Contour Kettlebells

Hey everyone just wanted to inform you about a new piece of training equipment that works great for strengthening your striking muscles. It’s called the “Contour Kettlebell” and it works great at mimicking your strikes without getting in the way of your movement. They are made by GoFit and Bob Harper from the Hit TV Show "The Biggest Loser" for people that didn’t like hitting their forearms when performing kettlebell exercises.

So they flattened the sides of a kettlebell and contoured it slightly so as not to hurt the forearm. But if you know me; I’m always thinking out side the box and I realized that they didn’t know what they really created. You see this is shaped just like a Padlock or Keylock as they’re called in China to develop the body for fighting and exercising. The Contoured Kettlebell is like a modernized version of the Chinese Keylock.

I bought two pair of these Contour Kettlebells and tried them out. I went to youtube and found a few videos on how to workout with keylocks and I just copied some of their movements.  Let me tell you they worked great, I used them with my punching movements and elbows, they have a different feel then regular kettlebells. You can bring them closer to the sides of your head and move freely with them. By being able to bring them closer to your body you can really mimic the way you fight and keep them tight to the body.

The price ranges from $29.00 - $85.00 dollars and they come in 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 35lbs. They come with a plastic cover around the bell and the handle is bare metal. I’ve priced keylocks and they can cost over a hundred dollars for a twenty pound one and a 35 pounder will set you back $299.95. So as you can see they are a bargain when compared to a real keylock.  You can purchase them at Target or on Amazon. So all you Martial Artists, Boxers, and Muay Thai Fighters should try them out and see what you think.

About the only thing I don’t like is that the handle on the lighter contour kettlebells are a bit thinner but if you add some tape or put a pair of fat gripz on the handles they’ll be fine. My fists, wrists, forearms and elbows have benefitted greatly from using them and I know they will benefit you also.

By the way, the two pair I bought were 10 and 15 pounders, they really work great for punching. And as a bonus you can also do any kettlebell exercise you can think of with them.

So get yourself a pair and start striking.

Take Care

Daniel Sambrano

http://www.superherosystems.com/

P.S. Don’t be like me and freak out the shoppers and the workers at Target by doing a quick workout with them in the aisle, trust me when I say they work great!

MyMuayThai asks if MMA is bad for muay thai

Muay thai blogger, and a leading resource for news on ring style mauy thai, MyMuayThai.com posted a contributed article  earlier this month arguing that MMA actually hurts muay thai. I, for one, am stoked that other muay thai bloggers are waking up to this reality.  I've made this point in previous posts, and received a fair amount of flack from the TapOut crowd. Thank you Mai for keeping the discussion going.

Here's a link to the article on MyMuayThai.com. It's fairly short and worth a read.


Donnie-

Source: MyMuayThai.com
http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/is-mma-counterproductive-to-muay-thai/

The Law of Impact, Street Fight vs Sport Fight

When it comes to accidents on the highway streets, the law of physics always favor the larger, heavier vehicles. Even though smaller compact vehicles are better on gas and can get you around town much easier.

But what these “Politically Correct” “Kumba Yah” type of vehicles seem to forget is that they can’t take too much impact especially when hit by a larger vehicle. It’s just the way it is, sorry. That’s why I drive a big powerful Dodge Truck with a Hemi Engine, it keeps me safe on the streets. And it’s the same way when it comes to striking someone in a vicious street- fight.

You better not have small weak, soft punches that are just meant to score points and look pretty moving fast. Or you’ll most likely find yourself laid out on the filthy ground wallowing in your own bloody self delusions, spitt’n teeth out. You need to have impact crushing, power generating fists that can hit with such brutal viciousness that it’s scarey to think what kind of damage you’ll cause to any fool who chooses to tangle with you.

You need to know what the majority of strikers don’t about how to generate maximum power in your punches. You need to be hitting like the fighters of old, legends like Dempsey, Marciano, Fitzsimmons, Choynski, Jeffries just to name a few. After all boxing was once upon a time taught for self protection, it was the martial art of the west.

Now it’s become a watered down version of it’s once powerful self, due to the way it’s being taught in the gyms across the country today. In WWI and WWII boxing was taught to the soldiers to teach them to have aggressive footwork and power in their fists but not to strike the enemy with but to use in bayonet trench fighting. That’s how important boxing was. It taught you how to prevail in a life and death situation.

Todays boxing only works well in the ring with a referee and with rules and let’s not forget boxing gloves. They tell you don’t hit with your barefists you’ll break your hands so you
don’t but you get into a streetfight and you end up with a broken nose, jaw or ribs, what a trade off! You're taught combinations that will win you the day in the ring but mess you up in a streetfight. You're taught rules that will make you a fair fighter and a sportsman but get your ass handed to you by some scum in the street who follows no rules, save one “the law of the jungle”.

Wake up! And pull your head out off your coaches ass and think for yourself for once. Fighting with rules and restraints, and using safety equipment is only going to get you hurt when reality hits you upside the jaw. So get some street smarts and learn to fight dirty using proven fighting methods that will teach you to be merciless to your enemy.

And be ready to answer the call of violence when it gives you a ring.

Daniel Sambrano

www.SuperHeroSystems.com

Thank you readers - OSMT enters Alexa's Top 1 million

Hey folks, a quick bit of news here. This blog, Muay Thai Beyond the Ring, has officially broken into the top 1 million visited websites on the Internet, as ranked by Alexa! Alexa is like the Nielsen Ratings of the web. I'm certainly stoked!

For the past two years, Daniel and I have been providing truly unique content on the subject of muay thai, peppered with a whole lot of street fighting theories, dirty boxing techniques, and simple methods to develop strength and speed without spending a ton of money on equipment.

