I am training my way through a karate kickboxing program at Versus Training Center as I blog about martial arts in this blog. They are two symbiotic experiences that feed and support each other. It was time again on October 28 2010 for a belt promotion class. Its a time to have our skills tested and get recognition for the hard work we have put in to our training. My program is a very modern Karate Kickboxing style, described as… ‘more power than Kyokushin Karate, more technique than Muay Thai’ (Iman said that). The class starts with technique drills, to demonstrate mastery of individual skills and combinations. My promotion to blue belt was the highest ranking promotion that day and it put me on the menu. I had to go through seven rounds of sparring, and the last two were against my Senseis, Ali and Iman, both who are Kyokushin black belts. So there I was sucking air after 5 rounds, and there were two more to go. and in walks Iman with his gloves and shin pads on, and he is fresh and ready to go. Well it turns out I did ok, but I really had to dig deep because I was gasping for air after doing 5 straight rounds. But it turns out that I did ok. And now I have a blue belt. Thanks for a great test, the sparring, and all the great training. See you in class. Osu!

Link to full photo set on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157625195875779/with/5149282759/

After a pile of drills and 7 rounds, last two against my senseis, both Kyokushin black belts, I was awarded my blue belt. I was sucking air hard and taking hits, but it sounds like I did ok. Ill post more photos later. Another step in my journey accomplished.

Blue Belt Award

MMA champion Georges St. Pierre, was interviewed recently by Asylum.com to help provide a woman’s perspective on fighting, and he answers questions about issues with fighters and sexual performance in the bedroom. Sounds like all that Rocky stuff is a bit of a myth for the cage goers.

Found on AskMen.com: http://www.askmen.com/dating/love_tip_500/538_sex-training.html

A new martial arts gym opened the doors to the public on Saturday September 25, Raw Academy Vancouver. Naturally I had to take up the invitation to see what kind of gym it is going to be. I was impressed to see that Raw Academy already had its high school wrestling program in place for 3 months, and the large mat space is lined with a wide variety of heavy bags and two boxing rings along the North side.

I originally heard about RAW Academy through ‘Tricky’ Nick Marinos, local MMA fighter. I then noticed that wrestler and grappler Frank Mensah was an instructor, awesome and super high energy Muay Thai Instructors A. Kru Williams and Tony Strong would also be offering courses at Raw Academy. Earlier in the year, I took a couple classes with them at the Stand Up Muay Thai Gym in Coquitlam and loved the classes.  As well Local fight promoter Gerry Gionco and my good friends at MMASucka.com have office space down there.

…was RAW Academy just a gym for MMA fighters? Paul assured me no, that was not the case at all.

Saturday’s guests were treated to a demo of high school wrestling program and cake and a nutrition seminar by Charles Holmes. I had a chat about RAW Academy with Boxing trainer Mike Wiese and Paul, another of the wrestling coaches. Both trainers have over 15 years of experience training, and they are there because they love what they do. With people like Gerry Gionco, MMA Sucka, and Nick Marinos at the gym, was RAW Academy just a gym for MMA fighters? Paul assured me no, that was not the case at all. He is working to establish wrestling programs in all of the high schools in Vancouver, having already established wrestling in many of the schools. “We arent into the hype of MMA just because there are a couple of fighters at the gym… that’s no way to run a business at all. We are about establishing sport programs throughout the community. With out core sport programs in Vancouver like high school wrestling, there would be no MMA fighters in the city”.

Three months open and RAW Academy, by all appearances, has been busy planting its roots into the community with its great youth wrestling program, and already announcing other fitness programs from Yoga, to Hip Hop, Senior Fitness, and more. Visit their site for a the full program schedule.

Versus Training Centre is offering a promotion through Groupon.com:  http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1282091 . Get a month of unlimited classes for just $29 dollars. This is a wayyyy fabulous deal. Come out and try this awesome new facility. Try kickboxing, brazilian Jiu-jitsu class, or the Fighterbody conditioning program.

The Martialartsnomad blog was back for day two of the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu seminar at Dragon Martial Arts Academy in Port Alberni. Gi day with the master was started with a variety of self defense moves such as escape from front and rear neck choke, and takedowns with gi collar. We looked at a variety of moves including escapes and finishing moves from the top. Early on in the warm up, Royce Gracie called a time out and told us to apply a little more struggle and force in our choking and strangling so that the defender can know what it feels like while practising the escape. He said we were being too gentle, and he wished he always had nice students like us to practice with! Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, after all, was developed and refined by the Gracie family in Brazil to deal with practical combat situations, both on the mats and in the street.

