MMA events banned in Bangkok, YES!

I've taken a lot of heat for publicly expressing my position that MMA is damaging to muay thai's image. And don't get me started on my opinion on how the "use" of muay thai in MMA fights is a ridiculously poor representation of the Thai national sport.

Well this morning I received some great news. The Bangkok Post reported yesterday that the Sport Authority of Thailand (SAT), essentially the government agency that regulates sports in the country has banned any and all MMA events to take place in Bangkok. According to SAT deputy governor, Sakol Wannapong, "Organising a MMA event here would hurt the image of Muay Thai."

Sakol also claims that mixed martial arts would mislead the public to think that muay thai is brutal. I don't exactly buy that given that muay thai isn't exactly a kissing contest. I believe that the government agency saw that what are called muay thai strikes in MMA bouts doesn't resemble muay thai, thus watering down their national sport, and a major component of Thailand's heritage.

Read the entire Bangkok Post article

The way I see it, this is validation of my longstanding opinion.

So, to all of the MMA fanboys - sporting your RVCA hoodies, with your TapOut flat brimmed cap (tipped askew for additional douchy toughness) - this is difficult to say, but... I kinda told you so.

Women's self defense classes are essentially useless

Let me start with this: My entire world view on fighting is has always been, and continues to be based on one simple concept: I fight to ensure that I or that those close to me survive a known threat.

It was recently brought to my attention that I should read a recent column by Susan Schorn, an author and a black belt who has written extensively on women and fighting, and has instructed women's self defense programs. The article, appropriately titled Fuck the dude up, hits the nail on the head.

The majority of my experience as an instructor can be broken out into 3 types of students:
1. The civilian who has recently been victim of an attack or intimidation, or anticipates the like
2. Operators, who, for a living, must fight to survive at one time or another. Attackers are not people, they're simply targets, and multiple attackers equate to a target rich environment in which, if you're efficient & given favorable environmental factors, you have a tactical advantage. This group can separate the human element of fighting, in which they tuck away any trepidation with regard to causing irreparable harm to another person. They can switch seamlessly between states of calm and ultra-aggressive.
3. Law enforcement and protection professionals who, by law, are constrained to how much damage they can inflict upon an another person... This is where escalation of violence and suppression, containment & control are the key goals.

My Wake Up Call
But then I volunteered to host a woman's self defense seminar at a InnVision, a woman's shelter in the Bay Area..

The group of women I worked with at the women's shelter, were by definition, feral. Most of them had been attacked, not by some random stranger roaming a college campus, but by their husbands, boyfriends, even their own children. The stories and situations that these women laid out before me as we went through the class blew my mind. Here are but a few examples:

We're covering basics of the ' what if your attacker has a knife." After going through some basic concepts about covering major arteries, some poses this: "What if the knife is already stuck in your back? It was between my shoulder blades. What should I have done?" HOLY SHIT! Remember, this is not some guy whose spent his adult life in active duty. This is a twenty-something year old girl.

Alright, so ladies, suppose you're on the ground and your attacker is on top of you? Um, yeah.  A question I fielded was the following: "So, I was knocked down and on my back, and my boyfriend had his boot on my chest and was punching me in the face."

I, literally walked away from that class with the scars to prove how violence was a significant part of their lives.

Now, I have 2 sisters, no brothers. I grew up with women. I have an overdeveloped protective sense for the women in my life. For me that was it. Fuck the rules. Fuck the need to speak to an attorney after-the-fact. If met with force, you must react with equal force. That's it. It is so important that I stress to women that you must first give off the air of someone not to be trifled with, but if you are attacked, you have to respond with an overwhelming act of aggression.

The Cornered Cat
Have you ever had to deal with a cornered animal? Even if you're trying to help, it perceives you as a threat. For example, a cat will shred you up and down until you back off. The mentality is a healthy dose of fight instead of flight.

The thing about classic women's self defense training covers basic stuff like go for the groin - news flash, when a guy is adrenalized, a shot to the nuts may or may not do anything, other than piss him off. Good job, now he wants to rape you, and he's pissed. I agree completely with her observation that law enforcement will not pursue your claims unless a) an officer witnessed the assault, or b) you captured it on video. Do you have any idea how much paperwork goes into logging a complaint?

I strongly urge you away from my blog - read Susan's article, it's long, but if you trudge through my posts, you'll have no problem with her article. It's well written and takes you through her thought process to a final conclusion that fending off to escape is not realistic. Reading her article is like receiving validation for what we've been preaching. Fuck him up, cause noticeable damage to connect him to his crime. Don't let him walk away - instead of becoming a victim, let your reaction be that of the aggressor. A man who tries to rape or sexually assault a woman deserves to be given a severely strong message that his actions can bring about unanticipated, and possibly permanent consequences.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from Schorn's article. Now go read.

