10 Things You Can Do Outside the Dojo to Become a Better Martial Artist

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New Self-Defense Fitness Classes

At our Vancouver area martial arts school, we pride ourselves in offering a full schedule of adult Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu classes, which offer students a wide range of self-defense skills, including striking, throwing/takedowns, breakfalls, joint locks, sparring, ground techniques and more. Our standard classes start by introducing the most practical, easy-to-learn defensive skills with strong emphasis on gross motor skills while also providing foundations for higher level learning that is developed as a student progresses.

Having taught these types of classes for 5 years now, and we do our best to make these classes accessible to anyone and have people of all ages (even a 65-year-old!), fitness, levels and physical abilities. That being said, some people have different comfort levels in terms of what we do, or are not necessarily looking to learn a comprehensive martial art, but still want a place where they can develop and maintain their defensive skills as well as their fitness levels. It is for this reason that we developed our new Self-Defense Fitness classes.

Using the simplest, most effective self-defense techniques in Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu, we've created a program that improves students' cardio, strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, etc, AND teaches students how to apply them for personal protection should the need arise. Unlike our regular Jiu-jitsu classes, these one-hour classes leave out higher impact activities such as breakfalls, throws, joint locks and sparring making it accessible to everyone. It's designed to be a solution for people looking for a lower-impact martial arts fitness option. It also can appeal to people who don't like the idea of being thrown or having their joints locked up, whether they're getting over an injury or just a little intimidated at the prospect.

I never really liked the idea of cardio kickboxing or boxercise classes, finding that these types of classes were more about getting fit with only a minor association with the martial arts, and little to no application as to how to use the martial techniques taught. That's why I wanted to make this class different. Around 1/2-2/3 of the class would be spent on fitness and circuit training with practical striking drills with the remaining time spent on the practical applications of the techniques. This class will not require uniforms and will have no belt system. The only equipment required would be a groin protector.

I am hoping that this class will help broaden our reach by offering a more simplified training option that addresses different people's needs. It would also serve as an ongoing training option for women who do our 2-hour women's self defense class. Additionally, I hope it will also serve to attract curiosity in our regular Jiu-jitsu classes from people who develop a desire to progress further. At the same time, it would also serve our regular Jiu-jitsu students should they want a different format class to help improve fitness levels or give them a training option while recovering from injury.

What do you think?

Muscle Memory & Confusion for Building Technique & Strength

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Top 5 Cross-training Activities for Martial Artists

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Foam Rollers as an Alternative to Massage

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Kettlebell Review Coming Soon

CSN Stores recently contacted me asking me to review one of their fitness products. I figured this would be a great chance to try out the kettlebell, which is becoming popular with martial artists. It seems to me that because of its design it is versatile enough to be used for a wide variety of exercises.

Here's a YouTube video of some basic techniques and their relevance to BJJ and Judo:



Anyway, I am now anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new kettlebell so I can play around with it and give you my opinion. Oh and in addition to fitness equipment, CSN Stores has a great selection of office furniture, from office chairs, to desks and accessories, and even massage chairs (oh, if only someone would ask me to review one of those!).

Why It's a Good Idea to Vary Your Class's Strength Training Exercises

Today, I got some happy news from one of my students. He emailed me to tell me that because of our strength training workout in class last night, he managed to work out a pain in his lower back and hips that had been bothering him for some time. It was because of a pelvic lift exercise that I ran with the class that was newly introduced to him.

As an instructor, it's easy to get in the habit of using the same types of strength training exercises class to class, not just for the purpose of strengthening different muscle groups (though variety of that sort is also important), but doing different exercises that exercise the same groups. I am even guilty of it myself on occasion, so every so often I try to bring in something new.

For lower back strengthening, I often use back crunches in which you lie flat on their belly and lift up your upper body off the mat. Last night, I ran my students though pelvic lifts instead, in which you lie on your back and lift your lower back and hips off the mat (as shown in the picture above). And on that evening, it was just the right exercise for that particular student I mentioned. Apparently, it stretched out the area in just the right way that it seemed to correct a problem that had been causing the pain in his hips.

Beyond this wonderful success story, it is worth pointing out that the body does get used to exercises that are repeated regularly, which causes your muscles to get complacent, so to speak. This is why it's a good idea to try and vary the types of exercises.

Instead of just using push-ups to work out the pecs, chest passes using a medicine ball can be used, or resistance training using weights or resistance bands. Instead of using stomach crunches, you can do medicine ball tosses on the abs (great for working the inner abs for taking hits), or just holding the plank position for a minute or two, or any of the myriad other options out there. This will keep your or your students' bodies on their toes and give them a better overall conditioning program.

Throwing & Being Thrown as a Workout

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Intensity Skipping Instead of Sprints

In the last month or so, I started doing hard interval running and sprints as conditioning for a potential upcoming fight. Unfortunately, I started to develop some minor pain in my left achilles tendon so, upon advice from my trusty doctor Jenny, I switched over to intensity and interval skipping to replace the running.

