August 29, 2004
Armbar Fundamentals
OK, let's talk about something really fundamental this week: armbars when you and your opponent have your backs on the floor (i.e. bellies to the sky).
Even if you are an advanced grappler it helps to review basic techniques. Not only does this ensure that you won't make rookie mistakes on the mat, but it will definately help you when it comes to helping and teaching others.
What are some of the key points when you are performing a belly-up armbar? Here is what I think about:
1 - Are my hips close to his shoulder? I don't want my hips to be so far away from his body that he can easily escape his elbow down to the floor.
2 - Are my legs pinching his arm(s)? This pinching reduces the strength and movement of his arm(s), further limiting his escape options.
3 - Is his thumb pointing up to the ceiling? This ensures that the alignment of his elbow is correct, meaning that I won't be wasting energy bending his arm the wrong way.
If the answer to these 3 questions is 'yes' then you are ready to apply the armbar by keeping his hand on your chest and lifting your hips.
Of course there are many variations of the armbar, and some of these variations violate one or more of these rules. This doesn't mean that these variations are incorrect, BUT before you go breaking the rules you need to know what the rules are!
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Even if you are an advanced grappler it helps to review basic techniques. Not only does this ensure that you won't make rookie mistakes on the mat, but it will definately help you when it comes to helping and teaching others.
What are some of the key points when you are performing a belly-up armbar? Here is what I think about:
1 - Are my hips close to his shoulder? I don't want my hips to be so far away from his body that he can easily escape his elbow down to the floor.
2 - Are my legs pinching his arm(s)? This pinching reduces the strength and movement of his arm(s), further limiting his escape options.
3 - Is his thumb pointing up to the ceiling? This ensures that the alignment of his elbow is correct, meaning that I won't be wasting energy bending his arm the wrong way.
If the answer to these 3 questions is 'yes' then you are ready to apply the armbar by keeping his hand on your chest and lifting your hips.
Of course there are many variations of the armbar, and some of these variations violate one or more of these rules. This doesn't mean that these variations are incorrect, BUT before you go breaking the rules you need to know what the rules are!
Labels: armlocks
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August 21, 2004
The Rear Naked Choke
The so-called rear naked choke (also known as “hadaka-jime” in Japanese) is one of the most powerful submissions in grappling. Properly applied, this choke should give your opponent no way out except to tap or go to sleep.
When using this choke I often think about the angles at which I am applying pressure. Keeping these angles in mind has made my rear naked choke much more powerful:
First squeeze DOWN (ie bring your arms down towards your belly button a bit)
Then squeeze IN (i.e. bring your arms towards his spine)
Then squeeze UP (towards the top of his head).
This 3 part sequence helps gets your forearm and wrist under his chin and helps you dig deep into his neck. My visual picture is popping the head off of a daisy...
If you want a visual for this choke check out the Grapplearts picture of the week from March 28th, 2004. Incidentally, the two combatants in this picture (Castro and MacDonald) are now teammates on Epic Fight Team!
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When using this choke I often think about the angles at which I am applying pressure. Keeping these angles in mind has made my rear naked choke much more powerful:
First squeeze DOWN (ie bring your arms down towards your belly button a bit)
Then squeeze IN (i.e. bring your arms towards his spine)
Then squeeze UP (towards the top of his head).
This 3 part sequence helps gets your forearm and wrist under his chin and helps you dig deep into his neck. My visual picture is popping the head off of a daisy...
If you want a visual for this choke check out the Grapplearts picture of the week from March 28th, 2004. Incidentally, the two combatants in this picture (Castro and MacDonald) are now teammates on Epic Fight Team!
Labels: chokes
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August 15, 2004
Going Anaerobic Part 3: More Routines
Here are some more ideas if you want to try anaerobic conditioning. The common theme this week is that more time is spent going hard than resting, so willpower is important here!
