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Ultimate Event Promotions

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Ultimate Event Promotions

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:27:11 PDT

Visit Ultimate Event Promotions Today!

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Ultimate Event Promotions

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Visit Ultimate Event Promotions Today!

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MMA Event in Daphne, Alabama

Team-Tomaso — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:05:00 PDT

Call 251-928-0984 or email tkd1@bellsouth.net if you would like to fight in Oktober Fist MMA event in Daphne, alabama on October 25 2008. We pay travel expenses for amatuersand top pay for professionals.

SAMBO ANKLE LOCK

Team-Tomaso — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:21:16 PDT

SAMBO ANKLE LOCK

Team-Tomaso — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:21:16 PDT

SAMBO ANKLE LOCK

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SAMBO ANKLE LOCK

Team-Tomaso — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:21:14 PDT

SAMBO ANKLE LOCK

Team-Tomaso — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:21:14 PDT

Tomaso's Martial Arts Technique Of the Week

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:03:00 PDT

Ultimate Event Promotions

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 14:55:00 PDT

Ultimate Event Promotions MMA Event

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Ultimate Event Promotions MMA Event

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Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:15 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:14 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:13 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:12 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:11 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:10 PDT

Mixed Martial Arts Event

Team-Tomaso — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:35:00 PDT

If you are interested in fighting in or attending this event give us a call 251-928-0984

MMA

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:23:35 PST

The MMA Formula:
Striking+Takedowns+Groundwork

Techniques illustrating striking vs grappling strategies:

Baiting shoot takedown vs. punching

Sprawl and knees vs. shoot

Clinch and inside trip vs. punching

Leg catch and takedown vs. Thai kick

Counter to leg catch

If you liked this article you might also like Sports Specific Training for MMA, by Ryan Pratt

Grapplearts Newsletter:
Tips for your Grappling Game

Find out more about our FREE, information-packed newsletter by clicking here

Mixed martial art (MMA) competition has come a long way from the early UFCs, where Karateka faced off against streetfighters, and Jiujitsu practitioners battled Kung Fu stylists. In those early days competitors typically had uni-dimensional games, based on striking or takedowns or groundfighting. Competitors who were skilled in more than one area of fighting were far and few between.

Nowadays MMA competitors do far more cross-training, and it is no longer unusual to have separate boxing, wrestling and Jiu-jitsu coaches. Do you need to be an expert at every phase of combat to be successful in MMA? Not at all! You DO, however, need to be familiar with each phase of combat, and have a few phases, or sub-categories, in which you are a specialist.

For the sake of argument we can divide MMA combat into 3 phases: Striking, Standing Grappling and Groundfighting. Each of these phases is composed of a large number of sub-categories. For the sake of discussion, I will divide each major phase into some simple and sometimes arbitrary categories.

Standing Striking
1 – Punching
2 – Kicking
3 – Knees
4 – Elbows
5 - Headbutts

Standing Grappling
1 – The Clinch (e.g. inside trip, whizzer, lateral drops, knee strikes, etc.)
2 – The Shoot (e.g. single leg, double leg, high crotch)

Groundwork
1 – Position fighting (guard passing, pin maintenance, etc.)
2 – Submission attacks and defenses
3 – Striking attacks and defenses

To be successful at NHB you need to be a generalist and a specialist. You need to be familiar with all the phases of combat and major techniques (generalist) and be very good at one or more areas (specialist). This combination of skills and specializations then determines your game plan.

Sakuraba is an example of a fighter with outstanding submission and striking skills on the ground. On his feet he has great kicks and great takedowns. This combination of skills gives him options at every range, in every range of combat, and makes him one of the most exciting fighters of his era.

Some fighters are most skilled in the clinch - this doesn't mean that they don't have other skills, but only that this is where they feel most at home. The clinch can helps them negate the punches and kicks of an opponent and keep the fight standing or on the ground. Randy Couture defeated Vitor Belfort with this strategy. Although Randy Couture is undoubtedly familiar with all categories of techniques he has displayed superior boxing, clinching, top control and ground striking skills. For him, this has proven to be a winning combination.

Other fighters have superior striking skills, and back up their gameplan by developing their takedown defenses and a survival-oriented bottom game. Maurice Smith defeated several skilled grapplers with this strategy (Mark Coleman and Marcus ‘Conan’ Silviera). Chuck Liddell is another excellent striker with great takedown defense.

Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira is a good boxer and a very skilled groundfighter. This is an interesting combination: Minotauro is dangerous on his feet, but should an opponent successfully tackle him and take him to the ground then they face a relentless onslaught of armbar, triangle and omo plata attacks.

A striker without any takedown defenses and ground survival skills is very vulnerable. A grappler without any takedown skills or striking skills is likewise vulnerable. Someone hoping to be successful in the NHB arena should definately seek to develop a variety of skills, at the very least becoming somewhat familiar with the basic attacks and strategies in each phase of combat.

