Posts Tagged ‘Martial Arts’

Pick Top Boxing Gloves Based on the Weight and Size

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024
Mike Tyson and his boxing gloves

One of the most intriguing questions in the boxing world is why different weights of gloves are available in the market. Each type of glove has a well-defined purpose, including sparring, bag, training, and competition gloves. Therefore, every boxer must know the different weights and purposes of each type of boxing glove.

Below is the importance of glove weights and their types, which will help you select the right glove according to your training, sparring, or fighting needs. 

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Jiu-Jitsu: A Martial Art with Surprising Health Perks

Thursday, October 26th, 2023

Jiu-Jitsu, an elegant form of martial arts, began in the battlefield tactics of ancient Japan. Originally developed by samurai warriors, it primarily targeted open-handed combat, focusing more on grappling, throws, and joint locks. As time passed, this martial art form was significantly refined to the softer and more defensive style we recognize today. Its name, Jiu-Jitsu, meaning ‘gentle art’, mirrors the underlying philosophy of using the opponent’s energy against them rather than relying on one’s strength.

In recent years, the popularity of Jiu-Jitsu has surged worldwide. This growth is largely fueled by the recognition of its diverse health benefits and its frequent application in self-defense and popular mixed martial arts competitions. This article will explore several aspects of Jiu-Jitsu, including its noted physical, mental, and social benefits. Whether for fitness, discipline, or camaraderie, Jiu-Jitsu could be an enriching addition to anyone’s routine.

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Muay Thai Moves Closer to Becoming a Games Sport

Monday, August 30th, 2021
Muay Thai fighters

One of the many things that people don’t know much about Muay Thai is how it is deeply connected to spirituality and meditation. Of course, the sport is one of the most popular forms of martial arts, especially in many Asian countries like Thailand.

Despite this, Muay Thai has never been among the ranks of major sports you would expect to find in the Olympics. Those days are now a thing of the past. But before we get to that, let’s learn more about Muay Thai and how it shaped it to become a sport that clearly deserves more attention.

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Fighting Fit – 6 Health Benefits of Martial Arts

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017

Martial arts are not just about kicking butt or defending yourself from would-be attackers. There are numerous ways that martial arts practice impacts your physical and mental health. Martial arts can help improve fitness, coordination, self-esteem, discipline, and of course self defense skills. If nothing else, a rigorous kickboxing class is a great cardiovascular addition to your weekly workout schedule.

fitness kickboxing

Here are six ways to improve your life by adding martial arts training to your routine. (more…)

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Is Jiu Jitsu Effective for Weight Loss?

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Are Martial Arts Good Exercise?

MMA Chick
If you know anything about martial arts, you are probably aware that they often require intensive training to master, which can make them an excellent form of exercise. But you may also know that there are several different disciplines under the umbrella of martial arts and that they differ in both goals and practice.

Jiujitsu is a form of martial art that focuses on grappling, striking, throws, joint locks, and even some weapons mastery. As such, you might wonder if it can offer you the cardio benefits inherent in some other forms of martial arts.

While grappling and striking may certainly help you to gain strength and agility, the form might not necessarily give you the calorie-burning workout needed to reach your weight-loss goals. However, there’s more to this martial art than getting your opponent into a figure-four leg lock on the mat. And it can definitely play a role in your weight-loss regimen.

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How to Avoid Being Bullied

Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Bullies

In today’s “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” category, I would like you to read about how bullies target obese kids.

Um… no kidding, Sherlock.

I was bullied as a kid.

From 6th to 9th grade I really didn’t fit in anywhere. I was chubby, had acne, wore glasses, and I wasn’t any good in gym class. They called me names, drew nasty pictures of me, popular girls prank called me, and jocks punched me.

Looking back, I was probably one of the top 10 least popular kids in my class of 120 or so. It wasn’t any fun.

Bullying causes pain, anger, and resentment. So often in today’s society, we see so many acts of bullying the end in violence. Granted, I didn’t knife anyone, shoot anyone, or beat anyone up over it… but some kids do.

We need to educate our children and teach them how to avoid bullies, as well as how to avoid becoming a bully.

More than ever, victims of bullying nowadays tend to either take action against their perpetrators or simply end their own life. Those who don’t take action will go through life hating their junior high or high school peers, dreaming of revenge. You might not believe me if it never happened to do, but trust me: it’s true.

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MMA Workouts are Not Just for Men

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The following guest post was contributed by Alexia Krause, a PR executive who is writing today about MMA Workouts for women.