"I’ve written before about research showing that fighting back, hard and immediately, gives a woman her best chance of surviving an assault. My own limited experience with fighting has tended to agree with the research. Now I’m starting to believe that a fast, committed, devastating response might also give other women their best chance of avoiding future assaults from the same assailant.
I keep looking for a downside to this theory, and I don’t see it. If I fuck the dude up, I’m more likely to survive. If I fuck the dude up, other women are marginally less likely to be his victims in the future. It’s a win-win."

Muay Thai Academy open house on March 31st

Update - 3/28 - There will be a ton of Mexican food catered (for free).... please come hungry. Donnie-

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, feel free to stop by the Muay Thai Academy International in Santa Clara. We're having an open house Saturday March 31st from 1pm till, i don't know, around 4pm. We're celebrating the move into our new, much larger training facility, our 22nd year in operation ***BRAG STAT ALERT*** Muay Thai Academy International is the oldest, longest running muay thai school in North America. For those who have trained at MTAI can feel proud to be a part of that legacy. Alright, enough blah blah blah... here's the skinny:
RSVP on Facebook

Where:  
Muay Thai Academy International
320 Martin Avenue Suite D, Santa Clara, California 95050 
We're right behind the San Jose Airport. Very inconspicuous, no signage - on purpose - so trust your GPS

*Here's a little teaser of the new training facility*

When:
Saturday March 31, 2012 1pm-4pm
What & Why?
For MTAI students: This is your chance to show your friends & family what you mean when you try to explain what muay thai for the street means!

For the who are curious about what Daniel & I have been blogging about for years: Come meet us! This isn't a recruiting event, its more like an opportunity for knowledge sharing. 

We'll have the floor open for training, instructor demonstrations on open hand, weapon & multiple opponent tacticts with MTAI's owner, alonf with Daniel, and Donnie, as well as knowledge sharing with Mr. Gober, Sifu Le and Guro John Ward. So, we will have subject matter experts from other fighting systems present.

Oh yes. There will be food. But the real reason is to get together. As anyone who as ever trained with us knows, once a member of the MTAI, always a member.  Past, present, future, and never-plan-to-become students are welcome to attend. We would love to catch up with you!

And I know how much you miss throwing an up elbow/down elbow/switch knee combo... RSVP on Facebook

Bareknuckle boxing for the street

Daniel debuts his video on how to punch with real power. Having first hand experience on the receiving end of his strikes, I can attest that his techniques work. Even smaller people who use his street methods of punching are no fun to fight with. I equate to being hit by a polar bear.

In this video Daniel shows how to punch via the two knuckle or three knuckle landing. He explains how to punch bare-knuckle using the three knuckle landing and why. He also covers the difference between each type of fist position.

Each strike has it's advantages, that's why I don't tell anyone not to use the two knuckle landing, because it does work. Just keep an open mind and try using the three knuckle landing or as Jack Dempsey called it "The Power Line".

Daniel is a walking encyclopedia on street fighting with the bona fides to back it up. It's a long video, but well worth the time as I guarantee you will learn something new.



And see if it doesn't increase your punching power for boxing or for street-fighting.

Maize Bag Punching Drill

Here's a how-to drill using the Maize Bag that trains your timing, footwork, distance, and punching skills. Working with a partner, strike the bag and hit it towards your partner as he in turn does the same to you. Below  are a few pointers:

- You can move in any direction as you hit the bag, also you can hit the bag with any strike you choose.

- Just keep moving and striking the bag with one or both fists.

- You can do this drill for 1-3 minute rounds or for short bursts of 10-30 second rounds.

- The nice thing about this drill is that you can go as hard as you want without hurting each other and get a good workout in the process.

Another variation you can do is to have only one partner hit the bag while the other punch blocks or click blocks the strikes. And don't forget to hit the bag with proper fist placement or you'll pay the price instantly for not doing it right.

(Donnie's note) This drill works with elbow strikes as well, just keep in mind that you may find yourself chasing the bag around more than you will with punches. It's a great drill whether you box, train muay thai, or if you're into MMA.

So get yourself a Maize Bag and a willing partner and have at it, I promise you'll have an awesome time!

Take care

Daniel~

Practice makes perfect in muay thai

Just posted this on my Facebook page, but it's worth stating again...

Experts say that to become proficient at a technique, you have to do it 10,000 times. Try 400 round kicks twice a week over 3 months=9,600 kicks! Combine shadow and bag/pad drills. This helps develops muscle memory, but it takes time and repetition to make an kick, elbow, knee a subconscious movement. Do this for 1 year and you'll have done 38,400 kicks, or elbows, or knee strikes!

Americans demand instant gratification... that may be our greatest weakness as a society. 

