Monday, July 2, 2012

Happenings...

Just a short update here to keep things up to... date. Yeah.

So lately I've started attending more classes at Evolve. By more I refer to the variety and not the quantity. Sadly I've gone for fewer (in quantity) lessons lately because of personal commitments. Ironically I could attend lessons more frequently during the school term then I can during this long holidays. Energy and time constraints.

Anyway enough prattle, on to the lessons. Recently I attended both a wrestling lesson as well as a fightshape lesson. I must say that wrestling is pretty interesting, similar to BJJ in a sense that you have to be aware of body balance and hip placement and all that stuff. But apart from that it's really all just takedowns as far as that lesson went. Going for mainly BJJ lessons has somehow conditioned my brain to want to do BJJ moves even during wrestling. For instance, whilst in the body lock position I kept wanting to go for an osotto-gari instead. Anyway, I managed to hold my own for most of the lesson. I kept getting praised by Eddie and also my training partners but I suspect that it's more of them being nice to a newcomer than me being actually talented.

Fightshape. Fightshape was crazy. Hahaha... I must say it really pushed me quite close to my physical limit but I feel really good about it after. I must try to make more time for fightshape lessons. Kettle bell exercises plus interesting rope exercises and TRX exercises. Madness.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

One FC destiny of warriors!

The stream is going well and smooth. Exciting! Here are the undercard events.

First fight
Quek Kim hock vs Peter Davis


Round 1

They trade strikes. Peter lands a good spinning kick that staggers Quek. Quek tries to cover up but is pressed against the cage and is barraged by a flurry of knees and punches and the referee quickly steps in to stop the match. A quick and decisive win for Peter Davis.

Result: Peter Davis wins by technical knockout in the first round.

Second fight
Escobar vs Praxedes


Round 1

They run around and trade blows for a while. Praxedes scores a take down but his head is being held by Escobar. Escobar scores elbows from under. Praxedes let's him up and kicks him as he gets up but Escobar counters with a take down and lands in half guard and dominates him. Escobar strikes him to side control but Praxedes manages to squirm out and stand up. Escobar shoots for a takedown and gets it easily. Escobar passes to half guard and quickly passes to mount and pounds on Praxedes. The bell rings as Escobar is raining punches on Praxedes and the first round is over.

Round 2

Escobar quickly shoots for takedown and is stuck against the cage. He foot stomps in Praxedes and accidentally catches him in the groin with a knee. Praxedes is given time to recover. Praxedes recovers and the fight is resumed. Escobar lands a good counter punch and after some striking shoots for a takedown and Praxedes tries to defend with a guillotine. Escobar grinds him with knees and foot stomps. After being in the clinch the referee splits them and Praxedes scores a good overhand punch and knocks Escobar down and mounts him but is quickly sweep. Escobar them takes him down and mounts him and punches him furiously and the round ends

Round 3

Praxedes is quickly taken down and Escobar is striking from half guard. Escobar works a bit and scores an arm triangle and after a few moments Praxedes taps out.

Result: Escobar wins by submission in round 3

Third fight
Mitch Chilson vs AJ Pyro


Round 1

AJ scores a takedown early but Mitch gets up and then scores a takedown of his own. They wrestle on the ground a bit and then stand up again and rushes Mitch against the cage. Mitch scores some strong knees and stuffs a takedown attempt and gets the back and locks in a rear naked choke to get the tapout.

Result: Mitch Chilson wins by rear naked choke in first round.

Fourth fight
Brian Choi vs Arnaud Lepont
(Lepont comes out in some psycho killer getup, hilarious)


Round 1
The fight starts with an all out war with punches. It continues for a long time before Brian takes him down and gets out of a kimura attempt into half guard. Brian works in guard for a long time with small strikes before the ref stands them up but with little time left they stroke for a while before Brian scores a takedown at the last second of the round.

