Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
5 Days To Countdown
Getting injured SUCKS! Here I am, 5 days before my tournament and I got injured... It happened last week Monday during our sparring session. I took a kick to the shin ...nothing particularly different from all the other kicks to the shin I've received before, so after I got home I iced it before going to sleep. Tuesday went on and regardless of the light pain I had on my shin I continued my training. By Wednesday afternoon, as I removed my socks after I got home from work, my ankle was swollen and a huge bruise appeared. Even though it looked really bad, I was still able to walk and run just fine.
My Sifu always drilled the crap out of us to wear proper protective gear when sparring...but we never listen. At least until, we do get injured and then start putting on the appropriate gear lol! It was exactly for that reason that my arsenal of sparring gear is as big as it is today. When I first started to spar, all I would have would be a pair of sparring gloves. Until I got kicked in the groin, I then added a groin cup to my sparring gear. Then another day I got punched in the face and my eyebrow got cut, so I then purchased a sparring helmet. Slowly as I received more injuries all over my body, I would add a new piece of protective equipment to my sparring gear.
Some people doesn't seem to understand the importance of the protective gear. I've heard some people say that they want to make sparring as realistic as possible to a street fight, but already they are wrong. In a real street fight, there are no rules. Anything goes for example, they can be 3 on 1, have baseball bats or knives, and might as well throw in a German Sheppard in there for good measures. My rule in real fighting if ever it was to happen is, 1 on 1 should be an honorable fight, 2 on 1 can still be manageable, but at 3 on 1...screw the honorable BS...I'm gonna karate chop you in the neck and jump kick you in the groin. ANYTHING GOES!
Others say that wearing gear will hender their movements and vision. GOOD! Train with a handicap now so that when you are without it, you will be THAT much greater...or just buy the right gear for you. There are thousands of brands, makes, and models for sparring gear, choose the one that suits your needs the best. For those who say that chest protector is restricting, then buy the foam material. Although it offers less protection, it's lighter, more maleable and less restricting around the chest to allow deeper breath. For vision, they make head gear with a transparent material face mask now...try it. There are sooooo many different type of gear out there to suit everybody's particular needs, you just need to find it and if they don't have one that you like, then there is your opportunity for a business venture.
Lastly, some believe that not wearing gear will help with their "Iron Body" training. That is just ridiculous and here is why I say this. Every type of training is intended for a specific purpose for example, punching a sand bag will help enhance your Iron Fists, Shadow boxing will help enhance your speed, stretching will help enhance the flow of your movements. Assuming that sparring will help you out in all aspect of fighting such as "Iron Body" conditioning is like believing that practicing your forms will help you become good at sparring. There are no shortcuts in becoming great at any specific thing. You have to train like a champ to become one. Those who say otherwise are full of themselves. Nobody has ever achieved greatness without struggle.
Remember sparring itself is not fighting. Sparring to me, is a way to become good at reading body language, to train our body to act and react to a situation given by your adversary, and learn how to combine techniques with strategy. Without the proper protective gear, you will eventually get seriously injured wether or not you were doing "Light" or "Intense" sparring, which will definitely take you away from proper training, and hence your skills will regress. The goal here is to be productive and efficient with our training so be smart and stay safe :)
P.S.: For those who are wondering, I went to the hospital to get some X Rays. No broken bones or anything, so now it's just a matter of healing the bruise and swelling in time for the tourney.
My Sifu always drilled the crap out of us to wear proper protective gear when sparring...but we never listen. At least until, we do get injured and then start putting on the appropriate gear lol! It was exactly for that reason that my arsenal of sparring gear is as big as it is today. When I first started to spar, all I would have would be a pair of sparring gloves. Until I got kicked in the groin, I then added a groin cup to my sparring gear. Then another day I got punched in the face and my eyebrow got cut, so I then purchased a sparring helmet. Slowly as I received more injuries all over my body, I would add a new piece of protective equipment to my sparring gear.
Some people doesn't seem to understand the importance of the protective gear. I've heard some people say that they want to make sparring as realistic as possible to a street fight, but already they are wrong. In a real street fight, there are no rules. Anything goes for example, they can be 3 on 1, have baseball bats or knives, and might as well throw in a German Sheppard in there for good measures. My rule in real fighting if ever it was to happen is, 1 on 1 should be an honorable fight, 2 on 1 can still be manageable, but at 3 on 1...screw the honorable BS...I'm gonna karate chop you in the neck and jump kick you in the groin. ANYTHING GOES!