After a number of drills, Royce Gracie started asking for questions from the group about what we wanted help with. We needed escapes from side control, mount, from locks and other situations. Gracie demonstrated the moves with a student a couple times, and sent us on our way to practice some more. Then students with more than a years experience were then paired up to roll, and then stripes and belt promotions were handed out.

We ended our session with a few more group photos and autographs. I got Mr. Gracie signed my white belt.

Royce Gracie goes around the world now, giving seminars for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. As a Gracie, he still works to promote the art that bears his family name, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The masters of the art are also there to ensure homogeneity in grading, and to bring the community together.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is still young and that makes it a good time to practise it. Its a great benefit as a new student to benefit from a seminar conducted by a master of the art. When the master is in the room, you listen closely and try hard. You need not be very experienced in bjj to come to a seminar hosted by one of the masters. You can attend even without having achieved any particular level in the sport. Of course, it would be better to have had some class experience in bjj or something similar. Be prepared with Gi and grappling clothes, mouthguard, and kneepads, and a good attitude. After only having two months of classes prior to the seminar, I can say it has changed the way I think about how I work on the mat. I know after my first roll back at the dojo, I am being a bigger nuisance to my competitor than ever before.

Link to photo set on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157624676621669/

MartialArtsNomad.com was at the Royce Gracie seminar for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at Dragon Martial Arts in Port Alberni, BC. We just had an awesome day learning some core techniques for grapping and submission from one of the greatest fighters of all time, known for his domination of early UFC events.

Royce is also an instructor with a great spirit and gives personal attention and instruction to all his students.

On the first day we worked on the principles of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu self defence. We started with escape from a front neck choke to throw. That was our warm up.

Then Gracie got us working over the next 3 hours building up a sequence of moves that would go from standing to ground submission of the opponent.
the moves started with a kick block and pass guard to bear hug or from the clinch, taking the opponent to the ground, or by leg hook; from then we went through the options of arm bars, choking the opponent out by wrapping his arm around his neck, and assuming that the opponent resist and blocks, we move to behind and eventually finish with an arm bar.

We worked on the pieces of the puzzle and then at the end, Gracie tells us to put it all together…. and it came together like a dance! We finally got to see what we were learning in the day.

Looking forward to day two. We will be putting on our Gis and doing more with the master. Definitely looking forward to day 2.

Link to full set of photos from this day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157624771738374/

My fight blog also looks into different things for health. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)  can be a complimentary means or an alternative approach to improving ones overall health. After an initial interview with a TCM health practitioner, a prescription is prepared. While some know that TCM can comes in the form of pills and other packaging, the original style is a prescription of an herbal mixture, with a large quantity of ingredients, with leaves, seeds, parts of plants, flowers, beans, and in my case, insect shells. The mixture is boiled twice and the water extract is then consumed. I am to prepare and drink this mixture for four days, then I go back and get something else.

Protect That Grill

As a martial arts blogger I like to share tips on how you can train better. If you train in martial arts. Get good quality equipment. You should protect yourself properly, and you should never forget that beautiful grill of yours with a mouth guard. A mouth guards acts as a shock absorber to provide a measure of protection against dental trauma, and concussion from blows to the jaw and head. A mouth guard might be overlooked when gear like a Gi, or boxing gloves and shin pads are required. But when doing any level of martial arts involving contact sparring or pad work, you should have something in your mouth to protect it. A basic, ‘boil and bight’ mouth guard, which only costs about $6 last time I checked, should be a mandatory piece of gear in the dojo. You have a mouthful of porcelain, so protect it. Even if you are only doing pad drills, a mouth guard can increase protection against an errant blow or a rebound of a blow to a pad that bounces off your face. Its a situation all the more likely to occur when you are new to martial arts, and you are in a state where you are fatigued and or possibly training with a partner that doesn’t yet know their own strength. You should get a mouth guard if you don’t have one, and if there is any question about using it, you use it.

…the injury that will hurt you the most is the one you aren’t protecting yourself against.

Wikipedia mentions as well on its mouth guard page that a wide array of sports are subject to dental and head of injuries. Use of a mouth guard is the way to protect yourself in sports like: “baseball, boxing, martial arts, rugby, wrestling, football, American football, Australian football, lacrosse, basketball, figure skating, hockey, underwater hockey, water polo, skiing and snowboarding.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouthguard

Wait a second… water polo…. and figure skating? Yeah, because the injury that will hurt you the most is the one you aren’t protecting yourself against. That is the whole point here.

