New Wordpress

I'm moving my blog to Wordpress.... find me at http://ronblake3.wordpress.com

MMA - Values and Beliefs

I was talking with a friend about MMA and the all the facets of the current scene.   His take on the topic is that your need to have core values that you believe in, that directs your choices, and helps solidify you as a respected fighter, school, or promoter. Values based on attitude, honor, respect, courage, integrity, strength, mutual benefit etc. establishes a person or place as a foundation in which people can rely.  So here are my random thoughts on the topic...

MUTUAL BENEFIT
I come from a background of Judo, in which one of the guiding principles is Mutual Benefit and Welfare. These strong core values lead to a system where each person is benefiting from others but is also providing benefit to others in their own way. I believe that this give and take system is very important for any athlete and program. It provides a means for a program to grow as well as a providing a fabric and support system for all who train.

RESPECT AND HONOR
In my classes, swearing is not tolerated. It seems like a simple thing, but swearing not only shows a lack of respect to all of the fellow training partners it shows a lack of respect to the school where the person is training. This goes all the way to the cage and the event, and how the opponent is treated. I do not tolerate any athlete making a mockery or showboating over a defeated opponent. We will always enter and leave the cage showing respect to our opponent. The same goes to the promoters that we work with. the promoters are providing a venue for the sport that we compete in. We will show respect to them as the provider of venue and we ask that they show respect for our fighters.

HARD WORK BEATS TALENT
So when you think about yourself and your drive / motivation, where does it come from? How do you make your decisions? As a trainer there are several things that I look for in an athlete beyond their natural ability or physical aptitude. Everybody wants an amazing athlete training under them, but can you rely on them? do they have what it takes to strive beyond their natural abilities? "Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard." This is a phrase that was said to me many years ago when I trained in Judo and it has proven true many times. So what does this have to do with values? for an athlete, who does not have the value of hard work, regardless of their talent, they are destined to not achieve the level of success that they could. Not only that, but an athlete that does not have the minimum core value of working hard, will not improve the program because they are not going to be committed to improving and supporting the team. I ask myself, is this athlete going to be willing to give back to the program in some way? Or are they going to simply use the program to get what they want and disappear? Where are your values, are you willing to help bring that next athlete up to the next level?

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IN A PROMOTION
With a seemingly endless number of promoters popping up all over the place, what do you look for in a promotion as a fighter or manager/trainer? Bottom line is that promoters are trying to make some money(and who could blame them reall?). But that does not mean that the promoter's sole purpose in life is the corralling of fighters into a cage to make a buck. Many of them do it because they have a unique opportunity to provide a venue and a love of the game (in this case MMA). As a trainer or fighter ask yourself, what are the promoter's values? Ask them? I have actually heard a promoter tell somebody "if you think that my main purpose is not to make money, then you are crazy." And then the same promoter corralled all 60 fighters into a dressing room, telling the trainers that they had to stay out and started making matches (this was on the evening of the fights). This was one of my first events. The promoter still runs shows. So how does the promoter treat you and your school? Do they stay in touch with you or only contact you when they need fighters? Do they support your school in some way? Is their match making fair and timely? We work with a promoter who sends us a paragraph describing each of the prospective opponents for our fighters, and they start this a month in advance. Does it feel to you like you are being controlled by them, or does it feel like you are working as a team with them? Remember, you are putting your fighters or yourself at risk to the benefit of their show, so what are they providing in return? It is important to know, to what benefit are you risking your health. Are you traveling 1 or more hours to the event? Does the promoter at least pay gas money for your team to show? and does the promoter require that you have blood tests for HIV, HEP B, and HEP C? If not, stop right there, because if they don't require it from you, then they wont be requiring it from your opponent. Integrity....Recently we attended a show, we had 2 fighters on the card. I asked the promoter for 2 tickets for family members, the short story is that the promoter never fulfilled the request. Not only that, but the name of our school, Southside Dojo was announced as Southside Gym several times throughout the show when our fighters were announced. While this may seem like a small oversight, I can guarantee that it was not. Honor and Respect. There is much more of a story to that event but later....

