Love At First Strike

Woke up and raced down to meet up with Tony to do a few rounds of sparring.  I did about 15 minutes of jump rope to warm up and then we rolled to warm up as well.  After that we did about 4 rounds of 4 minutes sparring.  Good work, way to start the day.  If I could do that all day everyday I would be in heaven.

My next workout was at Next Step Conditioning with Coach James.  Myself and about 10 other Bainbridge Island Fire Department members worked for an hour doing lots of kettlebell work, snatches, cleans, swings, wood chops, and combination of all of those together.  We also did some wind sprints with resistance bands and an ab workout using the kettlebells.  Lots of sweat.  I will go heavier next time.  I used 20KG kettlebells for 90% of the workout.

I ended my training day with a great MMA workout at my adult class at Bainbridge MMA.  We worked pummeling, pummeling for position and then shooting for the double underhooks and takedown into mount and side control.  We also drilled 4 out of the 5 moves we drilled last week from the guard.  Guillotine Choke, Triangle Choke, Kimura and Hip Bump Reversal.  We first just went through the motions.  Then added some resistance and finally tried to attack them live.  I played in my training partners guard most of the night because I am trying to get better in the guard.  I did really well.

Today I texted Darrick to see if he wanted to workout.  MY MISTAKE!  We did what is called the “Deck of Cards” workout.  Basically there are 4 exercises assigned to each suit of card, diamond, spade, club, heart.  You peal off the cards and for each of the 54  cards (2 jokers) you do that many reps of that particular exercise.  FML for sure on this WOD.  Here is how it was posted on the Killsport Kettlebells website.

Today tony and I had a little mma training session after our WOD.  We had a great workout at Station 23 and then another great sparring session after.  He was a bit sore after but we are gonna get him into tip top shape.  We are both improving in leaps and bounds and the increase in sparring is only going to help us both a ton.

Today Darrick and I met up at Station 23 at 5pm to do the WOD. We got yesterdays WOD from www.kingcrossfit.com because we did the Killsport Kettlebells WOD yesterday.  Here is how it went down:

Warm Up:
500m Row
15 Push Ups
20 Lunges
2 RDS

WOD:
40 Double Unders
15 Knees to Elbow
15 Burpees
10 Thrusters (95lb/65lb)

20min AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

The workout was pretty hard.  Those Thrusters are the butt kicker for me.  I got em done and did it well though so I am getting better.

Darrick and I went down to Station 23 for a late workout.  We rocked the FILTHY FIFTY from the Killsport Kettlebells web site. Here is what we did…

Sifu Rick and one of my girls in my Adult MMA Class.
It’s a classic.

Today was a good day of working out. I spent the prior night at the Fire Department so I did not get much sleep at all but I did alright during the day. I also think I got sick at the fire department. Those damn space heaters dry the air so much that I went to bed feeling fine but when I woke up today I knew I was gonna be sick.

The boys were off doing another workout so I was there solo. I got my workout of the day from www.kingcrossfit.com.

Warm Up
4 Rounds of
15 Burpees
20 Sit Ups
40 Lunges (20 Each Leg)

WOD
4Rounds of
400 M Run
50 Air Squats

I felt good throughout the entire workout.  Right after I was done with the WOD at the fire station I went over to Bainbridge Family MMA and had did my hour of MMA training. We worked a series of guard passes.  I actually have the video this time so I will post some of the moves we trained.  I know I always promise to post more vids but I just can’t seem to get them recorded and train at the same time.  If anyone wants to come in and help me document these someday that would be great.

We worked a guard pass from top where we established control of opponents biceps and buried out head in their chest.  This is not always effective but many opponents will open their guard to try and establish a better position on you or they will open their guard while trying to free their arms.

Second guard pass used the same initial method of establishing control of opponents biceps and burying head in chest but this time we used some ground and pound to have them react and open guard.  We leg go of a bicep and took shots to the body and head.  The key to this was to attack fast and get back down immediately to minimize damage to yourself if they were able to return punches.  Another big point was to try not to cross over the center line of their body so we could remain stable and keep our balance.

