Recent Posts
Jiu-jitsu Sensei
Return To Blog Listing
This blog is to record my many training and teaching experiences in the martial arts. I run my own Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu dojo, but I also do extra curricular training in other martial arts to keep my skills sharp and to add to my knowledge of the arts. M
Recent Posts Tagged With 'sparring'
Stick Fighting Without Protection
On a recent surfing expedition through YouTube, I found a video of a Kali (stick fighting) martial arts group that does full contact sparring with very little protection, only a fencing mask and a pai...
Foam Weapon Sparring at the Beach
Recently, I've been taking advantage of the gorgeous Vancouver summers by going to the beach and sparring with foam-covered weapons. I haven't done much bokken (Japanese sword) or escrima (Filipino s...
Leaning into Punches to Increase Reach
I did some boxing training today. I've been avoiding grappling and ground work to let my injured hip flexor heal. The boxer that was training me is a shorter fellow, only 5'6", but he's pretty well ...
Boot to the Head: A Look at Taekwondo
Yesterday, I discussed What You Learn from a Punch to the Face. It reminded me of the following video I stumbled across on Digg a few months back, featuring Taekwondo's best knock-outs. The knock-ou...
What You Learn from a Punch to the Face
In many martial arts, it is forbidden to punch the face while sparring. In our school, we allow it because you learn a lot from both punching to the face and being punched to the face.In real self-de...
The Importance of Breathing in the Martial Arts
Over a year ago, I had an argument with Slan, a guy I used to work with who had once been a Kempo instructor. The argument was about when to breathe when striking or being struck.I had argued that yo...
Defending Against Multiple Attackers
Students who are preparing to go for their green belt in my dojo are introduced to the concept of defending against multiple attackers. These students have usually been training over a year and have ...
Bewareof Patterned Bobbing and Weaving
I was recently told to move my head more while I spar. I've always taught ducking and slipping specifically to get the head out of the line of fire of a strike. That being said, by bobbing and weavi...
MMA Gloves for Sparring
When students are first introduced to sparring, we have them use 16-oz boxing gloves. These gloves are more protective and, because they're bigger, punches are easier see coming plus there is more su...
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...
Throwing to Defend Against Kicks
This video shows a Kung fu sparring competition in which the guy in yellow very effectively defends against kicks simply by snatching his opponent from underside while he's on one foot, attempting to ...
Revisiting the Turtle Block
The other night I was training with my coach and was made to do several rounds of boxing sparring with him. Going into the ring, one of the other coaches told me to keep my hands up and against my he...
Fighting the Flinch
I was doing some MMA training with a student of mine today who is still finding his feet (and fists!) in his stand-up game. One trouble most people encounter when they're new to sparring is dealing w...
Another MMA-Related Injury
This last week has been a bad one for injuries. A typical astrology-following Vancouverite might say it was due to Mars being in retrograde or something. But really, every so often, shit just happen...
Fighting Fatigued
This picture represents my point of view while sparring my students last night. Never had I been punched so many times in the face by them. Five times I took hits in the face. This is completely un...
Pressure Point of the Day: Solar Plexus
A strike to the solar plexus, as demonstrated in this video by MMA fighter Megumi Fujii, is an effective way to subdue an attacker without causing injury. The solar plexus is a nerve motor point that...
Sparring Within Your Comfort Level
Sparring is a great tool that allows students to learn to apply martial arts principles like distance, timing, attack, and defense. It is used in dojos as one of the methods of practicing live traini...
Fighting from the Clinch
Today I had another private training session with my MMA instructor. Though his primary training was boxing (he's an ex-pro boxer), he has a broad base in other martial arts and is training me to int...
The Gloves Are Coming Off!
Last night, Chris, a former student of mine, was back in town and came out to train at my dojo. Chris is a brown belt in another style of Jiu-jitsu in addition to being a yellow belt in my style. I ...
Controlling the Gag Reflex
I’ve always encouraged my students to wear a mouth guard for safety while sparring. Even though I discourage my students from using a lot of force when hitting the face and head, accidents happen w...
Training… Just for Kicks
Kicking can be a very useful skill when sparring or defending against an attacker. Even though punching is easier to learn and apply, kicks should not be ignored. There are many benefits to kicking,...
Getting Out of the Strike Zone
I teach my Jiu-jitsu classes out of a mixed martial arts school and one of the instructors has offered to give me extra training outside my classes. This is great for me since I don't always get to pu...