To simulate an MMA fight, I always do three 5-minute rounds with a 1-minute rest in between. When doing intensity skipping, I do three 30-second rounds of double skipping within each 5-minute round. This gives me a solid anaerobic work-out that very much simulates the way a fight goes. Jenny told me however that I should only do this type of work-out once a week as it is hard on the body. On other days, I simply do three 5- minute rounds of regular skipping, practicing various technical patterns, with a single 30-second round of double skipping at the end of each 5-minute round. Check out my post, Increasing Your Cardio When Skipping for a video demo of double skipping.

The skipping work-outs seem to put less stress on my joints. And with skipping, I get to work out my upper body more than I do with running, particularly when I'm doing the double skipping portion of the workout. Skipping is almost always the way I warm up as well.

15 Personal Safety Tips for Runners

I try to go running 2-3 times a week as part of my MMA training. It's easy for me to run during safe times when it's light out and there are plenty of people around because I work from home. But for many women, as the days get shorter they find it hard to run during ideal hours. And unfortunately women runners are still targeted these days by stalkers and muggers and sometimes fall victim to attacks.

I was recently interviewed for an article on self-defense for runners by iRunNation.com. They asked for some safety tips and suggestions for female runners. Here are 15 tips that I give for runners:

1. Carry I.D. or fasten your name, telephone number and blood type on the outside of your running shoes.
2. Carry a cell phone or sufficient change for a telephone call. *Remember in most areas in North America you can dial 911 for free.
3. Whenever you can, run with a dog or partner.
4. Run in areas with which you are familiar. Know what businesses are around and the location of telephones. Alter your route from time to time.
5. Write down information about your running route. Ensure that your family and trusted friends know your favourite routes.
6. Whenever possible, avoid unpopulated areas, deserted streets and overgrown trails. Stay away from unlit areas at night. Avoid running near parked cars and bushes.
7. Run against the traffic so that you can observe approaching vehicles.
8. Stay alert at all times. The more aware you are, the less vulnerable you are.
9. Avoid wearing headphones; You need to be aware of your surroundings.
10. Wearing reflective material will make you more visible if you have to run before dawn or after dark.
11. Don't wear jewellery. Why tempt muggers?
12. Carry a whistle to call attention to yourself if you need help.
13. Rely on your intuition concerning suspicious persons or areas. Respond to your intuition and avoid any person or area that feels unsafe to you.
14. Don't react to verbal harassment. Use discretion in acknowledging strangers. Look directly at others and be observant, but keep your distance and keep moving.
15. During your run, if you notice anyone acting suspicious or if you are the subject of an assault (even if it is minor in nature) report it to the police immediately. Be prepared to provide the best description of the suspect as you can.

*Note: The article in iRunNation.com states that I've been teaching martial arts in Vancouver for 15 years, but she got the information wrong. I've been training in martial arts for 15 years. I've only taught for 12, but only 3 of those years have been in Vancouver.

Increasing Your Cardio Workout When Skipping

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How to Do Shrimping Drills and Why

Shrimping was originally introduced in Japan where it was known as "ebi aruki" or in English, shrimp walking. Judo and Jiu-jitsu schools use it to develop the lateral hip movement that is used to escape from many holds on the ground. The hands are also used in conjunction with the hips to simulate pushing an attacker away. The video below demonstrates this drill very well.



With all the core body that is used to move the hips, shrimping is also great for strengthening the abs. My coach often has me doing this drill for my MMA training. I personally like drills that develop both skills and strength simultaneously.

Is 500 Squats Too Many?

It isn't according to my MMA coach. Last night, Mark had me do an intensive leg workout including: 500 squats, 5 minutes of stepping up and down from the ring, 5 minutes of shrimp walking (aka- shrimping), 5 minutes of pummeling drills, 3 minutes of leg lunges, 3 minutes of calf raises, and 2 3-minute rounds of kicks on the heavy bags.

Last fall, when I first started doing MMA training, half this amount would have had a similar effect on my body. It seems my body is capable of handling quite a bit more than it used to. I won't lie to you though. My legs are pretty wobbly and sore today, but I do like knowing that I'm capable of this amount of conditioning.

In theory, this will help keep me from tiring in the octagon when I do finally enter it. My coach says late August early September, but you never know with these things. He's trying to get me a good match-up for my first fight.

How to Use a Speed Bag Properly

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M.I.C.E - The New Injury Acronym

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Running is Better than No Running

Yesterday, I bought an expensive new pair of running shoes. My MMA coach had told me that I would need to add running to my regular workout pattern and that he would eventually want me to run with a wearing a weight vest. This thought didn't thrill me (I can't stand running), but I listen to my coach.

When I showed up for training and told him about my groin pull he had a look at my range of motion then shook his head, telling me I would need to take it easy on my lower body for the next couple of weeks. He said running would be too much impact so it would have to wait.