Others say that wearing gear will hender their movements and vision. GOOD! Train with a handicap now so that when you are without it, you will be THAT much greater...or just buy the right gear for you. There are thousands of brands, makes, and models for sparring gear, choose the one that suits your needs the best. For those who say that chest protector is restricting, then buy the foam material. Although it offers less protection, it's lighter, more maleable and less restricting around the chest to allow deeper breath. For vision, they make head gear with a transparent material face mask now...try it. There are sooooo many different type of gear out there to suit everybody's particular needs, you just need to find it and if they don't have one that you like, then there is your opportunity for a business venture.
Lastly, some believe that not wearing gear will help with their "Iron Body" training. That is just ridiculous and here is why I say this. Every type of training is intended for a specific purpose for example, punching a sand bag will help enhance your Iron Fists, Shadow boxing will help enhance your speed, stretching will help enhance the flow of your movements. Assuming that sparring will help you out in all aspect of fighting such as "Iron Body" conditioning is like believing that practicing your forms will help you become good at sparring. There are no shortcuts in becoming great at any specific thing. You have to train like a champ to become one. Those who say otherwise are full of themselves. Nobody has ever achieved greatness without struggle.
Remember sparring itself is not fighting. Sparring to me, is a way to become good at reading body language, to train our body to act and react to a situation given by your adversary, and learn how to combine techniques with strategy. Without the proper protective gear, you will eventually get seriously injured wether or not you were doing "Light" or "Intense" sparring, which will definitely take you away from proper training, and hence your skills will regress. The goal here is to be productive and efficient with our training so be smart and stay safe :)
P.S.: For those who are wondering, I went to the hospital to get some X Rays. No broken bones or anything, so now it's just a matter of healing the bruise and swelling in time for the tourney.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
How To Lose A Fight For Dummies
As some of you are already aware, last year was my first ever international level tournament and in preparation for it, I went out and seeked help... a LOT of help from many different people. One of which was my Sihing Calvin Chung, who told me that the first thing I should do is go online and do some research about the tournament, understand the rules (Like my Sifu always says " If it's not illegal, then it's Legal!"), and watch the Lei-Tai and Sanshou videos people have uploaded on Youtube. Honestly, watching those videos scared the crap out of me but I have to admit that the fear I got from watching them, is what pushed me to train extremely hard. Knowing the possibilities of serious injuries, I would train as hard as possible to make sure I wouldn't be the one getting the injuries but instead giving them.
Soon I ran out of online videos to watch so I started to make my own by recording the sparring sessions at my school and wherever else I would go to train and spar. The original sole purpose of watching those online videos was to get an idea of what I signed up for, but soon after I realized, why not study them since there are so many of them available? I would take notes on what makes the dominant fighters dominant and I came to conclude that they all have similar traits.
Common traits for dominant fighters is that they are usually the aggresors in a fight, they would continually apply pressure onto their opponents with a constant flow of strikes and those strikes flow extremely well in terms of their postures, speed, and power. They all seem to be very comfortable throwing combinations with their feet as they are with their hands and hence combine them to make devastating combos.
After studying the dominant fighters, I thought to myself "Why not also study the inferior fighters and see what they are all doing wrong? What causes them to lose?" And so I started to take notes down, I decided to pay close attention to all the common wrongs that the inferior fighters would do. I also noticed all my Sidais are doing the exact same things. So here is my guide to "How To Lose a Fight for Dummies"
1. Always aim for the head and face.
2. When being pressured, move back and root your feet down.
3. Do lots of Haymakers
4. Tendencies to drop your guard
5. Retain a wooden dummy posture
6. Do a 1 or 2 hit max combo
7. Get emotional
How you use what is written here is up to you.
Soon I ran out of online videos to watch so I started to make my own by recording the sparring sessions at my school and wherever else I would go to train and spar. The original sole purpose of watching those online videos was to get an idea of what I signed up for, but soon after I realized, why not study them since there are so many of them available? I would take notes on what makes the dominant fighters dominant and I came to conclude that they all have similar traits.
Common traits for dominant fighters is that they are usually the aggresors in a fight, they would continually apply pressure onto their opponents with a constant flow of strikes and those strikes flow extremely well in terms of their postures, speed, and power. They all seem to be very comfortable throwing combinations with their feet as they are with their hands and hence combine them to make devastating combos.
