Black Out 2: Choke from Crucifix

This is a pretty cool choke from the modified crucifix position. I have become a big fan of the options that Submissions 101 give you. He sets this up from side control, but you could also get to it from the Mount I believe. Check it out and give it a shot during your next rolling sessoin.

Brock Lesnar Corners For Cole Konrad At Matrix Fights In Philly

Cole Konrad, who is Brock Lesnar’s training partner, fought his second MMA match at Matrix Fights in Philly. Matrix fights is run by BJJ Black Belt and my High School friend, Phil Migliarese. After this match, Cole Konrad announced he is signing with Bellator Fighting Championship. It’s a quick fight, enjoy the video.

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Dancing, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu and DMX???

Hey Guys and Gals,

It’s been a while since I have made a post. I’ll get into that in a minute, but first let me just recap what has gone on since my last post. Well Chuck Lidell got voted off of Dancing With The Stars, Celebrity Boxing 12 took place in Philly, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.com went live, I went so a 10th Planet seminar in Delaware, and DMX is going to be doing MMA. I’ll discuss them all below.

Well, let’s go in order of how I listed them above. Chuck Lidell finally got voted off of DWTS. Honestly, he made it a lot further than I expected in the show. Let’s face it, he can’t dance at all. Chuck was basically surviving off of the strength of his MMA fans, which apparently got tired of his crappy dancing and stopped voting. Although Chuck’s dancing wasn’t great, I still think he should have made it further than a couple of other of the stars including Michael Irvin, who pretty much sucks as well. And yes, I do watch DWTS. There is nothing wrong with a show where attractive half closed women dance around for an hour. That is a rescipe for success in my book.

Celebrity Boxing 12 took place in Philadelphia about a week ago. The featured bout was between Marvelous Marvin Hagler Jr. Vs. some tall white guy. This was Marvin Jr.’s first ever fight. If he won this fight it set up a bout between him and Sugar Ray Leonard Jr. later in the year. Marvin won the fight by a KO in the 2nd round. Just so I am clear, the rules for the fight were 1 minute rounds with head gear and 16 oz. gloves.

My best friend and training buddy Sachin also had his first boxing match during the event. Sachin the Bollywood Brawler took on a guy from Maryland at the 140 lbs. weight class. The rules were the same as the Hagler Jr. fight. Sachin successfully won his fight with a viscious KO in the 3rd round. Here is the video below. The first video is rounds 1 and 2, and the 2nd video is the 3rd and final round. Check it out.

So www.10thplanetjj.com went live last week. This is the official website of Eddie Bravo and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. There are hundreds of techniques and videos up on the site already, and it looks pretty exciting. There is also a subscription service which allows you to special features on the site such as online belt ranking, and more. It’s pretty cool, so give it a look over.

Speaking of 10th Planet, I spent the other weekend in Delaware at the 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu school there run by Kevin Green. Actually, Scott “Einstein” Epstein was in town doing a seminar which I attended. I will be writing up a separate review of the seminar itself later, but it was a good time. Stay tuned.

Finally, believe it or not, it looks like DMX will be fighting in MMA.

Also, you may notice that I have made some changes to the website. For the time being, I have disabled comments, as I was getting much to much spam in the comments. Honestly, by removing this feature, I have saved myself about 30 minutes work per day. I am sure I will enable it at a future time, but for now it’s off.

I also added a check box feature to the contact page. Once again I was receiving a lot of spam, along with a view prank emails and this is intended to discourage that behavior.

Keep checking back as I will be making weekly updates again on a regular basis.

5 Reasons To Add Seminars To Your MMA Training

As a Martial Artist I am a big advocate of Seminar training. There are many reasons that attending seminars and workshops will help you quickly develop your training as a Martial Artist. You would be amazed how many instructors discourage you from attending seminars, while others will only encourage you to attend ones at your school or from your discipline. Seminar training can be beneficial to strengthen your training within your discipline as well as add new elements to your game. Here are the reasons I feel that Seminars are essential for an aspiring Mixed Martial Artist.

Community College of MMA Training
Whether or not you have ever been to community college, you will most likely understand the concept of it. Community College is a way for you to test the waters and try different classes to figure out what you like the most. It’s a smorgesh board of different curriculum options if you will. Martial Arts Seminars are the same way. In particularily, if you train in one style, you may not have the opportunity to train in different arts and see if there is something about that style that you like or could add to your development. For example, if you train at a Karate school, you may not do much boxing, or if you train at a Muay Thai school, you may do much grappling. Training in seminars will give you the opportunity to test the waters with different styles without having to make a major commitment.