I hate "taking it easy" when I'm trying to accomplish something so I asked my student who is a doctor what I can do safely. She said I can start with biking and swimming and perhaps some careful squats. She is of the modern opinion that gentle exercise that doesn't strain the injured area helps with recovery by increasing blood flow to the area. She also told me that it wasn't actually my groin that was pulled, that it was my hip flexor. Whatever. Either way, I have to hold back. No grappling, throwing or kicking for a couple of weeks. Blech.

Tip: Don't Overstretch Before a Seminar

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Victoria to attend a 4-hour seminar with Eddie Bravo. In preparation for this event, I did some extra stretching yesterday, focusing on my groin. Some of Eddie's classic moves require a good deal of flexibility, like the rubber guard for example.

I'm already pretty flexible, but I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little extra. Apparently, it can. While I was doing some yoga stretching, I seem to have overextended myself and pulled a groin muscle. It has been tweaking me all day today! I'm just hoping it'll be okay for tomorrow.

So my tip of the day is don't overstretch or over-train in the day or two leading up to an important seminar or competitive event!

30-Second Blitz Conditioning

My coach gave me quite a work-out last night. After warming up, he had me and my training partner Gina doing 30-second blitz training.

As far as conditioning goes, this is one of the training styles I quite enjoy. Basically, we cycle between a variety of strength and cardio training exercises, doing them each for 30 seconds with only a 10 second break in between each exercise. We did this for each of the following:

Squats, leg lunges, double foot jumps up and down the ring, push-ups (2 sets), skipping, cone jumping, medicine ball tossing (with a sprawl in between tosses), mountain climbers.

This kind of training really gets your heart going, but what I like best about it is I never get bored since we don't do any one exercise for very long.

Once we were done this, my coach had us do three 2-minute sets of suicides, alternating three 2-minute sets of jumping over a heavy bag on the floor and sprawling. Once we were done this, Gina and I were made to do two 5-minute rounds of pummeling drills. Then when we were nicely tired out from all these exercises, our coach sparred us, alternating between us, 2-three minute rounds with me and two with Gina.

It's good for us to be tired out like this before sparring with him. It trains us to be good at fighting when we're gassed. Though by the end of it all, I had little energy left for my own Jiu-jitsu class that I had to teach that night. As a result, I decided to make my students go through a slightly easier version of my MMA training session that night. Needless to say, they really felt the burn that night.

Yoga DVDs I Use to Balance Out My Martial Arts Training

As discussed in a previous post, Yoga and the Martial Arts, yoga is a great tool for enhancing one's martial arts training. But people often ask me how I find the motivation to wake up at 6:25 to do 20 minutes of meditation followed by 20 minutes of yoga. The secret is consistency... and having a few yoga DVDs to follow so you don't have to think.

The meditation part is easy. It's really only one step up from sleeping, though you don't want to fall asleep during your meditation. It kinda defeats the purpose.

As for the yoga, sometimes I'll pick out specific moves from The Martial Artist's Book of Yoga that work muscle groups I need to stretch out. But more often than not I'm not quite awake enough to think so much so I'll rely on DVD workouts. Sara Ivanhoe's 5-workout set Yoga Makeover: Gift Boxed Set is great because each of the 5 workouts are exactly 20 minutes long, making them easy to fit into my morning routine. Plus each workout has a different purpose or works a different muscle set. Rodney Yee's Abs Yoga for Beginners - DVD is also a good 20 minute workout. It gives a solid ab workout, which simultaneously relaxes you.

I also have a few other DVDs with longer workouts that work into my weekend rotation. Baron Baptiste's Core Power-Power Vinyasa Yoga is closer to 30 minutes long and gives a good all-over stretch in addition to a series of lower back and ab strengthening exercises. Sara Ivanhoe's Crunch: Candlelight Yoga (Full Screen) is a great 40-minute workout for beginners and people who just want a relaxing stretch-out to help recover from a heavy training day at the dojo. There is also a 15-minute energizer work-out that I use in the mornings when I accidentally sleep in an extra 5 minutes :P. Hemalaya Behl's Yoga For Urban Living has 3 nice workouts, a 30-minute AM workout, a 1-hour full-body workout, and my favourite, the 25-minute evening bath workout. The evening bath one is very soothing and leaves you feeling like an ice cube melting in hot water. One last one that I sometimes use is Ali MacGraw: Yoga--Mind & Body. This 40-minute workout is actually a little difficult for beginners, but if you're up for a more challenging workout and you can get past the very new-age feel of the production, it's a great all-over stretching and strengthening workout.

If you really want to use yoga to help improve your martial arts training, you should try to do it regularly. You can work in a few stretches while you watch TV or sneak in a quick 20-minute workout every other day. By doing it regularly your body will get used to the movements and you'll be better able to develop your strength and flexibility in the long run.

Medicine Ball Exercises: Standing Abdominal Drop

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