), but those who are good at it can force their opponents to abandon their gameplans and bang in order to merely survive.

Also known as "standing and trading" or "testing the chin."

Heavy Bag Etiquette

by Mike

Most, if not all of these guidelines (which really should be laws) are predicated on the idea that the person dropping bombs on the heavy bag is someone engaged in Serious Work and should not be disturbed. I'm slightly disappointed when I see people at the gym walking past/through/bothering people working the bags.

Do not walk past someone working the bags. Wait for the round to end. They have the "right" to the space around the bag, so long as they are not being foolish or taking up too much space. As such, do not expect them to move for you.

Under no circumstances are you to walk in between someone working the bags and the bag. You will get hurt and people will laugh at you.

Do not reset the timer. As long as there is someone working, there is someone who is relying on that timer. Resetting without permission is a good way to get invited to a "nice, friendly" sparring session.

You may not use more than one bag at a time. Unless you have a good reason. However, I'm at a loss to figure out what a good reason might be.

Do not bring your girlfriend in to steady the bag while you push it around. You're not impressing anyone when you do this, least of all her.

If you knock the bag down, take a split second to ask yourself 1) Did this fall on someone or break something? 2) Will leaving the bag here be in anyone's way? 3) Am I training for MMA or another event where you are allowed to attack a downed opponent? If the first two are no and the last one is yes, then jump on that bad boy and keep punching - round ain't over yet!

With all of the above in mind, if you are working the bags, be aware of where other people are. The possibility of someone running past you is still pretty high.

CC licensed photo from hmmlargeart

Get Martial

by CP

Martial

Pronunciation: \’mär-shəl\
Function: adjective

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

The martial arts world ranges from ’soft’ meditative arts, to intricate ‘forms’ demonstrations, to all-out combat. What the arts all have in common is that they are based on conflict, violent conflict. Punches, kicks, takedowns, chokes, locks and weapons-use are all techniques in the art of war. When a soldier or a police officer fires a rifle or pistol at the gun range, they are engaged in martial training. They may never get into a real firefight or shoot-out, and may not wish to hurt another living thing, but that is what they are practicing for. You may not want to become a bodyguard or a professional fighter (or go on Jerry Springer), but make no mistake about it, if you’re going to practice martial arts, you’re going to learn how to inflict pain. And damage. And sometimes worse. The dojo is in some ways your gun range.

What if I think fighting is wrong?

Ideally, combat training would be completely unnecessary because no one would mean you harm. But reality is less beneficent and less forgiving to our favorite selves when we are unprepared. If the concept of a violent contest give you the vapors, try looking at it like this:

* Nearly every country (roughly 170/193) maintains a military force, even if they have never gone to war.

* Most police officers carry a gun, but have never fired it in the line of duty.

* An unprotected house is about 3 times more likely to get broken into than one with a security system.

In short, we want peace, but someone has to be prepared for when things get less peaceful. If your heart and/or beliefs tell you that preparation is the other guy’s responsibility, you may want to substitute boxercise (or table tennis) for your hobby or fitness program.

What if I don’t want anyone to get hurt?

No one does. Sane people are not out to injure each other. But even a fat lip is too much for some. If your MA school promotes a lot of hands-on training and sparring, and that isn’t what rocks your socks, you may want to reconsider your location or your choice of art form. (For more, see: New here? How to get started in the martial arts by Mike, and Fighting and Fighting Schools by CP.) You can learn combat with varying degrees of contact. Just understand that your effectiveness is increased by the intensity of your training. In order for your skills to protect you, you sometimes have to get aggressive and ‘go there’.

How do I get my rumble on in the dojo?

MA is very much about control. If our brains worked right in a threatening situation, we would react instantly with enough fight or flight or reason to deal with it. Instead, without training we often are paralyzed in the face of danger. We freeze, cutting down our chances for any good outcome dramatically. MA is the practice of training both your body and your mind to become very awake in these situations by simulating them over and over. In sports, athletes learn to engage their competitive side and aggression without resorting to panic. Martial artists do the same, even though the stakes are higher on game day. They learn to play rough in practice without the need for gauze and paramedics.

When you train, remember to work your defense as if you were under an actual attack. That way you don’t freak out when the volume gets turned up. On offense, put the extra snap into the kicks and punches, even if you’re holding back on the force. When you spar, if your partners are game and you can trust them not to clean your clock, crank things up every so often to get used to the added speed and intensity. And work with your instructors when you can; their control should offset the terror and trepidation you feel. The results will be very rewarding.

I have had more than one student tell me that they planned to take their exit once they reached a rank where the training gets more combative. Thankfully, some have decided to stay longer and discovered that their fears were greatly exaggerated. Meanwhile, their wartime skills have made them that weapon that hopefully never gets used in the line of duty.

Wash Your Clothes!

by Meredith

Wash your shit.

Just because you're about to get it all sweaty again does not justify dragging a stinky gi out of the laundry and wearing it in to class to burn the nose hairs off of your fellow students. I always keep an extra gi and shirt in my locker. If you're one of those that sweats profusely (you know who you are) and you plan on working out before class or taking more than one class, by all means, bring an extra shirt to change into. Especially if you're going to be grappling. Or kickboxing. I hate kicking someone and then having to drag my foot along the floor afterwards until I wipe off their sweat and regain traction. Just bring an extra shirt. For me.

Also, wash your knee and elbow pads and handwraps. I've been guilty of letting this go too long once before and man... was it embarrassing. But I made up for it this Saturday when I was about to grapple and my partner asked, "What fabric softener do you use? You smell great!" And, yes, he was a heterosexual male.

Just wash your stuff. It makes for good hygiene and good neighbors.

Doc Dill has the following to add regarding the sorts of things you might find growing in your nasty old gear.

Yep, [keep your gear/clothing clean] and you reduce the chance of passing on or contracting an infection. Things like impetigo, pseudomonas, etc. Worse is getting an antibiotic resistant bacterial infection like the MRSA or the "flesh eating bacteria." You wind up in the hospital on IV antibiotics, which leave you with a good chance at permanent dizziness. It's not all that hard to contract either. So stop the stink!!! Wash your SHIT and don't try and cover it up with bad cologne either. That just makes you smell like an 80 yr old incontinent with a bad nose.

CC licensed image from Handforged.

Do not drool - mouthguard etiquette

by Mike

Now that you've fit your mouthguard, you should learn how to use it properly.

• Once you put it in, keep it in. Taking it out and putting it back in seems to take a lot of time. It's entirely possible to drink or talk with it in. An exception may be when an instructor is going on to the next drill in their class and so needs to describe something in great detail.
  
  
• No chewing on it. If it's a bad habit, you need to learn to keep your jaw shut. If it's because you didn't fit it properly, then you need to re-fit it.
  
  
• IF YOUR MOUTHGUARD FALLS ON THE FLOOR, DO NOT PUT IT BACK IN WITHOUT THOROUGHLY WASHING IT FIRST! I can't believe how often I see this. It's disgusting.
  
  
• Do not drool.
  

Sizing Savate Shoes

Dear Sifu Z:

I've been thinking of getting a pair of Savate shoes but one foot is a half-size bigger than the other. Should I just get one pair of shoes, or would I be better off getting two different sized shoes - one to fit each foot?

I have purchased 5 pairs of Savate shoes, 4 size 45, one size 44.5. (I'm an American 10.5) The 44.5 fit, the 45's were all too small. I think you'll be safe splitting the difference. they do stretch a bit. You can always take 'em to a shoemaker and have them stretched professionally. At $50 bucks a pair for shipping they get pricey.