We don't wear the thai shorts in our videos, and I'm a farang who lives, trains, and teaches in California. We believe in ending a fight as fast as possible through the use of older muay thai systems that we've been (seriously) lucky enough to have learned. Thanks for appreciating the simplicity and  efficiency that this system provides.

So I wanted to take a moment to thank you, the readers, those of you who participate with comments, the votes of confidence, even the rants from that one guy who was really, really upset regarding my opinions on the Fairtex franchise.

On behalf of myself, Daniel Sambrano, and my dog Bando - who is chewing on my arm as I type - THANK YOU!!!

Donnie Baker-

Change up your muay thai with the lost art of 'shifting'

Here's a post that Daniel drafted but hasn't posted yet. I've been busy with a move this week, and didn't have time to write a post from scratch. I went through this, added my own ideas & tips, so you're stuck with some really great advice, and a few of my snarky comments thrown in for good measure.
 
Definition: Changing foot position and stance in order to make your punches more powerful.

Shifting allows a fighter to remain in constant motion. You can attack, evade, and change leads while remaining rooted, centered, balanced and stable. You'll will be able to change sides and increase speed without sacrificing power. You be able to move faster without bobbing up and down. That bobbing is actually a drain of vital energy. You can change sides so that by the time your opponent realizes what has happened he has been hit many times.

Whether you're boxing, training MMA, or fighting muay thai, you can still switch sides easily and continue fighting without upsetting your  flow. It actually serves to confuse your opponent, throwing both his timing and balance off.

So, you want to throw strikes with significantly more power, eh? Shift your weight as you throw punches and elbows. Energy travels from the ground through every joint of the body and finally into the fists. If you're pivoting your hip while you strike, you're generating toque. If you're shifting your weight, which includes that whole 'mass x acceleration' bit, you're generating more force. If you add that torque to the drive and the shift you're got a little something called compound momentum. But I digress. I mean, what do a couple of muay thai instructors know about physics anyway? We'll save the compound momentum theory for another post.

By never having to re chamber or telegraph an attack, your punches come at you like a rattlesnake strike. Shifting is especially effective in a street fight, or multiple opponent situations, where continuous movement is an imperative. Also, think of this: in the ring, muay thai matches are a sort of gentleman's agreement. Both fighters square off and exchange blows back and forth. I don't care how conditioned I am, I hate getting hit. The less you get hit the odds f you winning and/or surviving go way up. If you shift or drive while you strike you move as you throw - meaning that after you've thrown that punch, you are not in the same place as you were when you started the technique.

Here's a litany of benefits that will improve your fighting abilities when you integrate shifting into your training regimen:

• Trains you to “hit off your move” with either fist, from any direction with power and stability
• Helps you develop “controlled aggression” in your power punching (another post for us to cover)
• Will confuse and frustrate opponents that know how to box or fight. Really effective in muay thai
• Allows you to hit from any position at any angle with either fist powerfully
• Shifting is a lost art that most have forgotten how to do or have never seen or heard of
• Teaches you to stay relaxed as you strike and move without telegraphing your intentions
• Brings your whole body weight explosively into your strikes as you fight
•  Teaches you to fight up close without worrying about what your opponent’s counter will be
•  Trains you to step with your punches instead of dancing around like a ballerina
•  Helps you become comfortable hitting while moving backwards, forward, laterally or diagonally without missing a beat

Shifting will make you a very dangerous fighter with no equal (at least at your gym).  It really will add a completely new dimension to your combinations and fight game. Combinations will flow more easily, and transitions from punches to knees to elbow to kicks will feel much more natural. Shifting trains you to become an ambidextrous fighter, which I cannot evangelize enough. You do not want to be a one-sided fighter.

I'll let Daniel's words send us off here. But as you read this, imagine a large, somewhat scary Hispanic man yelling at no one in particular, with an extra bit of emphasis in the 'And' that start each sentence. If you know Daniel, you understand.

"And finally if you’re not shifting, you’re not fighting as well as you could be, in other words your fighting sucks! And that will make you twice the fighter you are right now! So start shifting when you train; cause you don’t ever wanna meet a fighter who does."

Muay Thai Elbow Strike Instructional

Elbows have a reputation for being a dirty, but highly effective technique used to end a fight. Inherently, they're powerful strikes, but a common misconception in the MMA and mauy thai communities equate the size of the muscle to the power of the elbow. On the contrary, muscle mass has little to do with contributing to the overall power behind the elbow strike.

Instead of throwing your elbows as if you would a ball, concentrating you power in the upper arms and shoulders, think of the throwing the elbow strike with your entire body. Think rotational force, so instead of relying on arm strength alone, you're levering the rotation of your entire body, from the pivot on your feet, to the drive of your hips, and your entire upper body. The key is to learn to throw your muay thai elbow strikes with your entire body moving as one. Take a look at the little instructional video I did on the basic mechanics of the muay thai round elbow for your own training purposes.

Learn muay thai at home? Yeah, right.

I receive many emails from a lot of people from around the world who have the same problem - either they don't live anywhere near a gym, or local martial arts schools don't offer muay thai. In the face of this challenge, many turn to the Internet to learn from home.

I certainly sympathize with those of you who've reached out to me asking for advice on how you can train from home, however, I have a hard time subscribing to the theory that one can learn a martial art from a book or a video. It's pretty hard to find a video online that really breaks down the muay thai techniques for the purpose of actual instruction. I myself am guilty of throwing up videos in which I speak fast, I throw fast, and I don't lay out the mechanics of a given technique.

