The Morning After…

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Andrew Green

The morning after your first training session in a while is not a fun day.  Your muscles are going to ache and everything is going to hurt a little.

This is called “DOMS”, or “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.”  It’s also a breaking point for many who want to get back into shape.  All the good intentions in the world, undone by 2-3 days of soreness, then months later the good intentions resurface and the cycle repeats.

The real secret to beating this, is to keep going.  It’s a temporary issue, and once your body gets used to training again it will practically disappear.

In the mean time you can help reduce it.  What you want to do is increase circulation to the effected muscles.  This can be done with light stretching, heat packs, massage, hot baths or, perhaps counter-intuitively, more exercise.

In fact, exercise is probably the best way to remedy sore-muscles.  It gets the blood flowing which helps loosen things up, and the exercise itself increases your pain thresholds and tolerance.  You don’t want to overdue it on already damaged, but go for a light jog or do some light cardio work and you will feel better.

At the end of the day though just remember, if you want to get results you have to push yourself and your body past its current comfort zone.  The first few times you do that, it’s not going to like it.  But once you have weathered that early storm you are well on your way to getting those results.

You can think of it almost like withdrawal symptoms from not exercising.  They will peak early, and occasionally you’ll get the odd resurfacing.  But if you make it through them you’ll feel far better once they pass.

 

 

 

Posted in Fitness

Confidence: A Cure for Bullying

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Andrew Green

First published in the Fall / Winter edition of Family-TLC Magazine

Unfortunately back-to-school means back-to-bullying for far more children than any of us like to admit.  Bullying is a very real problem but, fortunately there is a solution.

Bullies target those that are easiest to bully, and the easiest target is the child lacks confidence and is least likely to stand up for themselves.  Unfortunately this is a hard thing to do for most kids, or even adults for that matter.

So the key is confidence; a person that is confident is far less likely to be targeted by a bully.  A child that can verbally, and if necessary, physically stand up for themselves is going to be more trouble for a bully who is looking to boast their own confidence at the expense of others.

So how do you help your child become bully proof?

  1. Praise everything.  Children hear far more negative statements then positive.  “Don’t do this”, “Don’t touch that”, “keep quiet”, etc. The general rule coaches learn is 3 positive statements for every negative one.  This is a good rule to carry out of the gym or off the field as well.  If your child is constantly being told they are good, and doing amazing they will become what they are told and gain the confidence of it.  To strengthen this effect, surround your child with other people and put them in activities where they will hear those same things from other sources.  The more different places they are hearing positive statements the stronger the effect.However the goal is not to simply praise for the sake of praising, it needs to be specific towards what you are trying to encourage.  Praise effort, attentiveness, focus and other traits you want to develop.
  2. Teach them “Verbal Judo”.   Must bullying can be stopped through words, saying the right thing at the right time.  Calling the bully on his statements and actions, making them hold responsibility for their actions.  Simply having the confidence to ask the bully to stop, or asking them why they are doing what they are doing.Speaking confidently and saying the right thing can make all the difference, both with bullies and in life.
  3. Teach them to help others.   Little things add up, and realizing that they have the ability to help others is a big part of being a confident person.  Teach them to open doors, help with the yard work, and volunteer in the community with you.  Lead by example and remember to thank them for what they do, even if it is small.Another great way to do this is have them working with younger kids in some regard.  The act of “teaching” others not only improves their knowledge of what they are teaching, but also builds their confidence in themselves.
  4. Give them the physical skills.  With bullies the ultimate threat is being beat up.  Bullies use the threat of violence as a way to keep power over others.  If that threat doesn’t frighten your child because they understand how to defend themselves. If they know, without question, through direct and repeated experience, that they are capable of protecting themselves. That they can control a bigger, stronger and older opponent because they do so every week against bigger, stronger and older (but less experienced) kids in a martial arts class, they will have the confidence in how they respond verbally because that fear won’t be there.

Martial Arts is only part of the answer though.  It can teach them to be physically stronger and confident in their ability to defend themselves.  It can teach them to stand in front of a class and perform.  But the real secret lies in the way the child is taught, not just in a martial arts gym, but everywhere they interact with leaders.