After studying the dominant fighters, I thought to myself "Why not also study the inferior fighters and see what they are all doing wrong? What causes them to lose?" And so I started to take notes down, I decided to pay close attention to all the common wrongs that the inferior fighters would do. I also noticed all my Sidais are doing the exact same things. So here is my guide to "How To Lose a Fight for Dummies"
1. Always aim for the head and face.
2. When being pressured, move back and root your feet down.
3. Do lots of Haymakers
4. Tendencies to drop your guard
5. Retain a wooden dummy posture
6. Do a 1 or 2 hit max combo
7. Get emotional
How you use what is written here is up to you.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sparring Day!
At my Kung-Fu school, every Monday is Sparring day. Classes starts at 7PM but I usually get there by 5:30PM to start warming up and stretching. When I started to take sparring seriously (around the time i was 13), I never needed to warm-up or stretch. All I would do is put my gear on and jump right into it. Now at 25, I've realized like many others have, just how important it is to have a good warm-up and stretch before a sparring session. Not just to prevent injuries such as a cramps or tear in the muscle tissues, but also to increase my performance. After my normal warm-up routine, I can feel such a major difference. I can now kick higher, punch faster, and flow my combinations better. I don't know if it's an age thing or just something that's always been there and didn't know it.
Sparring yesterday went extremely well, also one of my Sidais just passed his 1st level and was now allowed to spar. It was his first ever sparring session in life and it sure seemed like he was having a blast :) That being said I noticed a few things about all of my Sidais when they are sparring. I took them aside and explained it to them quickly, but now that I had more time to think about it, I figured here is the perfect opportunity to be more detailed about what I told them the other night.
You shouldn't concern yourself too much about winning, beating, dominating your sparring partner or focus too much on landing every hit. While you keep using the same techniques you are good with, you leave the rest of your skills raw. This sparring time is the perfect moment for you to go above your comfort level and try new things, refine some techniques. Experiment new combinations, work on your flaws (Perhaps speed and/or accuracy not so much power as you do not want to injure your partner), and fine tune the moves that needs refining. THAT is progression and with different sparring partners you will be able to figure out what works and what doesn't. My Sidais seems to be missing that concept and usually ends up brawling and injuring each other.
The next point I want to bring up is that you have to remember that you are sparring, so getting hit is going to happen. Don't try and block every strike bring thrown at you, learn to dodge some. It's okay to get hit once in awhile, you can't expect never to get hit in a sparring match but make sure if you do take a few hits make yours count more then theirs (obviously for training purposes, watch your power as it is very easy to get caught up in the moment).
Another things that I've mentioned before I end this blog: Learn to read your opponents movements. Each individual fighter have "Instinctual" actions and reactions. For example a consistent parry to a jab, or a twitch in response to your front kick. I guess you can call it "flinching" if you want. Learn to exploit them. Same for movements, each individual fighter kick and punch uniquely to the way they are most comfortable with such as opening your foot, distributing your body weight forward, then lean backwards as they are lifting their knee, before throwing their foot forward with their heel out first. Learn to spot these cues. I've always told my Lei Tai, Sanshou and Advance Sparring Training class that if you react to your opponents movements, you are half a second behind them. But predict their movements and you are half a second in front of them. Half a second is all you really need to take control of any sparring situation.
Sparring yesterday went extremely well, also one of my Sidais just passed his 1st level and was now allowed to spar. It was his first ever sparring session in life and it sure seemed like he was having a blast :) That being said I noticed a few things about all of my Sidais when they are sparring. I took them aside and explained it to them quickly, but now that I had more time to think about it, I figured here is the perfect opportunity to be more detailed about what I told them the other night.
You shouldn't concern yourself too much about winning, beating, dominating your sparring partner or focus too much on landing every hit. While you keep using the same techniques you are good with, you leave the rest of your skills raw. This sparring time is the perfect moment for you to go above your comfort level and try new things, refine some techniques. Experiment new combinations, work on your flaws (Perhaps speed and/or accuracy not so much power as you do not want to injure your partner), and fine tune the moves that needs refining. THAT is progression and with different sparring partners you will be able to figure out what works and what doesn't. My Sidais seems to be missing that concept and usually ends up brawling and injuring each other.
The next point I want to bring up is that you have to remember that you are sparring, so getting hit is going to happen. Don't try and block every strike bring thrown at you, learn to dodge some. It's okay to get hit once in awhile, you can't expect never to get hit in a sparring match but make sure if you do take a few hits make yours count more then theirs (obviously for training purposes, watch your power as it is very easy to get caught up in the moment).