UFC, in the interests of the best prepared and protected fighters in their series retains the services of the Fight Dentist Dr. Adam Persky http://www.fightdentist.com. Dr. Persky creates custom mouth guards for UFC fighters and provides emergency dental care as needed. A segment about Dr. Persky occasionally leads the fights on UFC pay per view broadcasts. Its been mentioned how common it is for fighters to get to the top level of their profession using a basic boil and bight mouth guard. The message is clear: the best mouth guard possible is the best option for a fighter.

dental implant

As for myself, I have a lovely piece of dental work from some time ago that I have to take special care of. Its a titanium post with a full crown that replaces an upper front incisor, lost over 15 years ago, hence my personal interest in the best mouth guard possible. Anything would be less trouble than replacing it. With a piece of metal drilled right into the bone, much of the natural support for the tooth is gone. There are no ‘ligaments’, to support the tooth and cushion against impacts as for a real tooth.

Dr. Amer Khakwany of Tinseltown Dental

So for a little while I have been looking for something better than the off the shelf variety of mouth guard, for about six bux, of I which I now own three. But while I had an open mind, I wasn’t able to find very much that provided any more protection in justification of the higher price tag. So I paid a visit to my dentist, Dr. Amer Khakwany at Tinseltown Dental, http://tinseltowndental.com/ to ask him to make me a custom mouth guard while I document the process for my blog.

The process involves making a mould of the mouth by taking impressions of both the upper and lower teeth with a quick hardening alginate medium. The lab takes over from there and delivers a mouth guard that fits your bight perfectly about a week later.

boil and bight mouth guard

My new custom mouth guard is much thinner and harder, and fits on to my upper teeth quite precisely. The mouth guard is quite a bit harder than the boil and bight variety, and this helps prevent the lower jaw from clenching while wearing it. I find that its much easier to breathe while wearing it during training sessions as compared to a larger boil and bight mouth guard.

custom mouth guard

Perhaps more people would consider a custom mouth guard if it weren’t for the concerns of the cost of getting one made. Actually, the cost of obtaining a custom mouth guard has dropped considerably from what I had initially heard from friends. Custom mouth guards have in the recent past cost around $300, but in fact dental and lab fees in my case were only around $150. Sure it costs more than the basic mouth guard, but its a lot less than what people think it costs, and it is still a lot less than a trip to the dentist and oral surgeon.

boil and bight and custom mouth guard

Until you decide to get a custom mouth guard, you can maximize the protection your mouth guard provides by reading the instructions carefully when you do your fitting. Be sure that the resulting mouth guard has strong suction against your teeth. The guard should also go as high as possible around your teeth, up into the area of the mouth called the ‘vestibule’ for best possible protection. You should feel comfortable wearing it, you should be able to adapt your breathing while wearing it. Consider also changing it every six months or year. Rinse it with water after every use and store it in a small plastic tub with a drop of mouthwash to keep it fresh and clean.


A bit of googling did not return much that was relevant beyond a lot of websites selling mouth guards, but there was this post on fightingArts.com which provides a well detailed post about mouth guards and it is well worth reading. http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=403

I decided to enter the Tiger Balm International martial arts tournament this year, but to get ready was no easy feat. I had to make big changes in my fitness level and diet in order to be ready for March 28^th.

Tiger Balm 2010

The Tiger Balm International Tournament is one of the largest martial arts events of the year in greater Vancouver, held annually in the spring at Capilano University in North Vancouver. The event is a two day martial arts tournament with a wide range of ages and disciplines, for both men and women. There are Karate and Kung Fu forms, Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, weapons, Pankration and more. Its a tournament for all the regular people who train at martial arts gyms around town or the region, who are there to see how they do.

A Fitness Goal achieved by diet, exercise, and coaching.

This year I have entered in the WKC division. I decided this quietly last year and after I got over a lengthy cold, I started my training in earnest. I made it my fitness goal to enter the tournament. To succeed, I had to lose a considerable amount of weight to make it into the heavyweight category, with 200.6 lbs at the upper limit. And I had to really increase my state of fitness above and beyond what I get out of a martial arts class two times a week. I’m 42 years old, and I’ll be fighting guys half my age in some cases, so I really have to be on top of my game.