In the following techniques we pit two hypothetical fighters against each other. The fighter in white is skilled in kickboxing with a strong takedown defense. The fighter in the black trunks is skilled at the clinch, the shoot and ground submissions. In addition to being a battle of skills, this is also a battle of strategies. White wants to keep it standing. Black wants to close and take it to the ground. The winner is the fighter who keeps the fight in the phases of combat he is comfortable with.

Assisting Stephan Kesting in these techniques is Pshemek Drabczynski, 1995 WKA North American Champion, skilled grappler and trainer of MMA and kickboxing competitors. For more information please visit www.columbiamartialarts.ca

MMA

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:23:33 PST

The MMA Formula:
Striking+Takedowns+Groundwork

Techniques illustrating striking vs grappling strategies:

Baiting shoot takedown vs. punching

Sprawl and knees vs. shoot

Clinch and inside trip vs. punching

Leg catch and takedown vs. Thai kick

Counter to leg catch

If you liked this article you might also like Sports Specific Training for MMA, by Ryan Pratt

Grapplearts Newsletter:
Tips for your Grappling Game

Find out more about our FREE, information-packed newsletter by clicking here

Standing Striking
1 – Punching
2 – Kicking
3 – Knees
4 – Elbows
5 - Headbutts

Standing Grappling
1 – The Clinch (e.g. inside trip, whizzer, lateral drops, knee strikes, etc.)
2 – The Shoot (e.g. single leg, double leg, high crotch)

Groundwork
1 – Position fighting (guard passing, pin maintenance, etc.)
2 – Submission attacks and defenses
3 – Striking attacks and defenses

Submission Videos

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:11:00 PST

Bjj Videos

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:11:00 PST

Strength and conditioning

Team-Tomaso — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:06:41 PST

Staph Infection Article

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:07:36 PST

Superbug scare: Staph infection as Stroudsburg Junior High raises concerns

By Beth Brelje also

by Dan Berrett Pocono Record Writers October 30, 2007

As frightening as a Halloween ghoul, the sometimes deadly MRSA bacteria is creeping around the Poconos. Stroudsburg Junior High School was sanitized over the weekend after a student tested positive for the infection. Letters were sent home to inform parents of the illness. Preventable Good grooming habits go a long way in preventing MRSA. Here are some tips: Wash your hands with soap and warm water. Keep MRSA wounds covered to help prevent the infection from spreading. Don't share personal items such as towels, razors and clothes. Avoid bar soaps. Bacteria can hide in the cracks. Wash and completely dry clothes that have come in contact with pus-drainage. Slightly moist clothes from the drier may harbor bacteria. Use hand sanitizer with a high alcohol content to kill germs. Consult a physician Chances are you've been in contact with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Staph bacteria lives on the skin and in the noses of more than one fourth of the population; possibly yours. One percent of staph bacteria is MRSA — resistant to some antibiotics. MRSA doesn't always make you sick, and isn't always serious. But when MRSA occurs and is left untreated, it can morph from boils and inflammation of the skin to infection in the blood and bones. Public awareness of MRSA is heightened by the deaths of two children this month: a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy and a 17-year-old Virginia teen. Also this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association came out with a report documenting the increasing incidence of MRSA infections. Most MRSA cases occur in hospitals and nursing homes, but infections in the general population are becoming more common. "We are getting numerous calls from school districts around the state," said Stacy Kriedeman, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. "We don't recommend schools close down or cancel events. We understand the concern: MRSA can have serious consequences, but it is very treatable and very preventable." This is a good time to remind the public about personal hygiene, Kriedman said. "It's as simple as washing hands," she said. "Keep wounds clean and covered and don't let others touch an open sore you have." MRSA is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, most often through hands. Tracking the infection in Pennsylvania is murky, as no records of MRSA cases are kept. However, that is about to change. Starting in February, Pennsylvania hospitals will be required to report MRSA cases. Nursing homes will start reporting later in 2008. Still, cases in which MRSA is contracted by members of the general public will not be tracked. Fear of the disease has prompted parents in some affected schools nationwide to keep their children home. However, John Toleno, superintendent of the Stroudsburg Area School District, said there was no noticeable difference in the number of absences Monday compared to last week. He reported 93.4 percent attendance at the junior high school Monday, compared to 94 percent last week. The student who tested positive for MRSA was a varsity football player at the junior high school. The rest of the team was screened for the infection. Over the weekend, 19 staff members disinfected the junior high building, as well as the locker and weight rooms in the stadium. Any buses involved with the afflicted student also were disinfected. Using a chemical called Morning Mist, they wiped down any hard surfaces, including walls, desks, phones, filing cabinets and countertops. They also mopped the floors and used an aerosol spray disinfectant on computers and library books. All gym floors, locker rooms and restrooms were also disinfected. MRSA on the move The deaths of school-age children across the country from MRSA has alarmed parents and school officials. Most often found in hospitals and nursing homes, the so-called superbug is moving into schools. MSRA cases are not tracked in the general population so it is difficult to determine how much the incidence has increased. Most often, the infection is treatable. Some of the cases in October include: Preschooler Catherine Bentley, 4, of Salisbury, N.H., died Oct. 12. Shae Kiernan, 11, of Vancleave, Miss., died Oct. 12. Omar Rivera, 12, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died Oct. 14. Ashton Bonds, 17, of Bedford, Va., died Oct. 15. Six football players at a North Carolina high school were infected in mid-October. Nine West Virginia State University football players were infected in late October. Two teens in Connecticut. Fifteen cases have been found in South Florida public schools. One confirmed case at Stroudsburg Junior High School.