Learn New Skills
Many times the instructors who are hosting the seminar are certified under the person giving the seminar. For example, if your instructor runs a Combat Submission Wrestling school, then he or she is certified under Erik Paulson. Assuming the seminar is given by Erik Paulson, he will usually use that as an opportunity to pass along more new techniques or curriculum to your instructor and his/her student body, as well as refine current techniques and skills being practiced. If you are taking the seminar at the school that train at, you will be learning the same tricks, tips and techniques as everyone else. However, if you are going outside of your school, most likely you will be bringing new techniques back to your current school or training location. You can use this as an opportunity to pass along your newfound knowledge, or surprise your friends with the techniques during sparring sessions, which is what I like to do.

Barometer
Judging how you are advancing in your training is sometimes difficult. Many times when you join up at a school, you can never really judge how good you are getting. The reason is that everyone at your school is usually continuing to advance at the same time you are. As new people come in, you recognize you are better at certain skills than they are, but you usually dismiss it at “well, they are a noobie”. Going to seminars is a good way to evaluate your skill. You can evaluate how quickly you are able to pick up new techniques and skills. Also, many times not everyone attending the seminar is from the place where you train. Because of that you see how you compare to other from different places. Seminars are one of the best ways to evaluate your skills aside from competition.

Social Networking
No I am not talking about Twitter or Facebook or Myspace or whatever other Social Networking craze takes place in the future. I am talking about real life social networking. Going to seminars is a great way to contact and meet like minded people from all over the world. I have met and made friends in places like Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, Austrailia, England and more. It’s great because as I travel, I find that I usually have a place to train at. This is even more of a reason why I suggest you don’t just look for seminars in your area, but that you expand yourself and travel to different areas for your seminar training. I have taken seminars in Connetticut, Georgia, Las Vegas and of course Thailand. Get out of your bubble and meet some new people. You will tank me later.

Rejuvenation
Many times with my training I start to hit a rut. It’s usually around that time where I decide to head out for a seminar. After a seminar or some other training excursion I usually feel completely rejuvenated and refocused on my training. Sometimes it’s as simple as having someone point out the basics and fundementals again. Other times, it’s the feeling of learning something new which inspires you to be refocused. Either way, without fail whenever I come back from a seminar or camp training I always feel reinspired about my training. If you are starting to feel that your training is becoming dull and boring, you don’t need to look for another place to train, just search out a seminar and trust me you will come back refreshed and full of life.

I hope this article inspires you to attend a seminar to further your training. Please feel free to visit my Seminars page to find out if there are any upcoming Seminars in your area.

Interview: Mushin Self Defense Academy

One of the things I love most about training Mixed Martial Arts is that I get to meet a bunch of really cool people, who share similar interests and philosophies. That was definitely the case when I first crossed paths with Brian Yamasaki from Mushin Self Defense Academy in Utah. Both Brandon and Brian from Mushin took the time to answers some questions about themselves and their school in Utah. It is a school I am definitely looking to train at someday. You can visit them on the web at www.mushinselfdefense.com Here is the interview with Brandon and Brian.

1. How did the owners of Mushin Self Defense, (Brian and Brandon) meet?

Brandon Kiser: One day I walked into my Thai Boxing Class with Kru Bernales and there was this 140′ pound Japanese guy shadow boxing in the mirror. Kru Bernales (My Instructor) pulled me aside and said “Hey Kiser, this guy wants to fight, I am going to have you spar him, he seems pretty cool but I want you to put it on him and then we’ll see if he really wants to fight”. We paired up and threw down numerous times. I did everything I could to crush this guy’s dream of fighting but he kept coming back day after day. His name was Brian Yamasaki and he quickly became my new favorite training partner.

Brian Yamasaki: One day as I arrived to take a private lesson from my instructor Khuen Khru Bernales, I saw a guy shadowboxing in the class just before mine. It was strange because it was almost like I could see Ajarn Chai’s spirit inside him as he moved. You know how it is, when you go to a concert or something and you hear a musician play a single note and you know right there that, that guy has talent. That’s how it was for me when I saw Kiser for the first time. But instead of a note, it was a knee. I saw him throw one and I knew that he had talent. He was something altogether different than what I saw in all the other students. I did everything I could to convince him to help me prepare for some fights I was getting ready for. And we’ve been best friends and business partners ever since.

2. What arts are you certified in?

Brandon Kiser: MMA (Erik Paulson’s Combat Submission Wrestling State Representative)

Brian Yamasaki: I am an Associate Instructor in Muay Thai Thai Boxing under Ajarn Surachai Sirisute, and a Coach Level 3 in Combat Submission Wrestling under Sensei Erik Paulson

3. How long has your school been established?

Brian Yamasaki: I’ve been running my school since 2000 and I believe Kiser joined me in 2001.