FIGHTER PROMOTER RELATIONS
I recently have heard of a few promoters tossing around the idea of making the fighters pay a fee to fight in their promotion. They are talking about doing this in an effort to guarantee that the fighters do not pull out of the card. In my opinion this will do nothing but backfire. I have seen greater success and more loyal followers and better competitions to the promoters that provide a clear and early set of matches, establish relationships with many schools, and provide travel, per diem, and gym donations for fighters that perform at their shows. To me this is a win win situation without being illegal for amateur fighters and shows that above all the promoter values the fighters. Making the fighters pay to put their butts on the line is mildly ridiculous in my opinion.

We have fought for many promotions. Most are good. Some really go above and beyond:

Gladiator Elite: Brian Poe provides an outstanding venue, he matches fighters at least a month in advance, provides backgrounds on all the fighters on his card, is continually trying to improve his event, has high quality officials, puts on a top notch show with known good fighters from reputable schools, provide high quality DVDs to the fighters, and provide fighters and schools with support to travel to and from the event. Quality, Integrity, Respect.

DonoFrio Promotions: Mr. Joseph Donofrio has been in the boxing arena for more years than we can count. He hold MMA events at Meadow Brook Festival site as well as The Palace of Auburn Hills which are both top notch arenas. Donofrio MMA provides an excellent venue which includes flames and a board walk that really highlights the fighter, top notch competition with almost all fighters being veteraned, supports the fighters as they travel, and provides a venue for pro fighters in Michigan. Mr. Donofrio personally makes sure that the fighters and schools are taken care of and dedicates efforts to improve his events through communication with schools - watch the video. Honor and Respect.

Ground and Pound Promotions: Paul Simpson has been spearheading the efforts with GPP for the last few years. Ground and Pound provides several venues for the fighters who are up and coming to establish their MMA careers. GPP has established The Ellison Foundation whose goal is to provide financial assistance to fighters who cannot afford to train or buy gear to train, GPP has done some of the small things like personalize belts for fighters who have shown support to GPP and won belts as well. Support and Honor.

Interested in training with us?  Find out more here

Chicken Man on Google

This is wacky...

Chicken Man on google.
Go to http://www.google.com and enter 2204355 in the search box and click I'm feeling lucky.

enjoy the chicken man.

2010 Warrior Dash Midwest Results are in!

Well the results are in for the Warrior Dash 2010 Midwest.

The summary for the Southside Warriors!

Runner	Time	Pace	Lions Killed	Division	Place By Division	Place By Gender	Place Overall
Jamie Blake	34:55.75	11:16	0	F 40-44	75 / 325	902 / 3055	3776 / 7691
Tanya Lohr	27:48.45	8:58	0	F 25-29	38 / 915	134 / 3055	1192 / 7691
Dave Rich	33:25.30	10:47	0	M 35-39	325 / 665	2521 / 4636	3219 / 7691
Brian Skjold	24:42.60	7:58	0	M 30-34	78 / 987	404 / 4636	428 / 7691
Ron Blake	23:49.65	7:41	0	M 35-39	22 / 665	265 / 4636	280 / 7691
Chris Flach			27

2010 Warrior Dash Midwest - Joliet, IL

I ran in a 5K obstacle race this weekend (June 19, 2010) called the Warrior Dash.  This is a race that travels across the United States to 9 different locations, and it's touted as "The Craziest Frickin' Day of Your Life".  I along with 4 other warriors(Jamie Blake, Dave Rich, Brian Skjold, Tanya Lohr) and warrior photographer (Chris "The Lion Killer" Flach from Southside Dojo ran in the event.  We woke up early to dawn our warrior garb, including 300's Leonidas, The Last Air Bender, as well as Kimbo All Day Slice hook up, and Green shorts Rich. We threw on our Men's Nike Free and  our Vibram Five Fingers and we were ready to go.  Hands down one of the funnest things I have ever competed in.  This was the second event that I have run in, the first being the Witchy Winter Wolf 25K.  I like the off the wall, sort of odd events since I don't plan to be a competitive runner.  Running is a great way for me to keep in shape for grappling tournaments that I compete in, plus it gives me a physical outlet.