Sparring at Versus21

Cutting that weight

Something I have come to realize after training for about two years and not losing much weight, if any at all, is that without changes in diet, a fitness regime wont bring any results. Weighing in at about 220 lbs, I had about 2 ½ months to lose 20 lbs. In December I was over 230 lbs, but the fabulous H1N1 & Flu diet took care of close to 10 lbs all on its own. So why not keep going in that direction? I started on a diet plan that I would be comfortable with. I’m an old foodie from way back and I make beautiful salads, and I worked to cut out the sugars, starches, beer, pastries, and things that I like to eat. Instead I worked toward a plan consisting of reasonable portions of complex carbohydrates, such as those found in leaf vegetables, as well as protein powder supplements, green tea, and lean meat choices. I didnt really count calories, but as a guide I know that I should have a diet under 2500 Calories per day. What I did do for this program was log everything I ate since the beginning of February in a Google spreadsheet. I shared the spreadsheet with my Sensei, Ali Taghinejad and lead trainer of the Fighterbody conditioning program, Ben Kerswill. Logging everything I ate on a spreadsheet and sharing it with trainers over the web was a great thing to do, being that we are all busy people. I also logged my weight before and after training, my training plan, and other things I was doing in my program. To date they have approved of my diet plan, and the first month I managed to cut 10 lbs, getting my weight down to 210. Now in the second month, the 22^nd of March, I am at 205 and I’ll shave my head to get my weight down if I have to! The plan now involves a drastic increase in water and no bad things can enter the mouth, simple as that. Fortunately, while my event is Sunday I can weigh in on Saturday. I really hope I can make it into that weight class, because the unlimited class has some big guys. I would be faster than them, but its always better to be at the top of your weight class, not the bottom.

Training to fight

Kickboxing class, Sparring

At Versus21, the program I train in is kickboxing based, with lots of techniques borrowed from Muay Thai and standup MMA, and lots of conditioning. The gym offers an open mat for sparring on Fridays and I have made an effort to attend regularly. Sparring has been so important because all those drills and combinations become a total mess when you first get into the chaos of sparring. Eventually you focus and things come together, but it is a constant challenge.

Sparring at Versus21

You have to be in the gym more than anybody else, you got to work harder than anyone, and you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice more than anybody else…

I have had to face some super tough guys sparring, guys with real fight experience, and it has been the toughest thing. I have had to take plenty of full force wallops and I have had to learn to block the strikes or die. Its to my interest though to do that, because I want to be conditioned against guys who are tougher than who I will face on the mat at Tiger Balm. But over the course of sparring, I have had beaten up legs, an eye injury that will probably never heal, not to mention black eyes on more than one occaision, sprained ankles and wrists, bloody noses, and of course various lumps, scrapes and bruises. Now after training I finish my shower with an ice cold blast to help with muscle recovery and to speed the metabolism. It seems to help.

Fighterbody Training

I supplemented my training plan by joining Ben Kerswill’s Fighterbody class. Fighterbody is not a martial arts class, it is a conditioning class that top level athletes use to get in shape for their sport. It is a circuit program of vigorous exercises designed to build speed and power. Typically we train hard for a timed interval, and then brief timed break, we repeat or go to the next exercise. The program uses everything from truck tires and sledgehammers, to kettleballs, dumbells, bosu and swiss balls, elastic cords, and some things that must be exclusively the invention of the program designer. It always impresses me how some seemingly simple little exercises that look so easy to do can be so effective and exhausting. There are some damn fit people in that class.

The program is available on days alternating with my martial arts, as well as weekends, and Friday at 7 PM after sparring. This has meant I have been at the gym almost every day training one way or another, and Friday is a double shot with sparring and Fighterbody. And sometimes I have had to limp through Friday’s class with sprains or a charlie horse. But now after two months of it I feel it has paid off, because instead of being burnt and gassed after an hour of martial arts, I feel strong, like I could go for another hour.

Coaching is important

Its always necessary to do as much as possible to get ready for a tournament. I know there are some damn fit guys out there I’ll be going up against. There is no substitute for the hard work and sacrifices that must be made in order to be ready for a fight. Coaches are there to help, to remind you of what you probably already know you should be doing, and now and then they can give you a tip to maximize your effort. But sometimes you need to be pushed, and they are there for that as well.

When interviewing Sifu Tom Laroche, a former world kickboxing champion, in Kamloops in the fall of last year, he said something toward the end that states in plainly.

…if you want to do well…you have to pay the bigger price than anybody else. You have to be in the gym more than anybody else, you’ve got to work harder than anyone, and you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice more than anybody else… You’ve got to be willing to work harder than anybody else, you’ve got to be willing to come into the gym more than anybody else, and you got to be willing to sacrifice. And it is a sacrifice. Your friends are out doing something else and you cant go do it. They want you to go out to the bar, sorry, I got to go train. If you want to do good.

Here’s to a great tournament, see you down there. And there will be lots of pictures. Osu!