4. What is your current student population? Does that consist of fighters, men, women, children, etc?

Brian Yamasaki: It consists of Men, Children, Women and Fighters. We focused on our fight team for the first 5 years or so but now we are primarily interested in catering to Martial Artists and helping to spread the arts of Muay Thai and Combat Submission Wrestling.

5. Your school is set up mostly as a Muay Thai/MMA school. Which art would you say you gravitate more towards?

Brandon Kiser: I am 100% most inspired by MMA.

Brian Yamasaki: I have a love for both Muay Thai and MMA. They’re like wine and cheese for me. One only serves to contrast and bring out the beauties and uniqueness of the other.

6. Is there an art that is not on your schedule that you enjoy practicing?

Brandon Kiser: Power Lifting

Brian Yamasaki: Kali, Silat, JKD, Judo, Catch As Catch Can, Freestyle, Folk style and Greco Roman Wrestling, and Survivorman Techniques

7. Do you feel it is necessary to have fight experience in order to be a good coach? If so, what is your experience as fighters?

Brandon Kiser: Fighting has definitely helped me to be a better coach. I am a junior olympic gold medalist, competitive grappler and Utah State MMA Champion.

Brian Yamasaki: Yes, I think it helps if you want to train other fighters. You have an inside perspective into what your fighters will go through mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Other than that, it’s not the most important aspect of being a good coach IMHO.

I am 1-1 in Muay Thai, 1-1 in MMA, and 2-0 in submission grappling.

8. What fighters have you trained or worked with?

Brandon Kiser: I have cornered or trained the following UFC Fighters: Josh Burkman, Melvin Guillard and Brandon Melendez. Sportfight Champion Dennis Davis. Bodog Fighter Kyacey Uscola. Gladiator Champion Jake Paul. The Bernales Fight Team: Johnny Miller, Paul Roberts, John Mckean and Aaron Okura. Mushin Fighter Corps Team: Brian Yamasaki, Dustin Gapusan, Trevor Osborn, Kensei Sato, Konrad Jones and more.

Brian Yamasaki: I have trained and worked with Brandon Melendez, Gladiator Challenge Champion Jake Paul, Mushin Fighter Corps Team: Dustin Gapusan, Brandon Kiser, M’lisa Kiser, Trevor Osborn, Mika Kofe, Sterling Okura, Mark Brinkerhoff, Kensei Sato and Konrad Jones. I have consulted and been a contributing trainer for the Bernales Fight Team: Johnny Miller, Paul Roberts, John Mckean, and Aaron Okura.

9. You guys do a lot of unique Internet promotion such as your You Tube Channel and the Damage Control MMA Blog. Tell us a bit about how both of them got started.

Brian Yamasaki: Taking It To The MMAT (our Youtube Channel) started off as a t.v. show on our local Comcast Cable Network. Kiser and I had seen a lot of the MMA programming available (which wasn’t that much) and most of it had a tough guy, thug, fighter feel to it. We wanted to show a different side of MMA and Martial Arts in general.
Later when I received my Associate Instructorship from Ajarn Chai, I asked him what I could do since I didn’t feel that I had done as much to earn that ranking as my fellow Associates. He said “Help me to spread the art of Muay Thai sir. I want to see this (he pointed to the Thai Boxing Association Logo on my shirt) everywhere. I want to see Discipline and Respect in MMA one day.”
I decided that the best way to do that was to expose as many people as I could to the wonderful mentors, instructors, influences and friends that I had met through the Thai Boxing Association of the USA, Combat Submission Wrestling, Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Guro Dan Inosanto’s lines of Martial Arts, and the Arts in general. I felt that these people, more than anything else would be able to show what the arts are really about. So Kiser and I set out to publish as many videos as possible of our favorite instructors and friends.
Damage Control grew out of some research we did that showed us that just as many people were watching our out takes and non-martial arts related footage as were watching our instructional. So we put together a format that could include more of that material.

10. Anything else we missed that makes you guys unique?

Brian Yamasaki: No not much. I guess if there’s anything that makes us unique its that we aren’t and that we don’t try to be. I think a lot of people relate to us because we’re not UFC fighters or superhumans. We’re just regular guys, Seekers, explorers on the path of Martial and self discovery. We feel the same pains and elations of every other guy and gal out there on this path.
Our mission has been to generate positive energy and to relate with others on our adventures through the Martial Arts while exposing people to the hearts and souls of those who have helped mold and create us as Martial Artitsts.

I would like to thank Brandon and Brian for taking the time to do the interview with me for all of my readers. You can check out the guys on the web at www.DamageControlMMA.com or www.mushinselfdefense.com or also on Youtube at www.youtube.com/user/TakingItToTheMMAT If you live in Utah of the surrounding area, make sure you stop by their school for some training or a seminar.

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