Round 2
They come out and touch gloves and laugh and hug before fighting. They trade again before Brian takes him down and almost takes the back but Lepont gets up and they get pressed up against the cage. They break and strike some more before choi takes him down once more. The striking in this fight is insane and fierce. Choi strikes from inside the guard and Arnaud makes some attempts at a triangle and an armlock but the round ends with Choi on top.

Round 3
Brian scores a heavy right hand right at the start and drops Lepont. He goes in and controls Lepont on the ground. They grapple on the ground and after a struggle Lepont manages to lock in a rear naked choke and gets the tapout major upset from the flow of the fight.

Result: Arnaud Lepont wins in round 3 by rear naked choke.

Fifth fight
Bae young kwon vs Eric Kelly


They start the match throwing hard hands and kicks. Kwon scores a great osotto gari but is immediately reversed and Eric Kelly gets on too but kwon quickly gets out of it and gets Eric's back but Eric escapes. Kwon takes him down again but Eric squirms out once more. They clinch and kwon does another beautiful throw. They grapple and kwon goes for the back again but Eric gets up into kwon's guard. Kwon goes for a triangle but Eric pops out and stands up. Eric lands some nice hits. Kwon jumps in and tries to lock in a guillotine but Eric pops out yet again. The round ends with both Trading strikes with Eric getting the upper hand.

Round 2

They start again with trading hard hard kicks and punches. Kwon scores a takedown again but Eric is too squirmy. Kwon almost gets the back but Kelly gets up and kicks kwon. Kwon scores a takedown and gets the back and works for a choke. Kwon gets a yellow card for elbows to the back of the head. The fight restarts and Eric again continues with really hard kicks. Kwon slips on a kick attempt and Kelly goes in to finish with a RNC but the round ends before he can finish.

Round 3
The round is similar to the previous two. A lot of hard striking before the takedown followed by insane grappling. The fight ends with kwon on top and striking Eric. Judges decide for Eric Kelly.

Result: Eric Kelly wins by unanimous decision.

Ok I'm going to take a break from reporting now because the fights are really exciting and I can't watch while typing.

Woo. I'm back. Glad I took a break from reporting round by round because I really couldn't keep up with the action and the typing at the same time and boy am I glad I choose to pay attention because the fights were EXCITING!

Gregor Gracie vs Adam Kayoom

This fight saw Gregor dominating in the first round. The takedowns were good and the control from the top was great. The second round saw Gregor starting off with more of the same but halfway through it became really obvious that Gregor was exhausted. The end of the second round and the whole of the third round was just Adam Kayoom punching at an exhausted Gracie. If this were scored round by round, it could possibly be Gregor's win but since it is scored as a whole fight I agree with the judges' decision to award the win to Adam Kayoom.

Leandro Issa vs Masakazu Imanari

This was a fight that I was super excited to watch. Having been taught by Leandro Issa at Evolve gym of course I would root for him. At the same time, I'm also a big fan of Imanari and his leg locks so this fight was full of conflicting feelings. I was impressed with Leandro Issa and his smart game plan. He would kick at the legs and strike cleanly and quickly. When he took Imanari down, he played it safe on the ground by striking inside the guard and all the while making sure to take away the angles so Imanari could not escape his hips. At the same time, I was also hoping Imanari would pull some ridiculous leglock miracle move. Oh well, I'm happy with the outcome either way. Decision win for Leandro Issa well deserved. Smart planning by Issa and the team at Evolve.

Zorobabel Moreira vs Roger Huerta

One of the more highly anticipated fights in this fight card, Roger Huerta is a really exciting opponent for Zoro to have. As I've definitely blogged before, Zoro is one of the instructors whose class I attend the most often and therefore I definitely hoped he would win. I even bought his walkout shirt today. Anyways, Zoro's reach advantage was amazing. They weren't kidding when they said "incredible reach". There was even one point in the fight where Zoro was holding Huerta away using an outstretched arm. Also, the soccer kick that ended the fight was EPIC! 