Preventable

Good grooming habits go a long way in preventing MRSA. Here are some tips:

Wash your hands with soap and warm water.
Keep MRSA wounds covered to help prevent the infection from spreading.
Don't share personal items such as towels, razors and clothes.
Avoid bar soaps. Bacteria can hide in the cracks.
Wash and completely dry clothes that have come in contact with pus-drainage. Slightly moist clothes from the drier may harbor bacteria.
Use hand sanitizer with a high alcohol content to kill germs.
Consult a physician

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:56:09 PST

If you only read and keep the teachings presented here, you’re not going anywhere with your ground techniques. The following advices – useful in tournaments with gi, grappling, MMA and for the athletes personal evolution – ought to be studied between trainings. On this case, our little script here can change everything you had been doing wrong – or simply didn’t know existed. Aiming at bringing you a large and carefully wrought guide (whether you are or not a beginner), we have asked the main masters of the sport: what would you like to have found out earlier? What’s behind the gold medals and amazing titles? What are the shortcuts? What are the secrets? Each Jiu-Jitsu exponent brought their own delicacy to this feast. Enjoy, therefore, this manual if you wish to evolve. In Jiu-Jitsu, life – everything. 1. Exercise your ears “The first rule to perfect your Jiu-Jitsu is to never be deaf to other people’s knowledge,” says Renzo Gracie. “It’s common to see guys who deem themselves professors decline a new teaching, ignoring a pupil who shows something new. To grow better you must understand how people think and how they got to that position. Even if it’s not perfect, it’s up to you to enhance it.” A clear example was a coup with which Gracie surprised Canadian fighter Carlos Newton in the Pride Bushido 1: “I nearly submitted him on the foot lock, in a position a white-belt had taught me. Starting from the tip I perfected and developed the leg attack, from the knee lock to the foot lock.” To Renzo, it doesn’t matter whether the student is a blue-, white-belt, or someone who’s never fought: the moment they show you something, shut your mouth and pay attention. “Even if the move is not efficient, the concept might help your play. When you don’t allow yourself to accept any other form of knowledge, you become a limited professor,” he teaches. 2. Always believe in the move If you follow Rodrigo Minotauro’s MMA bouts, you can probably figure out his tip to make your Jiu-Jitsu better. A combative athlete, always with a surprising coup at hand, he shoots: “Fight to get a grip on your opponent.” How do you do that? Well, the Brazilian Top Team star suggests that every fighter ignores the clock and the points during the combats. This measure may result in defeats in the beginning, but on the long run it’ll leave the fighter “light and loose” (Nogueira’s definition). “There is nothing better than fighting naturally and pressure-free,” he says. “The secret is to believe He’s got to believe,” adds Wallid Ismail. Carlson Gracie’s black-belt’s advice is based on three elements: stamina, attitude and will to win. “At the time of the position or the fight, the main thing is to believe. To make the move work, you’ve got to believe it will work. And it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side, because there lies the difference between winner and loser. The winner is never intimidated. He may even fear, but he must have something greater inside – the attitude.” 3. Practice an outdoor sport Soccer, jogging, outdoor work out – there’s always a healthy activity waiting for the athlete who takes off the gi after hours of grappling in the academy. One can then dive into a commonplace sport (surf, for instance, is practised by nine in every ten fighters) or even invent their own distraction. This strategy keeps the body in shape without making the fighter stressed from the training routine. “Every physical activity, not only Jiu-Jitsu, is useful for working out heart and mind, leading the guy to thinking that, instead of smoking a joint or using drugs, he can dedicate his time to exercise,” says Royler Gracie, who has since 1999 been climbing the Rock of Gavea, at Rio de Janeiro: “It’s a workout similar to the Macacos Hill trail at Teresopolis, which I would cross with Rickson when he was preparing for MMA fights,” he recollects. 4. Repeat the moves over and over Leaders of victorious academies in Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, Andre Pederneiras (Nova Uniao) and Sylvio Behring (Winner-Behring) don’t fear being repetitive when they assure that the motto is to persist and persist and then persist some more when it comes to position-training. “Definitely the key is the positions. In judo, the athlete makes 1,000 takedowns on every session. It’s sad to see that in the Jiu-Jitsu milieu people think it’s a waste of time. We repeat the basic positions in the warm up about 5 times before every practice”, says Pederneiras. Master Sylvio corroborates: “Every title we conquered in the last years with Mario Reis and Fabricio Werdum were due to this philosophy: repeating the basics and go through a training fight under supervision, which is the sparring game. One of the athletes executes every type of attack, arm, triangle, and the other tries to defend from the blitz”, says Marcelo Behring’s brother, who demands 90 seconds or a series of 100 repetitions after training. “Thus the athlete reaches exhaustion and lets the movement flow naturally.” After all, as professor Jean Jacques Machado puts it, it’s better to repeat a position a thousand times, working on it for a month, than learning one a day. The phenomenon Nino “Elvis” Schembri also agrees on the tip: “More and more I convince myself that one should pay attention to the positions, from the white all the way to the black belt. The main thing in Jiu-Jitsu, a sport in which, I believe, the most technical player gets the advantage, is to repeat the positions. Everybody does that in boxing, judo, but in Jiu-Jitsu the guys are a little lazy. Including me.” To Nino, it’s reasonable to reserve the beginning of the practice to repeating 50 positions for each side, thrice a week. “And don’t even think of giving up”, he smiles. 