From Barny's Desk

Dwell not on the past which cannot be changed, but on the future which is still in your power.

When training think only the proper way to strike or perform a defense technique. If you keep thinking about what you did wrong you will most likely continue to make the same mistake again and again. If you are having a problem stop for a minuteand think how to do it right, do it at half speed a few times and then slowly start going faster. If you still are having trouble ask your instructor for help.

Announcements and Events

Upcoming Belt Tests

Yellow Belt: Saturday April 8

Green Belt: Saturday April 29 and Sunday April 30

2nd Annual Elite Training Camp!

2 days of training -
Advanced Combatives, Gun Defenses, Knife Defenses, Hostage Scenario, 3rd Party Protection, Defense against Bat/stick attacks, advanced self-defense, conditioning, enhanced scenario training

Saturday May 6 1:00-5:30
Sunday May 7 2:00-6:00

Sign up by April 15 - only $99
After April 15 - $129
1 Day Only - $75

Integrated Training - Part One

If you've been a student here at the San Francisco Training Center for more than a year or so, you've seen us continuously adding to our offering of classes. We have added fitness classes that focus on cardiovascular health, strength and core training, flexibility, and soon we will have weight lifting equipment available as well. Some of you have already been involved in other types of training and added self defense to your routine. The challenge becomes how to integrate all these things into your routine without it becoming too much.

In this first segment, I discuss how to integrate strength training and martial arts in general. In later articles, I will make specific suggestions for combining other activities to enhance the Krav Maga level training. Some will come from our diverse schedule, and others will include other types of training, whether it is using a weight room, running, swimming, and other training outside the realm of self defense.

First, the obvious benefits of strength training: Muscles, tendons, and ligaments become stronger, provide more striking power and leverage, protect us from impact, and help us run farther and faster to avoid or escape an attack. Strength training is an extremely valuable way for you to learn your own body, how it moves, where your weakneses are, and work on correcting postural issues in a methodical fashion. In a more subtle way, it improves your posture and appearance and makes you fit less of a victim profile to begin with.

There are a few problems that can arise from doing both weight training and self defense training. One is that weight training makes concentrated areas of the body very tired, and it has to be sufficiently separated from a class to allow for recovery. Particularly with the legs, if you're not recovered enough from a workout you can pull muscles or be slower and easier to hit in a sparring class. It can make you tighter if it is not done with the proper range of motion or a wide enough repetition range. For example, if all you did was heavy weight training at ranges of 6-10 reps, you would definitely get stronger but you would very likely be slowing yourself down as well. Speed is far more important than strength when it comes to survival, and striking with explosive power.

To combat the potentially negative effects of strength training on your self defense training there are a few considerations. First, get enough recovery after a weight training session. It should be at least a few hours before doing a class that you know is going to be a challenge for whatever body parts you've exhausted in the weight training session, up to 24 hours depending on your fitness level. Drink plenty of fluids during and after the workout. Eat some carbs, a litle protein and replace your electrolytes before doing another type of session. Second, make sure to incorporate stretching and flexibility training into your routine as well. Stretching during a strength training session is ok, but it helps the most if you do it around the same time as you feel the soreness setting in to the affected areas. Third, make sure your strength training sets include a wide variety of repetition ranges. Do some sets at 20 reps or more for warm up and muscular endurance as well as doing the high intensity strength training range of 6 to 10. And finally, never compromise your posture and safety of the affected muscles or your lower back, knees, or other joints in the body while weight lifting.

To be completely healthy and prepared for survival, integrating a variety of training modes is crucial. Be aware of how each mode of training can enhance or detract from the others. It is important to have balance and variety. Consider the effects of adding something new to your routine. Listen to your body and if it is telling you something through pain signals, fatigue or soreness, listen to it. When you feel like the new routine is sustainable, go for it!

Student Focus: Rueben Delapena

"I've definitely been in situations where Krav Maga comes into play, it happens daily. I've been in a few fights, I've been kicked, I've been punched and thrown, and basically what it comes down to is what are you going to do, are you going to stand there and take it or are you going to react? It has helped me out." Ruben has been a San Jose police officer for 4 years.

Does the San Jose police force recommend any outside training for their officers? "No, but they do recommend that you do things to maintain agility. My agency is very short staffed, I'm by myself a lot of the time." A lot of the officers in his jurisdiction are in this position, where it can take anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes to get help from fellow officers. "When you're in those situations, it's not only physical but the mental aspect of it, when you get hit, what are you going to do after you get hit? You have to condition your mind as well." Sometimes the verbal aspects of the situation can be useful, but "in my job you run into a lot of people that just don't want to listen to you. You get a call and they just don't want to go, you have to force them."

I've had Rueben in a good number of my srike and fight classes, and with him I've noticed a different attitude than a lot of people. Besides being a good fighter, he has a calm demeanor, and is very respectful of others. I wondered if it was from working in a stressful job? Was it family or upbringing? He replied, "I don't know, isn't everyone brought up to respect others?" I wasn't so sure about that, at least in modern American culture, but it is nice to know that there are still people that feel that way. He went on to say: "In life you have to take risks, and I like to take risks. I've failed in a lot of the things that I've done, but in failing you learn where you went wrong and the next time you go at it, you can do better. I spar a lot with good fighters in this school." He mentioned three in particular "that have knocked me down over and over again, but I keep coming back and trying to get better. That's my outlook, no matter how many times you knock me down I'm going to get back up and try to correct it." We agreed that the transition to sparring can be difficult. "I see people get frustrated sometimes. You might beat a guy one day and the next time he's going to beat you, everyone fights differently and and they're going to learn from you so whatever you do to adapt to them they are going to adapt to you. So its a cycle that just keeps going."

What were some of the other risks in life he had taken? "I've given up things in life to do what I do, lucrative jobs, but I'm just not an office person. I wanted an exciting career where I could use body as well as my mind." He was previously a business analyst, worked for Wells Fargo, and worked to thwart credit card fraud for Ebay, but "sitting in the office just wasn't for me. I always want to be on the move. The 6 months of academy was not that hard, but giving up the money was a challenge." Rueben had earned a degree in law with the intention of working for the FBI, but an internship with the US Marshall Service convinced him otherwise. "Going after the fugitives was fun, but most of the time you're sitting at a desk doing paperwork, some research, some networking. In law enforcement everything you do has to documented, if it doesn't get recorded, it didn't happen."

Rueben has been studying here for about a year, and as he works on weekends a lot, he has not been able to test up to any other levels. He is not in huge hurry to advance. "Knowledge and basically being able to take care of myself" is his main focus. I asked him if he had any advice to pass on to other students. "I see a lot of people trying to advance very quicky, and basically get their belts every month. The more they practice the more they will figure this out for themselves. It's not how much you can acquire as fast as you can, because the real test is going to come when somebody confronts you. All you have learned in that short amount of time, are you really going to use it? So practice what you can, and then use it in a realistic sense. Sparring is the only way you can get close to the experience of a fight without getting into a real fight. You don't know what's going to work until you get hit in the mouth. You have to test yourself in all senses, not just learning the forms and movements, but take what you know and test it against another person."