Ok... I'm done for tonight. I'm off to sleep now that I've been satisfied with a heapful of wonderful MMA. Oh wait, one more thing. I can't believe Lepont called out Shinya. I really hope they'll match them up and Shinya will pull out some bad-ass submissions on him. The fight between Lepont and Choi wasn't even that one-sided, in fact in my opinion Choi was very close to winning it and just slipped up at the last moment. So I don't really see how Lepont is justified in calling out anyone but I'll be happy to see Shinya submit his ass all over. Woo!

Friday, June 22, 2012

T-shirts from Gracie Academy Store

Bought two t-shirts for myself and two t-shirts for Randy from the Gracie Academy Store. Here are the two that I bought.

First is the submission series t-shirt.

I bought the submission series t-shirt for the gi-choke series. Now these t-shirts are really cool in that they show the technique at the front and at the back they give pointers on that particular technique. Also, you get access to a video tutorial on the featured submission on the Gracie website and I particularly wanted this video because the tutorial was on how to choke people using normal attire and not just gi.

Front view


Back view

Review

Cost: $32 USD (not including shipping) - I give it 7/10 only because shipping costs are really high otherwise pretty affordable

Material: 100% Cotton - I give it 8/10 because it feels slightly too warm and we're in Singapore and it's a heat wave now so I really don't want something warm.

Design: I give the design 6/10. I really like the illustration at the front but I don't like the font and the layout of the text at the back.

Others: 10/10. I really like the video tutorial that is given as a bonus for buying this t-shirt. 

Overall: Overall I give it a 7/10 as a t-shirt but a 9/10 when you factor in the video it comes with.

View the shirt in store here : Submission Series 2/10 Choke

 T-shirt: Vintage Gracie vs Kimura Tee

Front View

Back view
Review

Cost: $35 USD (not including shipping) - again I give 7/10 because it's quite affordable but not when you factor in shipping so you should try to ship multiple items together perhaps bulk order with friends.

Material: 70% Bamboo 30% Cotton - I give this 9/10 because I love how light the material is and how cooling it feels. At the same time gives the shirt a very cool look about it.

Design: 8/10 - I quite like this design. It has a coolness factor about it but not so much to make me go crazy about it therefore the 8 score.

Others: No other extras for this t-shirt but it has coolness factor in that it's a historic fight.

Overall: 8/10, I like this t-shirt because of the history behind it and also the material and design are great.

View this t-shirt in the store here: Vintage Gracie vs Kimura

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Muay Thai class...

Recently went for a muay thai class at Evolve on Tuesday at the 4:15pm time slot. Was quite interesting to attend an afternoon lesson because the class size is HUGE compared to the early morning time slots. To accomodate the huge class there were three muay thai instructors. Learnt an interesting combo of leg block followed by knee. The muay thai instructors are really funny jokers especially kru yo. Haha... but I think I still prefer to have a smaller class size so I'll probably try to go in the morning.

Have not been going so regularly for training lately due to knee injury + cough + life is busy. Excuses I know but those are the reasons nonetheless. I have not totally revamped the website as I had previously planned but I have managed to make a logo. :)


I initially tried to make the whole thing from scratch but in the end I decided it was easier to just go with a pre-made vector template and just modify it from there. The coat of arms vector is courtesy of www.vectorlady.com

The words on the coat of arms are Spiritus and Zelus meaning "spirit" and "zeal". Ok, it's latin and may seem pretentious and all but I like latin so there. I seem to attend schools that have latin mottos so I always liked the sound of latin words.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Break Week

Have not been to any MMA training this week. No, I'm not losing interest in MMA it's just that my knee has been acting up for some reason so I want to give it a chance to recover before getting back to training. No point overtraining and then injuring myself seriously and then end up missing months of training instead of just one week. So basically, for some reason my knee has developed a strange problem where it pops whenever I bend it and then straighten it again. After searching the internet, there are some things that it possibly might be. It could be ligament tear, but I don't really have much pain in the knee just some slight discomfort like something is tight. It is possibly some inflammation of the tissue, this is totally likely so that is why I am giving it a rest. Another thing that I read is that my muscles in my left leg might be imbalanced thus causing the knee cap to not track properly in the joint. So basically I've been using the joint care cream with glucosamine in it hopefully it helps. Also, all the running I did for training for the Sundown Marathon did not really help with the knee situation.