1 – Find a treadmill and warm up. Now get the treadmill going quite fast and set the incline high too – basically it should be so difficult to run on that you could only maintain that pace for 30 seconds. Jump on and sprint all-out for 20 seconds. Now jump your feet to both sides and rest for only 10 seconds. Jump back on for 20 seconds, then rest for 10, and so on. Repeat for a total of 8 short sprints. These types of intervals are called “Tabata” intervals.
2 – Pick 2 weight training exercises that work different parts of the body (e.g. bench press and dumb-bell lunges , or pushups and pull-ups). Now go onto the cardio equipment of your choice (treadmill, stairmaster, bike, etc.) and go very hard for 1 minute. Jump off and immediately do the 2 exercises back to back. Rest 30 to 60 seconds and then repeat. Try for 4 repetitions of the cycle. Use caution with the more dangerous weightlifting exercises – you will be tired and won’t be able to go as heavy as you normally do.
3 – Find a field with some markers on it, preferably at 100, 80, 60, 40 and 20 meter intervals. Sprint out to the 100 meter marker and do 15 fast pushups, then sprint back to your starting point and do 15 fast crunches. Get up quickly and sprint out to the 80 meter mark, do 15 pushups, sprint back and do 15 crunches, and continue. Work your way down the ladder using the pushups and crunches as ‘rest’ intervals.
Hopefully you can see from this week’s and last week’s routines that there is room for a great deal of creativity and innovation in designing anaerobic conditioning routines. We have only scratched the surface here, so go and create some more on your own! Just remember, if you are training anaerobically then you MUST be gasping for breath at the end of your session.
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1 – Find a treadmill and warm up. Now get the treadmill going quite fast and set the incline high too – basically it should be so difficult to run on that you could only maintain that pace for 30 seconds. Jump on and sprint all-out for 20 seconds. Now jump your feet to both sides and rest for only 10 seconds. Jump back on for 20 seconds, then rest for 10, and so on. Repeat for a total of 8 short sprints. These types of intervals are called “Tabata” intervals.
2 – Pick 2 weight training exercises that work different parts of the body (e.g. bench press and dumb-bell lunges , or pushups and pull-ups). Now go onto the cardio equipment of your choice (treadmill, stairmaster, bike, etc.) and go very hard for 1 minute. Jump off and immediately do the 2 exercises back to back. Rest 30 to 60 seconds and then repeat. Try for 4 repetitions of the cycle. Use caution with the more dangerous weightlifting exercises – you will be tired and won’t be able to go as heavy as you normally do.
3 – Find a field with some markers on it, preferably at 100, 80, 60, 40 and 20 meter intervals. Sprint out to the 100 meter marker and do 15 fast pushups, then sprint back to your starting point and do 15 fast crunches. Get up quickly and sprint out to the 80 meter mark, do 15 pushups, sprint back and do 15 crunches, and continue. Work your way down the ladder using the pushups and crunches as ‘rest’ intervals.
Hopefully you can see from this week’s and last week’s routines that there is room for a great deal of creativity and innovation in designing anaerobic conditioning routines. We have only scratched the surface here, so go and create some more on your own! Just remember, if you are training anaerobically then you MUST be gasping for breath at the end of your session.
Labels: conditioning
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August 08, 2004
Going Anaerobic, Part 2: Some Sample Routines
Last week we discussed some of the factors around incorporating anaerobic training in your conditioning routine. As promised, here are some real-life examples of anaerobic workouts: this week all the sample workouts have more recovery time than exertion time (don’t worry, you’ll need it). Finally I should mention that you want to be fully warmed up before you try any of these routines.
1 – Find a 400-meter track. Warm up. Now sprint once around it as fast as you can (100% effort). Rest for 4 minutes. Repeat the sprint-rest cycle a total of 4 times, remembering to go all-out each time. The whole workout should last about 20 to 22 minutes.
