KNOXX Video Host, Meredith Divita, stirs a little bit by asking some touchy questions regarding Josh’s teammates and his close friends.

Part 1: KNOXX video host Meredith Divita interviews Josh “The Punk” Thomson. Josh talks about his recent training for his rematch against Gilbert Melendez, training with Cung Le, fighting for Strikeforce, fighting against Gomi, and fighting against Billy Evangelista.
(** Excuse the background noise, we did this interview at AKA gym and fighters were taking showers after their training sessions)

Part 2: KNOXX Video host Meredith Divita interviews Josh “The Punk” Thomson at American Kickboxing Academy. Meredith gets tries to stir up a some juicy gossip as she asks Josh about his opinions on Koscheck and Johnson fight, a rematch against Clay Guida and Yves Edwards and the come back of Phil Baroni to the UFC.
(** Excuse the background noise, we did this interview at AKA gym and fighters were taking showers after their training sessions)

KNOXX went to visit Paul “The Head Hunter” Buentello at Fight Factory in San Jose, CA to watch some sparring action before he is set to fight at UFC 107. Paul Buentello will be fighting Stefan Struve for his first fight back after re-signing with the UFC.

Have you heard about our YOGA program going on at Simian Martial Arts? Well, if you haven’t, make sure you read on and get the full scoop. Amber Sandoval is running her main yoga program here at Simian and is offering three classes a week.

Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Tuesday mornings from 7:00am – 8:00am

Classes are $5.00 each… What? Yes… you heard me correctly. Only $5.00 per class… and that is the drop in fee. When typical Yoga classes in the San Luis Obispo area can cost around $10-$15 per class, we are doing it up at $5.00 per class!

Amber is completely dedicated to breaking that elitist barrier that pops its ugly head up within the yoga community here and there and making yoga cheap and affordable for everyone. We here at Simian, are fully supporting that!

…and get this… if $5.00 per class wasn’t cheap enough, if you sign up for her program and pay ahead, you can be paying $30.00 a month for unlimited yoga classes!! Considering you could possibly take somewhere in the realm of 12 or more classes that means you would be paying $2.50 or less per class!

You can even go to her website here and sign up right now.

Do your body a huge favor and try out a class with Amber immediately.

Your first class is free so what excuse do you have?

Simian Martial Arts

Team Moreira

Los Osos, California

Hello All,

This morning I went to Sensei Erik Paulson’s site (www.erikpaulson.com) and found this video clip. I am consistently amazed by Sensei Erik’s ability to take simple drills and come up with little tweaks to them that if you use them they will take your Martial Arts skills to another level.

In this video he shows speed reaction drills with the mitts that will help with one of the biggest issues I see in Martial Arts the completion of your techniques. Quite often after the a Martial Artist completes his technique they will get really sloppy on the return of the technique to completion. This is a great place for your opponent to counter you because he is capitalizing on your mistakes. Sijo Bruce Lee really stressed that this is one of the most important aspects to training.

Here are some highlights from the video

• Proper delivery of your jab and cross
• How not to get caught at the end of your technique
• Drills to help you avoid getting your leg caught during kicking
• Drills to avoid a shoot or tackle

 This is very important if you are the pad holder make sure that when you hit the your partners strike that they return it with good form. Remember you and your partner need to practice the way that you want to play!!!

One of the big reason I feel that focus mitts can be one of the biggest tools that you and your training partner can use to help you improve your game is because of the influence of Sensei Erik and drills like this.

Enjoy : )

Shawn

The first UFC gym opened last week so KNOXX and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson decided to take a trip to Concord, CA to check out the facility!

Wow!! We were quite amazed with what this gym offered…. For more information check out their website at http://www.ufcgyms.com/

They said their goal is to open ATLEAST 150 UFC Gyms worldwide within the next 5 years!!

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will also be training at this UFC gym with trainers, Jimmy Greninger and Allan Maravilla, for his morning training sessions while continuing his training with Cung Le and Josh Thomson at Universal Strength Headquarters in the evening.

Rumble workin those ropes!

The plates on their free weights have the UFC Gym logos on them!!