In the Warrior Dash, waves of up to 500 runners make their way through approx five kilometers (3.17 miles) run that has 12 obstacles throughout the course.  The night before our run it rained like crazy so the whole course and registration area was muddy. It didn't matter, we were going to get muddy anyway.  The race / registration / bag check was very smooth, the volunteers and workers were very friendly and helpful as well.  We were in the 3rd wave which started at 10am, so we arrived before things got too destroyed by the 1000s of people walking the grounds.  Warrior Dash sets up a shuttle service for this event to ease parking.  We parked our truck at the Chicagoland Speedway and rode a bus to the CPX Sports Complex.  Picked up our race packets that had our race bibs and transponder chips, and checked our gear.

There was a lot of excitement in the air, it was a beautiful day, and we were ready to run.  We started somewhere toward the first 1/3 of the pack.  Everybody took off, and I followed Tanya Gunz and Brian Fear the Beard Skjold through the thick bushes as we passed about 20 people to get toward the front of the line.  There was about a 1/2 mile run through fields until we came to the first set of obstacles which basically consisted of navigating through muddy forest and trying to not break our butts.  The obstacles, which included large wire spools, abandoned cars, ruins, and a muddy ass bog were the first we encountered.  The cars were some of my favorite obstacles, as you had to hop on the hood to navigate through them. There were muddy hills and trees that seemed to appear right when you needed to change direction.  It was awesome!  I rounded the corner coming off the ruins and doubled back toward the half way water station, saw Dave and Jamie and gave them the warrior yell "Southside DOJO!!!"  Acknowledged....

As we rounded the last mile, we encountered the hay bail pyramid, the rope ladder, and the hills of torture.  The course cut back and forth and there were probably about 12 hills to run up and down.  I would guess they were 6 feet high.  Quads and lungs were burning as I turned the corner to see the fire.  And it was higher than expected, and hot, made it over both sets of flames to dive into the mud and crawl under the barbed wire and the final dash to the finish!

There was water and beer waiting.  We had a fantastic time.  Spent about 2 hours hanging out, and having some great beer from Pyramid Brewery.  The final adventure was getting cleaned off.  They bring in several water trucks and hose the runners down with fire hoses.  Cold but fun, and the great thing is that the shower area is right by the start line so we took some time to heckle the runners just starting the race.  A short bus ride home, some tom foolery at the hotel in the pool, and a little grub and we were out of there.... till next year.

It was a tired ride home.  Next year we stay the night of the race and drive home the next day, that way we can enjoy more beer and checkout the fireworks in the evening!

Will post my time when it is available...

Warrior Dash - A+

Intensity

It was a tough night at MMA last night.... lots of hard cardio and everybody was a bull in the ring for 9 minutes. So last night one of the guys (you know who you are) said to me during training. "Dang Ron, you must be mad at us or something...I'm sure part joking... Fair assessment though.... However the reason I do it is because I care about your performance. My goal is to push you as far as you can go, then add a little more.  So this is what I have to say to you.

When you are owning your opponent because you have pushed them beyond their limit and they are ready to quit you will know why. When you have trained your heart out until you are ready to puke....And even when you are ready to puke you can mentally beat your body into doing more....then you'll understand and appreciate the effort that you have put in. So when you think, I'm stopping at 10, do more and when you say I'm too tired to keep going, do another, and another, and when you feel like quitting because it is to painful dig down deep and ask yourself if your opponent would quit from the pain? Then beat your inner sissy and keep going. Training with intensity is an investment that pays you back in wins. end. end. end.

A call to MMA Promoters and MMA Fighters

As a MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) trainer I have witnessed / experienced several things over the past several years. With the popularity of MMA today, there are a lot people who want to capitalize on the money (promoters) and fame (fighters) that can come from MMA. So here is a list of things that I've seen and experienced that I feel need to be addressed / or at least said, and by the way, the list is in no particular order.