MMA Workouts are not Just for Men

Mixed martial arts appears to be a male dominated sport, yet the number of women who are becoming part of the MMA community is continually growing.

There are many female MMA fighters (including Kaitlyn Young and Gina Carano), who follow the same rigorous regimens as their male counterparts. These inspiring ladies have broken open the doors to what used to be the “boy’s club” of MMA. They use the same techniques, MMA equipment, and exercises that most fighters would use.

MMA Girls
MMA Training for Women

MMA training has the ability to help women stay fit while participating in a competitive and exhilarating sport.

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MMA Training Ideas

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I came across this video, which depicts the type of training I do in my thai kickboxing class and in the MMA class held right after my class. You can use these ideas to create your own conditioning program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8z0Ks-2S0

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CageFight MMA 3 Full Contact Pro and Amateur MMA Fights

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
MMA Kick
MMA Kick to the Ribs

Black and Blue Entertainment, LLC presents the third installment of its mega-successful event Cage Fight MMA! The second show back in August was truly a spectacle to behold and has been praised around southern NH as one of the best MMA cage fights ever put on in this area.

Each match up was tight, and the main event really had a high quality UFC look and feel to it. With CageFight MMA events gaining popularity so quickly, it seems like highly qualified fighters will be participating on a more frequent basis.

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NH Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Cage Fight – Free Ticket Giveaway

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

If you have ever heard of the UFC, then you know about MMA cage fighting. At Tokyo Joe’s in Hooksett, NH we have a team of amateur and professional MMA fighters. The team is Team Woo, and their current record (as of 3/16/08) is 19-4. Not too shabby. Roger Woo of Team Woo is promoting his company’s first ever cage fight promotion. You should come!

Black and Blue Entertainment, LLC presents its first ever cage fight mixed martial arts (MMA) event!

MMA Cage Fight
Saturday – May 17th, 2008
Venue:
The Wayfarer Inn Convention Center
121 South River Rd.
Bedford, NH
View the Maps
Directions to The Wayfarer Inn Convention Center

Doors open at 6:30pm, fights start at 8:00pm.
All Ages Show * Food & Alcohol Served
Door prizes * Raffle
15 Full Contact Pro MMA Fights!

Official Fight Card (last update 3/14/08):

  1. Chris Plourde – Team Valor vs. Paul George – Premier Martial Arts 155#
  2. Dennis Pignataro – Close Range Combat vs. Anthony Pina – East West Kenpo Karate 205#
  3. Matt Lee – Bombsquad vs. Brendan Hoxie – Shikaku Ryu Jiu-Jitsu 170#
  4. Chris Correia – Team Kaze vs. Mike Tierney – MMA of Southern ME 145#
  5. Jon Jones – Bombsquad vs. Nate Woodger – Team Link 205#
  6. Pat Audinwood – Bombsqaud vs. Fabio Serrao – Team Link 155#
  7. Ed Carr – Team Woo vs. TBA Heavyweight Fight
  8. Dan Keefe – Team Aldo Batista vs. Tom Moreau – Team Valor 180#
  9. Joey Woo-Team Mayhem vs. Bobby Brown – Team Fury 170#
  10. Chris Martin – Premier Martial Arts vs. Ricky Hines – Team Fury 155#
  11. Aaron Shultz – Team Aldo Batista vs. Jeff Soucie – Team Fury 170#
  12. Matt Kinberger – Team Woo vs. Travis Lerchen – Team Dogpound 170#
Main Event:
Karn Gregorian – Team Link (Extreme Fighting International Champion) 5-0
vs.
Mandela Kpouno – Dragons Lair, 13-4 185#

*Stay tuned, more fights to be announced shortly!
Fight card subject to change wthout notice.

Free Ticket Giveaway Contest. Enter to win 2 FREE Tickets!

Drawing held 5/10/08.


Go here to win tickets: Black and Blue Entertainment, LLC MMA Cage Fight Events
Go here to buy tickets: Buy Tickets to the MMA Event
Go here to advertise at the event: Advertise with or Sponsor the MMA Event

If you live anywhere in or near southern NH and you enjoy MMA, Cage Fights, or UFC, please attend this event to help establish a new following. There will be many more events like this to come so help us generate some momentum for our sport!

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New Layout, New Purpose for Project Swole

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Welcome to Project Swole 2.0! This swell new layout goes right along with my new goals for Project Swole. I am still in love with powerlifting and strongman training, but I have found vacant spot in my heart for martial arts and conditioning.

