Should Martial Arts Instructors Have Fight Experience?

Should Instructors have some experience in what they are teaching? Yes. If you go to a driving instructor you expect them to know how to drive. If you taking cooking lessons, you want to learn from a chef who has cooked. Unfortunately in martial arts, that is not always the case. Karate and Taekwondo students can get a black belt and go open a school. And unfortunately many of them can't punch their way through a wet paper bag. Now I'm not say you have to be a bad ass fighter. But, I would not come and learn from you if you've never done it. If all you've done is theory you're not going to know much more than the customer. So, no matter what you teach, make sure you have some experience in it.

Is Winning Most Important?

Is winning the most important thing to you? For some people it is. Is winning at all costs important? Is it how you play that's most important. I think that doing all that you can to prepare and giving an event your full effort is most important. Winning feels good but not if you didn't do your best. And many times you can find accept a loss with your head up if you know that you did you you could possibly do. Always remember than when one wins, the other has to lose.

Skip Some Rope

Jumping rope is something I do almost everyday. After injuries to both knees, I skip instead of run (occassionally I will run some hills or find a grassy area to jog). I will skip in rounds or keep moving for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. I mix it in, double unders, squat jumps, high knees, etc. and move around the gym (adding some footwork in). Here's a great clip of JT Van getting down with the rope showing how boxers use them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Igbz487fQ&list=PL4Mb5fp5ywgKlBKAaYClkUCK3ckNaYDw0

Anthony Pettis On Taekwondo

When a lot of fightes think of Taekwondo they think of techniques that they feel are impractical and useless. They criticize this popular sport, but they have to realize that it is one of the most popular and practiced martial arts for a reason. Having been a competitor in Olympic Style TKD for years, I got lots of practice punching and kicking aganist and have been able to adapt those experiences into to other combat sports. There are a lot of fighters in professional Kickboxing and MMA that have backgrounds in TKD. Here's a clip of UFC Lightweight Champ, Anthony Pettis, talking about the influence of Taekwondo in his career as a mixed martial artist and his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ufRfalf4s

Tang Soo Do

The first martial art I ever studied was Tang Soo Do. From there I trained in several other disciplines. To this day I can still see the influence of this art in my techniques. I came across this video featuring some excellent Tang Soo Do stylist displaying incredible technique. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD4NLU5CKlc

Kill The Body And The Head Will Follow

In boxing, it is important to work the opponent's body. Hitting the body wears your opponent down and opens him up for head shots. Here's a clip of Iron Mike Tyson working his uppercut off of the body shot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1bkMtrPZwY

The Best Way To Train

What is the best way to train for your specific event? Should you do more weights, cardio, plyomtetics, etc.? All that's is cool, but the best way to prepare for your event is to do your event. If I was getting ready for a 10 round fight (3min rounds), I would spend lots of time sparring 3 minute rounds. Sure, I would do all the exercising, cardio and conditioning, but the main training regimen would be focused on doing 10 rounds. Some guys will say do 4 min rounds because it will help your cardio better. No, not really. It is still exercise but you will pace yourself for 4 minutes instead of 3. You will need to build your conditioning around doing exactly what you are training for.