In large part this site is an attempt by Charles and I to network with our fellow fighters. I have found combat athletes and martial artists to be very curious about the history behind their pursuits and related variations. Most times when I find myself at a martial arts school or gym I will get a historical or technical question. These are the genesis of much of the articles on this site. There are also the articles that are inspired by certain combat artists that I train with or coach. I often write a piece targeted at a certain individual as a mental exercise. I might see Jamal doing his strange Judo pushups and be inspired to write a piece about ancient conditioning exercises, which, I suspect, he would find to be of some interest, as he puts so much thought into his conditioning.
But you, who are you?
What is your involvement in the combat arts?
I would like to use the comments section below to get to know our readers. Now, in case you are technologically challenged like I am, and unable to utilize facebook and these other arcane tools, then you could email or snail mail your entry to me and I’ll enter it in the space below.
Low Tech Fighters
James LaFond
Hi, my name is James LaFond. I coach boxing and contact weaponry. I still spar and fight with weapons. I would really like to train with, or even compete against, someone who can levitate. I have avoided the death-touch dudes [Dim-Mak masters] as I do not want to die Bruce Lee like hours after they shake my hand or touch my lip, while they crack open a premium beer from the comfort of their recliner. At least, if you are a master of the livitative arts, you would still conceivably expend some calories in the process of defeating me, and remain at least theoretically within my frantic reach…
hello my name is alex konstantaras and i'm from greece.i am 39 years old and of small stature.i have a furniture shop and the constant carrying of heavy furniture has taken it's toll on my body.i am not a fighter.my involvment in the martial arts begun at the age of nine with a suspect kind of kung-fu called tai-nui kung fu.this i did for five years,until i got bored and abandon it.then at the age of nineteen and after my obligatory service in the army,i begun to be intrested again in the martial arts because of a hanfull of fights that i had(mostly road rage incidents).in each one of them i was experiencing the adrenaline effects and i was feeling like a coward and a pushover.i begun to fanatically read about martial arts and especially streetfighting so i gain a better understanding of why i was feeling like this.authors like geoff thompson,ned beumont marc mcyoung,james la fond help me a lot to understand about the nature and the dynamics of fighting.also i became a huge fan of vale tudo(mma)with a big collection of videotapes.as far as training goes,i've done a little bit of kickboxing without gaining any real proficiency and some gracie self defence with some crude grappling thrown in with some friends.these days i try to workout alone mostly with resistance bands as my body and scedule permits.i do not have any training partners and ihave little spare time because i work 7 days a week and ihave a familly as well.this is why i'm so interested in incidental training(any suggestions mr la fond?)anyway i will continue to read,study and collect martial arts books just because i'm loving it. thanks for giving me the chance to introduce myself and excuse me for any mistakes, my english are not that good.
Actually Alex, your English is better than most Baltimore City high school graduates.
Incidental training?
As we get older and more beat up we rely more on our leg strength for everything. You know this or you would not still be able to move furniture. You probably have lower back issues, which makes it hard to translate leg strength into your hands. Some tips:
1. 80% of men with lower back pain have tight hamstrings. Do 5 sets of hamstring stretches with each leg for 30 seconds consecutively every day. Do it when warmed up, not cold.
2. Practice shadow fighting, the most underrated and important tool of the boxer, mma fighter, stick fighter, and even grappler. This will make you limber, help you heal, and help you harness your leg strength through timing your punches with steps, etc.
3. Practice for clinch and push defense on a a post or pole or pillar
4. Hang a piece of paper instead of a punching bag and practice punching and finger jabbing that. This is application development for #2.
Good luck and productive training to you Alex.
many thanks mr la fond,iwill experiment with all your suggestions and i will hope that in the future you will produce training dvds.thank you very much again.
You are welcome Alex.
I can state unequivocally, that there will never be any LaFond training DVDs—unless I talk Jason Statham into portraying me.