Martial Vitality

I enjoyed great workouts at Krav Maga  Tuesday and Wednesday nights. When I work up this morning, I planned to get a third workout in Thursday evening. As soon as got out of bed, however, I felt pain in my upper left leg, on the back side in the hamstring area. I thought I might be able to walk it off, but it didn't disappear. I noticed it was particularly troublesome when walking up the stairs. Immediately I began thinking about how to handle class that night. Bottom line up front: I stayed home. Why? I've been injured when participating in sports before. In my teens and 20s, it seemed like I could self-repair in hours, or just "gut it out" with no real ill effects. I would have gone to class and survived. In my 30s, when I tried that approach I found I made the injury worse, and in most cases my decision prolonged my recovery time. I would probably have gone to class, but hurt myself worse. In my 40s, I'd like to think that I'm smarter now. I've only bee...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports I watched Bellator 149 Friday night, while on a business trip to the west coast. Like some of you, I wanted to see Royce Gracie fight Ken Shamrock one more time. My first live UFC was  UFC 4 , which happened in December 1994, several months after I started studying kung fu. Many of the guys in the school had seen the three previous UFC contests. UFC 3 took place in September 1994, and the next day the guys who watched it tried out their takedowns and ground-and-pound techniques on those of us who had no idea what had happened! As a 44-year-old martial artist, I was probably able to relate to Gracie and Shamrock better than most of the regular UFC and Bellator audience. After watching the earlier Bellator fights Friday night, I couldn't imagine the stamina needed to fight 3 five minute mixed martial arts rounds at age 49 (Gracie) or 52 (Shamrock). At the Air Force Academy I took mandatory boxing training my freshman year, and was drafted for the squad...

Point Fighting in Texas in 1996 as a TKD White Belt Last night was Friday Fight Night at my Krav Maga school . I decided to try it out, although I was anxious about what might happen. I knew the class lasted two hours, and that sparring was involved. I hadn't sparred in 15 years, when I was 29. At 44 I wondered how I would handle the experience. Before last night I had sparred in three different systems. At my Kung Fu school in Billerica, we did more of a Western boxing style of sparring, with less emphasis on kicking. We did not follow any "points" system, and I never fought in a competition. From this experience I learned the basics of boxing and picked up some nifty circular or crescent kicks. I am a fan of the inside crescent kick from the lead leg, for example. It can set up a rear leg roundhouse kick. When I briefly practiced Tae Kwon Do in San Angelo, the emphasis shifted. Now kicks were the primary weapons, with extra points awarded for jumping kicks. I could occa...

At my Krav Maga school , I noticed several students wearing MMA-style gloves. These are generally 4 oz gloves with open fingers to permit grappling. I had been wearing wraps to class, but I wanted to give this sort of gear a try. I did some research online and decided on a pair of Hayabusa Ikusa Recast 4 oz MMA gloves . This post will share my thoughts on this equipment, in case you are wondering if they would be useful in your training. First, let me share some pictures of the gear. Hayabusa Ikusa Recast 4 oz MMA Gloves As you can see, the gloves offer openings for four fingers (as seen in both globes) and your thumb (as seen in the glove at right). Hayabusa Ikusa Recast 4 oz MMA Gloves, strap detail One aspect of these gloves that caught my attention were the double straps. Hayabusa calls this the "Patented Dual-X® Wrist Closure." Essentially it allows you to tighten down one strap over your wrist, then cover that strap with a second one from the other direction. This allow...

Waiting to See Ip Man 3 I just returned from seeing Ip Man 3 . I had prepared for this movie by seeing the two previous films, reviewed here and here . In several ways this movie was very different from the earlier editions, so I have mixed feelings about it. I need to include some spoilers in order to explain my feelings about the film. You may want to see the movie before reading any further! Donnie Yen was awesome, as usual. He showed more acting range, due to some very heavy material in the storyline. These poignant scenes were some of my favorite aspects of the movie. I was really impressed by the fighting he was able to perform at age 51. He is an inspiration to those of us over 40. "Ip Man 3" continued the trend of cross-style fighting, with combat between Wing Chun and a "Thai fighter," a western boxer (guess who), and a top Wing Chun artist! These three fights were my favorites in the film. I particularly enjoyed the staging and context for the Thai fight....

Western Boxing vs Wing Chun As I mentioned in Movie Review: Ip Man (2008) , I'm planning to see " Ip Man 3 " tomorrow night. To be caught up for the third movie in the Ip Man series, I watched the 2010 movie " Ip Man 2 ." This was a much different movie, and in some ways you might call it the "Chinese Rocky" edition of the Ip Man trilogy. It had a different flow compared to the previous film, and I enjoyed it. Here's what I liked about the movie: Donnie Yen:  Donnie Yen continues to shine in these films. I didn't think his acting range was tested as much in this movie, but his quiet presence is unlike other leading actors in martial arts movies. Cross-style fighting:  Seeing different styles fight each other was one of my favorite aspects of the first Ip Man movie. In Ip Man 2, we get a chance to see different Chinese styles clash, several times. As shown in the image above, we also get to see eastern and western styles in conflict. In fact, no...