Cross Train, Train, Work out with someone else, whatever you wanna call it

In 2011, it will be the fourth year training with Haganah founder Mike Lee Kanarek.  He is a true leader.  I've done most of the classes that are in the Haganah system and they have been awesome - I understood the importance of knowing these things but they were also FUN.  In Columbia, MD, I did one of the first Combat Fitness classes around.  We had to run about 2/3 of a mile and when it was time to go he said, "Follow me!"  That sounds kinda of insignificant, but it was awesome!

He first taught me when I trained with him in 07 that you must cross train.  Even though he had his favorite martial arts to train in, he said that you can get something out of every style.  So as a martial arts athlete, I'm constantly thinking about self defense, sparring, and a ton of other things martial arts related.  The thing is, doing a kettlebell class, XMA class, or a gymnastics class will help you in some way.  Kettlebell training is something that has become huge and it helps build functional strength in all sports and activities.  Gymnastics athletes are among the most fit and strong in the world (Strength is measured by how strong you are compared to your body weight).  XMA class is all about performance - Bruce Lee was an amazing martial artist but what made him famous was his showmanship.  Also, someone who has mastered a martial arts trick (like one from HYPER Martial Arts) can achieve a goal in ANYTHING.

So in about 2 weeks I'm going up to Mr. Stuart's Martial Arts to train with MLK again and I'm so excited.  Last year I went and I had 2 hours of sleep and was sick - but I wouldn't miss it for the world.  Out of all the typing you may have just read or skimmed through just take this with you - you should take something from everything you do.  Try new things as often as possible even if at first it seems silly or unimportant because it will make you better somehow.  Check out the video below of Ms. Wallace-Holubyckyj and I training with MLK in Columbia, MD in Combat Fitness (We won... if you know what that means!)

Combat Wrestling Instructor Certification

This weekend I went up to Mr. Stuart's Martial Arts.  It's an awesome martial arts training facility and he focuses on extreme physical fitness and reality self-defense.  His website is MrStuartsMartialArts.com and it's definitely the place to go if you're a police officer or in the military or you just want to learn life or death self-defense!

So, Mr. Stuart's school hosted a instructor certification in Combat Wrestling which is a supplement to his reality self-defense curriculum to be able to deal with wrestlers.  It was an 18 hour long course with techniques to master and at the end it certified one to teach it.  We didn't do a lot of conditioning with push-ups and stuff like that because the techniques took so much out of us that the coach didn't need to add it in.

The Coach was John Clarke.  He owns a martial arts school in Florida and is a police officer and SWAT team member in addition to a Pro-MMA fighter!  A lot of times the champions aren't good instructors, they just know how to beat people up, but Coach Clarke was an awesome instructor and really inspired us to train hard.  It was a really good time and I was happy to be able to bring back more tricks for the MMA class at ATA Elkton to use.  Check out John Clarke's school/ blog http://haganaheast.com/

Coach John Clarke and Josh Hayhurst