But recently, a YouTube subscriber of mine sent me a video of himself throwing shadow kicks that he had learned by watching my videos. And I was impressed. Maybe there is something to this whole idea of learning through video. Sure you don't get the feedback, and there is no way to tell what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, but by allowing me to watch his technique, I was able to provide him with detailed critiques and tips to help him improve.

So with that in mind, let's try an experiment, shall we? I posted a video that covers the basic mechanics in the old style muay thai round kick. It lacks the cool sound effects, and bag bashing, and the graphics, but it has the meat and potatoes that go into successfully knowing this technique.

If you choose to try it out, here's a few other tips to consider:

1. Open up your hips by turning your heel inward.
2. The pivot is the most important part of the kick.
3. Go slowly, it's harder that way, but you'll build the muscle and you'll develop better habits than rushing.
4. Spin all the way through. Go with the momentum.
5. It's alright if you feel off balance, you're actually supposed to be off your center.

Are you fighting, or just sparring?

If you're more than three feet apart in a street fight then your just sparring with each other, no if and's or buts about it. The funniest fights I would see where always when two so-called martial artists got into it in a street fight. They would be jumping up and down, moving all over the place, yelling and “kia-ing” all over the place. They pretty much never really hit each other, it always looked like a typical dojo sparring match.

The most lopsided fights would always be when one fighter knew some type of martial art and the other guy had some street fighting experience.

Inevitably the martial artist would get into a fighting stance and the other guy would just hit him from where he stood. He then would proceed to beat the snot out of the “Bruce Lee’ wanna be.

The best fights on the other hand would always be when two good street fighters would go at each other. They would attack each other like two rabid dogs trying to kill each other. The one who would prevail would usually be the one who would hit first and keep on punching the hardest and had the best conditioning. This is why sprinting is an important aspect your training, also blitzing on the heavy bag for 3-8 rounds of five to twenty seconds with a ten second rest.

Anaerobic endurance is a must when street fighting as you will be moving fast and viciously trying to take the other guy out! You need to be ballistic and have your wind to be able to knock out your adversary with power. This is why you need to be close enough to your opponent to finish him, otherwise your wasting your energy and putting yourself in more danger.

One drill you can do to help you mimmick a street fight is to get a piece of rope and tie it around your waist and around your partners waist with about three feet between you, then go at it for five to ten seconds for two to three rounds. This drill works great because it forces you to fight close and see what your made of and it trains you to take impact. When you move your partner moves with you and visa-versa, when you hit him he will be hitting you. And you’ll both be going all out on each other, in a very primal way.

And remember if your close enough to hit him, he’s close enough to hit you, so don't forget to keep your guard up. So get with your training partners and practice this drill and learn the difference between sparring and fighting.

Take care, train hard and don’t spar on the street, fight!

How your brain impedes your muay thai training

In the process of learning muay thai the most difficult part for us Westerners is our natural inclination to over analyze everything. And if you're an American, forget about it. Our society is driven by instant gratification. I mean, isn't there a cheat code or cliffs notes? Anything?

Muay thai is inherently foreign to the Westerner. The techniques require you to purposely put your self off balance, and the ultra aggressive nature of the system goes against what society has taught us growing up. For example, think about your personal space and how uncomfortable it was for you the first time you did a clinching drill with a fellow student who you didn't really know.

The techniques, from round kicks to elbow strikes are made up of many moving parts all working in unison, and it takes a while to get comfortable with moving your body in that somewhat awkward way. For example, they say it takes 10,000 reps of the muay thai round kick before you get to the point where you can throw the kick without thinking about the technique.

It's very easy to get frustrated with yourself over the course of your training (it usually kicks in around the 3rd month in). But it's that over analyzing, trying to break down every component of a technique is what throws you off track. Ideally, you while training techniques, you're thinking about anything other than the technique that your practicing. If you find yourself getting frustrated with yourself, here's a couple pointers that I've found works:

1. Don't spend too much time focusing on a trouble spot. For example, you aren't pivoting on a round kick. Work on it but spending too much time on one issue will likely leave you neglecting the other parts of the technique.

2. Don't rush it! Throwing a crappy kick really fast will in no way clean up your technique. It's easier to throw poor technique quickly than clean technique slowly. Take your time, you aren't in a race.

3. Hitting bags and pads is fun, it feels good - but shadowing the technique is where you really make strides in cleaning up your form. Never neglect your shadow training.

4. This is the hardest part. Once you've practiced enough to where your body can physically throw a technique correctly (you understand the mechanics), then stop thinking about the technique while you're training. The ultimate goal is for you to be able to execute any muay thai strikes, whether it be kicks, knees, elbows, body movement - without thinking. It just becomes a natural part of how your body moves. Thinking, and over-thinking your technique will actually impede this. So think about anything else other than the technique - girls, work, school, does Taco Bell really use fake beef?

5. Step one in transitioning from muscle memory to subconscious reaction is to train thai pad drills where your partner calls out combinations at a pace that tires you out. And after you've reached the point of exhaustion, you keep going - s/he increases the intensity/complexity of the combos. Its meant to push you beyond the point where your brain cannot process the incoming orders, and its your reptilian brain & your body simply moving on instinct and muscle memory. That's where the real learning takes place.

Donnie-

Are we all closet Fairtex mauy thai haters?

I'm a marketer by day, a chew toy for my dog by night, and a few evenings every week, I share my experience in muay thai with others. In marketing, I've learned that if your competitor mentions you (usually not in a nice way) in a press release, you've done your job.

So I'm about to make sure that someone at Fairtex has earned their paycheck. Someone out there has been going through my posts and pointing out on how I frequently rail against Fairtex, in particular. His/her name - Anonymous. So, Anonymous, here you go.

