You're A Black Belt. So!

What belt are you? Does it really matter? No. Ranking systems do have a purpose. It's like moving through grades in schools. Based on your level in the curriculum of your style, you receive a rank. Karate borrowed it's uniforms and belt colors from Judo. When Funakoshi brought Shotokan from Okinawa to Japan, he was sponsored by Kano (founder of Judo). Combat sports like boxing and kickboxing don't have belts systems. You are a novice in boxing when you start. After 10 bouts, you start competing in the open division where for your 15th fight you might fight an opponent who has 30 fights. So, you go through the learning curve and hone your skills. I'm not saying that belts are stupid and should be done away with. I want people to train for the sake of training and not focus on belts and focus on developing skills. I've taken kids to tournaments who were green and under and they've competed against kids who had black belt ranking (I mentioned in an earlier post that kids can't be black belts for real until 18 years old!). The difference in rank did not show when they fought. It might show in kata (forms) where the higher ranking student has learned more kata for their rank. But fighting comes down to mastering fundamentals and being willing to duke it out. That has nothing to do with rank.

How Can One Be Undefeated?

Yesterday I was talking to some of the guys at the gym about the perfect time to fight. Everybody wants the perfect scenario. This requires being in perfect shape, having a year to get ready for that one big moment. I look at it like this, once you decide to fight, get out there and go for it. Now here comes the, "What if I lose" thinking. If you are worried about losing, then don't compete. I've said in previous threads that one loses when one doesn't get out there and try. If you get out there and give your all, you are a winner. The only people who see it other than that are your friends and family members who don't fight. Fighters never rag other fighters. So, far all of my fellow competitors, you never REALLY lose.

Kid Black Belts?

Can a 7 or 8 year old be a black belt in a martial art? No! A black belt must be developed mentally and physically. A six year old can't defend himself against a 16 year old. The commerical karate and tae kwon do schools have created belt factories. They make a lot of money off of rank promotions. Kids who wrestle and box will squash these black belts for 2 main reasons. Number one, they don't really learn how to fight. If they fought there would be less students to make money off of. Number two, few kids would really spend the time required to get a black belt (several years).

When Is The Right Time To Fight?

Let's say you've been training for a while and a fight opportunity comes up. You get asked if you want to fight. What do you say? You might say you're not ready yet, you need more time. The next time an opportunity comes up, you do the same thing. After a while, opportunities are far and few between until they stop coming up. What happened? By the time you are ready and got the fight game figured out, you have your confidence and you feel that your conditioning is perfect, nobody wants to fight you. No, what really happened is that promoters and your coach thinks you are afraid and they don't bother asking you anymore. Once you decide to compete, be ready to just do it. What the worst that can happen? Oh, I forget. One could have that little bothersome thing, losing, happen. Why do we compete? Sure, everybody wants to win, but somebody has to lose. And in my mind you only truly lose when you do even try. So, get out there and do it, so 20 years later you won't be saying you coulda, whoulda, shoulda.

My Physical Conditioning At 47

Over the years I've always mixed up the physical conditioning aspect of my fight training. By the time I was 12, I could do push ups on my thumbs and on 2 fingers. I could sit in a split and sqeeze my legs to a standing position. I would go on runs with my big brother (who ran track) so, I got track workouts and hill training. My other brother was into bodybuilding and powerlifting, so I would go to muscle gyms during the 1980s and learn various techniques from the 2 methods. Training in Taekwondo and Boxing gyms, I would learn different methods of fight training to meet the demands of those sports. Cardio was key for both, and lots of functional training with bodyweight was key. I learned about ciruit and interval training. I even did some ballet and step classes and all the machines (universal, nautilis, cybex, stair master, etc.). As I added kickboxing and grappling training, I learned more exercises and impact training methods (bags, padwork, etc.). I would swim in the morning, go to the fight gym in the afternoon, and run in the evening. I've done the kettlebells, olympic lifts, plyo ball, etc. I would train TKD one day and the next box/kickbox. A lot was going on over an almost 25 years of full contact competiton. OK, let's get to the present. What does Rich do nowadays. I still mix it up because I never like set routines. I train Shidokan Karate, Kickboxing (elements of boxing, American kickboxing, and Muay Thai), and Judo (including some training in BJJ and MMA). I do lots of bodyweight exercises, lots of impact training (bag and pads), and lots of stretching. I train 6 days a week and my workout time is 90 minutes to 2 and half hours depending on the day (some days I train twice a day doing mid day karate or kickboxing workout and a judo workout in the evening). I will go through cycles that including weight/kettlebell routines and running routines. I can easily skip rope for 30 min, spar 8 to 10 good rounds (hard ones) kickboxing. I still have good splits. My Chinese split isn't what it used to be (after tearing ligaments in both knees), but it's coming back. I can easily pump out 100 push ups and I can get 30 straight pull ups after a hard workout. I just turned 47 years old this month and I still feel like I'm 27.

KISS Method

We've all heard of the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid). THis applies to most things in life, especially fighting. When you look at the best atheletes in sports, they do a couple of things really well. An elite judo player has one or two throws and one or two specialty ground techniques. A boxer or kickboxer will have one or two techniques that if they land, it's good night. An MMA fighter will have a punch or a submission that is a high percentage go to move. Even though these athletes are well rounded within the realm of their sport, they have things they do best and they focus on making those things work. So, don't try learn a million moves (especially if you haven't mastered your basics). Keep it simple and perfect a few tools that fix everything.

Metamoris BJJ Video

This is an awesome highlight video of some of the best in BJJ. This is from the Metamoris. Incredible video and great music. Watch, learn, and enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetkHbXtnLg