We’ve had a lot of enquiries from our members regarding the Thai boxing class on Thursday (Invite only). Who can attend this class? What does invite only mean? How long do I have to train until I can access this class?

The Thai boxing invite only class was started to fulfil the identified needs of our more experienced members. Rather than having regular and veteran members continuously revisiting the basic Thai boxing skills we saw the need to keep them engaged at a skill level they required, in order to continue to develop their skills further. Thus, Thai boxing became basics and invite only training sessions.

After talking to Mark, our Thai boxing instructor we decided that a Thai boxing class for experienced students was a necessity. The class was to continue to expand and improve members’ technical and physical skills in Thai boxing.

What did this Thai boxing class mean for experienced students?

The students would learn in greater depth about Thai boxing techniques and their applications as well as becoming more informed about the Thai boxing culture as a sport and a Martial Art. This meant that every student participating in Thai boxing at invite only sessions is required to already know the Thai boxing basics as taught in the Tuesday and Friday classes. And know them well; as a drill.

The Thai boxing basics that we teach have been carefully selected to give every student the best foundation in Thai boxing. Our basics syllabus will also give the student maximum skill development from training in Thai boxing.

Basics will cover:

• Kick stance

• Boxing stance

• Thai kick

• Switch kick

• Kicking variations

• Elbows

• Knees

• Single punches

• Evading skills and follow up with punches

• Defensive skills and follow up with punches

• 4 count variations, and finally

• How to be proficient in using the focus mitts and Thai pads when training with a partner.

What does this mean for beginner student wanting to do the Thai boxing invite only class on Thursday?

It is of utmost importance that every beginner student in Thai boxing attends the basics training sessions to learn these drills in order to get into the Thai boxing invite only class. Once Mark, is satisfied that the beginner is competent and confident in doing these basics (including feeding with focus mitts and Thai pads) he will give you the go-ahead to join Thai boxing invite only sessions.

What if you can only make one Thai boxing basics class a week and you would really like to participate in the Thursday class?

There is also the possibility of getting one-on-one personal training ($60/hour) with Mark in order to go through and drill all the Thai boxing basics as required. The personal training sessions will focus on you and Mark will teach the basics at your own pace, and details what you need. The benefits from doing personal training sessions with Mark will accelerate your learning and your skills and get you into the invite only sessions in no time. During your personal training sessions you can focus on one particular aspect of the Thai boxing basics and you can get the finer points of Thai boxing basics from Mark who will make your technical skills smoother, sharper and better.

There you have it!
Getting into the Thai boxing invite only class is that easy!

Train as many repetitions of basics as possible so that it becomes part of your muscle memory. Drill it. Go the extra mile and approach Mark for some personal training sessions to re-enforce what you already know from the basics classes and get your technical skills smoother, sharper and better.

What does it take for you to become a fighter or train like a fighter?

Are you considering stepping into the ring or cage? Do you think about it? Do you dream about it? The thoughts of stepping into a ring or cage has plagued many of us at some time, the thoughts of being called a professional fighter, having hoards of people calling out your name as you enter the arena, and having a nice shiny belt around your waist as you are crowned winner can make us feel pretty warm and fuzzy on the inside. And so it should! Because at that point you have a raised self-esteem, possibly a chiseled body, a money earning career, pictures of you splashed across magazines and billboards, signing autographs, doing television commercials for multi-nationals, and living the dream! It sounds great, doesn’t it?

That is the dream.

The reality is more like this…

Spending long hours at the gym on the heavy bag and focus mitts, doing boring repetitive, but essential drills. Sporting a black eye and bloody nose, the odd back strain, sore shoulders, sore elbows, headaches. You slip your hand inside your gloves still wet with sweat from last night’s session. Other people will be sweating on you, coaches yelling at you demanding more from you. Your social life – limited, even non-existent. Think of the sacrifices you have to make, and so will your family and friends. The mental frustrations of injuries and setbacks. The anxiety, fear and excitement of the competition, of your opponent, of losing, winning riding through your body like a never ending roller coaster. Troublesome questions that enters and occupy your mind, what if you let your club down and your coaches, the shame of looking bad in front of your family and friends. What if you win, what will that change? Your ego, status, career, respect from your peers? Will training still be a struggle thereafter…

That is the reality.

Only a very small percentage of us will choose the life of a fighter, and choose it powerfully enough to make it come alive. Very few people will have the willpower, discipline and drive required to train like a professional fighter. Very few people will rise up against the demands and challenges of professional fighting and even less have that level of commitment to start the training and continue training for as long as it takes them.

Make no mistake. It will be hard.
Long hours.
Boring repetitions.

Be prepared for setbacks.
They will happen.

When will you be stopped?
After one day, one week, one month?

What will stop you?
Tired?
Bored?
Sore?

Once you choose to train like a fighter, and choose it powerfully with no excuses, you are not only convincing yourself that THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT but you are also committing yourself to THIS IS IT!

This is what YOU WANT.
This is what YOU WILL DO.
This is what YOU HAVE CHOSEN.

Whatever it takes!

From here on you take control of that little voice in your head that says “you can’t” and “you won’t” and “you are not…” even the most committed fighters out there battle daily to control that voice in their head. What sets them apart from the rest of us is they know how to push through it and tell the little voice to “*#@! off” and they get on with their training.

So, do you still think you have what it takes to step into a ring or a cage? Can you handle long boring repetitious hours at the gym? Can you train and manage injuries? Are you willing to sacrifice time with your friends and family? Can you handle the coach yelling at you and asking you for one more repetition, when you have nothing left?

To become a fighter is not a given right. It is not a skill handed down from a line of warriors. It is not based on a specific look, body type or body shape. It has nothing to do with being physically strong? To become a fighter is all about attitude. Your attitude to your choices, your life, your training, your discipline and your dream. How badly do you want it?

Are you a dreamer? Or are you for real?

What will you choose?

I want to talk about one thing…

Last year I had the pleasure of training fight team for our very first BJJ no – gi competition, right here in Adelaide. Amongst the students who entered this competition was Yianni. Yianni was quite fit but had barely scratched the surface in regards to grappling. Understandably, he had concerns regarding his lack of experience in grappling and thought that he would be at a disadvantage, especially as his opponents would be grapplers who had spent hours on the mat training their art.

We are not a BJJ club, instead we train MMA, so our time is also spent working on stand up and other skills allowed in MMA and not in BJJ. Not only did we have to concentrate our skills, but also learn new grappling rules.

I understood exactly where Yianni was coming from and the fact that Yianni only had four weeks to prepare I needed to make sure that everything I taught him would improve on his strengths and mask his weaknesses. There was absolutely no time to play with fancy or ‘flavour of the month’ techniques.

What Yianni needed in his grappling repertoire was well trained controlling skills that would keep him on top of his opponent, an impenetrable defence against any attacks, and how to gain and maintain positional advantage.

For a whole month Yianni trained to improve his grappling with conditioning exercises that I specifically designed for him in order to make his body more limber and grappling fit and his grappling impentetrable with drills to maintain that positional advantage.

Yianni also trained continuous repetitions of every position in top circuit. He trained just one escape and one sweep from the bottom, and trained it not shy of a hundred repetitions! When Yianni was tired and could do no more – the rounds started again.

Following this, Yianni would grapple other students and whatever technique he drilled that night he was told to apply it in his grappling. If he could not effectively apply it to his grappling we would go back to drilling the technique over and over again.

To his credit Yianni did one thing that most fighters and competitors fail to do. Aside from putting in a tremendous effort in the one month prior to the competition Yianni came to training everyday with an empty cup. What I mean by empty cup; Yianni had no expectations of what he SHOULD be doing and instead he just did what I told him to do. He trusted me, his coach and he trusted his training.

On the day, it all came together. Yianni did it only what we trained, and when on the mat, whatever tactics I told him to do, he did. He went into each bout with no expectations of what technique he was going to pull off and how it would happen. He went in, ready to control his opponent, and listen to whatever coaching his coach gave. For me, it was like playing a video game, I would call it out, Yianni would listen, compute and apply. No questions, no lag, he just did it. And walked out with a GOLD medal.

To chase means that you are trying to hit your opponent while he/she is moving around. To pin is to corner your opponent and blitz him/her with multiple punches.

What happens when they move around?
Regardless of whether your opponent is moving backwards away from your hits or defensively moving around, circling side to side, they are in control of their surrounding (be it a ring or a cage etc). They have the space to move into in order to avoid your punch and its impact. You are chasing them around to try and lay a hit on them.

As always, it is very important that you have your hands up and punch with good form, but especially when chasing. At this time, your opponent is not thinking about where to move to (remember they have a freedom of movement) but instead they will be looking for an opportunity and opening to hit you back. If your hands drop at any time while chasing, expect a response from your opponent!