5. Set goals In the nineties, when he was among the best competitors in Jiu-Jitsu, Ze Mario Sperry had a notebook where he would right the goals to be reached in training, in a given period. The black-belt used to rip the leaves and leave them on all corners of his house. “I’d go to the bathroom to shave and would find a note glued to the mirror: ‘If you want to be a champion, you’ve got one week to do this or train that’,” he recalls. Sperry explains that setting goals helps in the evaluation and control of what is being produced in the training. “The ideal is that the fighter define what he wants. Afterwards, find ways to get there, reckoning the time necessary to reach it.” For an example, the black-belt recollects the time he set the goal of getting a perfect physical condition. To achieve it, he designed a series that focused on several exercises, such as squatting, weight lifting and running-sprints. “By keeping my heart-beat accelerated with this workout, I made progress until I conditioned my body to the rhythm of the combats.” This “note pursuit” enabled the BTT master to keep focus on his career’s objectives, being sure what he had to improve in a near future. Black-belt Vitor Shaolin warns his students about this up to this day: “You must set up your training in such a way that you define what are the two most important competitions for you to be in that year. No matter how much you try it, you can never be 100% in all tournaments,” he guarantees. “Then you must establish the rules: ‘I want to be well in the Brazilian and World championships.’ And prepare to place well only in these tournaments, not minding whatever you win or lose in the rest of the competitions. The body is not a machine and cannot remain on a level 8 or 9 all the time, be it in Jiu-Jitsu or MMA, which is the Triathlon of fighting,” the Shooto champion concludes. 6. Be dynamic To Amaury Bitetti, Jiu-Jitsu is like chess: you only move a piece thinking of the next move. The two-time world open champion in ’96-’97 says an attacking position during the fight must always be connected to other future positions whose objective is the submission or – just to follow the comparison – the check-mate. In order to achieve that, Amaury advises that the attack-trainings should be made in a logical progression. For instance: a takedown leads to a guard-pass, which in its turn leads us to a mount, which leads to a choke. The combinations are infinite; what matters is that your game be not static. Just as in the whiskey advertisement: keep walking. Turn your Jiu-Jitsu into a motor gear. 7. You are an athlete, not a weight-lifter Two-time world open champion 02-03, Marcio Pe de Pano strives to convince the athletes of the fact that they don’t need to look for a superathlete’s body at any cost. To the black-belt, the secret lies, above all, in training to ally technique and good conditioning. “If you train Jiu-Jitsu, you ought to work out, but not make a monstrous physical preparation,” he comments. “If you fight MMA or wrestling, you might need such a body. In Jiu-Jitsu, physical preparation is not all: one must work to become a technical and conditional athlete.” Therefore, don’t go try anything silly. 8. Strengthen your grip The first attitude necessary to follow this hint by Vitor Shaolin is: tighten that rope well! After all, the principle behind this task is to use a thick rope tied to the academy’s ceiling in order to strengthen the fighter’s grip on the opponent’s gi. An important detail is that this exercise is good to another very important muscle for the athlete: the abdomen. As Shaolin demonstrates, there are three ways of climbing, each of which improves a specific group of moves. In the first exercise (picture A), the athlete uses short grips to get to the top, which helps in the chokes executed with the hands near and the arms bent. As he shows, the climb can be made with the hand reversed (picture B). In the following task (picture C) he goes upwards with wider grips, ideal to strengthen a pull from the ground with a hip escape (bottom picture) or any position that demands a strong grip with the arms stretched. The detail is to keep the legs always elevated, which toughens the abs. “You go up, stop for a few seconds with the legs stretched, and then descend in the same fashion,” explains the Nova Uniao professor. “The wider grip is the hardest, so I do it only once a day, five times a week. The other one, easier, I repeat ten times a week, twice on one day, thrice on the next, then twice… Always after training, when the arms are more tired.” 9. Strive to be complete What good is it to get an A+ in guard-passing but flunk attack-from-the-back? To stand out in Jiu-Jitsu, the fighter can’t excel at one or two moves. He must play in the eleven, as we say in football. Black-belt Saulo Ribeiro teaches a simple way of reaching versatility: “Many people despises the warm-up before practising. Well, dedicate the first 15 minutes in the academy to doing the basic: escape from the back, from the mount, and side-mount. In the next 15, practise submission from the back, the mount and the side-mount. Do this every day in your Jiu-Jitsu career. It may be boring, but it’ll make you complete. No matter what belt. I am a black-belt and still discipline myself into doing it till today. Oh, I nearly missed it. Practise judo at least twice a week. Knowing how to fight standing is also fundamental. That it my formula for becoming complete.” 