Another things that I've mentioned before I end this blog: Learn to read your opponents movements. Each individual fighter have "Instinctual" actions and reactions. For example a consistent parry to a jab, or a twitch in response to your front kick. I guess you can call it "flinching" if you want. Learn to exploit them. Same for movements, each individual fighter kick and punch uniquely to the way they are most comfortable with such as opening your foot, distributing your body weight forward, then lean backwards as they are lifting their knee, before throwing their foot forward with their heel out first. Learn to spot these cues. I've always told my Lei Tai, Sanshou and Advance Sparring Training class that if you react to your opponents movements, you are half a second behind them. But predict their movements and you are half a second in front of them. Half a second is all you really need to take control of any sparring situation.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
And the countdown begins...
In exactly 3 weeks from today, will be our departure to Baltimore MD for the full contact tournament. I still have 2 more weeks of intensive training before I will need to slow it down and let me body reach it's full potential. 2 weeks really doesn't seem like much when I've been training for over 6 months for this tournament and more intensively the last few months.
The real problem that I've been having is that I'm actually doubting the quality of preparation that I've set upon myself. Looking back at last year's training and compare it to this year's, I find myself a bit dissapointed. Not because of my training partners but because of myself. I feel like I pushed myself so much harder last year and I can't seem to understand why I'm not doing the same this year. I'm wondering if it could be due to some high level of confidence (which I know very well how bad that is), perhaps because I now know what to expect, or maybe the fact that I'm not as "hungry" as I was before? I don't know...I also have no way in telling if I have actually progressed or regressed in my skills and perhaps that also affects the perception I have on my training?
Last year I had an amazing sparring partner, twice my speed , strength, and reach, twice my weight and height, and great at uncovering my openings. We would spar every week regardless of the injuries we would get after our last sparring session and by doing so I could literally see my improvements. I believe that I lack that this year...
Although this Sunday I am taking my Lei Tai class to a new school that have invited us to train along with them. We will be sparring for sure. I have to admit that I'm extremely excited to spar against new people. I think it will give me the opportunity to see where my skills stand with people I've never trained with before. Completely different strategies, techniques, movements, and mentality. Definitely looking forward to this...
As I end this blog, I'd just like to re-iterate that in no way am I trying to make the people who are helping me get ready this year feel less than those of the previous year. This year, these guys push me ridiculously hard and want to see me excel every time we are training. They are amazing training partners who give a lot of their personal time and effort to get me ready and I have the highest level of appreciation for them. I wish I could return the favor to each and every single one of them. Please continue kicking my ass every single step of the way...
Very soon we will be able to see how well I've prepared myself...
The real problem that I've been having is that I'm actually doubting the quality of preparation that I've set upon myself. Looking back at last year's training and compare it to this year's, I find myself a bit dissapointed. Not because of my training partners but because of myself. I feel like I pushed myself so much harder last year and I can't seem to understand why I'm not doing the same this year. I'm wondering if it could be due to some high level of confidence (which I know very well how bad that is), perhaps because I now know what to expect, or maybe the fact that I'm not as "hungry" as I was before? I don't know...I also have no way in telling if I have actually progressed or regressed in my skills and perhaps that also affects the perception I have on my training?
Last year I had an amazing sparring partner, twice my speed , strength, and reach, twice my weight and height, and great at uncovering my openings. We would spar every week regardless of the injuries we would get after our last sparring session and by doing so I could literally see my improvements. I believe that I lack that this year...
Although this Sunday I am taking my Lei Tai class to a new school that have invited us to train along with them. We will be sparring for sure. I have to admit that I'm extremely excited to spar against new people. I think it will give me the opportunity to see where my skills stand with people I've never trained with before. Completely different strategies, techniques, movements, and mentality. Definitely looking forward to this...
As I end this blog, I'd just like to re-iterate that in no way am I trying to make the people who are helping me get ready this year feel less than those of the previous year. This year, these guys push me ridiculously hard and want to see me excel every time we are training. They are amazing training partners who give a lot of their personal time and effort to get me ready and I have the highest level of appreciation for them. I wish I could return the favor to each and every single one of them. Please continue kicking my ass every single step of the way...
Very soon we will be able to see how well I've prepared myself...
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
In preparation for what may come...
To introduce my next upcoming blogs, I thought it would be appropriate to repost from my FB notes what I have written in result of the last years full-contact sparring tournament.
So here it is...
[July 27 2010]
So here it is...