I agree with Anonymous on a number of points: I think that the popularity of muay thai is a great thing, I agree that 12 rounds of boxing isn't very efficient, and 2 guys grappling for extended periods of time in an MMA match isn't exactly the ideal way to handle a fight in the street.  I also understand that in Thailand, you grow up to either be a poor agrarian, get pulled into the sex trade, or, the only way out of poverty, train to become a muay thai fighter. Muay thai is the national sport and deep  rooted aspect of Thai culture, of which I have profound respect for. Otherwise I wouldn't have dedicated my entire adult life to learning and sharing muay thai.

My rationale is based on the the fear that mass commercialization of muay thai by profit driven enterprises such as Fairtex, Master Toddy, Tiger, MMA gyms etc., however much widespread attention it brings to the (sport, style, art, what have you), will have an effect similar to what the McDojo model did to TKD and Karate during the 1980's and 1990's. The retail muay thai gym business model is this: bring in 100 students: perhaps 3-5 of those 100 will become a champion fighter. Those fighters will bring in another 200 students, of which, another 3-5% will go on to be champion fighters. This stable of fighters will bring prestige to the gym, which will drive larger numbers of students - driving revenue, credibility and opportunity for expansion. This model is scalable in a business context, however, it makes it very difficult to maintain the quality of instruction over time. We can see this happening right now with Krav Maga. It's explosive popularity has made Krav THE system to learn for self defense. The path to instructor certification is fairly short, because the more paying certified instructors you have, the stronger the system (as an entity) will become. 

But popularity does not mean quality.

Here's a prime example: Master Toddy's instructor training program states "In 5 days you will learn what it normally takes 5 years to learn". The 5-day program comes with a price tag of $3,000. To me, Toddy's entire muay thai instructor / kru / ajarn program is entirely based on driving revenue. What can you really expect to absorb and how do you achieve long term retention over 5 days? Dude, proper elbow technique can't even be achieved in 5 days.

I'm just as passionate about muay thai as  you, Anonymous, but I'd say my passion has a different focus. That's all. Just like Ajarn Lek who works to preserve mauy chaiya, Tony Jaa who's done wonders to bring muay boran to a worldwide audience,  I work to spread the word about the older battlefield forms of muay thai (muay chao cherk) and demonstrate how muay thai can be integrated into effective close quarter combat. BTW - in no way am I putting myself on the same level as Tony Jaa and Ajarn Lek, however, I bet I'm taller than both of them.

There are a few others, like Daniel Sambrano who are willing to share for free...sort of. The price you pay - you have to listen to our rants about the bastardization of an ancient and inherently efficient fighting system.

 We all drink the muay thai kool-aid, just different flavors. As far as the fate of muay thai as a sport / martial art, all we can do is hope for  the best. And thanks, Anonymous for your comments.

Hit’em with the Ground or a Wall

Due to the popularity of MMA Fighting and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu many who get into streetfights today try to take their adversaries to the ground to subdue or finish them from there.

To me it just doesn’t make much sense to take someone down to the ground when you don’t have to.

Most will do it out of training habits, the way you train is the way you will fight, and others will do it because their opponent is getting the best of them.

And still others will do it because of getting into a clinch and not knowing how to fight at close quarters. But whatever the reason, you need to stay off the ground to have a better chance of surviving. Even if you don’t know how to punch and kick like a pro, you can still fight standing up and defeat your attacker in a vicious streetfight.

So how do you go about accomplishing this feat without getting yourself into more trouble?

Simple, learn to use your environment as a third arm or a fighting partner in a streetfight. Instead of punching your attacker in the face, grab his face with an open hand and slam the back of his head into a wall, or grab him by the back of the neck and slam his face into the wall. Use a light post, fence post, and street sign post to drive his shoulder or clavicle into it. Or corners of buildings, using stairs, cars, or maybe even the edges of tables to cause damage with. And speaking of damaging them, how about throwing the ground at them, by tripping them, slamming them or throwing them into the ground on their head, neck or shoulder.

All these suggestions can help keep you staying off the ground while at the same time putting them on it, hard. Learning to use the environment will give you a great advantage over your adversary in a streetfight. You will have an element of surprise on your side if you need to use it. As you train yourself to use the wall, buildings, cars, fences and the ground, you will find that it doesn’t take much on your part to use these structures and solid objects. You will find that there is allot of hurt you can cause before you need to flop on the ground.

While many will look at these tactics and call them dirty or cheating, just remember there are no rules in a street fight, so do what you need to do to get home to safety.

In a street fight there are usually multiple opponents you’ll have to contend with and some will have weapons, so even the odds by slamming one or two of them into a wall or car bumper and lower their numbers. If one of your limbs gets injured or broken your environment can come to your aid to help you prevail. If you slam them hard enough into a structure, it might be just enough to knock the fight right out of them.

So the next time you’re attacked and think you’re at a disadvantage think again the whole environment is just waiting to help you. You no longer have any excuses when it comes to your safety in a violent encounter. But remember environmental weapons are available to whoever is smart enough to use them; either it’s you or your adversary. Training in a well lit, cushioned training center will not prepare you for fighting in a dark and cold alley. Prepare yourself both mentally and physically by using environmental simulations in your training. Train yourself in confined and open environments, look for the advantages in these areas and learn to use them effectively.

Also learn how to counter your opponent if he uses the environment on you, be ready for this reality.

In conclusion street fighting is a lot more than using your fists, knees, head, elbows or kicks. Fighting dirty by using the environment will go along way in giving you the edge in a violent situation. So when the need arises don’t even hesitate for a second, hit’em with the ground or a wall and finish it quick.