So since I am not training, I decided to spruce up the website a little bit. I've added in a "Submissions Achievement" tab at the top because I thought it would be fun to track what submissions I've managed to pull off and what submissions I've experienced and tapped out to. Made the same list for Randy too. Life should totally be more like a video game with achievements and all.

Also, I'll be trying to spruce up the layout tomorrow. I'm not so good with blogger layouts so we'll see how that goes. Goodnight people.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Promotion!

Hell yeah! Promoted to two stripes! Haha doesn't sound that impressive but I love the feeling of making progress. One more stripe to go and I'll be going for the no-gi class and the mma class. And also now I'm just 3 promotions away from a blue belt! Woot.

Recently there have many promotions all around. Papa rich got another stripe on his blue belt. Some other people got promoted to blue belt and I got to see the certificate that they got. I'm a junkie for achievements. I want that certificate!

In other news, I'm severely cut up. Ive taken an elbow, a knee, and a punch to the mouth. I have so many ulcers and cuts in my mouth it's so hard to eat food. Blah. But I understand it's all just accidents that happen in training it's just that now it happened all within the same few days so there's no part of my lips that's free from cuts. I can't even say avoid one part of my mouth cos every part has at least one gigantic ulcer.

The pictures attached are my new white stripe as well as the blood stains from getting elbowed in the mouth. Hahaha...

Friday, May 18, 2012

Evolve family

So I'm done with training and heading back home on the north east line. Learnt transitions from half guard to mount or side control. Also learnt the Ezekiel choke from half guard. All around interesting stuff but nothing too fancy.

This morning I briefly considered skipping training to play diablo 3 but decided to come in the end and I'm so glad that I did because today was Zoro's birthday. At the end of the lesson, the whole class as well as a whole lot of his students decided to take a picture with him to congratulate him on his recent muay Thai win. After the photos were done, surprise cake came out. The look on Zoro's face was incredible. Zoro is always smiling anyways but he was somehow smiling even more and Papa Rich gave him a gag present, a mini tripod and camera case, before giving him his real present a digital camera. It was so funny to see Zoro sitting there holding his camera case thinking how come it's so light and wondering what's going on how come my present is a camera case and still smiling being polite. Haha. But it was really great to see and I think Zoro really liked his present.

This is just one incident that shows how friendly and inclusive Evolve is. Sometimes gyms are always saying you join us we are a big family and I'm always thinking "yeah right" but with Evolve I feel like I can believe it. The instructors as well as the other students here are just good to train with. Inclusive, friendly, have not met any partner so far that is the gym hero kind that wants to dominate others to show how tough he is. All in all, I feel that all this has just reaffirmed my choice in deciding to train at Evolve.

Training day

So I'm on my way to Evolve right now and I thought I might as well blog on the train. Got caught in a triangle for the first time on tuesday whilst doing specific training for guard passing. Man, passing guard is really hard. Also I've taken an elbow and a knee to my mouth in the past two sessions. It wasn't on purpose and it thy weren't particularly hard hits but my lips are cut up all the same. Ah, how to enjoy the wedding banquet I'm going to tonight with my lips full of ulcers and cuts. Oh well.

Also evolve schedule recently underwent some changes and now there are more beginner bjj classes to attend. Good for me. However, the mma classes now have a minimum requirement of bjj 3 stripe or muay Thai level 2. I am underqualified. I've been waiting all semester for the holidays to come so I can attend the weekend mma class and now I can't. Guess I'll have to work harder for my 3 stripe.or maybe muay Thai level 2 will be faster? I dunno.

