A One-Year Retrospective

Posted: June 2, 2012 in Attitude, Belt Test, Class, Injury, Older, Technique
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Hey, look at that. A whole year of training behind me. In some ways it seems like it has been an eternity, in other ways it seems like only a few months have gone by.

I’ve been doing some reflecting over the past several weeks in anticipation of this post. There are so many things I’ve learned over the last 12 months but I wanted to take a shot at writing down the most crucial lessons. Each one of these could be a post unto itself and might end up as one. I just want to at least capture these to provide a recap of the major takeaways.

Bravado at an older age vs. younger age
I recall 25 some-odd years ago when I took martial arts as a teen. After just a few weeks I felt invincible. I walked with such swagger and my confidence at school absolutely went through the roof. I was indestructible. Part of the explanation there lies in the teen mind. Let’s face it, it doesn’t really take too much to bloat a teen boy’s head into thinking he’s Superman.

As I’ve grown older, and I’d like to think wiser, I’ve come to realize that we are all vulnerable. MMA fighters, black belts, weight lifters, macho men, everyone. Everyone is susceptible to smack down given the right conditions, a bad decision, an off day… Take a look at every major fighter. They all go down — no one is perfect.

This extends to the street too. Even if you are heavily trained in the fighting arts and self-defense you are just human. This has stayed with me as an adult, not as a frightened adult but a realistic adult, and applies to my perspective on my training. Yes, of course I’ve increased my self-confidence but it’s always tempered with a pragmatic view of how violence can occur at any time and isn’t always necessarily in your favor.

Injuries can happen at any time, usually when you least expect it
You can make all the necessary precautions, wear all the right equipment, have the perfect attitude and awareness for your safety and still get whacked in the head. I’ve gotten my fair share of injuries this past year — fortunately all minor — and I’d say that pretty much every one of them was completely unexpected. They came from wild partners, slipped gear, a poor grasp of my technique, misjudged distance, slippery mats, you name it.

I still keep my awareness at full strength but realize that this isn’t ballet and try as you might you WILL get hurt. Vigilance keeps it to a minimum and hopefully keeps the extend down as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Boredom, Band-Aids, and Ice Packs

Posted: May 13, 2012 in Class, Injury, Technique
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In the time I’ve been learning Krav Maga I have realized that there are two primary variable in a partner that come into play when you are working together: aggression and the amount of control they have over their bodies and movements — coordination.

Aggression is that pure “lightning in a bottle” that we all like to develop in training that allows us to go from zero to hero in no time flat. Some people have a huge amount of aggression that they can tap into and bring into their training, even when they are on the verge of exhaustion. I like training with these people as it helps desensitize me to getting hit but also inspires me to try harder. Some people have very little of this and just go through the motions. Class to them is almost an aerobics class with pads. They mimic behavior in class and don’t really put much oomph into it. These people can be very frustrating to partner with as it sometimes can rub off and cause you to not try as hard or to feel almost guilty when it’s your turn and you want to pummel.

Self-control is a hugely important concept that so many people I’ve partnered with just don’t get. Sure they can go all out but without proper coordination and control of the movements can be a real walking danger. Many White Belts are in this category but with the right mindset they rise above it to some extent or another to become someone you enjoy partnering with.  I’ve partnered with a lot of students in this category and very much was one at one time. The result of partnering with such a person can range from a minor annoyance to real injury. I’ve had broken toenails, countless bruises, and unexpected hits to my neck, head, thigh, etc. when I wasn’t expecting it. It is often followed by a barrage of sorries but fat lot of good that does you when you’re hobbling off to the side groaning “Ow! Ow! Ow!” through clenched teeth.