10. Posture is everything By training Jiu-Jitsu frequently, three or four times a week, our physical preparation specialist Martin Rooney’s attention was caught by a simple, though essential, tip. “It was something that changed the way I looked at workout itself: whether on the mat or with the dumb-bells, always pay attention to your posture. That is the most important, both if you are trying pass a guard or lifting tremendous weight. Without the adequate posture you don’t spare moves, you worsen the strike’s execution and augment the health hazards – or loss hazards.” In case the reader suspects on Martin for the fact that he isn’t a great BJJ star, remember that is one of the aspects Rickson Gracie stresses the most while training. So, straight neck, lined-up shoulders, firm back and off you go. 11. Learn from defeat Many fighters absorb but negativity from losses. They get depressed, blame God and the world for the result and, sometimes, deem their careers finished. Leonardo Vieira does the exact opposite. He uses the defeats (preferably in practices, of course) to reflect on what he can do better. “I’m convinced that everybody who submits all of their opponents in the trainings is actually learning nothing,” says Leo. Like the child, who only learns how to walk by stumbling, it’s by tapping that the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner improves their art. Therefore, the Brasa black-belt advises that the masters mix athletes of different graduations in the trainings. Thus the fights aren’t too even, leaving room for adversities. Martin Rooney agrees: “The athlete who reacts with bad feelings to the defeats isn’t learning the incredible lessons that have been taught him, and that would make his chances of losing again much smaller. There’s no such thing as winning and losing, but only winning and learning,” says Renzo’s and Ricardo Cachorrao’s trainer. “Only you can your reaction and spirits to grow as an athlete. I believe the person that has been submitted the most is the toughest to beat. That’s what a tough guy is made of. That’s of a black-belt is made of,” he summarizes. Leo Vieira calls the attention to the fact that the losses out of the mats are just as fundamental to form a champion, above all in what concerns character. “When there was a dissidence at the first formation of the Alliance team and I was alone in Sao Paulo, I went through one of the most difficult moments of my life. However, I became a much stronger person and learned a lot about life. I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t gone through that,” he evaluates. 12. Look for the best version of the move for you Master Osvaldo Alves says that up until the nineteen-seventies one only gave and armbar-in-guard by uncrossing and wide-opening the legs. “I realized this coup was vulnerable, for it enabled the opponent to flee and pass the guard easily. So I invented the climbing-armbar,” recalls the red-and-black-belt. As you can see on the image, this armlock version makes it a lot harder for the adversary to escape. “The thing is to not lock the opponent’s arm, but his/her shoulder,” clears up the master, who uses his own calf against the sparring’s shoulder, stopping him from getting up. Summarizing: if you don’t get along with a certain move, try to perfect it, adapt it to your physical and technical traits, always searching new versions for it. That’s what makes Jiu-Jitsu evolve continuously. 13. The best strategy is the attack “I always try to attack. While I’m on the offensive, my opponent can think of nothing but defending, that is, I’m protected,” Marcelo Garcia teaches. As an example, the Alliance black-belt recalls the time when he didn’t know to keep an open guard. He would cross the legs on the opponent’s back and pray for the time to elapse. “I was afraid of attacking,” he evaluates. After noticing the deficiency Marcelo started uncrossing the feet and practising sweeps. He realised that, if he went right onto the adversary, he’d run a much smaller risk of being submitted than if he played defending, applying but rare counter-strikes. Garcia also realised that, by being the first to attack, he would make his opponents abandon their former plan. If he prolonged the blitz, Marcelo also prolonged this “untouchable” state. But there are those who say that repeated attacks tend to tire the athlete. “What really tires is to hold the fight back the whole time,” Marcelo argues. Notwithstanding, the black-belt gives some advice on physical preparation for those who agree that the best defense is the attack: “Climbing stairs and ramps is the best option for an amazing guard,” he reveals. 14. Don’t forget to enhance your defense Despite liking the attacking strategy suggested by Marcelo Garcia, Rillion Gracie stresses the importance of training submission-escapes (remembering that the other guy may attack first). “Look at Roger Gracie’s performances in the last World Championship. He suffered fulminating attacks right in the beginning of the battles but was able to defend like a master to then counter-attack,” Rillion recalls. The Gracie Leblon Master says that, while practising defense, the competitor learns exactly what the opponent feels like in situations of adversity. “Learning defense improves the attack. I f the lion knows how the prey can escape, it’ll capture it in a much more precise way,” he ponders. To practise defense in Jiu-Jitsu, Rillion advises the reader into forgetting s/he is strong. “Exercise your patience. Use the weight and the force of the levers,” he explains. “Start practising defense as soon as possible, to awake just as soon the survival instinct in your fighter’s soul.” 15. Stretch! Ever since he was a kid, Antonio Schembri has been used to stretching daily. And he never complained, unlike his opponents, whom, in time and practice, he began to submit in the most varied ways. “I’m very flexible, so I always take a strong session before and after training. Some people are stiffer, they don’t like it, but stretching is essential, especially the bottom half, legs, spine and lumbar,” says the Chute Boxe athlete. According to “Elvis,” stretching is vital even for improving the guard. “What I realize in competitions, even black-belts’, is that everybody gets along well on top, but not everyone can keep a good guard. So besides stretching, which improves the de-passing, the athlete must set up a schedule and program himself and persist in training every single variation, butterfly guard, closed guard, with inside hooks… You can’t let the guy cross the knee line, or else you’ll have to pull something out of your ass to stop the guy from passing,” Schembri teaches. 