Wow do I feel tired, sore and beat down today! After teaching my regular Jiu jitsu class today I attended a closed-door training session at Gracie Sydney Headquarters in Coogee. My coach Bruno Panno (head of Gracie Sydney), asked me to come along and is now holding these sessions every Wednesday afternoon from 2-4pm and what a great idea they are! No ego or fanfare , just a bunch of guys coming together to train and get better! I believe the only proviso is, that it is only open to Gracie Sydney Association (GSA) members from purple belt through to black belt!

www.graciesydney.com

After a great training session with a healthy mix of purple, brown and black belts I am reminded of one thing… I need to do some more gi training! As of late I have placed more of a focus on no gi training as the weather is getting warmer and one of my main training partners/coaches is overseas. But today as I worked hard to pass some of these purple and brown belt’s guards, it became painfully clear that training with the gi really does give you more options and obstacles to pass! I mean some of these purple and brown belt’s guard games were sweet, transitioning smoothly from closed guard to seated guard to spider guard to various styles of open guard. The possibilities and options with the gi are almost endless and I walked away thinking I need to work on a few things:

1. Passing that damn spider guard

2. It’s amazing how far a good solid game grounded in the basics takes you. Even when facing unfamiliar techniques and positions, if your basics are solid and you know how to use your weight and apply leverage you can wreak havoc on your training partner’s “new positions”!

3. Man those little guys are fast and dangerous!!! I need to work on using the gi to slow them down, control and contain their movements so that I can best put my skill set to good use and make them play my game!

4. I’m so disappointed that I missed Guilherme Mendes’s seminar on Monday night at VT1 Gym! Some of the stuff that Owen Gee Kee showed me today was mind-boggling… Particularly the way that they apply their same passing game from all different types of guards and positions!!!

Now that I think about it I really am amazed at how far  Jiu jitsu has come in Australia. I mean the standards of everyone training today was really high and a lot of that is due to the work done by Bruno Panno over the last 8 years! He really has created a great learning environment and I look forward to more of these sessions over the coming weeks, months and new year! There’s just so much more to learn that I am reminded of an old adage, “the more I learn, the more I realise that i dont know”. Anyway that’s it for today and if you’re ever in Sydney, Australia please feel free to drop in and train at Gracie Sydney!

Good luck with your training and Happy rolling!

Felipe

Jiu jitsu Kingdom

Our friends over at Combat Sports International have a great deal right now on a really solid MMA sparring glove.

You can go directly to product by clicking on the picture or this link here.

They are a great deal at $24.95!

So whether you are looking at getting your first pair of MMA gloves for training/sparring or you need to replace your old tattered ones, these are the perfect inexpensive option for you. This is definitely the way to go.

They are on sale right now so go to their website as soon as possible and get them while you can!

Team Moreira

Simian Martial Arts

Los Osos, CA

shiny happy face me

I may not be able to train as much as I want to in the upcoming new year, but you can bet I’ll be challenging myself creatively and blogwise! Yeeha!

Hello All,

During my Youtube search yesterday I came across this video of Sensei Erik Paulson (www.erikpaulson.com) teaching this drill. In this drill he goes from Ju Jitsu to Wrestling and back to Ju Jitsu again and I believe that it is a great drill to teach you the following.

• How to transition from Wrestling to Ju Jitsu mindsets
• Using the Granby Roll to not get caught by your opponent
• A drill that can be done many times to get you lots of reps
• Adaptable enough to let you scale your progressive resistance as you & your partner get better
• A drill that teaches you both offense and defense

I have long been a fan of Sensei Erik Paulson, I first saw him in 1996 when he was traveling with Guro Dan Inosanto. During the seminar Guro Dan gave Sensei Erik about an hour to go thru some grappling drills. In all the years that I have seen Guro Dan, the only person that he has ever given time to in a seminar was when Sensei Erik was with him.

 Sensei Erik has an amazing ability to develope drills that are simplistic in nature but if used can have a dramatic effect on your Martial Arts skills. I have used his material not only for my own personal developement but for the developement of my students. We use his Technique, Repetition, Isolation and Go (TRIG) training method in every facet of our curriculum. It is a great format for not only grappling but for striking, clinching and stick work as well.

I hope that you watch this video and you can add this drill to your training.

Christmas Gifts

This Christmas we will be doing a peanut butter and jelly drive as well as that of gifts for those in need during the holiday season.  We have all been blessed at one time or another and this is our opportunity to share some of those blessing with others as we give.

When you come in and see the Christmas Tree please consider bringing an item that can be placed under it to assist those of our community that are in need.  Be mindful of children of all ages.  For example, teenage girls might be thrilled to get some makeup or other such items.