Daniel Sambrano

www.SuperHeroSystems.com

Why You Don’t Hit With Intention

One thing people find hard to understand is the relationship of the mind -body connection.

The state of the mind affects the state of the body, and visa versa. It is important for you to understand just how much your mind goes into your strikes when you’re fighting. You cannot hit someone or something unless you first think about doing it in your mind; your fist just doesn’t shoot out and hit someone on its own. And the more intention you put into hitting harder the more of your mind goes into the strike.

So in all actuality when you hit someone with your fist, you are really hitting them with your mind. As strange and mystical as it sounds, this is the way it is. You punch with your mind first, not your fist. When you go to the gym and start mindlessly striking the focus mitts or heavy bag you do yourself a great disservice. You need to realize the capacity for the mind to react decreases in proportion to its intent to attack.

So the way you train is truly the way you will fight.

You need to learn to have that all important mind-body connection in your training, so that you will be able to move as one unit against your adversary with focus and intention. Because if you don’t, when you need to protect yourself against an attacker you won’t be able to coordinate your mind and your body effectively. Due to the rush of adrenaline coursing through your body and brain, you will be at best about as good as your worst performance in the gym. When you train focus on what you are doing, learn to put intention into your strikes and don’t just go through the motions as you throw your strikes. Be all there when you train, stay focused on what you’re doing and don’t get complacent with your training. Start to develop focused intention whenever you train, make it a habit and in time you will be doing it without much effort on your part.

You will be able to instantly “turn on” when the need arises and strike as one unit without much wasted effort and hit harder with full intention and commitment. Remember it all starts in the mind and translates through the body and out the fist into your adversary. So learn to be one with your punches and have hardcore intention with every strike you throw and let them feel what you’re thinking!

Daniel Sambrano
http://www.superherosystems.com/

How to Increase Your Striking Power Using Stairs

Question what’s easier, climbing up a flight of stairs or coming down them?

Obviously coming down the stairs is easier than going up them.

Now why is that? Because coming down the stairs uses less energy due to gravity.

Also the majority of your weight comes forward as you step down and it takes less muscular force to do it with.

In boxing one of the lost arts of the sweet science is “Drop Stepping” with your punches, particularly the lead left, it has become a weak version of its once powerful self.

Sure many will argue, but I step with my jabs all the time when I punch or others will say but if I step with my jab it just slows me down.

Now while all these are legitimate arguments, if you are just stepping you’re only using a fraction of your potential power.

Now there is a big difference between stepping and drop stepping and that difference is like night and day.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a street fighter, amateur/pro boxer or MMA fighter if you don’t understand how to drop step you’re leaving a large amount of knock out power on the table.

So let me teach you a drill that will help you find that long lost power potential in your strike.

And it all starts with finding a set of stairs to step off of to develop this power.

Drop Step Drill #1

The first thing you’ll need to do is find a platform to stand on, it should be about 6-12 inches high.

A set of books, phone books, mats or stairs will do.

Next stand on the platform, feet parallel to each other, shoulder width apart.

Take a long step (3-4 feet) and slap the ground flat footed with your left foot.

Hold the position for about 5 seconds to stabilize yourself.

You should have the left foot flat on the ground and the right foot still on the platform with the heel raised.

Repeat the drill 5-10 more times before switching to the right foot.

Do this drill everyday for 2 weeks or until it feels natural to you.

Extra Tips

· As you do the drill make sure as you step down you don’t raise your knee upward, just drop forward as if you tripped over something.
· Shift all your weight forward as you step and slap the ground flat footed.
· Breathe out forcefully as you drop step thru your pursed lips, this will brace the abs and lower your center of gravity.
· Stay as relaxed as you can through out the drill.
· Make sure to practice the drill equally with both feet.

Drop Step Drill #2

Once it becomes easy to do the first drill it’s time to move on.

Stand on the flat ground feet parallel to each other, shoulder width apart.

Have a training partner stand behind you, now while staying as relaxed as possible with your eyes closed, and have him push you on the back of your lead or right shoulder.

As you did on the platform, take a long step and slap the ground flat footed with the lead foot.

Hold for a few seconds and repeat, do this for 10 repetitions, then do the other foot.

Extra Tips

· Remember to shift your weight forward as you step.
· Don’t raise your knee; you’re using your hip to step with not your knee.
· When you land bend your knees slightly; you want to feel springy.
· Stay relaxed, the more relaxed you are the quicker your drop step will be.
· Once it starts to feel easy to do start shortening the step to 2-3 feet or less.

Adding the Pow!

Once you get used to drop stepping start adding your straight punches.

The jab, cross and overhand right all work well with the drop step.

Just make sure your strike lands a split second before your foot slaps the ground or you’ll lessen the force of the strike.

Yes the hook and uppercut work well with the drop step, just make sure you learn to shift your weight as you strike.

Use a heavy bag, focus mitts, maize bag, and leather medicine ball to strike on.

Take your time with these pieces of equipment as your fists and body will be striking harder than they ever have.

So they must get used to the impact and concussive shock of your power.

To All The Naysayers Listen Up!

Now while some will say this style of striking is slow, don’t pay attention to them because they’ve never been hit like this before.

You see the force of a drop step punch is so powerful that it can stun and unbalance a person to the point that it freezes them in place like a statue.

They will be literally anchored to the ground and won’t be able counter the punch as easily as they think they can.

Even if they take the hit, they will be so unbalanced and de-stabilized by the strike that their timing and distancing will be off.

I’ve seen people go into a standing fetal position or just stand there frozen in time after being hit by a drop step straight left.