Read the rest of this entry »

Empty Your Cup…But Not Your Head

Posted: April 28, 2012 in Class, Older
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“You cannot learn anything if you already feel that you know.”
-Anonymous

You might have heard it before that you should empty your cup before learning anything new, particularly when it comes to something like martial arts. This means, of course, that you rid yourself of preconceptions (how you think things should be) and start from the beginning, keeping yourself open and receptive to new ideas and teachings. This is such an important concept, I think. Everyone comes into the dojo (particularly guys) with their ideas of how to punch, kick, etc. and can easily fall into the trap of learning these techniques by reshaping or refining their existing notions rather than tearing those ideas down completely and starting from scratch learning these techniques. That is, emptying their cups. To truly develop you need to let go of these old, crude ideas and be willing to be a blank slate, be that empty cup that’s willing to be filled.

I think there’s a danger when someone goes too far with the idea of emptying their cup. These are people who have either emptied their cup willingly or been sort of beaten down into that state of mind. They are now docile students looking to be shown and told everything — step by step — that needs to be performed for a given move or counter attack. They become almost like robots in a way, awaiting the next command to spring into action. I see this pretty often, and not only with junior belts like myself. This is something that just about anyone from beginner to intermediate can fall victim to. I was doing it myself for a while until I realized that it wasn’t doing me any good.   Read the rest of this entry »

Foot? Meet Elbow.

Posted: April 21, 2012 in Attitude, Injury
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Ah, another stupid injury. Stick with me long enough and we’ll work our way through body parts in alphabetical order.

This was one of my dumber ones. Working on our side kicks, our partner would hold up Muay Thai pads and we’d give it a good whallop, making sure we got some good momentum and power with the ol’ hips.

Perhaps this is a good time to point out the strange coincidence of a recent post where I polled people about whether they trained barefoot or with footwear. Well, for the record, my school is 100% barefoot. I like it this way but in this particular instance it made for an unfortunate outcome.

I lined up, confident in my kick prowess I’ve been developing in Friday night sparring, and let it rip with a left kick (no switch step). What should have resulted in a vinyl ‘Whaap’ sound was instead a dull ‘Whump’ sound as the top of my foot connected with my partner’s right elbow.

Yeeeeow.

Initially my thought was that I would end up with a good bruise and, in fact, I did. Just not where I expected I chalk this up to the uneducated guess that tight shoes pushed some blood to the surface where it was pressing on the foot the least.

In the end, nothing it broken (I ended up getting an X-Ray later in the week when the bruising got worse) or even fractured.  I will be back in the saddle early this week and can’t wait to get back into it.  Read the rest of this entry »

Pre-Sparring Meal of Champions

Posted: April 6, 2012 in Class, Food
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…or favorite pre-sparring meal for me, anyways.

As practitioners of Krav Maga we are often faced with the question, “what should I eat before my instructors abuse me?”  You want something light, optimally, and quick, with minimal cleanup.

Now, I’m no nutritionist but intuition tells me this is pretty healthy.  I love having this a few hours before a workout. Doesn’t weigh me down, cause gas, or make me want to barf two minutes into class.

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What we have here is:

  • A mound of old-fashioned oats (not instant or quickcook oats)
  • Handful of fresh blueberries
  • Handful of walnuts
  • Some dried fruit (papaya, pineapple, raisins, coconut, etc.)
  • Half a sliced banana
  • Some brown sugar
  • Real maple syrup
  • Low fat milk to cover

I let it sit for 10 minutes to soften the oats but I don’t cook them.  Then chow time.

Give it a try sometime.  Your options are limitless.

For more info on this kind of thing check out my other post Pre-Training Meal of Champions

What’s Up with Your Feet?

Posted: April 5, 2012 in Poll
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feet

 

You’ll notice that this post doesn’t have a survey, just results. That’s because the original survey tool, Polldaddy, now charges for use of its tool. As a result I have moved to Surveymonkey, which you’ll see in use from now on. For older surveys, I have included the results in the original blog post.

Purple Belt Achieved

Posted: March 31, 2012 in Belt Test
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After another four intense months of steady training 2 – 3 times a week I have made it up to the next rung of the ladder to the coveted Purple Belt.  Coveted to me, at least.  At my school this is the second most meaningful graduation, following the one to Black Belt, of course.  The reason for this is because moving from Orange to Purple also means moving from Basic to Advanced class.  This is Big Deal.

