Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Your Opinion Counts!

OK....Now it is time for you, the viewers, to speak out! At the end of each month, I will be posting here to ask your opinion of this blog page. I want everyone who is interested in fighting of any kind to come to this page over and over again. This blog is for you. SO....waddya think? Is the info good? Is there too much stuff on the side bar? Not enough? Are there things you wish were here? Do you like everything about it? Are there parts of it you hate? You tell me! Be honest and don't hold back. I am a big boy and can take it. Let me know how you feel! Comment on this post and let it rip!

Friday, May 25, 2012


Sunday, May 20, 2012


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Every Martial Arts Owner Should Know CPR

CPR is short for cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and it is a very important skill that everyone should know. Yet more than 65% of the population has never been through the training for it. Many people don't realize just how important it is though until they themselves or someone close to them needs such help. Every parent tries their best to protect their children but if you don't know CPR you are allowing the chance for something bad to happen to them. Anyone you leave your children with should also be certified in the area of CPR.

There are plenty of places that offer CPR classes for free or for a very affordable cost. Check at your local college, your community center, and even at the Red Cross if you have one in your area. Most of the time this will be an all day course or even a two day course. At the end of it you will be certified in the area of CPR.

Look for a CPR program that offers you much more than just a certificate. Find out about the class sizes and the qualifications of the instructions. They are generally medical professionals that want to be able to share this important skill with other people. Find out if you will get a workbook to take home with you as well. Most quality CPR classes though will offer you the chance to practice of mannequins.

It is very important to brush up on your CPR skills from time to time as well. A refresher course can certainly help you to do well when the time comes to use it. CPR can help to save a life in a matter of seconds. You won't have time to second guess your abilities. You also don't want to do more harm than good for the person because you aren't sure of yourself.

Many people have been able to survive choking or another serious issue due to another person effectively administering CPR. Even if medical personnel can arrive in a few minutes it may be too late. If a person has their airway cut off they can die or suffer from brain damage. CPR is an effective tool you can use to help someone to make a full recovery.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Lawlor looking for easier fights

FAIRFAX, Va. – Tom Lawlor may have joked after his win Tuesday night that Virginia is merely one of his top 50 states in which to fight, but he knows the state has been very kind to him.
 
The first time the UFC visited Fairfax, Lawlor (8-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) won the 'Fight of the Night' bonus in a narrow split-decision loss to Aaron Simpson. This time, he cleanly knocked out Jason MacDonald (26-16 MMA, 6-8 UFC) in 50 seconds flat to win 'Knockout of the Night' – by default, given the lack of KOs on the rest of the card, but he had set a high bar with a powerful combo that left MacDonald sprawled face-first.
 
"I'll fight in Virginia every time," Lawlor said. "I got 'Fight of the Night' that time and a knockout tonight, so I feel good." And the win capped a fine 29th birthday celebration for Lawlor, who walked out wearing festive attire along with cornerman Seth Petruzelli as the Beatles tune "Birthday" blared.
 
Again, the live TV broadcast didn't capture his walkout, but the UFC released footage via Twitter. "It wasn't my best work, I'll be honest," Lawlor said.  The last time he was in Virginia, he did an elaborate Hulk Hogan tribute.
 
Lawlor's weigh-in performance, though, was one to add to his highlight reel, as he unleashed a tribute to Genki Sudo's tribute to guitarist Buckethead. Sudo, Lawlor said, was a fighter who could do it all in addition to his succession of colorful entrances. "I can't even hold a candle to him, not even close," Lawlor said. "He had so many good ones. So I went with his imitation of Buckethead. Now I'm doing an imitation of someone doing an imitation. It's kind of like Inception."

But even if the fight hadn't taken place on his birthday, Lawlor wasn't planning to enter to music from Buckethead, a favorite of hard-core guitar aficionados and a one-time member of Guns N' Roses. "Before I went with 'Birthday' by the Beatles, I requested 'Sweet Transvestite' from Rocky Horror Picture Show," Lawlor said. "I don't know if it ever got approved or not."

But beyond the colorful persona is a serious fighter who really appreciates the bonus money, having just moved to Massachusetts to be closer to his family. "I think I miscalculated the cost of living in the Northeast," Lawlor said. "I basically took all my money, bought a house and blew through my money – just living costs, traveling, price of gas, multiple training locations."
 
Lawlor still goes back to Florida on occasion to train with Petruzelli and company. In New England, he goes to several gyms. Tim Burrill, a fourth-degree black belt under Carlos Machado, was in Lawlor's corner along with Petruzelli. He also works with the Joe Lauzon-affiliated Team Aggression, strength coach Kyle Holland, and Pawtucket's Tri-Force MMA.
 