In other news, my order from the Gracie academy store has arrived already but I've just been a bit lazy in updating so I have yet to post them here. I must say that their vintage shirt looks really good. Also, their submission series video is not only educational but highly entertaining. Keeping it real! Alright, shall blog again after today's training.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Back to Evolve

So I've been taking a break from training at Evolve because of my school exams and some other personal commitments. So it's the first training back at Evolve for me since my exams ended. Went for my usual BJJ lesson at 745 and today Airam was the instructor (where's Zoro? I don't understand how the instructors rotate but no big deal all are good).

Learned some escapes from side control today. Nothing really fanciful just the usual hip escape, hook with legs to get half guard and then work towards full guard. The other was the escape to double underhooks and then bridge to take the back. Specific training was quite satisfying though, managed to finish two submissions, one americana armlock and the other was an armbar. Submissions FTW.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Introductory Post v.2

Introduction


I'm also a 24 year old Singaporean male, and was referred to in the previous introductory post as the friend who enrolled at Evolve PoMo together with Daryl. We both rapidly got hooked on MMA and he invited me to contribute to this blog in order to chronicle both our experiences with Evolve and MMA in general.

Background


Unlike Daryl, I have no previous martial arts experience. We both achieved our first stripe in BJJ at the same time, but I am currently on a two-month hiatus from Evolve as I have gone overseas to the UK to visit my fiancee. BJJ is very much like physical chess, which appeals greatly to me as it isn't just about winning by using brute force and athleticism, but also by outwitting or tricking your opponent in order to create openings for you to exploit.

Physical Fitness


I'm a regular in the Republic of Singapore Navy, and a certain standard of physical fitness is expected. However, I have experienced many injuries in the past, including dislocating my shoulder (the most commonly repeated injury) and many others, which has led my physical fitness to be somewhat under par. I was overweight not too long ago (about 95 - 100kg at my heaviest, and I'm only 180cm tall), but ever since joining Evolve, I've lost about 12kg from Feb to April and now weigh about 83kg. Hopefully the weight loss continues, but more importantly, the MMA lessons have me feeling fitter and better about myself than I have in a long time.

Aims


Beyond chronicling what we learn in Evolve, I also hope to keep a record of just how I transform (hopefully) from an overweight, sedentary computer gaming nerd into a much fitter person with a lot more interest in life beyond computer games. I'm currently in the UK and working out at a normal (non-MMA) gym in order to continue building up my physical fitness even if I cannot do MMA, and this is something which would never have occurred to me to do in the past, so I already have MMA and Evolve to thank for that change in my life and mindset. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko


Just had to share this. Spotted this on my twitter feed from mma-japan.com and it is just too amazing. Well done video and really showcases Fedor's career in an epic manner. What is most striking about Fedor is not his obviously elite level fighting skills but his mindset. It is an amazing fighter's mindset.


"Years ago we hardly had anything to eat. Now I earn more money and I see every opponent as a man that tries to put me back to that poorer period. That man has to be eliminated." - Fedor Emelianenko

words of a driven man

Friday, April 27, 2012

Greg Jackson Clinic



Came across this video recently. One of the big names in MMA coaching. Loved hearing the insight that he has into the omoplata but even more interesting is his insight into ground and pound. Something that looks so simple as punching downwards can actually have that level of sophistication and technique to it. Cool video.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

You know you're addicted to BJJ...

When you go to sleep and the whole night you dream of nothing but landing flying armbars.
True story. The night before my exam and I'm studying myself into unconsciousness but when I wake up in the morning all I can recall is that I had a dream about doing flying armbars.

So when I got home from my exams I naturally went online to look at flying armbars and lo and behold I find a video of Shinya Aoki. This video is special though, it has SUBS. I've seen many Shinya Aoki tutorial videos but this is the first one that I've seen that is subbed. I really wish more people would go and sub the Japanese BJJ tutorial videos, I really really want to know what they are teaching.

