6309 SW Capitol Highway, Portland OR, 97239
503 432 7450
info@southwestportlandmartialarts.com
Cost is $80 for eight-week section, and $90 for the 9-week section.
Register online at www.westsideakf.com/events/
SW Portland Martial Arts Blog
New Year, New Beginning CrossFit Series!
January 1st, 2016Independent Motion
December 29th, 2015Independent Motion
You don’t want your sparring partner knowing that you’re going to attack, do you? Probably not. In which case, one method you can use to disguise your attacks is to try and make them move weapon first.
Weapon first means: if you are punching, move the fist first. If you are kicking, move the foot first. Sounds simple enough. It is simple. It isn’t easy but it is simple. One of the best ways to achieve this weapon first idea is to have a partner watch you strike. Standing across from you, they simply name the piece of your body that they see move first when you attack. If they say “hand” when you punch, you got it! If they say “head” or “hip” or anything except “hand” then something else moved first and that means you are giving your sparring partner information that they can use to spot your attack early.
Another name for weapon first is independent motion. The ultimate test of any fighting principle is, of course, does it do anything when you work against an actively resisting opponent?
Why You Ever?
December 28th, 2015Oly class 12.28.15
Why power clean? Isn’t getting under the bar the correct way to clean? Shouldn’t you squat under the bar always?
I have come to see the power clean (and power snatch) as invaluable teaching tools for both myself and other students because they are less complex. Because they are simpler movements they are easier to learn and execute. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should perfect the power movements and then move on to the full movements. I’m sure people do that. That’s fine. For me, it simply means you can try to change something in the power movement and have an easier time. Once you get that to manifest in the simpler movement, you can try and transfer it to the more complex movement.
Don’t diss on the power clean. Instead, use it as a way to work on your clean.
Fakes
December 22nd, 2015Five Primary Fakes
Faking. It’s a simple enough concept. Pretend to do one thing and then do another instead. In sparring, you are best served faking with a technique that you have already landed on your partner. This is because when they see the fake (insert name of previously successful technique here) their brain will yell “defend! That hit us before so do something about it”.
With that in mind, tonight we focused on recognizing our most successful techniques in sparring and trying to use those technique as fakes in order to see what other options opened up.
December 21st, 2015
Hail to the push press
Consider the clicking noise that the barbell makes at the finish of a really solid snatch or jerk. I *think* that sound is the bumper sleeve slamming into the bar. I think it is a good thing because it means that the lifter really whipped the bar into place quickly with a fast turnover.
What if you could get that same noise from a push press? What if you could get it by punching straight up at the end of the lift, creating a tiny whip and accelerating the bar? Let’s try it and see, shall we?