You Don’t Have to be a Fighter to be Fighting Fit.

You may not be involved in Combat Sports but that should not stop you from being in the best shape you possibly can be. Take a look at Boxers and MMA Fighters, they are in phenomenal shape when they step into the ring or on the mat for competition. Many of the conditioning exercises these fighters do, could easily be done by you too, either at the gym or even at home.

Competitive fighters have an advantage of the fixed goal of their competition date and therefore a specific deadline as to when they need to peak. These fighters will follow a strict plan to ensure that they are absolutely Fighting Fit by that deadline.

We all need to set goals even if it is not for competition. You cannot sustain peak fitness all year round, it would not even be called peak fitness if that was the case.

If you are a traditional or recreational Martial artist, it is still important to set yourself specific fitness goals, specific deadlines. Once you hit that goal, have a brief period of rest and then reset your goals.

Once upon a time a Black Belt in Martial arts was considered to be someone with super fitness and with super skills but unfortunately those standards seem to have slipped somewhat. As a Martial artist, set your own goals and set them high.

It is our responsibility to ensure that students reach a high standard before they are rewarded. Lets re-establish the credibility of being a Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu, knowing that students have truly reached the required level, ensure they are in great shape both physically and mentally and have mastered all the required skills.

Train Hard, Train Smart, Fightwize!

Home exercise equipment can be bought very inexpensively, you do not require big or fancy machines to workout in your own house.

here are a great number of very effective home exercise that you can do with little or no equipment.

My top 15 exercises that you can do are -

• Squat Jumps
• Medicine Ball Slams
• Chin Ups (or modified pull-ups)
• Hindu Push Ups
• Clapping Push Ups
• Double Unders (Jump Rope Training)
• Short Sprints
• Punch Bag Striking
• Sled Pull
• Rope Climbing
• Wall Balls
• Punch Bag Training
• Sledge Hammer Training
• Clapping Push Ups
• Jump Ups

As you can see these are all simple, if there are any exercises listed here that you are unsure of then no worries as we will be putting together a simple video so you have a full demonstration. I’m sure you will agree that the home exercise equipment here is very minimal yet out of the list you could perform an extremely effective session.

I will often jump on the kids climbing frame where a great workout can be achieved.

Train Hard, Train Smart, Fightwize

Flexibility in Martial arts is essential for high performance of techniques. Stretching is a must before each training session to ensure your muscles are prepared for optimal performance.

Stretching ensures that you are preparing your body for the demands of training.

Increased flexibility in Martial Arts helps your performance but also decreases the risk of injury both during training and competing.

Stretching is one of the most overlooked areas of your overall health and fitness. Flexibility in Martial arts will also help the general structure for your body as a whole. Many people limit their thought to stretching the legs for the splits and high kicking but it goes far beyond that.

There is some great advice available in many areas now.

For general health it is recommended that we exercise for 30 Minutes per day for general good health. This does not have to be dome all in one go. You could actually exercise for 10 minutes, 3 times per day and still have great results.

As Jiu Jitsu Students we generally exercise for much longer than this anyway but as a bare minimum, make a point to exercise for 30 minutes per day as a minimum. If you were a competitive athlete of any sort, you would be going well beyond this but I am referring more so to anyone who is not yet making exercise a part of their daily plan.

The type of exercise that you do for 30 minutes per day is entirely up to you, just ensure that you are elevating your heart rate and breathing.

A brisk walk is a good example of a simple exercise that you could do each day.Just do Something!

To find time to exercise for 30 Minutes per day is not much to ask of yourself especially when you consider some of the potential benefits -

• Lower Blood Pressure
• Weight Control
• Diabetes Control
• Reduce Stress
• Improved overall health

Put your laziness and list of excuses aside, start doing something each and every day and let it become a habit, a good habit at that.

Before starting any exercise program, consult a physician. I’m sure that they will give you all the necessary encouragement to help you exercise for 30 minutes per day.

I am often asked why we commit so much time to Jiu Jitsu training and when you think about it there is a sensible answer - There are just so many different elements to Jiu Jitsu Training that need to be worked on.

I’m not referring to the Instructors commitment to students - both adults and children but all the different areas of Jiu Jitsu Training.

• Technical Skills (Throws, Striking, Blocking, Ground Defense, Hold-Downs, Escapes etc)
• Conditioning (Many separate areas here too - Speed, Strength, Power, Stamina etc)
• Breakfalls
• Sparring
• Grappling
• Flexibility
• Balance
• Mindset

The techniques are usually simple to learn but takes time and focus to understand them more thoroughly, to understand the body, the way it moves, the way it reacts, how to gain advantage from leverage, momentum and the anatomy.

Continued practice certainly helps you to become more effective, helping you realise the many options available for you at a given time. You also find it more comfortable to flow from one technique to anothe, whether you are flowing from distracting strikes, to take-downs and hold-downs or moving from one technique to another because the opposition countered the first.

As you can see there are many different areas of Jiu Jitsu Training mentioned above and these are just the main categories. People come to us for a multitude of reasons and each one’s level of seriousness and commitment is totally unique and that is totally fine. Whatever an individuals purpose of Jiu Jitsu is totally relative to them and we encourage them in that direction.

This wide scope is what keeps Jiu Jitsu Training really interesting!