Archive for July 4, 2011

Amazing Inspiration from Coach John Wooden

Posted: July 4, 2011 in Attitude, Inpirational
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This is an amazing talk by an incredible human being, John Wooden, famous basketball coach legend at UCLA.  There are so many lessons in this talk and the majority of them apply directly to martial arts training.  I pulled a lot of wisdom from this 17 minute talk.  Hope you can too.

For reference, here is the pyramid that is held up in the talk.  It’s useful to print out and keep handy.  Again, it’s surprising how many principles outlined on Mr. Wooden’s pyramid tie directly to work ethic in the dojo.

Where Am I?

Posted: July 4, 2011 in Class
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I am a tad over one month into training.  Let’s take a look back and see what’s been covered up to now.  Some of the techniques have been combined at times with others to form combinations.

Punches
  1. Left Straight Punch
  2. Cross-Body Punch
  3. Right Uppercut
  4. Hammerfist to Side (with and without pushing/eyes closed)
  5. Forward Hammerfist
  6. Left Hook
Elbows
  1. Horizontal High Elbow
  2. Sideways Elbow Strike
  3. Vertical Elbow Strike Forward and Upward
  4. Horizontal Elbow Strike Backward
  5. Horizontal Elbow Strike Backward Low
  6. Vertical Elbow Strike Backward
  7. Vertical Elbow Strike Forward and Down
Kicks
  1. Front Kick
  2. Front Left Kick – Vertical Target
  3. Front Right Kick – Vertical Target
Knees
  1. Knee strikes
Chokes
  1. Front Choke Break (eyes open and closed)
  2. Side Choke Break (eyes open and closed)
  3. Rear Choke Break (eyes open and closed)
  4. Jujitsu Front Choke Break
Clinches
  1. Muay Thai Front Clinch
  2. Side Clinch with Knee Strikes
Conditioning

Apart from these techniques, there have obviously been many exercises with the intention of conditioning us (read leave us hunched over on our elbows in a puddle of our own sweat, panting madly and strangely entranced by the lint and random hairs that have found their way to the mat).  These have had a large focus on our quads and our core so there have been duck walks, lunges, crunches, planks, etc.  We have also had our share of pushups, sprints, and workouts with 12 lb. medicine balls.

Never a dull moment.  Here’s to another month of intensity!