Anyway, here is the video. Enjoy the high-flying action. BOOM!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Shinya Aoki vs Eddie Alvarez rematch at Bellator 66



Ahhhh. Sadly I did not get to see the result I wanted. Eddie defeated Shinya in the first round. Even so, I'm still going to ardently support Shinya. I have many reasons to support him.

Firstly, he is Japanese and I really believe we need more Asians fighting in big mma events especially UFC.

Secondly, he is one of the most exciting fighters I have seen. People may say that ground game is boring and that striking is more exciting. To them I say, he is the master of FLYING SUBMISSIONS with emphasis on the flying. Furthermore I love the way he is never afraid to pop-on a rare submission such as the MOUNTED gogoplata. So impressive was that submission that people have been calling it the Aoki-plata.

Thirdly, he is training and teaching at Evolve MMA and since I've been taking lessons there I feel an attachment to every fighter who trains out of Evolve.

You can watch the video of the fight here.

Since I couldn't watch the fight due to my exams at the time, I could only go online and read about it after coming out of the exam hall. Most of the news simply stated the result that Aoki got hit by a punch in the first round and lost by TKO to punches on the ground. However, I also saw some posts on forums about the fight. A lot of people are dissing Aoki now because he lost to Eddie in this rematch. Many are saying that Aoki is over-rated and that he'll never survive in the UFC. My reply is this, one fight does not make a fighter. Essentially MMA is one complicated chess / rock-scissors-paper game. "If I throw this move and you throw the counter you could win but otherwise I win" kind of situation is pretty common from what I've seen. So basing your judgement of Shinya on just this one fight is so ridiculous. There are many big UFC names that have shock upset losses but I don't see the same kind of hate on them. Looking at Shinya's entire career, anybody who can say he is a lousy fighter is simply delusional. Even in the light of his latest loss, I still believe Shinya is one of the best lightweight fighters and will definitely prove this in time to come.

WAR AOKI!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Shinya Aoki the Baka survivor!

So shinya is going to be fighting at bellator today. In a show of support and admiration I decided to buy his walkout shirt from Evolve. Check it out! Bad-ass!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Good stuff must share: Gracie Breakdowns

Thanks to the advent of the age of Information Technology (IT!!!) we can learn almost everything from the Internet. Specifically, thanks to Youtube we can get access to endless amounts of training videos for MMA and BJJ and Muay Thai. The problem with the IT age is that we are flooded with TOO MUCH. Too many videos and too many YouTube channels too many Blogs and we don't know which are the quality ones. So much time is wasted looking through and finding quality videos in the sea of average and mediocre ones.

So today I would like to recommend a YouTube channel that I really enjoy watching very much.

GracieBreakdowns!


This Channel is one of the channels of the GracieAcademy. This channel is run by the two brothers of the Gracie family, Rener and Ryron Gracie. In this channel, the two BJJ masters look at the most exciting BJJ in UFC events and break them down for everyone to understand. The most interesting thing about this channel is that you get to see how BJJ applies in a real MMA fight and how things might have turned out differently in the actual fight. These two brothers give a very enlightening and technical insight into so many different techniques that really highlight important philosophies of BJJ. Super super recommended. Go check it out. The video that I linked above focuses on the body triangle. Loved the way they explained how to escape from it. Enjoy.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

My favourite MMA fighters...

So I'm taking a break from training this week for two reasons.

One: I have this old wrist injury that keeps acting up from time to time and restricts my wrist strength and flexibility. I've felt that it really hinders me from getting good grips and good chokes while doing BJJ. So today I went with my parents to visit some Chinese doctor who helped to treat it by "unjamming my nerves" in my left wrist. As unscientific as it sounds, my wrist really feels much better after the treatment. On top of the treatment, he also told me to cut down on protein and exercise for the time being. So... no working out for a while.

Two: My exams are fast approaching. So basically I'm going to avoid training in case I get some injury that prevents me from writing. Can't wait for exams to be over so I can train harder than ever. Excited!

So since I'm taking a break from training I decided to make this blog post about my favourite MMA fighters.