2 – Find a long set of stairs, warm up, then sprint up them as fast as you can. Use your hands on the rails if you want. Once you get to the top take a few seconds to catch your breath, walk down the stairs, wait until your heartbeat has dropped to 100 beats per minute, then go again. The number of repetitions depends on the length of the stairs. If it takes you 1 minute to run up the stairs then try going 6 to 8 repetitions. If it takes you 3 minutes then you might only want to go 3 times.
3 – go for a 20-minute run. Using lampposts as your guide, alternate between a fast sprint and a slow jog (i.e. run between the first two lampposts, then jog between the next two, then sprint again, etc.). If you like, use city blocks instead of lampposts.
I’ll give you some more examples of routines next week.
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1 – Find a 400-meter track. Warm up. Now sprint once around it as fast as you can (100% effort). Rest for 4 minutes. Repeat the sprint-rest cycle a total of 4 times, remembering to go all-out each time. The whole workout should last about 20 to 22 minutes.
2 – Find a long set of stairs, warm up, then sprint up them as fast as you can. Use your hands on the rails if you want. Once you get to the top take a few seconds to catch your breath, walk down the stairs, wait until your heartbeat has dropped to 100 beats per minute, then go again. The number of repetitions depends on the length of the stairs. If it takes you 1 minute to run up the stairs then try going 6 to 8 repetitions. If it takes you 3 minutes then you might only want to go 3 times.
3 – go for a 20-minute run. Using lampposts as your guide, alternate between a fast sprint and a slow jog (i.e. run between the first two lampposts, then jog between the next two, then sprint again, etc.). If you like, use city blocks instead of lampposts.
I’ll give you some more examples of routines next week.
Labels: conditioning
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August 01, 2004
Going Anaerobic, Part 1
I get asked fairly often when someone should incorporate anaerobic training into his or her conditioning regimen.
By "anaerobic" training I basically mean sprints and interval training – where you go hard and fast for a relatively short period of time. Going for a 40 minute jog is NOT anaerobic training – running up stairs as fast as you can IS anaerobic training.
So when should you incorporate sprints and intervals into your conditioning regimen? Well it depends on several factors. Here are some of the things I like to consider when trying to answer this question for someone:
1 – General fitness: has this person just rolled off the couch or have they been training consistently for a period of time. If they have been sedentary then sprints and interval training will probably lead to injury very quickly.
2 – Aerobic base: I believe that it is impossible to develop a good aerobic structure on an inferior anaerobic base. If you can’t jog for 40 minutes then you shouldn’t be doing repeated 400-meter sprints.
3 – Timing: when do you want to reach your peak fitness? The closer you get to your peaking time, (e.g. a competition) the more aerobic training should dominate your conditioning
In the next few weeks I will give you some concrete examples of anaerobic routines that you can use.
(For more background on cardio training go to
www.grapplearts.com/Martial-Arts-Cardio.htm )
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By "anaerobic" training I basically mean sprints and interval training – where you go hard and fast for a relatively short period of time. Going for a 40 minute jog is NOT anaerobic training – running up stairs as fast as you can IS anaerobic training.
So when should you incorporate sprints and intervals into your conditioning regimen? Well it depends on several factors. Here are some of the things I like to consider when trying to answer this question for someone:
1 – General fitness: has this person just rolled off the couch or have they been training consistently for a period of time. If they have been sedentary then sprints and interval training will probably lead to injury very quickly.
2 – Aerobic base: I believe that it is impossible to develop a good aerobic structure on an inferior anaerobic base. If you can’t jog for 40 minutes then you shouldn’t be doing repeated 400-meter sprints.
3 – Timing: when do you want to reach your peak fitness? The closer you get to your peaking time, (e.g. a competition) the more aerobic training should dominate your conditioning
In the next few weeks I will give you some concrete examples of anaerobic routines that you can use.
(For more background on cardio training go to
www.grapplearts.com/Martial-Arts-Cardio.htm )
Labels: conditioning, Injuries
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