After his colorful run in "The Ultimate Fighter 8," in which he lost early to eventual champion Ryan Bader but had several moments of merriment in the house, he beat castmate Kyle Kingsbury at the finale and choked out C.B. Dollaway at UFC 100. The loss to Simpson stalled his momentum.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Creating An Anabolic State That Supports Muscle Growth

   You can only build muscle if your body is in the correct anabolic balance to allow growth to take place. Intensive exercise is clearly an important part of the muscle building process but achieving the maximum muscle mass depends on putting the building blocks in place. This is achieved through sound nutritional practices so you need to be aware of the following anabolic enhancing principles:

1. Protein is the basic raw material needed to build muscle. Protein supplies the amino acids that the body uses to repair and build muscle following intensive exercise. Aim to consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from food like beef, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and whey. Spread the load over at least six meals to derive the optimum benefit and avoid overloading the liver.

2. Carbohydrates are needed to energize the muscle building process. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin which pushes the amino acids into muscle cells to begin the process of repair. The body uses carbohydrates as a source of energy – consume too little and the body will steal protein that would otherwise be used for repairing and building muscle. Aim to consume 1.5 to 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight each day from foods like potatoes, pasta, rice, vegetables and whole wheat bread.

3. Boost your calories. Unless your main aim is to reduce fat you need a positive caloric balance if you want to build muscle. Make sure that your daily calorie intake is 10% higher than your energy expenditure for daily maintenance and that the calories are acquired from a diet characterized by a ratio of 50% carbohydrates, 40% proteins and 10% fat.

4. Get plenty of rest both in terms of adequate rest days between training sessions and sufficient sleep. Your muscles won’t grow if you don’t build adequate recovery time into your training program. Similarly, you can only optimize your body’s levels of testosterone and growth hormone if you spend enough time sleeping.

5. Consume quality supplements to support a sound nutritious diet. For most people it should be enough to add whey protein, creatine and l-glutamine to your daily diet.

6. Don’t overdo the aerobic exercise. Your aim is to increase muscle mass therefore you don’t want to burn excessive calories that could be utilized for bulking up.

7. Drink plenty of water. Failure to drink sufficient quantities of water will lead to dehydration and adversely affect your muscle mass. Don’t forget that muscle is 70% water so a generous intake will maintain muscle volume and help growth

Friday, May 11, 2012

CALIFORNIA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION
INITIAL STATEMENT OF REASONS

Hearing Date: June 4, 2012
Subject Matter of Proposed Regulations: Hand Wraps
Section Affected: 4 CCR Section 323
Specific Purpose of each adoption, amendment, or repeal:

1. Problem being addressed:
This rule addresses the wrapping of the hands of professional boxing, mixed martial arts, Muay Thai and kickboxing athletes. Currently, this rule does not provide specifics regarding the placement or type of materials allowed when wrapping hands, which has led to inconsistency and confusion amongst the athletes and those who are charged with regulating the wraps.

2.Anticipated benefits from this regulatory action:
This proposed amendment would specify what types of materials can be used for a hand wrap; where the materials can and cannot be placed; and how much of each material can be used. Specifically, addressing how the base layer of gauze is to be applied and how to form a knuckle pad and properly apply it. Clarification regarding the rules will assist participants in knowing what is expected when fighting in California and will help inspectors to apply the rules consistently throughout the sport. Proper hand wraps protect the health and safety of the participant by protecting the hand and by ensuring that the hand wrap does not injure the opponent.

Factual Basis/Rationale
Factual basis for determination that each proposed change is reasonably necessary to address the problem for which it is proposed:
Currently rule 323 is vague and open to interpretation. Amending this rule establishes solid guidelines on the use of tape, the use and amount of gauze used to wrap a hand and how to do it in a way that the fighter’s hand is protected but does not injure the opponent. Additionally, the amendment requires the commission’s athletic inspectors to sign off on all hand wrap(s), signifying that it was completed in compliance with the regulation, which will ensure the health and safety of the participants, as well as ensure compliance with the regulations.

Underlying Data

Technical, theoretical or empirical studies, reports, or documents relied upon (if any):
Association of Boxing Commission hand wrap guidelines dated July 27, 2005

Business Impact
This regulation will not have a significant adverse economic impact on businesses. This initial determination is based on the following facts or evidence/documents/testimony: Hand wraps are already required and these changes would not result in any additional costs to business. Description of alternatives which would lessen any significant adverse impact on business (which includes small business): No alternatives were considered as there are no significant adverse impacts on businesses.

Economic Impact Assessment
This regulatory proposal will have the following effects:
 It will not create or eliminate jobs within the State of California because this proposed regulation simply clarifies existing industry practice.
 It will not create new business or eliminate existing businesses within the State of California because this proposed regulation simply clarifies existing industry practice.
 It will not affect the expansion of businesses currently doing business within the State of California because this proposed regulation simply clarifies existing industry practice.
 This regulatory proposal benefits the health and welfare of California residents because it provides clarity to the hand wrap requirements, which are designed and intended to protect the health and safety of participants in regulated combat sports.
 This regulatory proposal benefits worker safety because it provides clarity to hand wrap requirements, which are designed or intended to protect the health and safety of participants in regulated combat sports.
 This regulatory proposal does not benefit or affect the state’s environment because this proposed regulation simply clarifies existing industry practice.