Training martial arts, in our case - muay thai - is an discipline that that requires time and repetition in order to gain any proficiency. We live busy lives and it's easy to get wrapped up in the "instant expert concept" (I may have just coined a term here), but rushing through your training only defeats the original purpose you set ot to begin with. 


Take the the whole CrossFit craze for example. In the early days the daily exercises were nearly impossible for anyone to achieve, but as my friend James Merrick pointed out to me, as CrossFit became more popular and average Joe's and Jane's signed up the exercises became less straining. And today it's all about who can finish their circuits in the fastest time. It's about being on the top if the leader board. It does not help you in the long term if you can do 35 shitty pull ups faster than the other soccer moms and gym rats at the CrossFit center. Your body and technique benefits much more from doing less, but doing it with the proper technique, and eventually doing more over time. Need I mention the decreased risk of injury as well?


Same goes for your muay thai training. You can apply my concept of 10,000, but do it methodically. Don't rush through the 400 technique repetition just to get through it. You won't learn well that way. Practice the shadow of the strike, focusing on the technique and the bio mechanics that make that strike or body movement work. 


When you strike pads or bags don't think of it of an attempt to pull a Buakaw, pulling off 65 kicks in 60 seconds. Instead, I urge you to take on the mindset of making each kick, knee or elbow you throw the absolutely most powerful strike you can throw. If working on thai pads, if your kick didn't drive your partner back, then that should piss you off. Each strike that doesn't knock your partner back should strengthen your resolve to hit harder, spin faster turn your hip over earlier, all in an effort to knock the bastard down.  Then go back to the shadow technique and monitor any improvements, and keep an eye on bad habits.  


The shadow helps you perfect technique, the hard drills force you to throw under pressure and internalize the movements.  


Getting to the point where you are proficient in the key muay thai strikes and defensive movements takes time, a ridiculous amount of patience, and perpetual repetition. Yes, you can become proficient at muay thai much faster than other classic martial arts. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a program.  

It's not the size of the fighter or the size of the muscle that makes a strike powerful. It's recognizing the physics and bio mechanics behind the technique. It's remaining cognizant of those mechanics when practicing the technique, slowly, building speed as you become more comfortable. It's the unending repetition of said technique. It's the practice of the technique with the full intent of destroying your target (again, repetition). It's the continuous employment of the technique under simulated high stress situations. That combination of practices will work to make the movement, the mechanics, the intent of that technique a part of your subconscious. That's the ultimate goal: To throw a kick, or a combination of techniques rapidly, powerfully, and efficiently, without thinking at all about what your doing because it's become a  natural movement to you. You'll be busy processing other bits of information such as, identifying other threats, looking or escape routes, identifying witnesses, video surveillance systems, items to use as weapons if it gets heavy. 


In short: Think quality over quantity in terms of speed. But in the long run, large quantities of high quality will get you to where you really want to be. 


Donnie-

2011 Holiday gift guide for the muay thai enthusiast

It's been a couple years since I posted a muay thai holiday gift guide...whoops.  I'm back at it, and that's all that matters, right?

So, you want to get a gift for someone in your life who either trains muay thai, or is a fan of the combat sport, but what the hell is muay thai, and where do you start looking? Perhaps you train, and you want to give your girlfriend or grandma some ideas of what you want for Christmas. My grandma Baker would get me corduroy pants every year without fail. Let's avoid that happening to you.

Muay Thai Hoodie

Its hard to go wrong with this gift that can be worn year-round. Amazon.com carries a fairly good selection of muay thai logo hoodies and crew neck sweatshirts. This yellow hoodie is a little pricey at USD49.99. I found a version in black for USD21.90 and and I love it. You can find the yellow sucker here.

Twins Pro Boxing Gloves

I've been training and teaching muay thai for half my life. I've used pretty much every brand of boxing and muay thai  gear imaginable, and when it comes to boxing gloves nobody, and I mean nobody, beats Twins. The prices are fair, especially when you compare them to brands like Everlast. 

For North American shoppers I recommend going through TitleBoxing.com - you'll pay around USD60.00 for them. Twins can be found for about half the price on sites like MuayThaiStuff.com, but chances are slim you'll get them by  Christmas as all orders ship from Thailand and take minimum 3 weeks to get to the USA.