What happens when they are pinned?
When you pin your opponent, it means they cannot effectively get away from your punches. By pinning them you will now pressure them to find a way out. Their mind now is not free to think about an opportunity to hit you back, but preoccupied with how to get themselves out. Blitzing them (continuous punches) will put even more pressure onto them and force them to think of escaping and defending against your hits, rather than looking for an opportunity to hit back.

What does that mean for you?
With your opponents mind currently preoccupied, it means that during the blitz you can afford to sacrifice your form, for a short period of time, in order to lay more consecutive punches. In this instance you will gain speed, but lose the security of your form. The ability to gauge how long to blitz, thus how long you can compromising your form is an important skill a fighter needs to develop and learn.

If you know anything about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, then you’ve heard the name Jean-Jacques Machado. If you haven’t heard the name Machado, then now is the time to start getting educated! Jiu Jitsu is originally a Japanese combat sport, and with the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan living in Brasil, it’s no wonder Jiu-Jitsu developed into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and also developed new techniques and new competitions.

There are two family names synonymous with BJJ; Gracie and Machado. Jean-Jacques Machado is one of the five Machado brothers, including Carlos, Roger, Rigan and John, renowned for their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) skills. Nephews of BJJ co-founder and Master Carlos Gracie, the brothers learned the martial art from an early age.

All the UFC fans out there should know of Royce Gracie, who competed in the cage against numerous martial arts and fight after fight walked out victorious. BJJ exploded onto the scene surpassing any Boxing, Kickboxing or Thai Boxing interest and BJJ boomed! Now people needed skills not only in their stand up kicking and punching, but also needed to know how to control opponents when taken to the ground. BJJ set new levels of skill requirements for competitions and MMA was born – a league of its own. Competitors now needed to be multi skilled in disciplines, demanding a higher work ethic and higher skill palate.
Jean-Jacques Machado is known for his grappling skills having won every major title in his native country, and then pursuing his career further abroad. Of late he has competed in (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in his weight division, a Silver medalist in the open division in 2001 and Super fight Runner up in 2005.

Jean-Jacques Machado has a school in Tarzana, California, and has trained a number of champions; among his students are Eddie Bravo and Joe Rogan (UFC). For those of you wanting to develop your skills in grappling, and cannot make a trip to California soon – we are proud to announce a 3-hour seminar with the international champion and world class instructor, Jean-Jacques Machado. The seminar will be both gi and no gi techniques, and is open to all persons interested.

For more information on Jean-Jacques Machado:

photo credit: Mister Jo

Watching Belfort take on Akiyama in UFC 133 and win by absolutely dominating the fight made me wonder what happened to Akiyama? Pre fight interviews had Akiyama who is a Judo black belt speaking about how he will fight Belfort. Basically he laid out his game plan. Akiyama looked composed as he walked up to the octagon and respectfully bowed to the crowd. He looked relaxed and seemed to have everything sorted out just like he said in the interview. Akiyama might have had butterflies prior to the fight but he fooled everyone including myself with his cool demeanor.

So what went wrong? What happened to Akiyama?

Belfort entered the octagon on a high. He was pumped and not only did he look positive but showed it physically in his body language. Then the fight started and Akiyama still looked like he would bring the fight to Belfort. I waited, and waited for this to happen. Waiting in anticipation…but he never did. Akiyama failed to fire up. Straight away his hands were dropping, looking tired, as if he had already gone 10 rounds!

It seems that there were too many things that Akiyama needed to work on in order to cement a victory. There was nothing he could now do to diminish Belfort’s already beaming positive alpha male attitude. His window of opportunity had left him. What had he been training?

This fight was a tremendous task for Akiyama but unfortunately he did not rise to the occasion. Akiyama seemed to step into the octagon already on a low, and his body language showed this. Belfort saw the weakness in Akiyama’s psyche and seized the opportunity resulting in a TKO!

Belfort’s mentality on the other hand, reminded me of a survival fight – the fighter who cares for nothing and will do everything to beat the crap out of you in order to succeed. How do you beat someone like that? That mental strength and the ‘will’ to win? You need to match the arrogance and regain the initiative. You have to get that arrogant voice in your head to talk you up and over your opponent, and once push comes to shove bring out the big guns; unleash! It would have been a bloody fight had Akiyama fired up because Belfort would have stopped at nothing…the survivor mind set. Belfort clearly dictated the fight from beginning to the end.