Personally, I love submissions. I really really love the way submissions are set up, how they work, how awesome they are when you can dominate your opponent with one. So it's no surprise that two of my favourite fighters are Shinya Aoki and Masakazu Imanari. Love the way they can just go hard for the submissions and destroy their opponents with it. Imanari recently just fought at the recent ONE FC in Singapore and his match was spectacularly entertaining. Very very short fight but super impressive.

LEGLOCKS!

I really wonder if that spectacular kick that missed and made him fall was a calculated move or just pure fast reaction. If it was a bait, I am super impressed in his confidence and trickery. If it was reaction time, I am just as impressed at how fast he can flip around and catch the leg that was trying to kick him. What speed and what technique. Imanari and Shinya are both very polarizing fighters. People either love them or utterly hate them. I am obviously a big fan of them but those who love to see spectacular striking are always criticizing them for being one-dimensional. Personally, I think it's' fine to be one-dimensional if you are so good in that dimension that bringing them into your world leads you to victory. Do what you're good at, makes great sense to me. Although I think Shinya has become much less one-dimensional lately after he joined Evolve and upped his striking game with Muay Thai. Just look at his latest fight...


Look at that striking! Who says he can't strike? I'm definitely not going to say that anytime soon. If his striking as really improved as much as it seems to have, Shinya is going to be one damn scary fighter. Scary to go to ground with him and scary to strike with him... how are you going to fight that? 

And these two fighters are also friends and former teammates from team Roken. Here's a picture of the two fighters together at ONE FC with Shinya in Imanari's corner and Imanari giving him a jumping high-five after defeating Kevin Belingon.

UP HIGH!

To finish this post up, here are some highlight videos of these two submission masters. Shinya the Tobikan Judan and Imanari the Ashikan Judan.

 

Monday, April 16, 2012

Monday Lesson

So I went for BJJ lessons this morning. As usual I went for the really early timing at 745 so that I can have the rest of the day to go to school for classes and other scholarly stuff. I'm pretty happy that I decided to go today because my usual instructor Zoro is back! He recently just fought in the One Fighting Championship in the main event and won convincingly with an awesome armbar. In the weeks leading up to the fight he, he stopped coming for the morning lesson and also in the weeks after the fight. So basically today was the first time that he came back to teach after his fight. Zoro is an exceptionally friendly teacher and the way he greets you before training starts just makes you feel happy to train and you can feel that he is happy to be teaching you. Today he was especially happy, undoubtedly from his recent win and also because everyone was congratulating him on his victory.

Friendly but deadly and efficient!

So this morning we learned a few things.

1. Blocking a hook and grabbing across behind the head for a hip throw
2. Sweep from guard (sit-up sweep? not sure what it's called)
3. Armbar from guard
4. Straight arm lock from guard

For the straight arm lock I thought I heard Zoro call it a Juji gatame but when I came home and checked youtube, all the juji gatame that I found were all armbars. The closest thing that I could find that looked like what I learned was the Hiza gatame.

I can't find videos that teach it exactly how Zoro taught it today but here is one that shows you how to pull-off an armbar from guard.


So it was basically the same move with the exception that we pull the arm across our body before going for the armbar. If the person resists the pull, we overcome by bridging rapidly whilst pulling it over.

Okay, so that's all from me today. I might try to find videos of the other techniques if I can.

Fighting!

Friday, April 13, 2012

It's evolving....!



Evolve MMA Singapore



Since I am currently attending lessons at Evolve MMA Singapore, I felt it would be useful to let people know about what Evolve is like and why I chose to attend Evolve out of the many MMA gyms already established in Singapore and the many more that are still sprouting up as MMA is becoming more popular. 


Training under Champions







First off, Evolve has a star-studded roster of instructors and fighters. It's a great feeling to know that you are training under the instruction of a world champion and if you come to Evolve to learn MMA you will definitely at one time or another be taught by a world champion. Just a look at the instructor wall at Pomo and you will see the words Mundials Champion and Lumpinee champion all over. In fact you will see Lumpinee champion next to words such as "two times" and "three times" and even "four times".