16. Develop self-knowledge According to Fabio Gurgel, competition-Jiu-Jitsu is so leveled nowadays that the small details can make the difference in the fight’s result. Considering that you, fearless reader, have already looked after the technique and physical preparation, the Alliance general calls the attention to a “detail” that can turn you into a giant of the mats: self-knowledge. “I advise my students to talk to themselves. Self-evaluation makes the athlete know himself better, finding out his true virtues and weaknesses. He starts being conscious of his own instincts, develops self-confidence and doesn’t chiken out. Thus the athlete can design an ideal fighting plan,” Gurgel analyses, and then describes the state of mind with which one should enter the ring: “The fighter’s self-knowledge must turn the battler into something pleasant. The Jiu-Jitsu practitioner must have fun in the championships. That way, it all becomes easy.” 17. Simulate hindrances and escapes “Back at Carlson’s academy, I always trained with partners who would attack me full-on That’s what’s bad about training in an academy where everybody wants to fight for real: you don’t get used to the opponent that hinders the fighting in the competitions,” Ricardo de la Riva points out, stressing the hard time he had developing his game against Japanese fighter Yuki Nakai in September 2004.His hint, accordingly, is to simulate fights where the opponent neither tries to pass nor to submit; to fight against a technical sparring – or one who runs away. Marcelo Garcia also has a hint for those hard situations: stretching and breathing. “The fighter has got to know how to stretch and move all of his members, besides breathing properly, for the time when he is on the bottom, being smashed and smothered by the adversary,” says the middle-weight world champion. In order to learn how to get out of the tough situations, Garcia indicates: the good thing is to practise guard with heavier mates. 18. Try! Jean Jacques Machado likes to awake his students’ creativity. The master organizes “lab sessions” during the trainings in the academy where he teaches in Los Angeles. On these moments he shows the classroom a move, asks the students to study it and to present a defense a week later. “There are many ways to get to a goal. I like my pupils to use their creativity and find out new ways to get there,” he evaluates. In other words, Jean doesn’t make his apprentices “move repeaters.” By disseminating experimentalism in his lessons, the black-bellt gives birth to classrooms full of creative and innovating athletes. Leo Vieira likes Jacques’ methodology, but presents another way of making the students open minded: “Look at the kids fighting. Notice how they’re always laughing and jumping around. That’s how I like to fight. Children invent, use unexpected moves that, if adapted to adult Jiu-Jitsu, can be fruitful. Teaching kids is a great source of knowledge to me.” 19. Regularity, always Also to 1999 ADCC champion Jean Machado, there’s nothing more important than regularity. Not vanishing from the academy is, therefore, essential for the athlete’s evolution – s/he must avoid substituting wasted weeks with overtraining periods. Nearly every one of the gi-superstars knows that by heart, as Pe de Pano Illustrates: “The secret is regularity: training over and over and over. Twice a day if possible. As I began late, I would make it up by going to the academy in the afternoon and at night.” According to him, training regularly leads to evolving and injury-avoiding. “For the fact that you keep training, the body gets used to the effort you make. It was after I began resuming and quitting that I began to have injuries often,” he completes. A partisan to that idea, Vitor Shaolin exemplifies: “Besides training often, you must divide the trainings, understand that there is a little something called resting. So if in the afternoon the practice is slower, take the chance to rest. If your body doesn’t react all that well in the morning but you know that in the morning the training is profitable, wake up earlier to get your body prepared. Practise more heavily at night, but don’t let it go on till too late, for you might go to bed tense, thinking of training – and end up not resting at all.” 20. Respect and reflect Respect and dedication are utterly necessary to Ricardo de la Riva. “The idea is to arrive with an open mind and to practise with pleasure, and not to simply want to win in the training. You must respect, above all, not only the dojo and the professor, but also your practice-mate, after all you need him/her,” says the master. According to Martin Rooney, the salutation can afford great benefits that sometimes can go by unnoticed. “In all sports, athletes create rituals that push the negative energy away. However, I realise that many Jiu-Jitsu beginners ignore that fact, maybe for seeing martial arts as just a way of defending, a game of win or lose,” he says. Martin refers to the simple and traditional act of bowing. Associated for centuries to martial arts, the act should not be seen as only a demonstration of respect or a sign that the fight has begun. As the American trainer explains, the time to bow is a great opportunity to concentrate. The bow is the moment when the practice begins, so any negative thought or attitude must be left aside – or out of the academy. “A salutation at the end of the practice enables the athlete to go back to his normal life,” he says. “Develop, therefore, a strong mental connection so that your mind is activated by the bow in the beginning. Just as in any sport, if your head is not ready to practise, it’s impossible to learn anything,” Rooney concludes. Thanks to Rafael Werneck, Graciemag.com editor, for permission to use this article!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:56:08 PST