The Ong Bak  DVD Set (Kinda like the Stars Wars trilogy for muay thai fans)

If you're not sure exactly what to get the muay thai fan in your life, this is easily your safest bet. There is no way you can go wrong with the box set of all three Ong Bak films that delivers the best demonstration of the older muay thai systems (except for Ong Bak 2 where Tony Jaa tries to cover practically every martial art in existence). But seriously, you're guaranteed to make the recipient of this gift happy (I'll take a copy please).  This link is for my readers in the UK, I really appreciate your loyalty :)

 Namman Thai Boxing Liniment

Thai boxing liniment is a great stocking stuffer, and is the fastest way into a muay thai practitioner's heart. It's true value is known only to those who've been initiated, but once you understand it's benefits it becomes a general cure all for all aches and pains. You have to be careful from who you buy Thai liniment as it is largely overpriced, considering a 120cc bottle sells in Thailand for less than 2 dollars, however online merchants will mark up the price to as much as $15 for the same product that may be past it's expiration date. Here's a site that offers decent prices, and their online store is protected by Thawte SSL, so you can be sure your data is secure.

Competitive Ace is the official North American dealer for Namman.  This liniment is about as fresh as you can get it, however, the prices are little higher than other resources, so you'll have to weigh the benefits for yourself.

Thai Pads - A must for muay thai trainers

Alright now, among muay thai purists, there are really 3 camps of opinion as to which brand manufactures the best thai pads:  Twins, Windy and Fairtex. Pretty much everything Twins makes is of very good quality, their thai pads are no exception.

What makes a good thai pad a good thai pad? Density, thickness, material quality, and restraint assembly. I love Twins with exception of the thai pad line which uses Velcro strips, which eventually fray and can come undone during intense pad work sessions.

You want leather pads with a thickness of at least 4 inches of padding thickness with a buckle restraint system. In my experience, the most durable brand, the thai pads that last for 10+ years of extensive training has been Windy. Ladies, this is a sure bet way to make your man incredibly happy this holiday.

Muay Thai: The Most Distinguished Art of Fighting

If you ever get one book on the subject of muay thai, this one is it. The hardcover book is viewed by many as the textbook on muay thai. Transcribed from the bedside of aging Master Ket Sriyapai in 1978, this book is humble in layout. I swear most of the book was photocopied from notes, but don't let that fool you. This book is filled with incredibly usefull information, tips on training for a fight, techniques, and serves as an enlightening history of the transformation of the modern sport muay thai in the twentieth century.  Due to the dry reading, I suggest holding off on purchasing this for any muay thai student under the age of 18.  I'm generalizing here, but most teenagers won't want a book for Christmas. You can find it here.


This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I'm sure I missed a few other 'must haves'. There are a number of online resources for muay thai training gear and accessories across the Internet. The common brands for muay thai gear include Twins, Windy, Thaismai, Kombat Gear, and Fairtex.

 What do you think should be on this year's list? Add it in your comments!

Happy holidays!

Donnie Baker-

As muay thai gets more popular, what will happen to the older muay thai systems?

For me, it started with a bootleg VHS tape of fights at Lumpinee Stadium in 1992. Then, a couple weeks later I caught Paulo Tocha in Bloodsport on HBO, and in my teenage mind I was convinced. I didn't know what they called it, but whatever this fighting system was two things were certain: i. the style looked both brutal and at the same time elegant, and ii. those shorts with the writing on the front looked really, really comfortable.  Hence begun my search to learn what was to be introduced to me as muay thai.

For the better part of the 1990's (and even today to a large extent) I'd get blank stares if/when I tell people that I train muay thai. Top three typical responses are "What's that?", "Mai tai?", or "Is that like kickboxing?". The system has been on the outside of the stable of popular martial arts until MMA came along and has made the name muay thai more common (I would largely disagree with the application of muay thai being used in MMA as an accurate representation of muay thai). K-1 popularized muay thai in Europe and Asia in the early part of the twenty-first century, but the USA has football and the NBA, oh well, call us late adopters.

Outside of the occasional episode of Human Weapon on the History Channel, or the occasional documentary about the exploitation of children through muay thai in Thailand (which I agree and yet, disagree with), mainstream media never covers the Thai national sport, and its official martial art.

This is beginning to change, however. CNN  recently did a little spot on the growth in popularity of muay thai on the international stage. It's good to see this kind of exposure for the sport version of muay thai. Watch the short segment below.




The History Channel produced the series, Human Weapon where the two hosts traveled around the world receiving crash courses in martial arts from various masters or well known practitioners.What I did like about this episode is that they touched on a few of the various branches of muay thai. They trained for modern ring style muay thai, the covered lerd rit, the militarized application of muay thai, and they also went up north and got some exposure to one of the older system, Muay Chaiya.

Here's the full episode, but the commercials can get annoying.

 I'd still like to see more exposure of the older systems such as muay chao cherk, lerd rit, and chaiya  - which BTW, are lumped under the umbrella of muay boran. If someone opens up a muay boran school in your area and markets it as a single martial art, they're simply marketing it to you. Tony Jaa has done a great job of including the various subsets of muay thai in his Ong Bak and The Protector movies.