Third guard pass was used in the scenario where your opponent has wrist control of you when you are in their guard.  From here the idea was to quickly and forcefully come across their body using your momentum and hit them with an elbow to the head.  I know, not very nice, but hey, when you are in a fight it’s not about being nice anymore.  It is about stopping the fight.  From there the EMT’s can see if they are alright.

After guard passes we worked a practiced a couple of the takedowns we have been working on the last week.

I have a video of that too.  I rolled for a bit after class but most everyone left early.  Great class and great night of working out.  I am gonna grab my cable and transfer the videos from my phone to computer so I can upload them in the next post.  Stay tuned.

No idea why I named this post Mad Dog Monday but it sounded like a good idea at the time.  Today was back to the grind.  I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things since being back from LA.  I am on it for a few days and then I have a rest day and it’s hard to get re-energized.  I just need to stick with it.  I know that I am reassessing my goals and how to go about getting there so that is kinda messing with my a bit.  Also, being back in Sunny Seattle (NOT), it is hard to have grey all day.  Today I did a WOD and had MMA at night. Here is how it went down…

Warm Up
4 Rounds of:
- 25 ab mad sit ups
- 20 push ups
- 15 knees to elbows
- 10 air squats

WOD
3 Rounds of:
- 25 box jumps
- 20 wall ball shots
- 15 kettle bell swings

This workout was crazy… The warm up was a work out all by it self.  When I looked at the WOD for today I was like, WHAT??? Anyhow, I did it and it was good.  Lots of core work.

Monday’s MMA was pretty sweet too.  We worked 2 far arm attacks from side control.  Both involve pinning the opponents near arm and then working the far arm for an Americana or Straight Arm Bar.  I was able to apply one while rolling after the class and was really happy about that.  We also worked 3 take downs.  Both involve a single leg approach. First one uses your head and the lifting of your right leg while turning to swing your opponent around and take them down. Second one is where you prop their leg up high and straight arm opponent getting them off balance.  Third was used if the first two don’t work, pull opponent in towards you and when they compensate with their legs by moving them toward you, grab them both right below the knees and do a double leg takedown.

We rolled a bit after class but not too much.  It was a good day for training.  I was pleased with my output.  I wish I could train more MMA. The key is having training partners.  Anyone want to join in the fun?

Today I did the CrossFit WOD from www.kingcrossfit.com by my lonesome.  It was cool.  I did it as a pre UFC 104 work out.  I figured how better to prefunk then to do a killer workout before watching some great UFC action.  My WOD was the following:

Warm Up… 3 Rounds
30 Double Unders (4x singles)
20 Air Squats
20 Lunges

WOD: Helen – 3 rounds for time
400 meter run ( I did 30 pulls on the rower which I felt was more then a 400 meter run)
21 Kettlebell swing (53lb) (used the 28KG)
12 Pull-ups

My time was in the neighborhood of 8:30 give or take a few seconds.  I am not sure how the 30 row pulls equates to a 400 M run but I felt it was at least comparable.  I will do the true “Helen” and see what my time is.  It was a good workout.  I did some extra push ups and ring rows.

As for the UFC 104 card, ehh…  That is all I will say.  I was hoping for more but you can’t win all the time.

Today was a double dose workout day today.  Tabata WOD at Bainbridge Family Mixed Martial Arts and then MMA class where we trained stand up and boxing techniques.  The Tabata WOD consisted of the same exercises we did earlier in the week but we did the entire workout in Tabata fashion.

Tabata consists of the following (4 minute round, 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest till 4 minutes complete)
The exercises:

Push Ups
Walking Lunges
Bent Knee Crunches
Burpees

I was sore from doing the same exercises the day before as well as falling from some takedowns.  We still rocked the WOD pretty hard and everyone got a great sweat.  This is my last day of doing that particular Tabata workout.

