The value of the unorthodox

Folks,

This is a fun one for me. A few days ago, a humble, young mixed martial artist names John Jones defeated a legend in the sport named Mauricio Rua. That he won was not so huge a suprise, he was the odds on favorite. But HOW he did it is what matters to me.

Throughout his young career, Rua was known for using techniques in unorthodox ways. It made him hard to prepare for. Sound familiar? Havent I been preaching that sermon for years now? Yes I know that I have been. So in honor of keeping it unusual try this combination: Lead arm ridgehand, rear leg reverse crescent kick,spinning bac kick.

What does discipline look like?

Hey folks,

One of the biggest sellling point of martial arts for children is the idea that it will improve their discipline. A good martial arts program for kids should do just that. As for those who need a working definition of discipline, here it goes: "It is doing something that you hate as though you love it." Thank Mike Tyson for the quote. But in the day to day, I was thinking about what that looks like in terms of your martial arts path.

Here it is plain and simple: How good is your spinning hook kick with your left leg? Now, 10% of us will say something like, " not bad, why?" The other ninety percent of us born right handed will look away kind of embarassed. Actually, 20% of us righties will say the same thing, because we have taken the time to practice our techniques with the off side of our bodies. The rest of you dont, because you arent good at it, or you dont like to practice it.

That is what discipline is folks. Wo/man up and do what you know you should. In six months you should be able to land jump spinning back kick with your off side. Now, go do it!!

How often do you practice what you hate?

Folks,

I am back again. Oh wait......this is my blog. Anyhow, I want to know how often people make a concerted effort to practice the stuff that they do not enjoy doing. That means intentionally denying yourself your favorite techniques, and focus on your skills that are rusty, or just flat out suck. Examples? Sure, why not?

For 90% of everyone reading this, how often do you turn southpaw and do your techniques like that? I am proud to say that I do. I have better hand techniques with my strong side forward. Plus, it gives me a versatility that I can use to my advantage. People dont like fighing lefties, boxers call it the "South Paw Jinx." Marvin Hagler was a natural right hander who fought lefty. The amazing Judo Machine, Rhadi Ferguson is a lefty who grips right. Versatility is good folks!

Let me make it plain: For all you righties out there, can you throw a spinning hook kick with your left leg and land it? Can you throw a low-high roundhouse kick without your feet touching the ground? No? Why not? Where is your discipline in training? We preach it, we need to be able to do it.

Now lefties, there are almost not enough of you to talk about, but you know what I mean :)