Cut Men

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:42:46 PST

Cut Men

CUTS: Part II: THE MAGIC OF THE CUTMAN
By Flip Homansky MD

The cut man has now been elevated to the level of rock star. He brings magic potions and salves and his deeds are valued by all at ringside. The wondrous weapons of his trade (the Q tip and enswell) are in evidence for all to see. He even usually dresses in a way that distinguishes his art. What in the hell is he actually doing to the cut? What does work to stop bleeding, and what is legal? How important is a good cut man, and must he inflict pain to be effective? I am going to try to answer these and other pressing questions that you didn't even know you asked.

A good cut man is invaluable to every fighter. He can truly be the difference between winning and losing. I have seen countless fights that were stopped because no one in the corner knew how to prevent a simple cut from getting worse. This is most obvious in many undercard fights, women's bouts, and mixed martial arts contests. If I was a young fighter, I wouldn't skimp on three things; my mouthpiece, my cup, and my cut man.

How should a competent cut man be chosen? Look for experience, someone who is calm, and talk to other fighters about who is good. There are a number of physicians who do an excellent job in the ring, but an MD degree is no guarantee that the holder knows a damn thing about jagged lacerations that are acutely bleeding. The ring is the most unlikely operating room that I can imagine. I would also worry about the guy who has so many Q tips in his mouth that he may choke at any time. Another concern of mine is the cut man with so much Vaseline on his body that he will slip getting into the ring and slide across to the other side. This would indeed be poor form!

This is not a new art. There have always been people in the corner who understood bleeding, and how to stop it. Yes Martha, there was a cold flat piece of ice before there was an enswell. Fights in the old days were longer, and frequently more brutal. When lacerations occurred, they were stopped by pressure (preferably cold pressure), and adrenaline. The current armamentarium is more extensive...but the cut man shouldn't forget the basics.

A) Minimize the use of drugs that make bleeding more likely.

Aspirin (effects on platelets are profound and long lasting) as per Dr. Goodman.

Advil, motrin and aleve are all essentially the same.

Steroids will make skin thinner and definitely increase chance for bleeding.

B) Know your fighter.

You should be aware of prior lacerations and how the fighter reacted to his own blood. Any old laceration should be checked, and a fighter should not be hurried back into the ring until there has been relatively complete healing (more on suspensions in a future article).

If he or she has sustained any swelling or abrasions during training - address those before the actual fight begins.

C) Watch the fight closely for any signs of trouble that could be a prelude to a cut.

You don't have to wait to see blood before you begin to treat an area of concern.

D) Understand the anatomy of the face, including the difference between arteries and veins.

Will be addressed in more detail in the future.

E) Pressure.

This is the key to stopping all bleeding.

Time is important here, and you must begin treatment immediately after the fighter reaches his corner. Don't get in the way of the trainer...but be ready to do what must be done. The trainer can give instructions from the side, but you have to be in position to see the face completely. Firm, continuous pressure will begin the process of stopping the bleeding.

F) Cold.

Cold is a natural vasoconstrictor; that is, it will make blood vessels constrict or narrow. This process will decrease the amount of blood going into the field of the cut.

The ENSWELL is nothing more than a flat or molded piece of metal that can be kept in ice and used to apply firm direct cold pressure to a laceration.