If you're lucky enough to find and train at a school that covers one of the older systems, be prepared to have others in the outside world (retail thai boxing gyms) say that your techniques are wrong. Not to worry, I've been training and teaching muay chao cherk, lerd rit and a subset of the Burmese system (boar bando) for 18 years (half my life, ugh I'm old). Just know that what's taught at the typical modern muay thai gym is a watered down version of what only scratches the surface of what a muay thai practitioner would have learned over a hundred years ago. You are among the lucky few burdened with the responsibility of continuing a dying tradition.

Hopefully the continued growth in muay thai's popularity will bring about a renaissance for the older systems used for the purposes of combat instead of sport.

Black Friday & holiday shopping safety tips with a tactical twist

So Black Friday has come and gone with some unsurprising violent outcomes across the United States. A woman in Southern California had the bright idea to discourage other shoppers from vying for an Xbox360 by using pepper spray, injuring 10 people in the process. I give her points for ingenuity, but she sort went against some social mores, such as that little known 'do unto others' rule that keeps us from eating each other. In San Leandro, CA (East Bay)  shoppers were robbed in a Walmart parking lot as they left a 1:30 am shopping spree, leaving one shopper critically injured by a bullet wound. And  this trend towards consumer-on consumer & opportunistic predatory behavior echoed across the country over the past 24 hours.

We still have a month of shopping and that means a month of somewhat higher risk for robbery or assault given the current economic state and the fact that we're all distracted with the obligatory holiday distractions.

Below is the standard list of basic safety tips issued every year for the clueless holiday shopper. I've added what I think have been missing from this list  as well. My tips are in italic.

• Park in well-lit areas, and always lock the car, close the  windows, and hide shopping bags and gifts in the trunk even if you only  plan to be gone for a few minutes. Do not leave valuables in plain view  inside your vehicle. Out of sight, out of mind!
• DB- If possible, back your car into the spot. Many attackers will approach victims from behind after they've they approached their car. If you pull head on into your spot,that open door funnels you into a corner With your car backed in, an open car door can serve as a barrier between you and your would be attacker.
• If possible, shop before dark. Coordinate shopping trips with a friend if you plan to be out late.
• Stay alert and be aware of what’s going on around you. If you see  people “hanging around” parking garages, parking lots, or the outside of  stores, avoid the area. Notify the police or security department.  
• DB - Situational awareness is huge! Keep an eye out for familiar faces, and ask yourself why you keep crossing paths that person or group of people. Are you being sized up for a potential robbery or worse?
• DB - consolidate your purchases into as few bags as possible, and make that bag the lowest end store in the mall. For example, if you buy your girlfriend a Coach purse, place it in a JC Penny shopping bag. Perception is key. If you try to appear wealthy, you're a prized pig.
• Avoid carrying large amount of cash; pay with check or credit card whenever possible.
• Limit the amount of jewelry you wear.
• Be extra careful with purses and wallets. Carry a purse close to  your body, not dangling by the straps. Don’t leave purses unattended in  shopping carts even for a moment.  
• DB- Keep your wallet in your front pants pocket.
• Deter pickpockets and purse-snatchers. Don’t overburden yourself  with packages. Have your purchases delivered whenever practical.
• DB - Thieves often work in teams: one with distract you while the other picks your pocket. If someone bumps into you in the mall, don't stop to turn around and pardon yourself or confront the individual, keep moving.
• Have your keys in hand when you return to your car. Always check the interior of your car before you unlock the door to get in.  
• DB- Don't be on your mobile phone while walking to your car, scan your sector (look around by visually sweeping the field in front of you and to your sides) keep your posture erect and look pissed off. Make yourself a hard target through your body language. 
• DB - I don't particularly condone carrying a blade if you aren't trained on basic weapon retention and use simply because introducing a weapon instantly escalates a situation in which a simple robbery turns potentially fatal. If  someone really wants you dead, they'll kill you. If they want your stuff, they'll threaten harm. Sometimes it's simply not worth the risk, and handing over your bags is the safest option. It sucks, it's better to spend the holidays with your family than in a  hospital bed.

Most importantly, if you find yourself in the midst of some crazed Walmart mob killing each other over a $2 waffle iron, maintain a wide, low stance, and remember that nice, clean, tight elbow points strategically used on soft mid sections can help move you through the crowd. Get yourself and your family/friend/partner away from the mob as quickly as possible. Look for ways out such as a nearby aisle or a gap in the crowd. That, and keep your hands on your pockets!



Happy hunting!

Muay thai front leg round kick round up

Front leg kicks are usually used as set up strikes, whether you're in the cage, in the ring, or in the street. The right use of body mechanics can make it powerful, but its rare that a front leg kick would drop a guy and keep him down.

