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

Kutting Weight Suit from Boxing Depot - Review

KUTTING WEIGHT SUIT!

I represented Southside Dojo at NAGA midwest earlier this year(2010) in my first NAGA and my first competition in over 2 year.  I cut from 165 lbs to 149.9 lbs.  I did this over the course of one week.  I've used plastics before to cut water weight.  This time I thought I would try the Kutting Weight suit after hearing about it from some people.  So I ordered one up from BoxingDepot.com The suit is a neoprene suit that resembles a scuba suit, and the beauty of it is that it won't rip like a traditional plastic suit.  It has a zipper in the front that lets you get into it easily.  You can run, roll, and workout in it without really any hinderance.  The night of the cut, I came in at 157 lbs, so I had about 7 lbs to cut.  After and hour and a half I had cut 5 lbs.  This is pretty comparable to what I might lose with a traditional sauna suit, but I guarantee that the comfort level in the Kutting weight suit was much much greater.  Boxing Depot did  a great job shipping the suit quickly.   The sizing chart works well.  I was on the border between a size medium and large with a measurement of 38" on my chest.  I went with the large which is recommended for Chest sizes 38-40.  I would say that I am of average of build with regard to my shoulders / chest / stomach being in proportion (I am 5'9" and weigh 160-165 lbs).  Large was the right size for me.  Anybody trying to shed some water weight would benefit from this suit, and I recommend it for anybody that plans to cut weight regularly.  It will hold up for many many uses.  And one of the great differences between this suit and the traditional sauna suit is that you don't have to worry about pools of water in the ends of your sleeves and pant legs that are typical with a plastic suit. 

I made weight without any problems. I lost 2 matches in the expert no gi to decision and submission, and took 2nd place in the purple belt gi division.

Words of Caution regarding cutting weight.

• 
  
  The suit is Neoprene so if you are allergic to neoprene or synthetic rubber products, you may want to use the suit with caution. 
• 
  
  Cutting weight should be done with caution.  I am not endorsing cutting weight to anybody.  And highly discourage cutting water weight in excess of 4-5% of your body weight.
• 
  
  If you will be cutting weight learn how to do it properly.  Here is an excellent article regarding weight cutting from Martin Rooney at Grapple Arts.com