As usual it’s been a rough period with lots of bruises, sprains, and leaning lots of nice new moves but as always the ceremony of being granted the belt reminds me how it feels to accomplish something really difficult.

As was my plan since getting my Orange Belt, I enjoyed the view from the top of the mountain.  Now I’m back at the bottom of the ladder all over again, continuing upwards one belt at a time.

Krav Maga as a Fitness Craze

Posted: February 18, 2012 in Attitude, Class
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Before reading this post take a moment to read this article.

Done? Good. On with my take of this. I am all for fitness. We in the U.S. (and many other parts of the world, I bet) have grown very sedentary over the past few decades. We are couch potatoes who generally are more interested in sitting on our ever-expanding butts than getting some exercise.

“We have come for your bacon!”

Now I get that this isn’t actually a very revolutionary thought. But look around — hell, look in the mirror. Odds are you fall into this category since, according to the CDC, a third of adult Americans are ‘obese’ and another third are considered ‘overweight’! We are becoming a society of porkers. For those who want to change that quality of themselves they’ll try just about anything. This includes but isn’t limited to fad diets, running for week (before quitting with plantar fasciitis or shin splints), liposuction, going to the gym for a month or two (before mysteriously getting “too busy” to continue), and, for some, taking Krav Maga.

There’s nothing blatantly wrong with seeking out fitness by way of Krav Maga. I think, to some extent, I was looking for fitness by starting last year. And, don’t get me wrong, I am also in no way, shape, or form the authority on who should and shouldn’t take Krav Maga and for what reasons. That said, I have noticed an interesting take on Krav Maga in the media (as noted in that representative article above) and in a good number of people joining class over the past several months.

There are many ways you could split a class of students. One way that conveniently serves the point of this post is to consider what category a student falls into when it comes to their primary goal, fitness or self-defense. Yes, as I noted above, you can and probably do want both but one of these will dominate. For me it’s always been about self-defense first, fitness second. For others it’s the opposite.

So what, right? What’s the point? Well, first off, let me say that it hasn’t anything to do with machismo or a feeling of superiority over folks in this other category. Someone who’s fitness-centric has just as much right to the dojo as someone who’s self-defense oriented, for sure. But there has to be a consequence to this when you have a mix of the two groups. I find that fitness-centric students have a far different training ethic. They very often lack aggression in their attitude and oftentimes go through the motions and completely wuss out on many of the more intense drills.

We were doing “hammy sprints” back and forth across the dojo the other night. You very likely know the drill but just so we’re all on the same page, this is the drill where you pump your legs up to waist height, landing on your toes, and pump your arms in rhythm. The pace is slow and eventually agonizing. The blood pumps, the heart is thumping, and the sweat flows within a few minutes of this intense drill. If you do it properly you progress very slowly across the length of the dojo, far slower than a walk. Your leg pumps are assertive, violently mimicking the thrust of a driven knee to your unfortunate attacker. By the time you reach the opposite side you are beat. You jog back and start another lap. If you do this drill as a fitness nut you gleefully sprint across the dojo with a grin on your face and silently congratulate yourself for making it across quicker than anyone else.  Read the rest of this entry »

Of Superheroes and Mere Mortals

Posted: January 1, 2012 in Attitude, Injury, Older
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“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
Albert Einstein

One thing I can say about my experiences in Krav Maga so far is that I know my body and its limits pretty well. I like to push myself as far as I can humanly go but am careful about how far I go beyond that. That means shutting out all desire to “keep up” with others all the time or — God forbid — try to show off in class. I am my own yardstick and I stay true to my limits and my progress, always pushing myself to go harder, further, faster but never disrespecting my body’s needs. Hey, this doesn’t mean wussing out during hard drills or avoiding sweat. Absolutely not. It also doesn’t mean being “safe” all the time. There are many times — at least once or twice per training, I’d say — where I have tunnel vision, am steaming like a furnace, and am panting wildly at the end of a drill. When I train, I train as hard as I possibly can and always leave behind a lake of sweat and ghostly sweat footprints on the mat.