As we do this I am certain that our own spirits will abound as we participate in bringing “Holiday Cheer” to others.

Hello All,

While doing my Youtube searching today I found a great video of Sensei Erik Paulson (www.erikpaulson.com) and Dog Brother Eric Knaus aka Top Dog (www.dogbrothers.com) teaching stick grappling. You can see why I believe that Sensei Erik Paulson is one of the most well rounded Martial Artists around these days and why the Dog Brothers are regarded as some of the best Filipino Martial Artists around.

I was introduced to stick grappling by my Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) years ago and it is something that I really want to explore. I think that it is very practical and can be used by a wide variety of people including Law Enforcement and Military Personal.

Enjoy

Hello All,

I hope you looked @ yesterdays post… It had Ajarn Chai holding focus mitts for a 6 yr old boy. Well they are back at it again only this time the boy is 7 yrs old now. You can see how much bigger he has gotten and how his skill level has improved. I am still amazed the level he performs @. I have stood in front of Ajarn Chai and it is no easy task.

If this does not make you want to improve your Boxing skills I don’t know what will!!!!

Enjoy

MAN, THAT WENT FAST! 

Here we find ourselves at the end of the year already,  December!  Before you know it we’ll be out shopping for those O so special people in our lives.  Which reminds me…Gift Certificates are available from Iron Monkey and punch cards also make excellent gifts!  (sorry, had to do it!) 

UPDATE FROM LAST MONTH 

Some people were sick (Chris – how could you!), some people were not (me - WOOHOO!).   

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Depends on who’s sick but… Mitchell is geared to fight muay thai on December 4th in Lambton County. 

I.C.A.D.S. is scheduled for December 13th at Caged Dragon in Brantford and if you happen to get this in time, there is a Sid Vanderpool Boxing Seminar tomorrow at 1, same bat place. 

CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH 

Here it is:  Jenn did 100 double kettlebell swings and 50 burpees (advanced) in 9 minutes 15 seconds!  

BEAT THAT! 

This is how it works:  10 swings, 20 burpees, 15 swings, 15 burpees, 20 swings, 10 burpees, 25 swings, 5 burpees, 30 swings.  

Don’t even think about doing lame-ass burpees either!  Squat, pushup, tuck jump. 

It’s all about the time!  How quickly can you get it done?  Are you a conditioned machine? 

Jenn seems to be the one to beat, no one has topped her time holding a kiba-dachi stance either. 

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 

The club will be closed on Christmas Eve, December 24th and Christmas Day, December 25th and Boxing Day, December 26.  Other than that the class schedule remains the same.  We hope each and every one of you enjoys the holiday season with an abudance of cheer and good will.   

FESTIVITIES 

While you’re enjoying all the benefits of the season, keep in mind that I like an assortment of Christmas cookies and you’re more than welcome to bring me some.   After such gorging occurs, the Womens Kickboxing class regrets every morsel I eat since the workouts reflect how many calories I need to burn.  This inturn benefits them as well so it’s a win/win situation every time! 

KEEP IN MIND 

Iron Monkey T-shirts are for sale and make great gifts.  

Gift Certificates are available in different denominations. 

Punch cards are wicked convenient. 

I like cookies 

And… 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

Hello All,

I have watched this video a number of times and everytime I watch it I am amazed by this it. Ajarn Chai and this boy are amazing. Big props to his parents and Instructors for teaching him the fundamentals, discipline and respect to have the talent level that he already shows.

This boy has better form & mechanics @ 6 than Martial Artists that I have met who have trained for 20 years. Enjoy this video clip it is awesome!!!

Hello All,

This is a question that I am asked quite often by my new students and people who have not trained. My interest level in Martial Arts began when I was around 9 years old. My Grandfather was a huge boxing fan, he and my Dad would watch boxing on TV and I would watch it with them as a way to bond with them. My Uncle was learning Tai Chi around this time and when he would visit from Connecticut he would show me some pieces of the Forms that he was working on.

As I grew up in the 1980’s Martial Arts was exploding, fueled Sijo Bruce Lee’s influence. I remember watching the Karate Kid movie and being so excited by it. We watched movies with Martial Arts movie stars like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and many others. The Ninja craze was also going on then as well and for my 10th birthday I got a Ninja uniform complete with authentic Ninja Tabi boots.