What can we learn from Akiyama?

Work on everything before, during and after your training. Not just your physical conditioning. Mentally focus on what you are going to achieve rather than blindly committing to training. Train both perfect and imperfect situations. Train the unexpected, train when you are tired and when you are losing – so you know what it really feels like when it really happens. Train your mind for all situations; understand all the elements of fight training; the physical, and the mental human psyche.

photo credit: f_mafra

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a sport with rules, regulations and a controlled environment – just like any other sport. MMA is a sport which keeps you active, fit, will improve your coordination and build your confidence. Training will contribute to mental wellbeing, teamwork, peer interaction and friendships. It will keep you engaged and focused and create goals to aim for. All positive character building attributes found in all sports. We are human beings, we are competitive. MMA is a competitive sport; practiced in a controlled and age regulated environment.

So often we are afraid of what we don’t understand or what we don’t know.

MMA is a discipline, dedicated to physical training, conditioning and technical skills. Kids are already training boxing and competing in boxing at 12 years old in SA (younger in some states). Again, it is a controlled and regulated sport – especially at this age. MMA follows suite. Boxing: must be 12 years or older to compete; must wear protective head gear; striking to the head and body. MMA: must be 12 years or older to compete; must wear protective head gear; striking to the head, body and legs and grappling on the ground. Under SA MMA rules there is no striking to the head when on the ground. Consider 10 rounds of boxing to 10 rounds of MMA. It could be argued that boxing takes far more punishment to the head.

What is the real issue here? Kids fighting? Encouraging violence? These arguments can be tied to anything – school yard bullying, competitive boxing, competitive netball, YouTube and COD.

Contact and impact from sports is an old recurring argument; it came up when Boxing first came on the scene, what about Ice Hockey, it still comes up with AFL. Contact sport is dangerous but so too is being inactive, gaining weight, and being disengaged.

photo credit: PjotrP

Mention “deadlift” in a gym these days and you may get remarks from others from ‘what the heck are you talking about?’ to ‘If you know what’s good for you – stay away from deadlifts!’ The mere mention of the deadlift would often conjure up back injuries and horror stories. But the dealift is not just for power lifters lifting huge amounts of weight – with the bar dipping at each end! The deadlift should start with a sensible amount of weight attached.

As as a power lifter I can tell you that when I started deadlifting there was no bend in my bar. The fact is deadlift begins like all weighted exercises… a little weight at a time. Overtime when your body adapts to the physiological changes and your strength builds up then you can increase the weight accordingly.

What can help?
Having a good coach with an eye for details and subtleties makes a big difference to your lifting capability and sustainability. A good coach will have you train good technique first, and get you practising with only a bar. A good coach will point out correct posture prior to the lift, then the correct posture during the lift and finally the correct posture at the top of the movement. It is correct technique during these three steps done hundreds of times over that will be of value to you when it comes time to add weight to the bar.

Aside from the Olympic lifts the deadlift will stimulate more musculature than any other machine or barbell exercise. The following body parts are incorporated when you perform a deadlift: forearm/grip, shoulders, upper back, abdominals, mid and lower back, butts, thighs, lower legs and even the feet must do their part to ground the lifter.
Still not convinced? Why not get a hold of some very old footage or books from the 50’s and 60’s when most of the bodybuilders trained solemnly with barbells. Their mainstay for strength and conditioning were bench press, squats, the mighty deadlift and power -cleans. Names like Bill Pearl and Reg Park were synonymous during those times and even though they wouldn’t quite be as admired today as they were back then, there was nonetheless an aura about their physique that emanated strength and power.

So how do you make the mighty deadlift part of your toolbox of exercises?
Why not find a competitive power lifting club, competitor or coach and see the benefits and proper form first hand.

photo credit: Jami Dwyer

That time of the year has come yet again and most of us gym junkies are dreading the month of December – when their gym will close during the Christmas period. Festivities call for your attendance, drinks are weekly occurrences and eating is always part of the routine. Ah, Christmas! Unfortunately for many gym junkies out there the awful truth is – your personal trainer and instructors need some time out to relax, rest and recharge just like all of us mortals.
So what do you do then? In this time of crisis – when you don’t have someone keeping you accountable? Someone to turn up to, someone yelling at you and pushing you to do one more rep, set or drill? Here is a couple of ideas that you can start with that will keep you motivated until the festive season is over:

1. Get yourself a diary!
And I mean one big enough that you can jot down everything on a day-to-day basis. Begin to write goals for yourself and be very specific about what you want to achieve and by when. Your goals could be to maintain an active lifestyle four times a week and describe what each of these activities will be, what time you will do it, and think about how it will look. Visualise it first so you know what you are stepping off to do.