That said, all too often in class I’ve noticed people going too far and ending up on the sidelines, dizzy, looking nervous/confused, or even barfing. Yes, the barfing has actually been pretty common and the weird thing is: most every person who I’ve seen in this predicament has been on the “younger side of things”. Say, in their mid-twenties. Why is this? My theory is that the poor soul came into class with something to prove. They are all about external validation. When you’re younger, and in better shape than these old farts around you, you are much more inclined to be the Alpha student, strutting around and trying like hell to run faster, punch harder, and be the overall bigger bad ass. This is all well and good — I really enjoy an enthusiastic partner and will eagerly pair up with this student any ol’ day of the week. What becomes a bummer is when they have to teeter off dizzily partway through class to  hold up the far wall, head between the knees.  Read the rest of this entry »

At What Age Did You Begin Martial Arts Training?

Posted: December 8, 2011 in Class
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Orange Belt Achieved

Posted: December 6, 2011 in Belt Test
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After another three intense months of steady training 2 – 4 times a week I have made it up to the next rung of the ladder, the Orange Belt. It’s been a rough period with lots of bruises, bumps, and sweat but being granted the belt as I sit at the end of the workout, bathed in sweat, huffing and steaming, fogging up the mirrors, and feeling more than a bit dizzy from exertion is a proud moment.

I am not about arrogance, swagger, or elitism in any area of my life — and certainly not in the dojo — but there is a strong sense of pride and accomplishment as I go to class. The Orange is most certainly near the bottom (it has only been 6 months, after all) but it is the highest belt in the Basic training. I will  enjoy the view from the top of the mountain while I can because, come March, I will be a Purple Belt in the Advanced class and at the bottom of the ladder all over again.

Time for me to re-read my earlier post to maintain perspective.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

Posted: December 6, 2011 in Attitude, Older
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The following is a comment I read in the Krav Maga section of Reddit recently. It was posted by one m1foley.

After 5 years, I’ve been through the stages of a Krav practitioner:

  1. Beginner: “Why are these people wearing groin protectors? Oh. Oh my god…”
  2. False sense of mastery: “I hope someone tries to mug me in the street!”
  3. Wisdom: “I’m no idiot. I know some stuff, but will never use it unless my life is in danger. If Stephen Hawking threatens me, I’ll throw him my wallet and run away.”

All too often people get caught up in the aggressiveness of Krav Maga and lose sight of the big picture outlined above. I think it’s understandable and I am guilty of it as much as the next guy. We are pushing ourselves in class in an environment designed for intensity. We are barked at to “GO! GO! GO!” and trained to go full bore. We are always pushing forward, never retreating. We are driving through drills, smashing through our walls. This is pure, adrenaline-fueled intensity.

What I am trying to keep in mind, and I think I have arrived at stage three above, is to keep Krav Maga in context. Out in the real world it is possible that these techniques might be needed, especially if your safety or that of a loved one is threatened. In cases of more minor confrontations, which I would hope would be the vast majority, we should remember that disengaging and retreating are the way to go. In many classes this option isn’t — in my opinion — given much credence. It all comes down to destroying anyone who messes with you, becoming the “second attacker” as it were. This is all well and good I think but there should be some mental judgement going on at the same time. Yes, I need to disable my attacker but above all, I need to get my ass outta here safely ASAP.

There’s a book by Rory Miller called “Facing Violence” that talks about the consequences of street fighting. We can imagine punching, kneeing, and kicking someone into a pulp with our skills and aggressiveness and, if faced in real life, can probably pull it off but there’s a line that can be crossed where self-defense becomes assault. There’s an art of “not-fighting” to be learned that deals with deescalating the situation and avoiding the brawl.

Read the rest of this entry »

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