Location and Schedule


Secondly, Evolve has two branches, one at Pomo and one at Far East Square. Both are conveniently located in the heart of Singapore. There were some other gyms that I looked at in considering which to join but the locations were typically at extreme ends of the island or some place that I had no idea how to get to. Aside from location, Evolve also seems to have one of the best schedules for me. Evolve runs lessons very early in the morning. I really mean VERY early, like 6:45am kind of early. This is great for me because most of my classes start in the late morning or early afternoon so I have time to go to the gym in the morning and then head home to rest before heading off to school.


Atmosphere


Learning something new is always slightly scary. Learning something as intense and physical as martial arts is especially intimidating. In this aspect, I found that Evolve had a very friendly and welcoming environment. Although the instructors are all so accomplished, they are not arrogant nor are they harsh. They greet everyone as they enter the gym and they are quick to praise you if you do well. Not only are the instructors friendly but the other gym members are all very friendly too. When I attended my first BJJ class, the other student who was my training partner was friendly and helped me learn the steps to the techniques. In terms of physical facilities, Evolve looks very well-maintained and professional. The mats are always constantly being cleaned by the cleaners after every lesson and the training equipment all looks to be in great condition. The toilets are also a pleasant surprise. They are so clean and modern-looking, I might say it's even better than some country clubs. Nice towels, nice showers. All in all, it's really good that you can enjoy a nice shower before going from the gym to work or school


Cost


The one downside I perceived from learning at Evolve is mainly that it is not cheap. I think I can safely say that Evolve is among the more expensive MMA gyms in Singapore. If you have a small budget then probably Evolve will not be so suitable to meet your budget. However, when I consider all the other things I mentioned earlier I still felt that the quality justifies the cost.


Conclusion


My experience at Evolve so far has been nothing but positive. I enjoy every lesson I go to and I feel that I am learning new things all the time. The quality and professionalism of how the gym is run is very impressive and although the price of membership is high but "you get what you pay for".

Thursday, April 12, 2012

First things first...

Introductions


This is going to be a typical first blog post kind of post. Let's get it on! I'm a 24 year old (1988) Chinese Singaporean male who has recently started to venture into the world of MMA. I decided to chronicle my journey into this exciting world of martial arts and at the same time consolidate whatever useful resources I can find onto this blog.

Background


As for my existing experience, I have learned Taekwondo and achieved a black belt level at the age of 16. Admittedly, rising in rank in Taekwondo seems much faster and relatively easier than the martial arts that I have started to learn recently. About a month ago (Feb 2012), I enrolled at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts located at Pomo together with my friend. So far I have attended both the Muay Thai lesson as well as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) lesson and have thoroughly enjoyed both. The BJJ lessons especially appeal to me because I have never experienced this level of grappling and technique while learning Taekwondo and the complexity combined with strategy makes for very interesting lessons. After one month of training I had managed to achieve my first stripe at white belt for BJJ and the satisfaction has really gotten me addicted to BJJ.


Physical Fitness


I am an asthmatic. I have been since I was 5 years old but my asthma is relatively well-controlled so I have engaged in sports most of my life. Playing badminton in primary school and squash in my junior-college. During my national-service I managed to complete the 21.1km army half-marathon but I feel that my physical fitness has definitely fallen since then. I currently weigh 65kg and hope to bulk up through the MMA lessons at Evolve. Apart from Evolve, I have also recently signed up for the Sundown Marathon but only for the 10km distance. Don't want to overestimate myself. 


Aims


So what's up with this blog? Firstly it is going to be a fitness journal. I am going to blog my progress of my physical fitness. I believe it is only with regular and specific monitoring will I be able to make progress with improving my fitness. Secondly, I hope it can be useful to others who are thinking of picking up MMA. I hope I can give some insight into what it is like to learn the martial arts and also some preview into the gyms that I am a member of.