Let’s take a moment to give a shout out to Dug, yet another awesome instructor here at WAKF.
Dug Martell runs the Saturday kid’s classes at WAKF, both the regular class and the sparring class. He also does teaches outreach martial arts classes at the Portland French school. He has been training at the school since our opening day in 2009 and currently holds the rank of green sash.
Dug loves it when students get brave enough to show up to sparring class and is thrilled whenever a student scores a point on him.
SW Portland Martial Arts Blog
Saturday Kids Class
November 22nd, 2015A Story
November 19th, 2015http://youtu.be/muiXHKrUyWc
Sometimes it makes sense to zero in and practice the details of something. Other times it is helpful to see the bigger picture of how one move can lead into another.
Lately in our BJJ classes, we’ve been taking the bigger picture approach – stringing a series of techniques together to make a story of sorts. This can help students see how to transition from one submission to another or from thinking defensively to offensively. It can also leave people lost and confused because of how much ground gets covered in the telling of the story.
Hope you enjoy today’s tale – it includes two chokes, a guard pass and a transition from side control to mount. What more could you want in a story, really?
Benchmarkery
November 17th, 2015http://youtu.be/9ncI7IEZ7L4
We tackled one of the CrossFit benchmarks today – Elizabeth. It is a couplet of cleans and ring dips. One of the challenges of the workout is to keep good clean form because if you get sloppy with your cleans and use your arms, your ring dips will suffer badly.
The advice I offer for this one: keep the bar close. If you start swinging that barbell away from you, your shoulders will light on fire and your dips will cease to exist. It is worth setting the bar down if you feel your form falling apart (okay, maybe not on like the last 2 or 3 reps) and taking the rest. Muscling your way through and saving a few seconds only means paying a higher price in the end.
If you did the workout today, record your results! This one will come up again and if you have an old score, you’ll have something to try and beat.
Throw the Grabber
November 4th, 2015http://youtu.be/NAKWEnhoAy8
Since we are working grab counters and throws this month, I thought it would be cute to combine the two – use a throw as a way to counter a grab.
The more you think about it, the less cute and the more obvious it becomes. Someone (unskilled) who is grabbing you is giving you the attachment you need to toss them around. Instead of breaking the grab or hitting them, use that attachment and your awesome throwing skill set to toss them around.
From The Back
November 2nd, 2015http://youtu.be/OmMlDpcsknM
Most of the pressing we do is from the front rack position. Today in the Olympic lifting class, we did some presses off the back. As with any variation on a basic, there are usually a few things you can get out of it.
First off, enjoy the novelty. It’s something different. Light a candle. Jump for joy. Sing out loud. Acknowledge that variety is a good thing in life and moving your body is no different. If you move the same way all the time, it’s boring.
Secondly, notice how easy it is to put the bar in the right position overhead. You face isn’t in the way! You just push it straight up and BANG there it goes.
There are lots more reasons to try pressing off the back. Try it. See what you think.