This is something a jab can never do because it wasn’t designed to have any knock out power.

So keep practicing this drill to improve the power of your strikes.

In Conclusion

The drop step drills will help you become a more powerful and dangerous striker just like the great power punches of the past.

Now there is no excuse for you to have a weak punch and not be able to generate enough force to knock someone out.

So find some stairs and get to stepping!


Daniel Sambrano
http://www.superherosystems.com/

Don’t Ask the Learned Ask the Experienced

I remember when I was going to high school we had a teacher who coached the swim team. Now the strange thing about it was he didn’t know how to swim! How crazy was that?

But as crazy as that was there are martial arts students who are learning how to defend themselves from people who haven’t a clue about whether what they are teaching works or not. Not only is this crazy but it’s also downright dangerous. Learning from the experienced instead of the learned tends to help cut through a lot of the B.S. As masters of mayhem and violence they tend to flesh out and put a face on violence. They help fill in the gaps between the what ifs and the what is.

It helps you to view violence from a correct point of view; you get a lifetime of learning if you pay attention to what they have to say. And if you’re lucky enough you’ll learn the differences between being experienced and having wisdom. It’s been said “Experience is what man calls his mistakes” and “wisdom is learning from others experience”. In reality there are things a book or a DVD can’t explain, teach, or show you. Such as seeing the fear in your enemies’ eyes or the moment you take his spirit and gain the advantage. Or the sound a head makes as it hits the pavement or slams against the wall in a dark alley. Or what it feels like to be stabbed or shot, these things can be best explained by those who have been through it first hand.

I have had students ask me for advice based on my experiences on various situations. Things like dealing with bullies, multiple opponents, guns, knives, fights at parties or bars etc. I tell them the ugly truth about each situation, not the politically correct version. It's important that know what they’re getting themselves into and the options that they have to get themselves out of it, if need be. Much of the advice comes from what I would call the “Grey side of the law”. I have learned from experience that this was the quickest way to get out of a dangerous situation. After all are you going to wait around for the police to show up to save the day, especially when you have two or three dudes kicking and stomping you into the ground? It's faster and easier to pick up a brick or a bottle to even the odds and get to safety. The learned can only guess as to what to do in a dangerous situation, while the experienced can tell you exactly what to do to survive and prevail.

While I don’t have any letters before or after my name such as PHD. or DR., I do have those that do, come to me to teach them how to defend themselves. And why is that? Because you don’t ask the learned you ask the experienced!

Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

Dead Man Fighting

In a streetfight you must be able to move smoothly and quickly without hesitation on your part.

You must be explosive with your punches and put your weight behind each strike for maximum power output. You don’t want to be spending all night kicking someone’s ass; you want to get it done as quickly as possible.

So the worst thing you can do to hinder your survival in a streetfight is fight from a “Dead Stance”. A dead stance is one that lacks explosive power and is weak in movement and intent.

A streetfight can be very chaotic, dangerous and unpredictable, so when you need to move, you need to do it instantly. Your fighting stance needs to be spring loaded and ready to explode into action. If your fighting stance can’t produce this for you then you’ll be fighting and moving like you’re stuck in mud.

Now being explosive and spring loaded doesn’t mean that you should be dancing or bouncing around your adversary, never do that in a streetfight unless you have a death wish. What I am saying is learn to spring load your stance so that you only move when you need to. And that means training to “Load” your stance to make it explosive and powerful. Here are some ways to load your stance to make you more explosive when you fight.

· Squeeze your inner thighs slightly. These are the muscles that help drive power into your punch.

· Sit on your punch. Bend your knees slightly to give your legs more spring and lower your center of gravity.

· Squeeze your butt cheeks and anal sphincter slightly. This will engage your posterior chain of muscles which will help drive your body forward.

· Grab the ground with your feet. Paw the ground with your toes to help drive the body explosively.

· Push off with the big toe of your foot. This powerful muscle will help get you moving.

· Drive from the hips. Explode from your center to bring your whole body into the movement.

· Raise the rear foot slightly off the ground. This will help to propel you forward more quickly. Just make sure you push off the ground as you move.

Use this information to load your stance and become a more explosive fighter. But a word of warning; while being explosive in your movement is very important, so is being able to control it. But that’s a subject for another time, just be aware of it.

In closing I’ve given you enough information to resurrect your dead stance and make it more dynamic and explosive. It’s up to you now, add these skills to your streetfighting arsenal and don’t ever get caught being a dead man fighting.

Daniel Sambrano

www.SuperHeroSystems.com

The Confusion of Punching Naked

Every time I teach a new student the martial concepts and principles of fist fighting, they are very surprised at how much information they are given and how much power they are able to generate so quickly. But the students that are the most surprised are those that know how to box. Most have never heard or seen any of the techniques or concepts that I teach on fist fighting.

There are two reasons for this; first what I teach is almost 100 years old if not older, and has been forgotten, not taught or abandoned. Second, most fighters learn the sport of boxing in its modern form due to reason number one. One important thing I want you to consider is that bare knuckle boxing and modern boxing are two different animals. It’s like comparing apples and oranges, they are both fruit but they are different types of fruit. Both types of punching have different goals in mind; therefore have different ways of striking and finishing a fight. So trying to compare the two will just confuse and keep you in the dark, they are both separate and different entities.

Bare-knuckle boxing has been tried and tested in both combat and street-fighting and has stood the test of time. This is why I chose to teach the bare-knuckle form of fighting as opposed to the gloved modern form. It just makes more sense to teach a form of fighting that doesn’t use hand protection to defend itself from attack. Especially, since you won’t be walking around town with gloves on ready to fight. There are concepts and techniques from modern boxing I wouldn’t think of using in a street-fight to defend myself with. For example, I wouldn’t throw jabs or hooks to the head, also I wouldn’t come at my opponent like they do at the beginning of each round. I won’t dance around on my toes against my opponent or hold my hands in a typical boxers guard.