It’s also never too early to start, don’t wait until your child is a victim to teach them how not to be one.  A confident child is not only bully proof, but primed for being unstoppable in whatever they do.

Andrew Green is head coach at Innovative Martial Arts and can be reached at 794-5993, or through http://innovativema.ca

 

Posted in Kids MMA

Fall 2011 News

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Andrew Green

It has been a great year so far for Innovative Martial Arts! We’ve seen a fair bit of growth and with that a need to live up to our name. So for the Fall we are introducing a new schedule and altering our class break down and progression path. As well as bringing a rank system into the adult classes.

1. Change of Rate

First and foremost, our rates will be changing in the fall. If you want to take advantage of the current rates be sure to get signed up quick. Once your signed up your rates are locked, so this won’t effect current members or anyone that gets in before the change.

2. New 3-4 year old program

Do you have or know anyone who has a 3 or 4 year old that could benefit from getting a jump start on basic motor skills, listening skills and working in a class / group setting?

We are launching a brand new 3-4 year old program, and regrouping our current kids classes from 4-6 and 7-13 to 5-7 and 8-13.  All existing members will remain in the same class they are currently in.

This class will work as a prep course to our 5-7 year old program teaching them listening skills, co-ordination, balance and to be confident in a group environment.

This class has very limited space available due to needing a high instructor to student ratio, so act quick to ensure your child’s spot.

The new schedule will take effect August 29th, with the 3-4 year old classes launching after Labour Day weekend.

3. New Black Belt Club for Kids

The Saturday 30 min weapons class for kids is going to be expanded into 3 times per week. In addition to weapons we will also work on other special skills not done in the regular class and work on leadership training.

* This class is invitation only, for those that show commitment, effort and good self-discipline.

4. New Class Break Down For Adults

Adult classes will now be broken down into different levels, as well as competition prep classes. Level 1 will basically be the same as what the kickboxing class is now, with a little more self-defence stuff involved. Level 2 will get into the ground work and sparring.

The competition prep classes will change focus depending on what is coming up in the near future (Grappling, MMA, Kickboxing, etc)

This will allow us to have a little more clearly defined curriculum that is more appropriate for those in attendance, whether they are beginners or advanced.

The new schedule will take effect August 29th.

If you have any questions just ask!

The Fall Schedule can be seen here: http://innovativema.ca/Schedule%20-%20Fall%202011.pdf

 

Posted in News

The REAL Secret to Getting in Shape

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Andrew Green

The fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and one that has new products, diets and programs being released constantly that are promising to be a new miracle cure to everyone’s fitness troubles.

By now just about everyone has realized that no matter what the program, product or diet is, it usually fails. From gimmicky exercise routines that are fun for a month to diets that might work in the short term, but are terribly unhealthy in the long term making them unsustainable and leading to weight gain instead of lose the industry is one big mess.

The real secret is quite simple, eat reasonably well and find a sustainable exercise routine that will not just challenge you for a month, but challenge you for life.

Eating right is simple in theory, but there are a lot of misleading claims out there. “Diet” drinks and other artificially sweetened products are one example, sure they have 0 calories, but they trick your body into thinking it is getting carbs when it is not, the brain ends up compensating by lowering your metabolism to conserve what it does have and the end result is often gaining weight. You want foods that are in as close to their natural state as you can get them. Processed and “artificial” ingredients are almost always bad for you.

Exercise programs need to be challenging, going to the gym and doing 30 mins of light cardio will get very little results. The real goal with exercise when it comes to weight loss is increasing metabolism, not burning calories only while you do it. In order to get a metabolic boast you NEED to challenge your muscles and leave them in a state where they have to repair themselves after. Light weights and low intensity cardio will do very little for you.

And perhaps most importantly for both diet and exercise you need a program that is sustainable, meaning a diet you can continue following and a exercise program that remains fun, challenging and with enough variety to keep your interest in the long run.

It’s not easy, soft drinks are the assumed beverage just about everywhere, even in restaurants that market themselves as “healthy” and any exercise program that will help is going to be hard, and will leave you stiff and sore for a while as your body adjusts to its new level of activity. But if it was easy everyone would be in great shape.

The good news is everyone CAN be in good shape, it just takes commitment and will power, if you have those two things, you can get there, and the benefits of feeling healthier and having more energy throughout the day are well worth the effort.

Posted in Fitness

“Punch With Your Legs”

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Andrew Green

Throwing a punch is simple in theory, yet something that takes a lot longer then most people would expect to “get right”, let alone master.

One of the concepts that tends to go most against peoples instincts is power generation. The power has to come from the legs first, and arms last.

Most people tend to start off wanting to throw a punch from the shoulder, even leaning forward into it, but doing so will never generate a great deal of power. The punch ends up turning over, then going out, with the elbow flaring out to the side. It looks kinda like a one arm bench press with the person leaning forward.

What you need to generate force on a punch is similar to what you need to generate force on a push. If you are trying to move something heavy, such as pushing a car, what do you do? You bend your knees, get your elbows in front of you, dig your toes in and drive from the legs. If you tried to push with your elbows out it doesn’t matter what your legs and core do, you can’t get more force then what your arms alone can generate do to the angle. If you bring your elbows in arm strength is no longer the weakest link in the chain as your skeletal structure can support more weight and let your legs and core drive first and add the arms on top of that.

The power on the punch, or push, comes from the back leg. In the same way you wouldn’t generate much force standing on only your lead foot and pushing something, you can’t generate a great deal of force doing the same thing while punching, the power behind the motion needs to start from the ground up, through the leg, core and into the arm.

So what should happen straight right is the punch goes out with the elbow in, only turning over at the end of the punch so that the elbow never flares out to the side. You should “sit” down into the punch and drive from the back leg, the lower you are, the more you can use the ground and your leg for power. If you are too upright you can’t get that support from your lower body.

Good punching takes time, and it takes patience. Whenever you change a technique from what you are doing you often lose power and it feels awkward for a little while, but better technique means a higher plateau in the end. It also means slowing down and correcting the form as a regular part of development, as oppose to always trying to throw for power.

Posted in Technique

10 Grappling Games For Balance

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Andrew Green

One of the most important attributes of grappling is balance, both standing and on the ground.  Here are 10 games that can be used to help kids develop better balance.

1. Hoping
In order to defend take-downs you have to be able to hop, especially in younger kids this skill is going to need some development. Once they can hop simple games like tag or dodge-ball played on one foot can really develop balance and endurance.

2. Chicken Fights
Two players step into the ring and grab their own foot, they use their free hand to push and pull on their opponent. The player who’s foot touches the ground first loses. As a safety tip watch that they are not putting their hands in each others faces or grabbing clothing. With older children this game can also be played with the hands behind the back, using the chest, shoulders and head to push.

3. Leg fighting
Two players grab each others arms at the elbow facing each other and lift a leg. They can use their arms to push, pull and twist without releasing their grip, and they can use their up leg to hook and sweep at their opponents up leg. The first player to fall or put their foot down loses.

4. Partnered Hoping
Partnered up athletes grab each others foot. So each person grabs his partners right foot with his/her right hand. They must hop as a team in a race across the floor. Once the skill is in place playing tag or other floor games in this way can really build endurance and the ability to change directions while retaining balance.

5. Shield Fighting
Equipment: Large Kick Shields
Facing off with the shields held in front of them they must use the shields to push their opponent out of the ring or make them fall. The can push, as well as pivot out of the way as their opponent pushes. A more advanced version of this drill can also be done when wearing jackets (gi) by grabbing each others sleeves. Players cannot use their legs or release their grip on the shield or the sleeves.

6. Wrestling Hand Shake
Players stand facing each other placing their right feet side by side. They then grab their right hands together. Using only the right hand grip they must push and pull in an attempt to make their opponent lose balance and move their right foot. The left foot is free to move.

7. Protect the ball
Using a exercise ball one player goes belly down on top of the ball. Their goal is to remain on top of the ball while the other player attempts to push or pull them off and take the ball from them. Basic techniques like the half nelson, cross face and hip tilts can be taught. The game can also be played with 3 players, however safety concerns increase when adding more players.

