Many
people have heard of Wing Chun Kung Fu courtesy of the IP MAN movies, as well
as its most famous practitioner: Bruce Lee. Have you ever had the desire to
learn it, but you don’t have a school near you? Or maybe there is one, but you
can’t afford it?
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Grogan’s Wing Chun Kung Fu lessons, exclusively for sale on Fiverr.com!
Steve has studied Wing Chun since 1995, learning from
both the Ip Ching and Leung Sheung lineages. Across 4 lessons, he teaches
different Wing Chun forms and includes lots of juicy extras. Each lesson is
laid out in a Basic, Standard, and Premium package.
SIL
LUM TAO: The first form, which introduces the most
common hand techniques. Premium package includes these FREE gifts:
•Centerline theory
•How wing chun is different
from other styles
•CIRCUIT TRAINING: an ebook
on one of Steve’s favorite exercise routines
MOOK
JONG: Also known as the Wooden Dummy, this lesson
is self-explanatory. Premium package includes these FREE gifts:
•How to improve footwork
•Immoveable elbow theory
•THE BULLY FREE FITNESS
GUIDE TO A BULLY-FREE LIFE: the main tome of Steve’s business (currently in the
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explains how to live bully-free
Check out each individual page for some amazing extra
offers, like express delivery, one-on-one Skype time with Steve, and several
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We all love our combat sports, whether your love is for MMA, wrestling, kickboxing or judo, what sucks is when the ugly injury monster rears its head and takes you out of training, sometimes for months. Hey, it happens to all of us; even the pros go through any injury layoff at some point in their careers, however, there are precautionary steps we can take in our training environment to minimize injury risk and prolong our combat sport careers. This article will take a look at what you can begin to do today to prevent unnecessary injury.
Footnote: Warm Up
The golden rule - warm up effectively. This is a sometimes overlooked part of training that is crucial to you staying fight fit. Taking the time to go through an advanced warm up routine is critical. your warm ups should include every major muscle group and should incorporate stretching and light bodyweight movements to get your cardio system going and your blood pumping. Start the routine beginning with your upper body and move down to your legs. By the end of your warm ups you should be feeling a light sweat and your body temperature should feel slightly elevated.
At the end of the day, think of it like owning a high performance car, you can't just take it to the track and rip it throttle wide open from the get go, you need to warm the engine block up and get the motor moving to get the best performance out of the machine, or else you’ll end up blowing the engine on lap 2. The same can be said for warming up before your training session, skip the warm ups and you're likely to blow out some muscle group early into your training session, or at least end up hindering your own performance. Check out this video from for an effective warm up routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRscr8li4NA
Rotator Cuff Tear
Without a doubt, the injury that most commonly plagues pro fighters and combat sports practitioners across the globe is; the rotator cuff tear. This little beauty controls your shoulders movement and range of motion. A tear occurs when the muscle is overextended and forced into a position that pulls on the muscle creating stress that results in the tear. Most athletes say that this injury is very difficult to recover from and in most cases can be a career ender.
Offfset this risk by doing mobility drills and deep stretching for the shoulders, neck and upper back before you even think about stepping on the mat. The miracle stretch for the rotator cuff is the old school ‘batting warm up’ that you see most major league ball players go through before they step up to the plate, check it out here in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GsyUvSydfs
Back Injuries
Whether this occurs in the lower back, or the upper, its practically incapacitating, with extreme injuries even somewhat crippling combat sports practitioners, either way you look at it; spending 6 months in traction or in a wheelchair will ruin years of training and fitness. Since the back is such a large muscle group and difficult to stretch out, the best way to prevent back injuries is to use a ‘foam roller’ This godsend piece of equipment may seem like it belongs in a yoga class, not a martial arts gym, but its incredibly powerful in its application. For a look at what you can do with the foam roller for your back, check this video out; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7sBMicSn14
Groin tear
Man, this has to be absolutely excruciating area to cop an injury, when it happens it can be blinding with pain and can leave you on crutches, or worse, in a wheelchair, for up to 3 months!
To prevent this monster from eating you, strengthen the group of muscles know as adductors, this will firm up your hip powerbase and keep you from pulling anything. Check out this great article from Eric Cressy on T-Nation
Knee Injuries
This is my own personal nightmare and kept me out of training for over 6 months after a tear in my meniscus resulted in me having to undergo arthroscopic surgery to clean up the cartilage and repair the damage. This is horrendous when it happens and there's not much you can do to avoid it from happening, even with a good warm up.
However, most knee injuries occur from the training environment, so making sure that your training area is sufficiently padded to absorb shock from a knee drop can really help. Check out McBryde Mats who offer the best Floor and Wall padding in the industry.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, while some injuries can be avoided, many others are just simply a lack of preparation on the athlete's side. Sure, warming up many not look like much, or be as much fun as just stepping on the mats and getting started, but in this case the old adage stands true; an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Kickboxing has its origins in older
fighting styles. One of the most closely related martial arts to kickboxing is
Thai boxing. This practical fighting style has existed for centuries. It was
practiced by the soldiers and farmers in Thailand and neighboring countries in
times of peace.
There are several legends about the origin
of Muay Thai boxing, but over the years it has developed
into one of the most effective martial arts in the world.
In the late sixties and early seventies,
Europeans and Americans began to delve more and more into this sport. During
this period, it was also introduced to us Westerners!
While the history of the transformation is
complex, we basically turned Muay Thai into kickboxing by omitting certain
techniques and the ritual dances around it (the Ram Muai and Wai Khru).
The difference between kickboxing and many
other martial arts from the East, for example, is the lack of katas (performing
techniques with an imaginary opponent). What is also missing, the arm bands
(known as Prajioud), which were traditionally taken from a fighter’s mother’s
dress. (Some countries still use this, for example, Germany).
Kickboxing focuses on the training and
making a good fight happen, rather than on Thai traditions and customs. Says
one leader of kickboxing classes in Bethpage, “The aim of a kickboxing gym is
to help clients achieve a reasonable level of fitness, physical strength,
agility, and technical skills.”
Because of the combination punches and
kicks it is a very complete sport where you employ both the upper and lower
body training.
As a competitive sport, the approved
kickboxing methods (depending on the association and the class you fight) are:
Most punches are allowed by the boxers to
the head and body, including backfist where the fighter pivots on their
vertical axis and keeps a straight arm as their fist hits the head of their
opponent
All areas which are allowed for martial
arts like taekwondo and karate are typically allowed for kickboxing; so to the
head, body and legs. Elbows and knees (only in the upper classes) to the
head, body, and legs, plus
leg sweeps and all hip throws are usually permitted.
The forbidden techniques are direct shots
to the groin, eyes, throat, back, and joints.
In order to understand better the sport (if
the interest is there of course), you can at one of the many kickboxing gyms
found in the New York area, such
as this one in Bethpage, to take a trial lesson.
Contrary to what most people think, these
gyms are very safe, and will not push people to do direct combat. The primary
focus is fitness for most customers.In
most kickboxing programs, they have a beginners group where no sparring exists,
which is great for people who do not want to run the risk of showing up to work
with a black eye the next day.
Kickboxing is a sport that requires a lot
of discipline and perseverance, but pays big rewards in terms of personal
health, weight loss, and self-confidence.