2. Enrol a friend
Or a partner or your neighbour so that you can be accountable to your goals plus having someone there can make the training enjoyable.

An important part of your goal setting is to make sure that you review what you do on a day-to-day basis and write down any downers and uppers that you have experienced that day. This continual self analysis will help to keep you motivated and on top of your goals.

Still unsure whether this is the way you want to spend your Christmas while waiting to get back to the gym? Ok. Let’s look at another approach which is outside the square:

3. Why not try something totally different from the norm?
For example try outdoor rock climbing or orienteering with an organisation that specialises in this activity. Open water canoeing or kayaking. Learn to dance the Samba, Salsa, Argentinean Tango or any other style that you fancy.

Sometimes it is good to look outside the square of your comfort zone. You may be surprised at what you find! A change in environment or training regime often makes your current training better. Also – your personal trainer or instructor is probably off doing something out of the norm for themselves as part of their relaxation, recharging and building their repertoire of activities!

Since leaving my beloved island, Mauritius, I have sought to improve my knowledge through reading books, watching videos (yes that’s how old I am!) training and practising. Before leaving Mauritius I had a short stint learning Kung-fu from a mate. Back then learning martial arts was secretive and the very thought of someone doing such training would conjure up images of breaking bricks and shattering wood from a palm strike; complete with the infamous death touch and magic!

Little did I know that my short introduction to martial arts would have a life-long impact; that I would continue to train, teach, compete, and even write about this fascinating and dynamic practice.

In 1988 I moved with my family to Australia where I lived in Cabramatta, Sydney and my growing addiction of martial arts began… I would regularly walk past a group of Asian elders who would practice a form of tai- chi, combining movements from the Tiger, Leopard, Bear, Dragon and Crane. Eventually, after my curiosity and interest permeated through my skin, they kindly invited me to train with them! It had started…I then found Tae-Kwon Do at the local Police Citizen Youth Club (PCYC).

It wasn’t because I was bullied at school or because of B-grade movie stars – I wanted to train just because I loved it! And so, my journey continued… I went on to study Kenjutsu, Hapkido, Chow Wing Kune Do, Kali Illustrisimo, Thai Boxing and Western Boxing. I still wanted more; I had a hunger for martial arts, physically, mentally and spiritually and I had to find more.

It came to this; in 2000 I left my job, my family and my home to head to Adelaide to study and train martial arts full-time. What a leap – what an adventure – talk about following your dream! Adelaide opened up a world of opportunity for me! My journey went from reading books and watching videos of renowned instructors – to training in person with them! Here I got the opportunity to train and learn from world class Australian and international instructors. Wow!

As I grew, in martial arts and in years, my understanding of the different practices of martial arts developed within me. Everything I had previously learned – in Mauritius, Sydney and now in Adelaide made sense to me and the conversations I had had with my instructors started to mean much more. These moments are very dear to me as they have shaped the person and the teacher that I am today. And, as a result I offer similar guidance, patience and time to help shape my own student in their training and personal development, and hope that one day they too can impart their knowledge as teachers to their own students.

Growth, development and opportunities haven’t stopped here! After years of training and teaching I now have my own city fitness and martial arts club here Adelaide CBD – where I get to teach all sorts of people from all kinds of background and with all different abilities!

Ok, now for the honesty check. I have omitted a few things that I think bear mention now. This journey, as exciting as it has been for me since my departure from Mauritius, has also been filled with blood, sweat and tears, frustrations, loneliness, helplessness and martial arts politics. The standard turmoils of any adventure and every achievement.

Despite the journey being years long, riddled with twists, turns and dead ends my love and passion for martial arts has always been the driving force for me. Life without martial arts would be so much harder and far less interesting. Passion is what keeps me going even when the wall comes up to try and stop me. Passion is one of the greatest characteristic we possess as a human and from it we develop awesome skills like determination, discipline, creativity and humility. If you follow your passion to do what you love, simply for the love of it, and the joy that it brings you, then you will truly live the life you want the way you want. Your path might change, take new forms, and be tedious at times, but if it is your passion that is driving you, you will always be creating life and never just falling into it.

Powerfully choose to follow your passion and you will create everything you set out to create.