Love At First Strike

Not much spooky about this Friday the 13th.  Went to town on some MMA sparring on Friday afternoon with Tony and before that did a CrossFit WOD with Darrick at Station 23.  Here is the CrossFit WOD I did:

Warm-up:
Suicide Drill w/ 3 burpees
7 rounds

WOD
For time:
800m Row
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Wallball
KB Swing
800m Row

After the CrossFit workout I went to Bainbridge Family MMA and sparred with Tony a bit.  We also did some jumping and diving drills with the kids.  The sparring was great.  We are trying to amp it up while at the same time get some good hits in so we can work out fitness conditioning as well as condition ourselves to live movements and reaction time.  Hope to spar some more on Monday after the Tabata Class.

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.

So I am up and back at it again folks.  By that I mean I am doing my regular workout with the boys at the Fire Department and back to my MMA training as well.  God I missed MMA.  I had a total 2 week break from any Jiu Jitzu, boxing, Muay Thai or anything MMA.  Part of me was upset but the other half thinks I needed it so that I would not get burned out.  I also taught a Tabata class at Bainbridge Family Martial Arts today so it was an extra little workout.  So here was my workout day…

First workout was at Station 23 with Darrick, Chris and Tony.  We did the “Annie” CrossFit workout but did not do it for time.  What I mean by that is that we did it as fast as we could but we forgot to track the time.  I will try and do it again the beginning of next week and track the time so I can post it here.  Here was our entire workout:

Warm-up:
10 KB swings
10 wall-balls
10 jumping lunges
3 rounds NFT (not for time)

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10 Rep Rounds of-

* Jump Rope Double-Unders
* Sit Ups

After that I ran over to Bainbridge Family Martial Arts and did the Tabata class.  I would say I did 50% of the workout because I was coaching the other people in the class.  The workout consisted of the following:

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

Although this is a Tabata class we did not do the traditional 20 seconds work 10 seconds rest.  We alternated for today and tomorrow.  We did as many sets as possible in the 25 minutes.  None the less, it was a good workout.

Finally I ended the night with my Adult MMA class.  We worked ground game.  We trained an arm bar from side mount.  The move starts in side control/side mount.  Sit out and start coming down on opponent with left hand punches.  As opponent looks to defend punches with his right arm trap the arm under your left leg.  Now start punching head area again and opponent with have to defend with free left arm.  When they do trap the arm and pin it to the ground.  Figure 4 your arm and apply the Americana shoulder lock.  The other option to this move is if they are able to straighten their arm or you let them straighten their arm.  From there pin their arm with your right arm.  With your free left hand, push their head down and come over the top of it with your left leg and knee.  You can get their head in the cook of your knee or just lay your leg over their head.  From there,  switch the arm you are using to pin their arm, apply a figure 4 lock again and press down on their hand and up with your arm under their elbow to apply the arm/elbow lock.  It is a great move because it really immobilizes the opponent.

After class was over I rolled a ton with 3 different guys, Robert, Harley and Brian.  I think I rolled for a total of 25 minutes.  Just great to get back into the swing of things again.  Some wins, some loses but overall greatness.

I am off to bed ladies and gentlemen.  It was a great first day back at MMA.  Glad to be training everyday again.

Thank you MMA.  Thank you God and thank you everyone who has helped me get to where I am, both good and bad.  It took it all to get me here and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Talk about going from A to B.  I have my stops and mileage on a piece of paper in the car I will post just for shits and giggles.  I spent all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday driving from Bainbridge Island, WA to Los Angeles, CA.  Not too much in the way of MMA or workouts to talk about but I did take a crap load of pictures from my car so I will post those when I connect my iPhone.

I did to about 30 minutes of stretching and a Tabata workout last night (Sunday).  Here are the exercises from the Tabata workout:

• Air Squats
• Medball (basketball) push ups
• Sit ups
• Planks
• Raised arm extensions

Tabata Tuesday and MMA.  Did a pretty sick workout that consisted of the following:

Tabata consists of the following (4 minute round, 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest till 4 minutes complete)
The exercises I did was:
Air Squats
Push ups
Sit ups
Crunches
Lunges

After my workout I went down to Bainbridge MMA and trained with the teen class.  We worked lots of guard work, going over what we had learned the past few weeks.  We did some sparring too.  That is my favorite part.  I am really trying to focus on staying aware and current in my sparring sessions rather then just snapping into some weird place where I cant really focus or remember what I am trying to do.  I did a pretty good job today.  I was able to go into it with a goal and keep moving in that direction.  The other bad habbit I have is dropping my hands to block a kick.  I am starting to be able to check the kick more with my own kick or just using my arms while they are still guarding my face.

Signing off.  Thank you for a great day today MMA.

Today I installed the new kettlebell bench I built down at station 23.  I also did a shortened tabata workout that consisted of the following:

1 round of pushups

1 round of situps

1 round of pullups/ring rows

1 round thrusters

My body just felt beat today.  Granted, I also did the tabata workout after playing outdoor soccer for 2 hours.  Had to get my cardio in some how and soccer is one way to do it.  Wish there was a game to run around in every day…