How hard should you go in sparring? That's a good question! At one end of the spectrum you have light, relaxed and friendly sparring. And at the other end you have fights to the death that would make Roman gladiators proud. I once asked a Judo coaches whether I should go light or hard in the sparring part of class, and his answer has stuck with me ever … [Read more...]
BJJ vs Boxing
A question came up on a recent Instagram Live Q&A I did about a streetfight video in which a 'boxer' beat up a 'jiu-jitsu guy'. This was a great entry point into a really interesting discussion about the street applicability of BJJ, the importance of cross training in today's martial arts environment, and specific drills BJJ guys should be doing if they want their art to … [Read more...]
A Huge Problem with Most Martial Arts Training
In martial arts training it's very common for the person in the attacker role to lunge forward with a single punch and then stand there like a statue with the arm outstretched. The defender can now do all kinds of fancy counters including multiple strikes, jointlocks, takedowns and cool finishes. This type of training makes you feel like you've reached John Wick levels of … [Read more...]
Fight For Your Life with Brett Piperni
Today's guest on my podcast (The Strenuous Life Podcast) is Brett Piperni who was was a nationally ranked Taekwondo competitor diagnosed with an illness that crippled him. Specialists told him was incurable. He fought through it, returned to competition, and even managed to medal at a national championship again. He's spoken about mindset and motivation on the TED stage. … [Read more...]
Training Lethwei, The Burmese Art of 9 Limbs
Lethwei is an incredibly intense full contact combat sport from Burma that allows punches, kicks, elbows, knees and headbutts. Did I mention that the fighters don't wear gloves and only have a thin layer of gauze over their knuckles? And that there are no judges or decisions: the only way to win a fight is by knockout? Today's guest on my podcast (The Strenuous Life … [Read more...]
How to Train Eye Gouges, Throat Grabs and Groin Strikes
OK, I get it: on the street you don't want to be limited by the rules of a sport. On the street you may need to pull hair, gouge the eyes, kick the groin, grab the throat, and if all that doesn't work then you'll need to start fighting dirty ;) But a martial art is more than just the techniques that you find in that martial art; a martial art also includes methods for … [Read more...]
The 3 Components of Every Martial Art
If you've spent any time in the world of martial arts then you know there can be a dizzying variety of disciplines to train in. And within each of those martial arts styles there are further differences depending on which school or instructor you train with. But there's an easy way to simplify all these different martial arts and styles and it comes down to something the … [Read more...]