8. Tip the Table / Flip the Turtle
One player starts in a turtle position (referees position), the other starts with hands on the back. The goal is for the top player to turn the bottom player over.

9. Log Riding
Participants partner up and line up on one end of the mat. One player lies down on their back, the other in a mounted position. They then race to the other end of the mat, the bottom player doing a barrel roll sideways, or shrimping head first. The top player must remain mounted.

10. Rescue Mission
Using kick-shields, or other small mats players must cross the mat and rescue one or more medicine balls or exercise balls and return to the start position. They need to stay on the mats, and cannot slide them, but must pick them up and place them as they go. The number of mats they have should force them to group tight and work together to avoid falling.

Posted in Kids MMA

“Knowing” a technique

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Andrew Green

Anyone can learn a basic technique in a few minutes, but do you really know it?

Any technique can be broken down into basically 3 distinct pieces:

1. The Setup
2. The Technique
3. The End Game

In the context of a submission this means securing the setup, locking in the submission, and being able to maintain control and pressure so that you can force a tap.

Now each of those steps has a number of things that can happen to throw you off your path to completing the submission. There are ways your opponent can block what you are doing, their are attacks that the opponent can be performing, and their are ways your opponent can reverse or escape based on what you are doing.

For each of the 3 stages you need to ask yourself some questions:

- Given what I am trying to do, what attacks are most available to my opponent?
- How can I shut them down?
- What ways can my opponent block my attack?
- How can I work around it?
- What can my opponent do to reverse / counter / escape what I am attempting?
- How can I prevent or counter those?

Each of those questions is likely to have at least 2-3 answers each, for each of the 3 stages of the technique. Which means to know a technique, you are looking at a lot of separate pieces of information. But when you can answer them all (and act on them all) your technique will be something to worry about for your opponent.

If you know 20 different attacks from guard, but can’t answer most of those questions for any of them, chances are you aren’t going to tap many people out with them. But if you only know one attack, and can answer all of those and act on them you will see much more success.

So here is a exercise:

Pick your favorite techniques, from each of the major positions and consider the above questions. Then, while rolling, work out the following for that technique:



Position: ________________________ Technique: ________________________

Setup

What are the most common blocks / counters / escapes or other problems I currently encounter when doing this technique:

1. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:




2. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:




Execution

What are the most common blocks / counters / escapes or other problems I currently encounter when doing this technique:

1. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:




2. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:




End Game

What are the most common blocks / counters / escapes or other problems I currently encounter when doing this technique:

1. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:




2. _________________________________
- What do I need to correct to prevent this:



For some there might be one, for others two, don’t try to go more then that yet though, just pick the one or two problems that occur for you the most.

Now you have a list of things to fix, and instructions on how to fix them, it might take some time to work out all the details on the sheet and don’t be afraid to ask for help with pieces if you aren’t sure what to do or what’s going wrong.

Once you feel you have corrected enough things that the list is no longer accurate, start fresh. Look at what the current problems are, write out how to fix them and repeat. Your favorite techniques may change, your setups may change. But any technique that is part of your main arsenal, as well as you back up arsenal, should be subject to this process. Do it mentally, write it out, whatever works for you, but these are the questions you should be asking about your technique to take them to the next level.

Posted in Technique

Staying on Target

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Andrew Green

If you watch the top guys competing in combat sports you’ll notice a trend in what they do. For the most part they tend to win the same way, or the same 2-3 ways every time. They do the same techniques on everyone, and the guys they are fighting know exactly what’s coming because they do it every time.

In training the tendency is to find something that works and use it for a while. But then the rest of the class gets wise to it and it stops working. At this point many people simply switch to something else, developing something else that works for a while and then switching it up again when their training partners figure it out.

This is a good method for learning a wide range of skills to a proficient level, but the problem is you never really take any of those skills to the point where you have mastered them.

Over time everyone gets hit with everything, and the advanced guys will have seen pretty much everything thrown at them and be able to defend it. So if you take everything just to the point of being proficient eventually you will reach a point where you can catch beginners at will, with pretty much anything, but have a hard time catching experienced guys with any of it.

