SW Portland Martial Arts Blog

Hip What?

July 29th, 2015

Ah. The coach is blathering on again about opening the hips all the way. What are they talking about? Do hips even open? Does that mean they close too? I’m so confused I’m just going to keep reverse curling this barbell until they stop talking.
If those have ever been your thoughts, watch the video and see if you can tell who is opening their hips, who isn’t, who sort of is and who improves dramatically.
Check it. Demand someone film you when you lift. Practice your high hang cleans and snatches. Those two things will almost certainly improve your technique.

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Kids Grappling Class

July 28th, 2015

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If you haven’t heard yet, we’ve got a kids BJJ class now! Every Tuesday from 4-5pm. All ranks are welcome, ages 6 and up.
Students will be taught safety, submissions, positions and how to play BJJ live with other students. Come one, come all. Let’s get our grappling skills shiny for the upcoming October kids tournament.

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Knives out

July 27th, 2015
Knife throwing class

Our first experiment in knife throwing is over. Hopefully those of you who got a chance to throw with us both enjoyed it and got something out of it.
I, for my part, enjoyed watching everyone throw and especially how differently folks could throw the knife but still make it stick. I am looking forward to another session sometime in the future (after I’ve had a great deal more practice).

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Out and About

July 22nd, 2015

From time to time, someone stops by the school to tell me that they appreciate seeing us moving around the neighborhood. Sometimes they talk about enjoying watching us do forms. Sometimes they talk about enjoying watching the CrossFitters carry odd objects around the block.
Whatever it is they talk to me about, it is such a great feeling knowing that we are part of this neighborhood and that people (at least some of them) appreciate what we are about.

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Pause

July 20th, 2015

What is all this pausing about? Why stop in the middle of a lift and just hang out for three seconds?
The hope is that the pause gives you the chance to analyze the position you are in and if it sucks, to fix it. Are your shoulder blades down? Are you on the correct part of your foot?
Another benefit is that you are making your body memorize those good positions (assuming you can hit them and/or fix them) so that when you go to do the lift at full speed, the correct position will just happen.
So take a moment. Pause and take stock of your position.

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