Adult MMA class was also a good workout.  We worked the first six strikes or moves in the 18 point Muay Thai system.  I will get the entire run down and post it Monday when Rick gets back.  It is basically the following steps:

Right low kick to opponents left thigh
Check left inside leg kick from opponent
Left inside leg kick bringing left leg all the way back
Left mid kick to opponents torso area
Right cross
Left hook
Right mid kick to opponents torso area

The workout is pretty intense.  I am really working on my balance, especially with my left kicks.  When you see the entire sub set in motion you realize how good the drill is.  It utilizes different strikes, blocking and covers many hits to different parts of opponents body.  I am planning on setting up a kicking post in my garage (futon around a beam, if anyone has an old futon they want to donate let me know) so I can train the combo at home.  It was a great sweat and I felt a bit more comfortable then when we first trained it a month ago.

Thank you again MMA for a great day, great workout and something truly great to focus on in my life.

Today was another back to back to back workout day.  Starting at 4:30 on the dot I did the Killsport Kettlebells workout with D-Rock (Darrick), Shrek (Chris R.), and Tony P at Station 23.  Here is the workout:

1. kettlebell swings x 10

2. double kettlebell strict press x 5

3. double kettlebell front squats x 5

4. kettlebell renegade rows x 5R/5L

From there I sped over to Bainbridge Family Mixed Martial Arts and did the Tabata workout.  It was the same workout as yesterday with one change.  For the first 5 sets we did it without a Tabata timer and for the second half we used the timer.  It was a good mix.  If you did not see yesterdays workout here it is:

10 Push Ups
10 Walking Lunges
10 Bent Knee Cruches
10 Burpees

I put a lot more emphasis on keeping the exercises back to back as well as really going for it during the Tabata rounds.  I also used a Med  Ball through most of the exercises to add some stability, resistance and extra weight.  There were 3 people plus myself in todays class.  We had a good time and a pretty good workout.  After that I had about an hour break before MMA training.  I just hung out at the gym and talked shop for a while.

MMA training started at 6:30pm as usual.  We worked a series of takedowns and then worked the far armbar move that we drilled in the Adult MMA class last night.  The takedowns were both from the 50/50 clinch.  First one worked where we wrap both arms around opponent in a body lock, move our feet up a bit and then take your right leg and put it behind their far (right) foot.  As you do this you have to commit to the move because the next part you literally fall down on your butt.  As you pull your opponent down with you and keep your leg behind theirs they will fall back.  Release your arms as you get close to ground to end up in side control.  The other takedown we worked starts in the same 50/50 clinch.  In this particular takedown you wait to see if your opponent has a loose grip on your.  If they do, use that moment to shoot your left arm up.  This will bring their right arm up taking them off balance and putting a lot of weight on their left leg.  At the same time you shoot your arm up take your right hand and pop their near (left) leg.  This is the same leg you just made them place all of their weight on.  As you do this you are clearing a small path to shoot past them and then place your left leg behind.  It is almost like a tripping move but you are not kicking their leg back.  You are just keeping your leg behind theirs so that as you push them forward with your arm and body they will fall because your leg is behind theirs as well as they will not have the ability to post their leg out to regain their balance and keep them upright. As you push them forward you go down with them and end up in side control.

The two take downs worked nicely.  They cannot be used all the time but in their proper element, they are quite useful.  After the takedown we worked them live for a bit.  From there we switched to the side control and armbar work as we did yesterday.  Check yesterdays post to see the moves I am referring to.   After the armbar work we did 2 rounds of MMA rolling with hits.  We worked with two different people so our rounds would not be the same.  No rolling after class which was fine because I was still pretty sore and tuckered out from the 25 minutes I did after the class last night.  I am finding that my shoulders ache a lot after weight work, pullups and rolling.  Good thing to rest them a bit.

Again, another great day.  Thank you MMA Gods and any God(s) that is helping me through all my journeys.  Much appreciated.  I am glad to be training everyday again.