The Old Goals

Previously in my training career, it was all about size. I trained like a bodybuilder, in the 8-12 rep range, 5 workouts per week, keeping myself lean, with medium weight. Progress was acceptable. My muscles got slightly puffy and I looked OK naked. The downside was that I looked big when I was pumped up after a workout, but much smaller half a day later when the pump was gone. I wasn’t very strong either. My lifestyle was that of diet logs, egg whites, bodybuilding forums, and posing. This left something to be desired.


Deadlifting off a Platform

Next I Decided to Take Up Powerlifting

I learned the ‘secrets’ of The Westside Barbell Club and followed the writings of Louie Simmons, Christian Thibideau, and Dave Tate. My diet became much more liberal, my reps dropped down to 1-5, training frequency to 3-4 workouts a week with heavy weight, and my exercise scheme moved to a max effort, dynamic effort protocol. The results were good. I maintained my pumped up bodybuilding appearance full-time as my muscles became dense and strong. On the downside, my tendons and joints hurt at times, my cardiovascular health went out the window, and I bulked up to about 210-220 lbs. Over time I realized that 190-200 was the upper limit of a comfortable body weight for me.

On the upside, my efforts to learn all the best exercises really paid off:

  • bench press – with chains, boards, max effort, dynamic effort, floor-press, wide grip, narrow grip, etc…
  • deadlift – off blocks, off racks, half-rep, quarter-rep, with chains, bands, stiff-leg, max and dynamic effort
  • squat – back squat, front squat, jump squat, half squat, box squat, one-leg squat…
  • overhead press – seated, standing, behind head, in front of head – this is a key exercise to overall strength!
  • rows – barbell, dumbbell, t-bar, etc… “Big back, big bench” – a powerlifting mantra
  • abs – heavy crunches, weighted situps, rotations – your abs are at the core of every movement you make
  • curls, flys, leg extensions, cardio, calves, forearms – directly training these things is a waste of time and energy that could be better directed towards powerlifting (this is not one of the powerlifting beliefs that I necessarily support)

The next phase of my lifting career saw me try to embrace olympic lifting and functional training in combination with powerlifting. I started training 2-3 times per week with full body workouts, and added an extra workout or two per week with olympic lifting complexes. This resulted in my staying strong, my cardiovascular system got healthy, my tendons and joints stayed strong, and my muscles stayed strong as I kept the powerlifting aspects as part of each workout. The downside is that I got bored. Each workout consisted of bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press, abs, and calves. On a bad day, I would push through the workout and it would take me over 60-75 minutes to get everything done. I limited myself to the most effective exercises only, and rarely tried anything new. For some folks who only care to lift weights, this IS the best form of training. For me, I still needed something else.


Bruce Lee

Enter Mixed Martial Arts

MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Kenpo, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do… call it what you want, martial arts are great. Of course I learned and practiced by watching Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme in my teens and early twenties. Chuck Norris is the man, Bruce Lee is the king, we all know these things. But what could I learn by myself? I had always wanted to take martial arts classes, but had never had the time or resources to get involved. Recently I discovered a Thai Kickboxing class at my local Toykeo Joe’s karate school. Finally I could get in shape with serious conditioning, learn a martial art, possibly get involved with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu down the line… exercise was finally looking fun again.

Future Goals

I still hunger for powerlifting and olympic complexes, for strength and conditioning. On the other hand, I refuse to give up my newfound love for martial arts training. Thus my plan is as follows:

  • Thai kickboxing 2-3 nights a week for 1 hour.
  • Max effort (1-5 reps) bench, dead, squat, overhead press, once every other week.
  • 20 rep bench, dead, squat, overhead press, try to get one workout in per month.
  • If possible squeeze in one Olympic complex once every two weeks.
  • If possible squeeze in one bodybuilding style workout once a month.
  • Eat heartily: high protein, moderate everything else, lots of water.
  • Proper supplementation: vitamins, 5-HTP, melatonin, amino acids, Bone Boost, and anything else that I think can contribute to proper over-all health, recovery from workouts, provide energy, and isn’t too expensive.
  • Watch strongman and martial arts competitions for inspiration.

Join me in my quest to kick some ass, have emergency strength, stay healthy, and look good naked! Project Swole is a place where we can discuss these matters at length; where we can teach each other and learn from our mistakes. Motivate yourself to get Swole!

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