The next time you find your go-to techniques no longer working on your training partners, don’t switch to something else, stick with them and figure out how to make them work again. After the cycle has repeated a few times, of you making them work and then your training partners figuring out how to defend and then you making them work again you will have a solid go-to system.

As you progress your “A” game should get both simpler, and more complex. What you want is to be able to control the situation, control possible actions by your opponent, and be prepared for each option available to them. The key thing is it all has to fit together in a logical and deliberate way, rather then a collection of random techniques. Know exactly where you want to go, what the paths leading there are, and how to get back on the path as your opponent tries to knock you off it.

Once you know that path inside and out, know every twist and turn, every point where you might fall of it and how to recover, then you will be a very dangerous competitor.

Posted in Technique

Making MMA Safer

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Andrew Green

Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association voted to campaign for a ban on Mixed Martial Arts in Canada. (winnipeg.ctv.ca)

This is not really a surprise as they have been pushing for a ban of boxing for years.

Although boxing has a higher head injury rate due to having more rounds, standing 8-counts and 10-counts which give fighters the opportunity to regain composure and get back in. Not to mention the fact that they are forbidden to clinch and use takedowns to smother strikes and protect themselves, MMA is the current target.

As a contact sport it does have injuries, all contact sports do, as a professional sport we are right up there with sports like hockey and football.

As someone that practices and coaches this sport I obviously disagree with them on their calls for a ban, and have spent some time this past week speaking to news reporters on exactly that.

A ban is not going to increase safety, all it would do would be to drive the sport underground and remove the safety precautions already in place.

But the question should be, how can we make it safer?

Training in MMA is very safe compared to other sports, compared to other martial arts I’d say we are one of the safer choices. This is largely due to the lack of stylistic restrictions. In Judo falling on your back loses the match, yet the first thing you would be taught in most classes is to fall on your back as it is the safest way to land. However in practice participants often try to avoid landing this way which can lead to some serious injuries. In MMA you want to land as safely as possible, which means on your back so that you can recover guard.

As far as the striking goes high kicks, the biggest cause of injury in traditional striking martial arts are rare. This is because the risks involved in them, such as low kicks, takedowns, slipping, etc are all actually a risk, where as in the traditional styles those counters are removed.

So what can we do?

Well, one of the biggest problems is the “all or nothing” nature of competition. A karate fighter has many choices in competition, ranging from no-contact to semi-contact to full contact bare knuckle fighting… Something most participants will never engage in. Even in boxing most participants, even the competitors will never fight as a pro, but instead as a amateur under a much safer set of rules.

In MMA right now amateur fights aren’t allowed at all in Manitoba, it’s fight as a professional or not at all. Even out of province fighters generally only have a option that is almost the same rules and equipment as pro fights use. Where other styles involving striking have much safer amateur competition levels working up to the top levels we currently lack that in MMA, at least here.

If we truly want to make MMA safe, what we should be doing is looking at different tiers of amateur rules, allowing fighters to get competition experience without going in under professional rules. There are many sets available in use in other places so we are certainly not having to reinvent the wheel.

But participants need to have the ability to compete in a safe format, as a amateur athlete, just as participants in other sports do. Making it a all or nothing choice in terms of competition is where the biggest danger for the athletes lies.

Posted in MMA, News

Ontario to allow MMA fights within province

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Andrew Green

The provincial government has announced that it is going to allow mixed martial arts (MMA) events to take place in the province, though it will require them to be regulated.

Minister of Consumer Services Sophia Aggelonitis said the province has come around on the issue after seeing the benefits that MMA could bring to Ontario.

“Our government has been monitoring MMA for some time. We know that the sport has evolved and that Ontarians want to see it here,” Aggelonitis said in a statement released Saturday.

“My goal is to make sure we have the tools to keep the competitors safe, and provide an economic boost to communities that want to host MMA events.”

Ontario says it will adopt the same MMA rules that are in effect in other North American jurisdictions. Strict safety and medical standards will have to be met at licensed events.

Full Article at CTV

Posted in News