But then again in modern boxing I wouldn’t use many techniques or concepts of bare-knuckle boxing such as head butting, eye gouging, holding, hitting below the belt, rabbit punching, biting, tripping or throwing my opponent to the ground on his head, shoulder or neck. Although both styles of punching may seem similar on the surface, they are miles apart in their tactics, techniques and strategies when it comes to fighting. And those differences make each style both unique and important to pursue separately; that is until you can understand and appreciate each one. “The way you train is the way you will fight” is a saying that holds much truth in both styles of striking.

So if you are training for sport choose the modern form of boxing and if you are training for the self protection aspect choose the bare-knuckle version. I’m sure you will be pleased with the results if you heed my advice and train accordingly. And always remember “The right tool for the right job”, definitely applies here.

Stay safe and train hard.

Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

My next muay thai video - elbow knee combos

The poll results are in and your voice has been heard. According to your votes, I'll shoot a 2 part series on elbow & knee striking combo drills, and I'll also begin to shoot basic multiple opponent tactics drills. The multiple opponents concepts goes pretty deep with a wide number of factors to consider - but we can at least get it started, right?

If you are a subscriber to my blog I'll email you a training and drill regimen PDF as a holiday gift for being a loyal reader.. If you want to be included in this offer, simply subscribe to the blog.

Folks, this is my blog, and by know you know that I could care less about training for sport or MMA. But this is also your blog. So, I encourage you to reply to posts, or send me a message with your own thoughts and ideas about muay thai, street fighting, self defense, and yes, spicy food.

I'm humbled and thankful that you take your time to read my rants, so let me return the favor - don't be shy about posting your rants!

Ballerina Fighting

Why Fighting on Your Toes is Not Combat Effective

The Art of Movement
Whatever style of stand-up fighting you train in, you have been taught footwork; the art of how to move. The majority of time you’re taught to stay on your toes or the balls of your feet. The reason being it makes you quicker and lighter on your feet. Watch any boxer or mma fighter with great footwork do his thing and he’ll make his opponent look like he’s standing still or moving in slow motion.

The Crutch
But the thing you need to pay close attention to is the surface on which he’s moving on. More than likely that surface will tend to be flat, firm and tight, whether on canvas or vinyl. This is the best type of surface when it comes to fighting for sport competition. While it does have its advantages it can become a crutch and liability when it comes to street-fighting on surfaces that aren’t so smooth and flat.

My Story
Many years ago I use to train in an alley behind my home and sparred and fought with many different styles of martial artists, boxers and street-fighters. I was fortunate to be able to train on different surfaces in that alley, as spartan as it was. You see one area was very gravely, while another side was grassy, still another area was thick asphalt that was sticky.

Then there was an area that was missing chunks of asphalt and it had gravel and dirt in the holes and cracks. There was also a cement slab that was flat and smooth but had a lot of dust on it which made it very slippery. And finally there was an area that was uneven and sandy. I would go out to that alley and train my footwork on all those different surfaces.

I would shadow fight, pivot, and kick figuring out what worked and what didn’t work on those surfaces. I got so good that when I would spar with someone I would watch how he moved and based on that I would guide him to the area that would nullify his footwork and style. For instance if he was a kicker I would fight him on the gravel or the dusty cement floor. If he was a shuffler I would fight him on the sticky asphalt or gravel. And if he fought on his toes or the balls of his feet, I would fight him on the uneven sandy surface or the area with the missing chunks of asphalt. Opponents with wider stances, I would fight on the smooth flat dusty cement slab. Opponents with a more narrow stance I would fight on the sand or uneven area.

Wow! I just gave you a lot of information on fighting on different surfaces.

Go back and re-read this last section, there is so much to learn from my alley fighting days.
By the way the best footwork pattern I used on all these surfaces was…

Change Up
Before I spill the beans, I just want to make sure that you understand that if you are accustomed to fighting on smooth flat surfaces, you'd better change up.

Fighting on the street or fighting for your life is a lot different than fighting to win a round or trophy. So is the surface you'll find yourself fighting on. I suggest that you start training seriously on different surfaces and find out what works and doesn’t because the worse time to figure it out is in the middle of a fight. Experience is the worst teacher, because it gives you the test before you learn the lesson.

Get Outside

So go outside your gym, pick a surface and start working on your footwork and fighting style.
Then find a different surface you haven’t trained on and practice on it. Learn to get comfortable on uncomfortable surfaces with your fighting skills.

Partner Training

Find a workout partner and have him slowly attack you like as if it were a real fight and see how you adapt to your environment. Once you get use to it have him go harder and faster, look for the flaws in your fighting and fix it. Throw your punches, knees, elbows, and kicks, try everything you would do in a real fight on these surfaces.

Learn what it is that will keep you alive, if and when the need arises.

What Worked for Me
Now, the footwork pattern that worked best for me was a more flat footed, stomping type of movement. Also a slightly raised heel footwork pattern worked. These two types of footwork worked for me based on how I fought.

I encourage you to stop dancing like a ballerina and train your footwork for combat, and learn what works best for you.

Now step to it.


Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

Fist Fighting Basics

People seem to think they know about something simply because they have seen, read, or have participated in a similar thing.

In fist fighting many seem to think they know how to do it simply because they have boxed before or have seen it.

You see the problem arises because many equate boxing with fist fighting, now while they may look the same there is a vast difference between the two.