[July 27 2010]
"After 9 months of light training followed by 3 months of intense training, I walked out of my first International Lei Tai Tournament with a Silver Medal at the 2010 U.S.K.S.F. Competition. I wouldn't have made it without all of my supporters, coaches, training partners, and sponsors and I would like to dedicate this note to all of them that have been by my side throughout my training.And in conclusion to this blog, I'm coming back this year with more fire in my heart, focus in my eyes, and Gold on my mind...
First and foremost To My Baltimore Team:
Sifu Augustine Ngu (a.k.a. Sifu): Sifu, you are the one who gave me the skills and knowledge that I have today, without you there would be no competition, no tournament, and no medals. You've always pushed me to be better and you never gave up on me since I first joined 12 years ago.
Abigail Ocreto (A.k.a. Equipment Specialist): Thank you for putting up with my crazy training hours, for being my drill partner when I needed one, for coming with me to Baltimore to support me in every possible way, for providing me with amazing Gatorade during my fights, and last but not least for being an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Girlfriend. I couldn't ask or even imagine anyone better for me then you.
Tim McPhee (A.k.a. Coach): Tim, without your support as my coach I have no idea how I would've gone through the tournament on my own. You've been by my side for many MANY years and your friendship truly shined for me these last couple months. You are truly a friend worth fighting for and I foresee that we shall remain GREAT friends for the many years to come. I hope that I will be able to return the favor to you one day as well.
Kiana Mortejo (A.k.a. A / V Coordinator): Your support from the side line is what pushed me on the platform. Without your constant support I wouldn't have had the motivation and energy to push me throughout the fights. I can't thank you enough for coming all the way to Baltimore with me and the team wouldn't be complete without you. Also with the great videos that you were able to record for me, I'll be able to analyze them and study them to continue and advance in my skills.
Kwokwai/ Ivy /Quin Lin / Little Madison (A.k.a. The Cheering Team): Thank you guys for cheering me on throughout my fights. You guys truly made a world of difference for me while I was on that platform. You all definitely made my fights more fun and enjoyable.
To My Home Team:
Sifu Zack George: You have no idea how much I appreciate what you have done for me. You fixed all my leaks and you strengthened my foundation. Your drills, advice, and pointers are what made me more then ever prepared for this tournament. Thank you for allowing me to train at your studio and letting me gain the experience and knowledge that I needed to make it through this tournament.
Sifu Calvin Chung: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn the basics and fundamentals of take downs and a 411 on what I should expect. You have seriously opened my eyes to new strategies involved in Lei Tai. Something that I KNEW I would have to work on after our discussion and without your guidance I wouldn't have been able to be as prepared as I was.
Kenny Fung: an EXCELLENT training partner that continuously pushed me to excel week after week for three months straight. You seriously helped me prepare for the worst and without your help I really wouldn't know how I would've done on that platform.
Sifu Ben Devine: My sparring mentor when I was only 14. You have helped me develop the skills that I needed to get to where I am today. I have learned a lot from just watching you and I am grateful that you were able to share with me some of your experiences and knowledge regarding Lei Tai. Your advices definitely took me a long way.
Christopher Torranno: You were the first to test my sparring skills, and the one who helped me develop the speed that I needed to win my fights. Our weeks at the boxing gym really helped me blend the speed that I needed with my kung-fu techniques. Thank you for your continuous support during my training.
All Masters Team: Thank you everyone at the All Masters Martial Arts Centre that helped me train and prepare for my tournament.
And last but not least, To My Sponsors:
Abigail Ocreto
Tim McPhee
Kiana Mortejo
Kim Hoang
Han Hoang
Chris Torrano
Manh-Tien Nguyen
Vinh Brian Trinh
Mom
Thank you to all of the above for helping me get to Baltimore and bring back a Medal for Canada in the Lei Tai Event!!"
The First of Many...
After much debate, consideration and lots of procrastination at work, I've decided to start blogging. What really held me back for so long, is the fact that I can't write for shit! I'm not a big fan of literature and I'm also not very good at expressing my thoughts...by saying so, this blog will be quite an experience for me. Also with some encouragement and sense knocking from my significant other, I've realized that this will be the perfect opportunity for me to somewhat replace what I use to have in my possession, a Journal. Keep track of my thoughts and ideas and be able to see the changes within myself and in my life, see if perhaps I've regressed or progressed as a human being...if that made any sense at all.
So...Please remain seated, keep your arms and hands inside at all time, buckle your seat belt, and here we go!! My first of many blogs to come. :)
So...Please remain seated, keep your arms and hands inside at all time, buckle your seat belt, and here we go!! My first of many blogs to come. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)