There are a number of ways to throw it - with the reigning method has the fighter stepping out before throwing the kick. Technique aside, a key difference in how a front round kick is used in differing scenarios is the follow up. Do you follow up with a right cross? Do you shoot in on the guy? Do you throw elbows? Do you run cause he has 3 friends closing in?

The context in which I use a front leg round kick is for street or combat. If, in theory, its a set up strike and often offers the element of surprise, I don't want to be (or perhaps I can't be) in a fighting stance. If you're training in order to defend yourself in the street, or a club, or a parking lot, you really need to be able to execute all of your techniques from a neutral, casual stance. If you're military or law enforcement, your gear, weapon, or a number of other environmental factors may prevent you from getting into a proper conventional fighting stance.

Here are two examples of a similar technique modified for use in two completely different contexts.

The guy in the video below, obviously, is using the front leg round kick technique for MMA. The camouflage shorts gave him away. It's a rather long video, so if you want to see the technique thrown full speed scrub ahead to about 4:30 into the clip. I myself am also guilty of getting chatty from time to time in my videos.



What I see in this, and many other instructional videos on this topic is that the striker steps out with the rear leg in order to load his kick. It also gets him out of the way of a straight counter. I don't believe that you have to waste a step in order to throw a loaded front leg round kick. Exploding the kick out with an angled forward drive can do the trick, and it keeps you in your native stance. Although I cannot stress the importance of becoming ambidextrous when it comes to your training.




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Truck and Car Pushing

Conditioning Secrets Finally Revealed

Back in the late 90’s there was a T.V. show called “Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed”.

A masked magician would expose the methods behind large scale magic tricks and illusions by explaining how they were done and showing you how they were performed.

His reason for doing this was because he was tired of seeing magician after magician perform the same tricks and illusions over and over again.

By exposing these secrets it would force magicians to come up with new tricks and illusions to entertain us.

Today I’m going to uncover a conditioning exercise that needs to be exposed and updated.

And that lowly exercise is truck and car pushing.

For years I have read articles and have watched videos from coaches, trainers, athletes, MMA fighters on pushing vehicles for conditioning.

If you go to YouTube you’ll find a large amount of videos on car or truck pushing.

For years I have watched and waited for someone else besides myself to come up with a new way to push a vehicle for conditioning.

But sadly it’s been the same way year in and year out, video to video.

Put your arms about shoulder width apart on the back of a vehicle, feet spread about shoulder width and start pushing forward for distance or time.

Then get in front of the hood and push it back, while this works well for conditioning, man is this ever boring!

If you had a barbell and all you ever did was bench press or squat with it, you’d get pretty bored very quickly.

Recently to my excitement I found one, one person who has come up with a new way to push a vehicle.

Getting into a push up position this person put his feet on the back bumper of his truck and pushed the truck with his hands on the ground.

That was awesome, but unfortunately after 35 plus years all I have found are two ways to push a vehicle.

Come on people where is the creativity or out side the box thinking when it comes to pushing a car or truck.

Did you know that one of the favorite exercises of the ancient Greeks was pushing large columns and round boulders on soft sand.

They learned this by watching how their slaves developed strong bodies by moving these types of objects on their properties.

And since slaves were forbidden to train at the local gymnasiums in the city, they reasoned that this was a great way to develop the body.

So to all you experts, trainers and coaches out there, I challenge you to come up with new exercises for pushing a vehicle.

If you can come up with variations for bodyweight exercises, sand bags, kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, clubbells, medicine balls, suspension trainers etc…

Then way can’t you come up with a single variation when it comes to pushing a vehicle for conditioning?

In my next article I will get your mental juices flowing by teaching you five new exercises with variations to get you started.

So now that I have exposed this conditioning exercise, it’s your turn to create the magic!

Until next time, train safely and creatively.


Daniel Sambrano
http://oldstylemuaythai.com

Attacked by Twenty:True Multiple Opponent Realities

After fighting and dealing with three, I had to deal with twenty more who swarmed and encircled me. Didn’t see that coming.

Punches, elbows, forearms, hammer fists and chops worked. Knocked out a few but knocked down a lot more of them.

Kicks and knees wouldn’t work. There was just too many of them and they swarmed too fast.

I wasn’t tired until I stopped fighting. Must have been the adrenaline working.

Didn’t see very much, because it was too dark to see. I could only see the asphalt as my face was heading towards it from being hit in the back of the head and shoulders by a bat or two by four. And shoes kicking and stomping me, everywhere at once.

Every time I moved my arms I hit someone, whether moving my arms forward or back. My fists and elbows were both swollen from hitting people, talk about close quarter fighting.

You had to fight offensively and move quickly. Even your defense had to be offensive in nature.

Trying to grapple or ground fight would have killed me. Too many attackers.

Striking and moving was the best way to fight. Didn’t extend the arms too far, too many fists coming at you to block or parry. The further you extended your arms out the more you got hit; you opened yourself up too much.