One of my biggest concerns about cut men is when they use the enswell as a weapon! There have been times when I have seen more damage inflicted by this simple tool than by the opponents' fists. Firm direct pressure does not mean trying to push the swelling away from the affected area. If there is swelling around an eye, you cannot make it disappear by using extreme force to try and rub it away from the eye. Remember, the swelling comes from cell fluid leaking into the damaged tissue. If you force it away by hard rubbing, you are simply damaging more tissue - and will ultimately cause more swelling. This could work for a round or two, but ultimately the swelling will increase if you use the enswell as nothing more than a rolling pin. Think about it!

G) Vaseline.

Obviously makes the skin slippery and less likely to tear. Other agents can be incorporated into the Vaseline. Never use gobs of Vaseline...will just end up on gloves and hence in eyes.

H) Adrenaline (epinephrine).

Used in a concentration of 1:1000. Safe when used topically. Natural chemical that will be absorbed in the open skin and decrease blood flow. (Newer Agents)

I) Avitene.

Microfibullar Collagen Hemostat. In contact with bleeding surface, will cause platelets to adhere and form quick clot.

J) Thrombin.

Protein that forms clot with fibrinogen.

K) Surgicel, Gelfoam, etc.

L) Monsels solution.

This is a lead based homeostatic that will work by destroying the surrounding tissues. It is or should be illegal in all locales. Can be spotted by the black ring of dead flesh around the cut.

I have seen these agents used interchangeably by cut men. They have heard of these cool drugs, and want to use them. They are NOT interchangeable! For example, Avitene can only be used if cut is actively bleeding, and Thrombin can only be used if blood is removed first and surface is dry!

One last pet peeve... a Q tip has a soft cotton end and should always be used gently. It is useful to help apply medicine to a specific area. The key word is "gently". Why wield it as an instrument of terror in the corner. I have seen a large Q tip stuck forcefully up a bleeding nose. Think about this! The inside of your nose is super sensitive, and quite delicate. The correct way is to gently apply the medicine just inside the nostril and then apply pressure over the outside of the nose. 98% of all nasal bleeding is not deep within the nose, but actually very near the opening. Most of the significant blood vessels that bleed in the nose are not located deep within that poor orifice that has already been taking a lot of punishment from the opponents fists. Stop Sticking that Q tip in so Deep!

In closing...the cut man is an invaluable member of the team at ringside. The majority attempt to do all they can to help their fighters. I continue to learn from them. My basic tenet is to " do no harm ".

Flip Homansky MD.

Also see:

Part I Cuts..to stop or not? - By Margaret Goodman

Part III of our series on cuts featuring veteran cutman; Dave Tenny

Dr. Flip Homansky is the current Vice-Chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). For over twenty years, he served as Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board and Chief Ringside Physician for the NSAC.

Dr. Flip Homansky practices in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he had been a licensed ringside physician and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the Nevada State Athletic Commission for over twenty years. His medical specialty is in the field of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Homansky was appointed by Nevada's Governor, Kenny C. Guinn, in 2000, to serve as a Commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Although he is currently Vice-Chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, all of the views, opinions, and/or recommendations contained herein are solely his own and do not necessary reflect those of Nevada's Commission. All readers are strongly cautioned that the information contained herein is not intended to, and never should, substitute for the necessity of seeking the advice of a qualified medical professional whenever a boxer or his/her representatives have specific questions regarding the best course of action that a boxer should take. Furthermore, since it is possible that general information herein may pertain only to a law, regulation, rule or acceptable standard of practice for a particular jurisdiction, a boxer or his/her representatives must always inquire with the appropriate licensing jurisdiction to determine the applicable laws, regulations, rules, and acceptable standards of practice for each jurisdiction.

Originally published on SecondsOut.com July 2002

UFC 81 "Breaking Point"

Team-Tomaso — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:37:37 PST

UFC 81 "Breaking Point" From Las Vegas, Nevada February 2nd, 2008 Results By Matt Boone (Detailed results CLICK HERE) QUICK-MATCH RESULTS Prelim Fights: -Rob Emerson def. Keita Nakamura via Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) after 3 Rounds. -Marvin Eastman def. Terry Martin via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) after 3 Rounds. -Tim Boetsch def. David Heath via TKO (strikes) at 4:52 of Round 1. -Chris Lytle def. Kyle Bradley via TKO (strikes) at 0:33 of Round 1. PPV Fights: -Tyson Griffin def. Gleison Tibau via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after 3 Rounds. -Ricardo Almeida def. Rob Yundt via Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:08 of Round 1. -Nate Marquardt def. Jeremy Horn via Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:37 of Round 2. -Frank Mir def. Brock Lesnar via Submission (kneebar) at 1:30 of Round 1. -Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Tim Sylvia via Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:28 of Round 3 to become interim UFC Heavyweight champion.

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Team-Tomaso — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:28:31 PST

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