FOR THE PROMOTERS
==========================

1. Promote for the right reasons.  If you are only in it for the money, then get out of the business.  I've witnessed promoters that will try to match fighters that have 30lb differentials, just to fill their card (which might have 30 fights!).   I'm not saying that I think it is wrong for a promoter to make money.   I do believe that promoters need to responsibly create matchups, for the fighters safety if nothing else, and if money is all that is important then good matchups go out the window.  Promote to make the sport better, and support the athletes that fight for you.
2. Get rid of your ego and make relationships with credible schools.  A school that you establish a relationship with will bring fighters your way.  They will probably be better trained and more exciting to watch than those one and out fighters that have not invested into their fighting.  Trainers and managers will come out of the schools and work to make the events that you hold a success.  Don't like a person that runs a facility?  Take your ego out of the picture and think about how you are hurting your event by not bringing in good fighters...Then go and make that relationship.  I have seen good promoters (or at least promoters that have had some good events), fall to the point of scrambling just to get the card filled, when there are several schools locally who could bring fighters.  But their egos are too big.  Their card suffers, and their next event may suffer (attendance wise) too.
3. Don't F up the relationships that you've built.  Promoters, remember the most important component of your event are the fighters themself.  If you screw up with their schools, then you are going to lose fighters.  Good fighters.  And, there are so many promotions available nowadays that a team can easily go to another event.  Which leads me to
4. Take care of the people who fight for you.  I don't believe that it is too much for a manager, trainer, or fighter to ask for an event entry for a spouse, extra corner, etc.  I have been to events where we don't even have people fighting, but the promoter has gotten as many of our people into the venue as we wanted.  And I have been to promotions where we have had several people fighting, but the promoter would not even give us one extra pass.  I am much less likely to go to those promotions that are stingy these days.  Seriously? You can't afford to give me a wristband so my wife who sacrifices countless hours so that I can train these guys can get in?  I'm suddenly feeling like all my fighters are coming down with an ankle sprain.
5. At a minimum pay for gas.  Every state has different laws regarding Amatuer fighters, and I realize that the promoter can not pay the fighters if they are amatuer.  Giving the school or people traveling, gas money or a per diem to make the trip to fight for you, or paying for a hotel stay is not, in my opinion unreasonable.  Paying the school for some training fees for the fighters is another thing that not only helps the schools that are supporting you and the fighters that are fighting for you, but also ensures that you will have a loyal school that you can draw fighters from in the future.  Gladiator Elite puts the fighters up in a nice hotel right outside the venue!
6. Focus on schools, academies, clubs, gyms.  I don't know how many times I have seen fighters whose opponent did not show, and how many times in that same case the opponent was an independent fighter.  Focus on the facilities that have trainers that are focused on producing athletes for your event.  Everything else is a crap shoot.  I'm not saying that there aren't a number of respectable independent fighters, but chances are high that you'll run into trouble with them.
7. Stop calling it cage fighting.  I know it sells tickets, but can you not establish a reputation in the area and sell it with something other than using the word cage fighting.  I do not train cage fighters, I do not train bar fighters, or back yard brawlers.  To me those are all terms that depict an unskilled thug fighter.  I train MMA athletes, who happen to fight in a cage. 
8. Require, enforce, and demand bloodwork.  Every fighter(who fights for me) that I have gets bloodwork testing for Hep B,C and HIV done every six months.  However 9 out of 10 times the promoter does not ask for the results.  This is unacceptable, because if they are not asking us, they are also not asking our competitors.  I shouldn't have to demand to see the opponents bloodwork.
9. Two corners in the cage between rounds.  Between rounds in the UFC you will see at a minimum 2 corners, a cut man, and doctor (when necessary).  I have gone into the cage where only one corner was allowed and had to deal with stopping blood, giving strategy advice, and delivering water, and trying to apply ice to the fighter.  Oh and yes I also had to open the cage door by myself and carry in the stool (if one was even provided) for the fighter to sit on.  I don't expect to have all the same things as UFC, but at a minimum 2 corners should be allowed in the cage.  period.  Ground and Pound promotions does an excellent job, allowing 2 corners into the cage between rounds.
10. Doctors. Make sure your medical staff know what to check for, especially in a knock out situation.  I have seen / heard of doctors checking pupils immediately after a KO.  The pupils were fine, but the fighter didn't know what day it was.  Have to protect the fighters.  Make sure the medical staff knows how to check for the common things like knockouts.  Donofrio MMA even sends in a cut man between rounds for amatuer mma!
11. Dear promoter, stop drinking at your event.  I have seen promoters drunk out of their minds.  Save it for after the event is over.  You can not make sound judgements when you are drinking.  end.