Being explosive first, having endurance second and finally having isometric strength last seems to be the best way to train for this.

Nobody came to help only to fight me. My two friends were pinned to the wall by others.

You can take a lot of pain and keep fighting. Fear of death tends to keep pain at bay.

Never give up! Keep fighting till the end! Or it will be the end of you!

Use the environment. Walls and cars work well, so do edges of buildings.

Strength and skill won’t keep you alive; God, luck and tenacity are the things that will! Believe me I know first hand.

Running is a 50/50 chance at best. They may catch up to you and drag you down. Where will you run to? Where will you go? How much of your precious energy will you use up?

I later found out these same punks chased down another guy for four blocks and surrounded him at the top of a four story parking garage and beat him into a coma. So much for running.

Nothing good ever happens after midnight. Just ask Cinderella or me about that.

The police never showed up, never! You only had yourself to rely on.

Make sure you get checked for any cuts, holes or cracks. You don’t want to be dying slowly and not know it.

Let the adrenaline go! You don’t want to hold it in, get rid of it as soon as possible.

Don’t wrestle, hit and move, that’s all the time you have for! Don’t waste your energy, forget submissions or chokes.

Don’t go to the ground on purpose! You’re only going to get kicked and stomped on.

Kill the head, kill the body. Take out the leader, the mouth; this can stop the assault very quickly. That’s what I did!

Spread the attackers out, linearly if possible. Less will want to fight you; some will step out of the fight. You’ll have more space to move and fight.

When you decide to make a stand, make sure that there is a wall, fence or car behind you, so that they can’t get behind you. Stand a few feet away from it so you can move explosively.

If you go down to the ground get up as fast as you can, don’t even hesitate for a second, get up!!! Don’t lay there and die!

Don’t listen to your internal dialog, unless it’s yelling at you to get up or fight! Otherwise you won’t be all there; you’ll be somewhere else. Stay focused!

My fists were swollen but not broken and I know I was hitting them hard and powerfully. Just goes to show what happens when you condition your fists and know how to hit bare-knuckle.
You’ll be swollen, in pain, bloody and your clothes will be torn, don’t worry all these things can be fixed. Just be glad you’re alive.

Learn from the experience. The school of hard knocks is the only place where the test is given before the lesson is learned.

And finally no matter how badass you think you are, there is always someone or multiples of someone who will prove you wrong. So be careful out there.

I hope you learned a few things from this multiple assault, I know I did. This was just a glimpse of a multiple attack and what I learned from it. My hope is that you never have to experience this type of violence in your lifetime. But if you do, learn from my experience and train to be ready for it or at the very least to know what to expect before it happens.

And lastly train as realistically as possible and get rid of all the myths and fantasies about multiple attacks.

Until next time, be safe and take care.

Daniel Sambrano
www.OldStyleMuayThai.com

Three Dimensional Knowledge

How It Really Goes Down in a Multiple Attack

If you get on the internet, you’ll find a large amount of information on multiple opponent fighting. A large percentage of it is crap, but not because it isn’t any good. In fact a large amount of it is very well thought out and logical, but unfortunately it’s just conjecture and theory. In other words it’s just an educated guess.

My friend Richard Demitri has a saying on his website at Senshido.com, “Ask the experienced not the learned”. Now why is that? It’s because they’ve been there and done that. They can tell you things that books and theory can’t. They have what I call “Three Dimensional Knowledge”. They’ve been through the wringer, they have studied and understood it, and they can explain it.

Most theories have a one dimensional or maybe a two dimensional knowledge of a subject at best. They lack the third dimension, the physical, where the rubber meets the rode. Unless your theories, tactics and techniques have been tested, you won’t truly know if they work or not. The third dimension is the proving ground; it lets you know what is and what isn’t. It gets rid of the illusion and shows you the reality, there is no bias it just gives you the plain truth. Then it’s up to you whether to accept it or reject it to your peril.

In the next installment I’m going to teach you about a multiple opponent attack that happened to me. I’m going to try and explain to you what happened and what worked and what didn’t. It took me some time to piece together what happened that night and what I could have done to have avoided the situation. My reason to tell you this story is to help you understand the truth of this type of assault and not the fantasy that you might believe happens in this type of attack. My hope is that you learn from my experience and become the wiser for it.

And always remember three dimensional knowledge is always the best teacher when it comes to life and death.

Take care,
Daniel Sambrano

Remembering the silent warriors of intelligence

We typically use this day to remember those soldiers who died in the course of serving their country in battle: our grandfathers, uncles, brothers, friends. But please also remember the men and women who are all too often overlooked: the members of our intelligence community who silently sacrificed everything for us - names we'll never know, who's passing will never be memorialized other than on a wall at Langley.