In this article I’m going to go over some of the basics of fist fighting.

I will explain the why of fist fighting and not just the how to, because once armed with this information you will not only know what the difference is.

But why there is a difference.

Because whether you know it or not, know one ever gets into a street-fight wearing boxing gloves and wraps.

First Things First

The first thing you need to learn is how to make a fist.

You must roll a fist as opposed to clenching a fist, rolling causes your fist to be rock hard.

And when you roll a fist your back knuckles tend to stick out further then if you just clenched your fist.
This will cause more damage to your opponent when you strike him.

The Angle of The Dangle

Next is the angle of the fist, there is basically three ways to throw a fist: Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal.

If you throw a horizontal punch to the head like a boxer you will have a bigger chance of breaking or injuring your fist.

Striking with a vertical or diagonal fist position is the better way, both are anatomically stronger than the horizontal position.

But for close range punching use the diagonal fist position it is the most dangerous position in fist fighting.

Both the vertical and the diagonal positions fit the contours of the face, not so with a horizontal fist.

The horizontal fist works best striking anywhere below the clavicles and not to the face or head.

Knuckle Up

The next thing to learn is which knuckles to strike with.

Basically there are three ways to do it: First Two Knuckles, Last Three Knuckles and All Four Knuckles of the fist.

The one most used by bare-knuckle boxers was the last three knuckle version.

This was the most anatomically correct position to punch from and the strongest, not to mention the most natural
position to strike from.

On Guard!

Now lets adjust the guard position, you need to keep your fists away from your face.

The lead fist should be about a foot and a half away from the face.

The rear fist is about half a foot away from the face below the chin level.

If you hold your fists to close to your face like a boxer it makes it easier to get hit in the face since you’re not wearing big bulky gloves to hide behind.

The only time you should bring your hands closer to your face is when in close to your opponent.

Chin Up

Next don’t tuck your chin too deeply into your chest, you won’t be able to rotate your shoulders very quickly, which in turn will slow your punches up.

You’ll be putting the breaks on your punches and your power.

Just keep the chin lightly tucked and learn how to slip, duck, and bob ‘n weave in other words move the head!

Final Thoughts

Other things to consider are pointing the knuckles in the direction you want to hit.

This will make you strike faster and with more power plus it will hide your intentions from your opponent.

Strike with the back knuckles of the fist, this will cause more damage to your opponent.

Learn to breathe from the belly, this will help keep you from hyperventilating and train you to keep your mouth shut.

Keep your shoulders rolled down, not raised up.

This keeps the shoulder girdle connected to the torso for increased power in your punches.

Conclusion

I hope you’re starting to understand that there is a lot to fist fighting than just putting up your dukes and boxing.

You need to separate the glove from the fist, the sport from combat, and boxing from pugilism.

These are just some of the basics that you need to know for fist fighting.

Hopefully this will spur you on to research how the bare-knuckle fighters of the past fought and what tactics and tricks they used to defeat their adversaries.

But more importantly that this information will be used by you to make you a better and more dangerous fist fighter.

After all I’ve never been attacked by someone wearing boxing gloves in the streets, have you?


Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

The Warrior Stick

Do you have a hard time with your footwork or body movement when you clinch, punch, elbow, knee, kick or throw?

Do you gas out easily from countering takedowns or clinches?

Does it take you longer to recover from having to continuously use bursts of energy while sparring or training hard?

In a street-fight all of these things can cost you if you’re not conditioned for it.

The drill I’m going to teach you will help you in all these areas plus so much more.

It will develop your footwork, body movement, balance, stability, agility, aggressiveness, strength and endurance.

Not bad for a piece of equipment that costs around 10 bucks to make.

Stick Grappling

Stick grappling is a drill that mimics the movements of a fight and the energy expenditure.

You can adjust the intensity of the drill depending on your state of conditioning.

What makes the drill work is that your training partner will go as hard as you do and visa-versa.

Just like in a street-fight were your adversary will be going at 100% to take you out.

While the drill can be tough it still is very safe for the two participants.

How To Make One

Go to your local hardware store and purchase a wooden dowel rod or thick PVC tubing about 3 feet long and 1½ inches in diameter.

Sand down any rough edges if needed, be careful about using thinner dowel rods, they will cut into fingers and palms due to the force exerted in the drill.

Better to use thicker dowel rods which will help build up fingers, wrists, grip and forearm strength.

How To Drill It

To do the drill, have each participant grab the ends of the stick in an offset hand position.

Then set a timer for 1-3 minutes and go as hard as you can, pushing and pulling your partner forward, back, side to side, circling and pivoting.

If one partner falls down or ends up on his knees he loses.

You can raise the stick up and down, side to side as you move, this drill mimics how it feels to get into a street-fight and get pulled and pushed around as you fight.

You will get stronger from head to toe in a short amount time, do 1-3 rounds, once or twice a week.

Added Benefits

One excellent thing stick grappling does is it teaches you to pay close attention to your center of gravity.

If it’s too high you’ll be thrown around like a rag doll.

In a street-fight if your center is high and you get hit with a powerful haymaker even if you block it, it will unbalance you.

Especially if the guy throwing it is bigger or weighs more than you do.

It also enhances your anaerobic endurance by the constant bursts of energy used in the drill, just like in a street-fight.

And it will train you to recover quickly and stay focused.

In Conclusion

This drill works great for Boxers, Muay Thai Fighters, Grapplers, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Stylists.

And if you’re a street-fighter or self defense specialist this drill will enhance your tactical skillset.

So try it and see how the warrior stick betters your fight game.


Daniel Sambrano

http://www.superherosystems.com/