FOR THE FIGHTERS

==========================

1. Stop training out of your basement.  Find a local gym, dojo, school, academy, etc that has MMA instruction.  Sure, you can be a tough fighter and be successful training at your home, but think about how much quicker you will become successful if you have appropriate instruction.  Not only the training, but the support that you will get from the trainers at a school is well worth the money that you will pay. Do you truly know how to throw a kick or combination?  Do you know how to apply a D'arce choke, an armbar transition?  Coaches want to train you, find your school.
2. Be loyal.  Hopping from one school to the next does not make you a better fighter.  It only increases the number of people who recognize you as a school hopper and who will not put their 100% into you.
3. Stop calling yourself a cage fighter.  Call yourself an MMA fighter.  Break the thug image.
4. Be an MMA Athlete.  Train like an athlete, which means stop smoking, start running, start eating right, be consistent with your training, and learn how to train mentally as well as physically.
5. Respect your training center and the venues where you fight.  I can not count the number of times that I have picked up tape off the floor, cleaned up blood that was neglected, or thrown away bottles and food.  If you go into a place and want to call it your home where you train, take care of it.  clean up after yourself.  I guarantee that if I have to clean up after you, that you will be paying for it later when I decide to give you the hardest workout you've ever had...because you can't respect the training center.
6. Watch your mouth.  There is no place for F bomb or the like in a training environment.  You are not a savage, so don't act like one.  The occasional profanity when you get hurt or just lost a big match is one thing, but I've heard many far from appropriate profanities flying.  If you do that in my dojo, you'll owe money to the donation jug.
7. Cross train.  Enhance your skillset by doing something where you learn striking and you also learn grappling.  MMA is not a one and only style of fighting.  It incorporates all aspects of fighting from throwing strikes, to take downs, to submissions.  Learn them all and be a well rounded fighter.  Our toughest fighters train several arts.
8. Make weight.  If you don't know how to diet and cut weight or it is your first time doing it, consult with your coaches about how to do it.  It is one thing to really bust your ass to make weight and miss it, it is totally another thing to screw off / not diet / not take it seriously and then not make weight.  It is disrespectful to your opponent, the promoter, your gym, and most importantly yourself if you cheat yourself out of making weight.  I unfortunately witnessed a case where the person training missed weight because he 1. Went out for a huge meal 1 night before he started cutting, 2. Snuck in drinks of orange juice and water (when he was cutting) 3. Wasted the money that his coach paid for his entry, and never made weight or fought in the event.  It was despicable and I lost all respect for him as an athlete that day.
9. Stop being so damn selfish.  It is your responsibility to your team mates to show up to train after your fights.  I'm not talking about taking a few days off after a fight or taking time off if you are injured, or even arranging with your coach to take an extended absence because of family or work commitments following your fight.  There are too many times that I see athletes fight and then disappear, sometimes for months.  They don't call / text / email / fly a plane with a banner for their coaches to let them know that they won't be at practice.  My point is, that you owe it to your training partners to help them get ready for events.   Even athletes that are injured can help out in the training center.  You owe it to your team mates and your coaches.  Take too much from them and eventually they will stop giving.
10. Protect your hands.  Find somebody who can properly wrap your hands!  Make tight fists when you punch, and train effectively on striking (ie learn from a coach).  I see all kinds of hand fractures due to insufficient hand wraps.  So you hit hard?  All the more reason to have proper protection.  How long do you want to be out with a broken knuckle before your next fight?  Get those hands protected, and that means finding a reputable trainer who can do it.
11. Come prepared, on time, and train your asses off.  Get to practice on time, ready to go, when the class starts, period.  Unless you have an agreement with your coach prior, you need to be on time and ready to go! It always irritates me when I see athletes talking during their workout.  I'm not talking about helping their partner through a move or giving feedback like "you almost got it".  I'm talking about doing half ass pushups while you yap about your weekend.  If you can talk during your workout 1. you don't have your mouthguard in which equates to not being ready to go or 2. you are not working hard enough.  Your training will pay dividends(wins) or ask for interest(losses) in the end.

Train with intensity  -  Fight with spirit  -  Win with humility