Kombat Arts Blog

Watch this vid of my Kru Mehdi Pouroskoui fight his 1st bare knuckle Muay Thai match, known to some as Muay Boran.  Now there is a story to this:  Mehdi is going to Thailand to fight for a champion belt (1 of many by the way) flies for a whole day and lands jet lagged in Thailand where he is greated by his coach Pak.  I don’t know if you’ve flown for a whole day, but it’s crazy jet lag.  Pak is distressed because one of his athletes dropped out of match, but lo and behold Mehdi is the same size.  Will Mehdi take the fight?  “Sure” Mehdi says with a weak dehydrated grin, “when is it”  Pak cackles, “today”.  Mehdi’s shoulders slump but he is dedicated to his coach and will help.  So they get on a train and travel for 7 hours in extreme heat to get there and now you can see that fight from the comfort of your home.

My Kru Mehdi will be here on July 12 and 13 to hold a Muay Thai camp.  Interested in learning from a 3 time world champion, ranked in boxing and a bare knucklefighter.  Register now at the Kombat front desk-Jd

If you’re interested in defending your car, you must take Linda’s RAVEN women self defense course on July 13 (ignore the date on the site) at the Kombat Arts Mississauga.  Seriously, all joking aside you should take this seminar if you’re a female and if you know any females in your life that value their life.  I say “value” your life because most people value their car and house more than their life.  Take a few minutes and think about that.  We invest more time and money in our house and car and pay less value to our personal health and the ability to defend ourselves.

Just because you take martial arts does not mean you know how to defend your self.  That is a total myth.  Martial arts can be practiced for sport, health, fitness and war.  Self defense will teach you how to be assertive.  How to identify possible threats, and no it does not have to be the guy hiding in your backyard, it can be someone you know!  Self defense involves knowing your legal rights, how to possibly verbally diffuse an attack and as a last resort, physically defend yourself.  Not with “sporting” martial arts techniques, but with techniques that are aggressive in nature and allow you to escape.

If you’re interested in being assertive, confident and learning about verbal and physical self defense, take this course.  If you’re not going to do it for yourself, at least do it for your car-Jd

Check out this video put together by my good friend Oliver Yi.  Remember how you felt at the beginning of the Challenge?  I bet there are a lot of you guys who are in amazing shape and we can’t wait to see the results on June 22.  For the last stretch, don’t stop training and watching your diet.  You can still make some amazing results!  This goes beyond the 9 week challenge; it’s a challenge to stay healthy your whole life-Jd

Ok, I could not stop laughing!  Please don’t let this happen to you, LOL.  If they only trained their MMA at Kombat Arts Mississauga Jd

I coaxed Linda to make her Konditioning class do the Tabata protocal for push ups.  It was exciting watching veryone almost die; what a great way to start the Saturday!  Tabata is a great way to get a lot of work done in a short time (under 5 minutes), but it’s not for the faint of heart and it does take a toll on the nervous system.  There are only 4 weeks left of the 9 week challenge, so I’m sure there will be a lot of people cramming to improve their numbers.  Linda and I are working on the prizes, and they are amazing.  Good luck with this Tabata program and we look forward to seeing you guys in the Kombat Arts, busting your butts for the 4 week dash to the “finish line”!  Jd

I like this ad…it sends a great message-Jd

Getting bored of pull ups and chin ups?  Need some variety or getting sore joints?  Check out this pull up routine that Dave (got suckered into) volunteered for.  One thing for sure, Dave is getting in great shape!  Guys don’t forget the Long Weekend Schedule-Jd

Pull ups and chin ups are friggin hard!  Here is a vid of Nuno de Salles of sweatelitetraining.com (I know in the video both of us say “sweatelite.com”, lack of sleep, no calories, whatever, sorry very unprofessional) sharing some tips on how to do a pull up or chin up if you can’t do one, or want to improve your numbers.

The audio is a little off so I’ll write about what we did.  The whole idea is based around negatives.  Apparently we are stronger in the eccentric motion vs the concentric motion.  Method 1) Use a bench, chair or a human and use that as a launching platform to get up to the pull up bar.  Try to level off at eye / chin level.  Than slowly lower yourself down, try to lower yourself to a 3 or 5 count.  Use the chair again to get up to the chin up bar and do it again.

Method 2) Use the chair again to get to the bar.  Use one foot or the toes of that foot to help your arms pull you up.  It’s like having someone lift you up.  As you get better, try to minimize the use of your assisting foot.  Again try to exaggerate the negative.

Method 3) No bench, chair or human.  Explosively jump to the bar, so that you are already at the bent arm position. You should be around eye / chin level.  Speed / explosiveness is the key to pull ups.  As you get better minimize the explosiveness so that you are relying more on your arms to get up.  Again really work the negatives.

Method 4) Use the Resistance Band to help you.  Ask me for the bands, I have a few of them.  Getting into the band is the toughest thing.  Try not to fall or get tied up in it and embarrass me.  Again you are using the band to help you pull up to the bar.  Again accentuate the negatives.  As you get better you want to reduce the thickness / strength of the band.

For all of these modes Nuno recommends 3 sets of 10 reps.  I would only rest 1 minute or so between sets.  If I had a choice I would do #3 as my preferred way of doing pull ups.  Than 1, and 2 and 4 tying for 3rd place.  If you need help, please ask Linda or myself.  I am always at the gym.  Good luck and thanks again Nuno-Jd

Oh, I still need help with my book.  Please go here to help me with my survey, thanks-Jd

Hey guys, here is another vid of Mayhem Millar when he did a workshop at the Kombat Arts showing some wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for MMA, courtesy of the Fight Planet-Jd

Here is short vid clip on how to work the Thai bag.  A lot of guys come in to the gym and need a little direction on how to work the bags so hopefully this vid will help you guys out.  I’m using Dave Edwards as an assistant in this vid which was filmed by one of our students, Oliver Yi.  Thanks Oliver!  Jd