For the athlete or martial artist, one of the most frustrating situations one can face is when one is slightly injured or sick.  Unlike a severe injury, the athlete often faces increased self-doubt about his own toughness.  For example, at my Baltimore MMA gym, one of my top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitors, had to undergo major shoulder surgery.  There was absolutely no possible way he could practice.  On the other hand, when my athletes are sick with the flu or a simple cold, they often try to come in and work out.Reputation is important in the gym and they do not want to be seen as not tough enough to train when sick.

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The Ultimate Mma Strength And Conditioning Program.

Underground Strength System

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But is this really a good idea?

The first issue to consider is the benefit to the athlete himself.In the athlete’s weakened physical condition, will another practice actually be beneficial?In addition, will the athlete’s return to health be delayed by the additional training?Recovery and healing might be slowed by the additional training.

The second issue pertains to the effect of the illness / injury to the other athletes.To avoid spreading the illness, quarantine is the safest way to protect the other athletes.  When the athlete is suffering from an acute injury, one must consider the effect of the injured athlete on the training of the other team members – will the quality of the practice of the healthy athletes be negatively affected by having an injured athlete present?

A real-life instance of this would be in the case mentioned above of the Martial Artist who was suffering from a shoulder injury.  He would often train in the Baltimore Kickboxing classes because he could kick and knee.Unfortunately, when it was his turn to hold the pads for his partner, he was unable to.The athlete’s injury negatively affected his partner’s practice more than it did his.

At the end of the day, each injury or illness must be considered on a case-by-case basis by the coach or medical staff simply due to the large amount of variables that come into play.  However, any decision must take into account the two issues listed above – namely, the effect of the illness/injury on the athlete herself and the effect of the illness/injury on the team.

Baltimore Mixed Martial Arts

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Underground Strength System

Technorati Tags: bjj, illness, injury, jiu jitsu, jujutsu, kickboxing, maa strength, Martial arts, Mixed martial arts, mma, muay thai, recovery, underground strength

The intense physical demands of Mixed Martial Arts fighting has led to a variety of different strength and conditioning routines.  This article is not going to compare and contrast different routines in order to determine which is “the best.”  Rather it will focus on what are some of the most popular programs and some of the different philosophies behind them.

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“A middleweight fighter went from being scared to go the distance to applying pressure in the 3rd round to win a unanimous decision against a much more experienced opponent, then knock his next opponent out in 10 seconds”

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Probably the most common conditioning routines are what I call the “home made” routines.  Most amateur fighters, without proper guidance, have concocted a unique combination of routines from the internet, movies, and their friends.  This is the type of routine I see a lot of college students come in with at my Baltimore Mixed Martial Arts gym.This guy might run 5 miles once a week and also follow a bodybuilding weightlifting routine.100 pushups, 100 situps, and 100 squats every morning and night might be the conditioning routine of another guy.

Another popular fitness form is Crossfit.  Crossfit focuses on generalized fitness and generally has shorter, higher-intensity workouts than what most people are used to.  There is a lot of variability in their workouts – everything from rowing 10k to maximum weight squats.  Their philosophy is that a truly “fit” individual should be able to be handle a wide variety of physical demands, whether the demands be a marathon or bench-pressing.  This style of conditioning has exploded in popularity in recent years and can be found in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts schools across the United States.

The other form of conditioning is very sports-specific.  Much like the NFL coaches work on making their players better football players (and all other sports be damned), some MMA coaches use routines that make their players better MMA fighters.This type of conditioning routine is intended to produce an athlete that is optimized for 3 5-minute rounds or 5 5-minute rounds, whatever the event requires.  These types of workouts will often mix isometric exercises with explosive ones to imitate the grappling and striking demands of UFC-style fighting.

It will be interesting to see where the MMA industry heads in the future.  Will it head towards more of a sports-specific routine like most professional sports?  Or are the demands of Mixed Martial Arts so variable that no routine can accurately mimic it?  Until then, MMA fighters should experiment with different workout regimens and find one that they can maintain and that produces good results.

Columbia Maryland Martial Arts

Technorati Tags: bjj, brazilian jiu jitsu, conditioning, crossfit, jiu jitsu, kickboxing, Mixed martial arts, mma, muay thai, strength, UFC

Learn Martial Arts Online

A great deal has been written and said about kicking in today’s age of modern martial artists. Many people who are cross training seem to mainly focus on low Thai kicks because of their effectiveness and they present less risk of being taken to the ground by the grappler.

When it comes to kicking you really have to decide what your purposes are for martial arts home study, it might be that the art you practice in encompasses a lot of kicking. If you are aiming for tournaments then kicking might be an important element, or you may be hooked on the Kung Fu movies and like all the fancy techniques which are generally kicks.

When I was a junior, kicking was my best technique and I quickly realised that I also need to be able to punch after being beaten by the puncher on several occasions. I then set about developing my hands to the same level as my kicks to be an all round fighter through martial arts training online.

I personally enjoy kicking very much and find it rewarding, I am confident enough of my kicking ability in a real situation, because I have had the unfortunate pleasure of using them on several occasions, but you must train your kicks for this test and not just competition to give yourself any chance of success.

Front Kick

The front kick is a good powerful kick that is good for stopping attacker coming towards you. Practice chambering your knee, so your knee faces the ceiling. Extend your leg out bending your toes back and striking with the ball of the foot. Keep your hands up and if kicking with the back leg change your guard over. You can snap your kick or push kick (we will go into different ways to kick in a latter column). Good areas to strike are shin, knee, groin, bladder and abdominals.

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How to Win a Fight in Under 3 Minutes, and you don’t need to be Big! NEXT…

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Technorati Tags: Boxing, karate, kickboxing, kung fu, Martial arts, martial arts training, Mixed martial arts, mma, taekwondo