To my American readers, I urge you to take a moment to simply recognize that covert operators and members of clandestine services that have fallen in the line of duty.  Even if you're not American,  remember the men and women who gave their lives to protect your current way of life.

Happy Memorial Day

Celebrate Earth Day with muay thai

Happy Earth Day folks! Just a reminder to get out there and do your part for Mother Nature. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Save a tree





2. Recycle old tires





3. Conserve water




Last but not least, love your fellow man. Give the gift of blood.




Happy Earth Day from Donnie

Being mugged not what its cracked up to be

Over this last weekend I received an email from one of my YouTube subscribers who had a hell of a story to tell.

Friday night, this young man, only 15 years old, was robbed at knife point in the street. The mugger demanded money and his cell phone. He did the right thing in this situation: he complied.

It's really easy, after training martial arts or having fought in the ring / octagon, to get stuck in that macho fantasy of kicking the living crap out of any bad guy foolish enough to try to rob you. But in reality, if/when you're ever thrust into that singular moment, and a wave of fear and adrenaline are coursing through your veins, all those well planned out, kick ass moves - the wrist lock-groin kick-arm bar-rear naked choke for the win - suddenly run screaming from your memory; all you're left with is your reptilian, caveman brain to handle this delicate situation. Our viewer did the correct thing. If someone mugs you with a weapon and they're demanding money, wallets, jewelry, etc. the safest option is to comply because more often than not, he's only brandishing the weapon to incite fear, and compliance. If someone really, really wants you dead, there would be no confrontation, he'd walk up to you and stab you/slit a major artery, etc.  BTW, I'm going to contradict myself here... just sayin'.

Back to my story. So, he gives the mugger his phone and money, but the mugger decides that that's not enough and attacks the kid with his knife. The young man was able to evade the knife, grab and control the attacker's arm , and then the kid threw a relentless barrage of elbows to the mugger's head, effectively dropping him. From there our hero made his escape.  (Lesson here: just because you give up your valuables means you're out of the woods. That's the unpredictability of human nature, and street crime). I told you I'd contradict myself.

The crazy thing for me is that this young man sent me a message thanking me. He said that he had been watching my muay thai videos and practicing what he'd seen, and was able to apply some of these concepts in  that high stress situation. It's amazing that he would think of thanking me, and personally, he gets all the credit for handling the situation the way he did. But on the other hand, what an awesome feeling it was for me to think that perhaps, in some way, those silly YouTube videos I shoot actually helped somebody survive a potentially lethal situation.

What are the take ways from this?
1. The safest bet is to comply with the demands of an armed robber.
2. When real violence hits you, its an adrenaline rush like you've never had before. Gross motor function is pretty much all you've got.
3. If all other options fail and you can't avoid confrontation, it's best to apply overwhelming force. Think cornered cat holding a baseball bat.
4. No matter how insignificant you think your actions are, you can still hold influence over others, good and bad. Set a good example.

Alright, moral lesson is done for the day. Get back to hitting the bags, or each other :)

Giron escrima seminar at Muay Thai Academy

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or Northern California for that matter, this is a very rare opportunity to get exposed to a fairly closed system of escrima, the dominant Filipino style of fighting. Giron Escrima maintains a pretty small community of practitioners, most of them based in the Bay Area and central valley regions of California. Bahala Na Original Grion Escrima Federation is the governing body that works to strictly maintain this system in its purest form.

The system's founder, Master Michael Giron learned from his father, Leo Giron, who had proven this style of escrima through his experiences fighting the Japanese during World War II. Leo passed on his real world lessons of jungle warfare to his son, Michael, who carries on the tradition.

The seminar will be held on April 30th at the Muay Thai Academy International in Santa Clara, CA. This also happens to be where Daniel Sambrano and I both teach. And, no, we do not make ANY money off of these seminars. We rarely, rarely bring in outsiders to instruct clinics at the Muay Thai Academy for a number of reasons: quality control is probably at the top of that list. If you're into escrima or arnis, or if you're just interested in exploring other martial arts, this is a great opportunity. Here are the grizzly details:

Date: Saturday April 30, 2011
Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm please arrive at least 15 minutes early. Late arrivals will be beaten.

Location: Muay Thai Academy International
1500 Norman Ave
Santa Clara, CA

What will be covered:
- Practical application of blade concepts
- Close quarter combat knife techniques
- Defense against knife attack (armed & open hand)
- Vital disabling, striking targets
- Practical daily training exercises

Cost:
$55 for early registraion
$65 for walk-ins

There are only 35 spots available for this seminar. RSVP with Jacob Ragsdale
jacobsiunim@yahoo.com

You can also RSVP on Facebook if you're too lazy to open up your email client. But you'd have to be rediculously lazy...

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