Specific Technologies or Equipment

This regulation mandates the use of specific technologies or equipment. Such mandates or prescriptive standards are required for the following reasons: For protection of the athlete’s hand and wrist and to protect the opponent by ensuring proper formation of the knuckle pad and that no foreign objects are applied to or inserted into the hand wrap, as inspection by the commission’s athletic inspector will be required.

Consideration of Alternatives
No reasonable alternative to the regulatory proposal would be either more effective in carrying out the purpose for which the action is proposed or would be as effective or less burdensome to affected private persons and equally effective in achieving the purposes of the regulation in a manner that ensures full compliance with the law being implemented or made specific.
Set forth below are the alternatives which were considered and the reasons each alternative was rejected: None

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Bravery Hurts
Never Trust Anyone Who Hasn’t Been Punched in the Face

by Scott Locklin
September 07, 2011
 
Conservatives like to talk about the causes of Western Civilization’s downfall: feminism, loose morality, drug abuse, Christianity’s decline, reality TV. Blaming civilization’s downfall on lardy hagfish such as Andrea Dworkin is like a doctor diagnosing senility by an old person’s wrinkles. The fact that anyone listened to such a numskull is a symptom, not the cause, of a culture in decline. The cause of civilizational decline is dirt-simple: lack of contact with objective reality. The great banker-journalist (and founder of the original National Review) Walter Bagehot said it well almost 150 years ago:
History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the movements of the world gave a chance for it.

Every great civilization reaches a point of prosperity where it is possible to live your entire life as a pacifist without any serious consequences. Many civilizations have come to the state of devolution represented by modern Berkeley folkways, from wife-swapping to vegetarianism. These ideas don’t come from a hardscrabble existence in contact with nature’s elemental forces; they are the inevitable consequence of being an effete urban twit removed from meaningful contact with reality. The over-civilized will try to portray their decadence as something “highly evolved” and worthy of emulation because it can only exist in the hothouse of highly civilized urban centers, much like influenza epidemics. Somehow these twittering blockheads missed out on what the word “evolution” means. Evolution involves brutal and often violent natural selection, and these people have not been exposed to brutal evolutionary forces any more than a typical urban poodle.

Through human history, vigorous civilizations had various ways of dealing with the unfortunate human tendency toward being a weak ninny. The South Koreans (for my money, the hardest men in Asia today) have brutally tough military training as a rite of passage. I’ve been told that the Soviet system had students picking potatoes during national holidays. The ancient Greeks used competitive sports and constant warfare. The Anglo-American working classes, the last large virtuous group of people left in these countries, use bullying, violent sports, fisticuffs, and hard living.

I think there is a certain worldview that comes from violent experience. It’s something like…manhood. You don’t have to be the world’s greatest badass to be a man, but you have to be willing to throw down when the time is right.

A man who has been in a fight or played violent sports has experienced more of life and manhood than a man who hasn’t. Fisticuffs, wrestling matches, knife fights, violent sport, duels with baseball bats, facing down guns, or getting crushed in the football field—men who have had these experiences are different from men who have not. Men who have trained for or experienced such encounters know about bravery and mental fortitude from firsthand experience. Men who have been tested physically know that inequality is a physical fact. Men who know how to deal out violence know that radical feminism’s tenets—that women and men are equal—are a lie. We know that women are not the same as men: not physically, mentally, or in terms of moral character.

Men who have fought know how difficult it is to stand against the crowd and that civilization is fragile and important. A man who has experienced violence knows that, at its core, civilization is an agreement between men to behave well. That agreement can be broken at any moment; it’s part of manhood to be ready when it is. Men who have been in fights know about something that is rarely spoken of without snickering these days: honor. Men who have been in fights know that, on some level, words are just words: At some point, words must be backed up by deeds.

Above all, men who have been in fights know that there is nothing good or noble about being a victim. This is a concept the modern “conservative movement,” mostly run by wimps, has lost, probably irrevocably. They’re forever tugging at my heartstrings, from No Child Left Behind to Israel’s plight to MLK’s wonders to whining that the media doesn’t play fair to the overwrought emotional appeals they use to justify dropping bombs on Muslims. The Republicans are even taking seriously a pure victim-candidate: Michelle Bachman. As far as can be told, she’s a middle-American Barack Obama with boobs and a slightly loopier world view.

