Martial Vitality

This week I attended several extended training sessions offered by Trident Martial Arts . One of the sessions included Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-styled grappling, with a focus on extracting elements for combatives situations. It sounded like I needed a BJJ gi. The last time I wore anything like that was my sophomore year at the Air Force Academy, when I took a judo class for one of my physical education requirements. I turned to online vendors with a very clear mission: buy a gi that was of decent quality, and was as plain and white as possible. I had read about the "plain white gi" requirement in several articles. Basically, when visiting another school, you don't want to be an advertisement for your home school. Now, I don't train BJJ at my home school, but I still didn't want my gi to look like the inside of a MMA octagon. Therefore, I searched for plain white gis. I bought the  Your Jiu Jitsu Gear Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Uniform White with FREE BJJ White Belt pictured ...

I'll admit it. Last week I checked out what sorts of shoes the guys in my Krav Maga classes were wearing. I prefer to wear sneakers when training, because I wear orthotics. I also don't walk barefoot on the street, so I like to train in shoes. I didn't always practice martial arts in shoes, but at this point in my career I prefer to wear them. For the last seven months I wore black Nike Air Monarch IV cross-training shoes. These worked pretty well, but they suffered a few drawbacks, especially weight and undue contact with mats. I primarily chose them because they were sold in wide sizes, they were black, and they were cross-trainers. Last week I decided to take a closer look at the shoes the instructors were wearing. That primarily means you, Sam and Chris. I noticed these two high-ranking gentlemen were wearing wrestling shoes. I hadn't wrestled since high school gym class, and certainly not in special shoes. However, I decided to do some research and buy a pair. The...

This week I had the chance to share a few Filipino martial arts (FMA) sinawalis with fellow students at my Krav Maga school. A sinawali ("weaving") is a training pattern one can perform solo or with a partner. I promised I would share what sort of sticks I use and where I buy them. My oldest pair of sticks are rattan, slightly more than 28" long and 3/4" in diameter. They are fairly light and are good for solo speed and demo work. One of my instructors, Mr Jim Conklin , advised me to not use them for partner work because they are more ornamental in nature. I listened, so you won't see them here. My primary sticks (shown at left) are rattan sticks, roughly 26" long and 7/8" in diameter. I bought them from Kombat Instruments Limited .  I really enjoy these sticks. They are heavier than my 28" sticks and are great for partner work. I wrapped the top, or striking portion of the sticks, with green electrical tape from Home Depot. Why green? I figured ...

If you've heard anything about Krav Maga, you've probably heard about the need for groin protection. This Simpson's video , starting at the 45 second point, makes that requirement abundantly clear! When I started training in Krav Maga six months ago, I realized I needed to upgrade my personal protection. I had relied on my old hockey cup and strap when practicing other martial arts. For Krav Maga I decided to do some research, buy some gear, test it live, and let you know my findings! The first product I bought was the Shock Doctor Core Compression Short with Bio-Flex Cup . At the time of writing, the Web site shows this product for $29.99. Using compression shorts was a new experience for me, but I quickly adjusted. This product relies on a pouch positioned inside the shorts to hold the cup in place. While this system seemed to be an upgrade from the simple cup and strap I wore under my hockey equipment, I didn't stay with it. The cup was not comfortable and it did not...

Do you wrap your hands when practicing martial arts? If you don't now, but want to, what wraps should you buy? In this post I will offer three reasons for hand wrapping, plus three tips for buying hand wraps. I will also suggest a set of wraps I recently bought, and hopefully save you some research time. I wear hand wraps to for several reasons. 1. Protect Your Wrists.  When worn properly, they help provide better wrist alignment. This means you are less likely to strike a bag or focus mitt with a bent wrist, which could result in injuring the wrist. 2. Sweat. Wraps absorb sweat. When sharing focus mitts during training, this is of benefit to you and your training partners, and keeps the gear a little less damp. 3. Sizing.  I have found most boxing gear, when properly selected, is sized for hands that are wearing wraps. If you agree that wraps are a good idea, what should you buy? Look for these three features. 1. "Mexican" Wraps. I recommend so-called "Mexican"...

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...