As I got older my interest in Martial Arts died down some but was always in the background. I had a friend in High School that trained in Tae Kwon Do and that started to refuel my interest. In 1992 I began training Karate through a Community Ed program and my interest started to take off. Though I enjoyed the training the material didn’t seem to  fit what I was looking for. What I was really looking for how to protect myself and more importantly my brother Colin. He was having some issues with a group of kids who were ganging up on kids randomly. Colin always seemed to be on their radar, though in the end thankfully they never did anything to him.

This lead me to look into other Martial Arts styles including Tai Chi, Isshin Ryu, Boxing, and Bruce Lee’s Martial Art Jeet Kune Do. I was having some trouble finding a Martial Arts School that taught one of these styles in Livingston County. By sheer chance in the summer of 1994 I met John Noonan (http://www.independentmartialarts.us) who was studying Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts. I trained with John for about 1 year.

In the spring of 1995 John and I went to Sifu Dave Hatch’s (www.attributivemartialarts.com) house for a private lesson. Sifu Dave at that time was an Apprentice under Guro Dan Inosanto (www.inosanto.com). I began training with Sifu Dave in fall of 1995 and he has been my primary Instructor since.

From 1995-2000 I put in approximately 12,000 hours of training in through training with Sifu Dave, teaching Cardio Kickboxing, private and solo training and seminars. During that time my friends would ask why I trained as much as I did. I would respond ” This is what I love to do, I get to meet and train with some of the best Martial Artists in the world!!!”

Like I said in the beginning I wanted to train to learn how to protect myself and my loved ones. Today I feel that I can do that and now I teach others to do the same. During the time I have trained I have learned a lot about myself, I feel that if I had not began training Martial Arts I would not be the person I am today. Martial Arts has helped me improve my self-confidence, self-awareness and helped me relate to people better.

I train now for the love of learning my Instructors are always learning new things and it inspires me to do the same. I have met people from Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, the Philipines and many other countries. From them I have learned so much about the history and culture of their home land it is amazing. This diversity in training and understanding has gone along way to teach me that we are really all just people and at the core we are all looking for the same things.

One of the other huge benefits in training is my understanding of my body. Martial Arts has taught me much about how and why I move the way that I do. When I am teaching I feel that I am not just teaching them how to protect themselves and their loved ones I am teaching them to understand and accept their bodies better.

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I would love to hear what you have gained from training Martial Arts. If you have not trained then what you would like to gain from training.

Shawn

The latest training resource to hit the markets is “Online Instruction” of Jiu jitsu and while “online instruction” has often received a bit of a tough wrap I must admit, I am all for it and find it to be a fantastic training resource! Of course just like anything, “online instruction” seems to vary in quality depending on who you are choosing to learn from. While I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend that you learn exclusively online, I do feel that it can really complement your regular class training and offer some great insights, techniques and tips in addition to what your instructor is already teaching you! As far as my experience with “online instruction” goes, I have recently signed up for both “Gracie University” (www.gracieuniversity.com) and Marcelo Garcia’s “MG In Action” (www.mginaction.com).

www.gracieuniversity.com

I find both to be great learning tools and each has their own particular specialty. “Gracie University” teaches the Gracie Jiu jitsu system in the exact same order as set out by the founder, Helio Gracie. Ryron and Rener Gracie (Helio’s grandsons) have set out to teach Gracie Jiu jitsu in the most highly efficient and detailed method possible so that everyone from a raw beginner right through to a seasoned veteran of the art can pick up the intricate details that make Gracie Jiu jitsu so effective and effortless! The Gracie Jiu jitsu system taught by Ryron and Rener Gracie is based on Self Defence as it was originally designed by Grandmaster Helio Gracie and can be practised by men, women and children of all ages, shapes and sizes. Ryron and Rener Gracie are passionate and gifted teachers and each lesson feels as if you were there taking a private lesson from them! I highly recommend that you sign up at www.gracieuniversity.com, remember it’s free to sign up and you still get access to some basic material and a glimpse of what else is on offer! And while you’re at it sign up for the Gracie insider newsletter at www.gracieacademy.com!

www.mginaction.com

Marcelo Garcia has finally launched his “MG In Action” website and let me say that it was well worth the wait! For those of you who may be interested in competing in Jiu jitsu either gi or no gi then look no further as Four time World Jiu jitsu Champion and Three time ADCC World Submission Wrestling Champion shows you all the techniques, strategy and tactics that have made him into one of the greatest Jiu jitsu Athletes of our time! Get a bird’s-eye view of Marcelo teaching techniques, explainin strategy and sparring in preparation for various competitions! There’s loads of great content and Marcelo is a great instructor! Check it out at www.mginaction.com and enjoy!