Modern “civilized” males don’t get in fistfights. They don’t play violent sports. They play video games and, at best, watch TV sports. Modern males are physical and emotional weaklings. The ideal male isn’t John Wayne or James Bond or Jimmy Stewart anymore. It’s some crying tit that goes to a therapist, a sort of agreeable lesbian with a dick who calls the police (whom he hates in theory) when there is trouble. The ideal modern male is the British shrimp who handed his pants over to the looter in south London.

How did we get here? Estrogens in the food supply? Cultural Marxism’s corrosive influence?  Small families? Some of the greatest badasses I’ve known had many brothers to fight with growing up. When good men who will fight are all extinct, there is no more civilization. No lantern-jawed viragos are going to save you from the barbarian hordes. No mincing nancy boys with Harvard diplomas will stand up for the common decencies: They’re a social construct, dontcha know. The conservative movement won’t save you: They’re chicken-hearted careerists petrified of offending a victim group.

Teddy Roosevelt, my ideal President, kept a lion and a bear as pets in the White House and took his daily exercise doing jiu-jitsu and boxing. He even lost vision in an eye in a friendly boxing match while he was president. Our last three glorious leaders are men who kept fluffy dogs and went jogging. I don’t trust squirrelly girly-men in any context. When confronted with difficult decisions, they don’t do what’s right or tell the truth—they’ll do what’s easy or politically expedient. Unlike the last three, Teddy Roosevelt never sent men to die in pointless wars, though he was more than happy to go himself or risk his neck wrestling with bears. 
 
I’m no great shakes: I’m a shrimpy egghead in a suit who thinks about math all day. I don’t train for fighting anymore, and my experiences with violence are fairly limited. Nonetheless, I judge people on these sorts of things. When I first meet a man, I don’t care what kind of sheepskins or awards he has on his walls. I don’t care if he is liberal or conservative. I want to know if they have my back in a fight. That’s really the only thing that matters.
 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Our NEW Blog

Welcome to our NEW Blog!
This is a brand new design for 2012.

You can easily get updates through email and have access
to some great new ideas in training.
I will also be giving reviews on fights and gladly appreciate your feedback.
Enjoy and thank you for visiting!

For those of you who came here directly from the web, here is the link to our website:

Kick-Ass One Hour Routine

ok, got an hour? Try this:
5 minutes: standing squat thrusts with a twist, once you kick your legs out straight spread them wide and then bring them back before tucking them in to stand do this all as one motion.
5 minutes: punching a bag. All kinds of punches including backfists
5 minutes: kicking. All kinds of kicks
5 minutes: elbows on a bag
5 minutes static stretching
5 minutes break with water
5 minutes: standing squat thrusts with a twist, once you kick your legs out straight spread them wide and then bring them back before tucking them in to stand do this all as one motion.
5 minutes: punching with no bag. All kinds of punches including backfists
5 minutes: kicking. All kinds of kicks this time with bag
5 minutes: break with water
5 minutes: elbows on a bag
Last five minutes: lay flat on the floor holding a 10 pound medicine ball in both hands at arms length above your stomach. Tighten your stomach muscles and let the ball drop and hit you. Grab it with both hands before it rolls onto the floor and repeat for the entire 5 minutes.

Side Control Stamina Drill

A great training session for outside with only one tool. Get a heavy bag, one of the throwing dummies or a sand bag. Find a stretch of yard or a park. Lay the bag down and get side control with a headlock on the bag and support yourself on your inner knee. From this position jump up and over the bag while switching hands and end up with side control and a headlock on the other side. Do this ten times back and forth without stopping. As time goes on do it faster and faster. Oh yea.......make sure you have 2 towels for the sweat factor from this one!

Strength Train Before Cardio

If you are going to do strength training and cardio during your workout, be sure to do them in the right order. Do about 4 minutes of treadmill to get a nice warmup and then start your strength routine. After you're done 'hangin and bangin' hit the treadmill, bike....all of it and knock yourself out.

If you do the reverse like a lot of people you will not see the muscle gains you might be looking for....Enjoy

After Dinner Trick

A great way to burn some extra calories after dinner! Wait around 45 to 60 minutes after eating and then put on 2-3 layers of clothing...t-shirts, sweats..anything that covers you head to toe. Go outside and walk for an hour. You get fresh air and you will sweat! Afterwards replenish the water you lost but don't eat anything else before going to bed. Check that scale in the morning...you just might smile.

You can use this same trick for lunch if you don't have time at night.....Enjoy!

Monday, May 7, 2012

The Right Pillow

Believe it or not, the right pillow can help you recover from back and hip ailments. As fighters and wrestlers we put our bodies through some insane pounding. There are times when we need to recover and good sleep is important to our recovery. The right pillow can allow proper alignment of the spine while sleeping which can speed up recovery. So, if you are having hip or lower back issues take a minute to re-think your pillow. I know from experience that is can make all the difference.