Two arts at the same time

john kavanagh

good stuff gerry

fair play kenpodave for being open minded enough to come down and try a different training method:)

kenpo_dave

In grappling when u talk about chokes does that cover sleeper techniques too? Cos technically sleepers rnt chokes. chokes r targeted at the oxygen supply to the brain, whereas sleepers target the blood supply.

john kavanagh

is that the "longer review" Colm was looking for? lol:D

'sleeper' would be a term used in WWE!!

choke - like you said cuts off the air supply (dangerous tech due to chance of collapsing the trachea)
strangle - cuts off the blood supply to the brain - the most humane way to end a violent confrontation

kenpo_dave

I dunno, I wud think a strangle is the same as a choke...if u think of someone strangling another with both hands around the neck, the thumbs r pushing in on the throat. Perhaps sleeper is just a modern term, Ive just heard it used in Kenpo, Kung Fu and Karate, that Ive done, for techniques that cut the blood flow in the neck.

As for a longer review, I did do one but I dont know where it went to
As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the session. We started by warming up with some clinch exercises. These were very good. I had done some before, but not often. Takes alot out of u if ur not used to them. We then went on to some self defense. This I really liked. Very simple, practical and effective. There tends to be alot of over-kill in the Kenpo self defense, in terms of strikes. Now the reason for the over-kill is good - if wot u do at first fails, just keep on hitting till ur sure hes not getting up - but theres alot of techniques that r useless, and most people in Kenpo will skip over them when training. Ground fighting is my weakest range. I have very little experience in it. To be honest I was a little intimidated by John because im not used to fighting grapplers. Its a whole different ball game. Alot of people that I come across, with similar opinions to my own, dismiss BJJ as rubbish. I personally think theyre just being ignorant. Although I believe striking is alot more important than grappling, I also believe that grappling (both standup and on ground) is a vital part of complete training. Sorry, I strayed off a bit. The session was only an hour, if even, and we ended it with some all-round fighting. I think I felt most intimidated when doing this. I didnt know wot was coming. It was very odd training in the morning though. Im alot more agressive later on in the evening.

In summary: My opinion was proven incorrect. The training that John does at SBG is probably amoungst the most practical around. As I said earlier, too many people dismiss ground fighting, and now I am fully convinced that they do this at their own peril. I was very impressed at the speed at which John got me into choke holds, and took me to ground in the all-round fighting. I am really looking forward to training more in MMA.
All that said, I am still a big fan of traditional training. John asked me wot is the point in doing the type of conditioning we do in MMA IRELAND, that is standing infront of eachother and punch eachother in the solar plexus, kick to the thighs. I suppose this kind of training cud be classed as 'Iron Shirt' training. Its purpose is to make the mind and body so used to being hit that when actually fighting strikes that do land have a much lessened effect.

I hope I havent rambled on too much here
I really appreciate the time John gave to educate in the ways of MMA, and I do hope to train with him again. I think I will definately enter competitions, but I need alot of practice:D

Thanks again John.

Dave

john kavanagh

thanks dave, you are very welcome

kenpo_dave wrote:

Im alot more agressive later on in the evening.

seen as you mentioned this twice i have to ask, do you think it would have made a difference to the outcome what time we trained at?

kenpo_dave

EH, not really John. I would have just been striking alot more in the all-round sparring, thats all.

john kavanagh

cool. well like i said any thursday evening you want to call down we can do it again you can be as 'aggressive' as you like!! haha good stuff and good luck with your training dave