Good luck with your training and Happy rolling!

Felipe

Jiu jitsu Kingdom

Hello All,

Well it’s the Holiday Season and you know what that means… Lots of shopping, going to parties, and the hustle and bustle of the season. I don’t mean to be Scrooge but here are some very important safety tips to keep you safe for the Holiday Season.

• Being on your PHONE IS NOT SAFE!!! It is a huge distraction when you are distracted that is a great time for MR. BAD GUY to ATTACK you.
• REMEMBER where you parked your car and AVOID using your KEY LESS ENTRY to find your car. This is a great way to let Mr. Bad Guy where you are at and how to plan his attack.
• If you are out enjoying some HOLIDAY BEVERAGES keep your INTAKE LOW and remember to keep track of your drink. It is very easy for someone to slip something into your drink. Also drink lots of water and eat consistantly this will help you moderate your alcohol levels.

I hope that these help to keep you and your loved ones safe. We have ongoing Self-Defense classes on going during the holidays!!! Not only will they help you to be safe they can also help you avoid adding any extra holiday goodies to your waistline.

Happy Holidays,

Shawn

Hello All,

In this video clip Sensei Erik Paulson (www.erikpaulson.com) is teaching defending standing guard passes. He shows how to use your feet and hips so not to get your legs controlled, how to use your knees so that the person that is standing can’t punch your head and also he shows how to use an axe kick from your guard!!!

Also don’t miss the last submission combo he does it is pretty cool!!!

Enjoy

In drill we focused on securing a number of arm-bars from the guard. However, my main goal Thursday was to work on my butterfly guard  (BFG) passes during the rolling session. I have dabbled at it before but it occurred to me in the last class that it is the guard of choice for a lot of the experienced guys at our academy. I want to be able to pass butterfly guard as easily as I can full and open guard (on some players).

I only rolled twice after class so I could only work on it with Big Josh. I’ve noticed that we tend to nullify each other’s strengths so Josh was a perfect person to try it on. Usually when someone plays BFG I maintain my posture and try not to get sucked into playing his or her game. However for me to work my passes I had to go in close and in one pass I have to actually allow my opponent to wrap me up in order for me to practice the pass.

I noticed immediately that when I took this approach (trying to pass with an actual technique) it put Josh on the defense. I placed my right hand around his neck and with my left I tried to grab his left ankle and pull it so I could twist his body around and gain side control. I think with a smaller guy it might have worked more effectively. He’s about 6 ft and 215 lbs so it wasn’t as easy to pull his leg out from under him. I was able to force him on his side and make him switch to an open guard. When I tried the guard pass where you have to be wrapped up I allowed him to get position and then tried to work the pass. I was able to break the hold but not get the pass. The next time I baited him I think he sensed I was up to something. Almost as soon as he had me wrapped up, he let me go. He must have ’smelled’ my eagerness.  As we went back and forth I was able to pass his butterfly guard a couple of times but I couldn’t establish side control. I will try that at a later date.

I also rolled with another Josh. He’s more of an MMA guy but he often attends BJJ classes. I hadn’t rolled with him in about 5 months and since that time he has mastered the 360 guard.  When he was on the ground I spent the majority of time trying to hold him in place long enough to work an attack. I tried to hold his ankles and pin him to the ground but once he started spinning I had to let go. At one point he was able to get my back but I was able to defend and turn into his guard. Every time I tried to pass he started to spin. The most I could accomplish with Josh was two takedowns.  (I was on the ground and he was standing on both takedowns.)

An overall good practice….

On November 14, 2009 Kobe Cochran took part in COPA America in Georgia. Kobe got 3rd in Gi and No Gi divisions. He lost his matches on points to larger and older kids.

Jake Shields and Anthony Johnson

As you can see, Anthony Johnson doesn’t really like drinking beer

Strikeforce light weight champion, Josh “The Punk” Thomson came out to support the KNOXX party

DJ AJAX

Fighters get down too!!

Import model and Go Go dancer, Jeri Lee