Mind Warp...Dallas style

I invested 2 1/2 days this past weekend to borrow some neurology from my good friend Frankie Faires in Dallas, TX. If you are screwed up physically, emotionally, and/or mentally (fF especially likes mental patients)...all of these result in movement deficiencies, compensations and different imbalances. Do yourself a favor and get a movement session with Frankie. He is a wizard when it comes to application of movement.

Z is movement. Movement encompasses Z ...and much, much more. I learned so many subtle factors to improve my own movement patterns along with specifics for my clients. One of the most profound daily activity (that I caught myself doing today out of habit) is eating...not eating as you are thinking...eating moving my mouth to my fork (anterior head carriage and thoracic flexion)...instead of my fork to my mouth. Sitting at the computer--same thing. Re-learning to walk, take the stairs, how I stand (posture) when watching clients--all things that are ingrained habits that I do 6 days per week. That might sound corny. However, that is what I spend most of my time doing so it is now unconcious to me. Therefore, I must bring it back to concious mind and improve movement sets within those activities...and that will yield MAJOR changes in my neurology with translation to athletic activities.


Friday
Muscle testing. I was not comfortable with this before. It works. For everything. Supplements, food, people I hang around, movement patterns (weight training, martial arts, mobility drills), everything. This is a component of everything.

Then on to cranial/soft tissue work. I have a crooked jaw to the right that has gotten much more in line with a lot of mobility drills. However, my cervical movements need some TLC in very subtle forms to make it even better. Better yet is focusing on creating equal facial expressions on both sides of my face. Easier said than done with sensory motor amnesia. Space was held around my left cheek for a very short period of time and combine that with eye rotations up and to the right in small circles (lack of access to creative construct not being able to move eyes up and to the right) that sent me into a major headache. I don't get headaches...probably have had two in my life. This put me down for the next 2.5 hours in a nap. Woke and felt a lot better...much 'cleaner' movement. There is much more than moving joints. The eyes / face / cranium / hands / feet have WAY more information feedback and hidden keys to many of mine and other peoples' movement lapses.

Friday was much more mental (literally and figuratively) than I thought, yet it paved the way for major insight into my CNS for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday was physical. We started out working on my Left leg Pistols. I have problems sitting in the bottom on my L leg. This is a structural immobility in feet, ankles, and knees. I can do them with weight as a counter balance, but I am basically forcing myself into the whole vs. letting my joints be OK with that position. More wholes in my movement practice that I can perfect. Then we explored some movement combinations with rotation. Very cool. Things I have been doing but I can make them better based on the timing of the step / rotate / and execution of the lift. Rotational movements affect the fascia in numerous ways...that are needed greatly from all the years of single plane movements. We also discussed weighted mobility drills... through the use of dumbbells, clubbells, ankle weights and weighted vest. Many new 'fun' ways to implement novelty in my own training. This led into a topic on novelty. Something new. I get bored easily now. If I (we) get curious about something, that is our neurology telling us to explore it. Things are moving faster today more than ever, and I do tend to have attention problems but this weekend made me much more aware of doing new things or using the 'same but different' approach.

Combatives...training from the flinch (yes I said flinch) because that is when EVERYTHING starts...the spinal reflex. We cannot train this out of us and we shouldn't after what I saw this weekend. Very cool immediate application of skills. Hand and eye led instead of foot lead like most MA schools teach. "Sooner is faster" to quote Dr. Cobb and hand/eye led movements are sooner and therefore faster. This is the most profound factor to date in terms of survival and my short combatives experience.

Speed...Level 3 drills and application of pegboard properly. This was also a huge wake up and another reason I will start using mirrors (yes I will breakdown and have a mirror or two in my new space). Gotta have 'em for instant feedback and movement correction. I didn't realize how much I was missing out on.


Saturday night was UFC 76 and some decent fights. We weren't just watching fights...we were watching movement. If you want to see some messed up movement patterns, watch fighters.

Here are some things I picked up watching the fights...
Thiago Tavares Vs. Tyson Griffin
Awesome grappling match and truly fun to watch a fight rolls like this. Both guys were tremendous at their games.

Mauricio Rua Vs. Forrest Griffin
Rua was being hailed as one of the best in the world at 205. He forgot to show up Saturday night. Watching their movement patterns, I leaned towards Rua. More fluid, loose. Forrest, not so much. Way too much accessory movement, a lot of wasted energy on bad habits. Forrest did win with bjj...this time and unlikely.

Chuck Liddell Vs. Keith Jardine
Chuck looked much better entering the ring this time than he did with Rampage. Jardine looks like a train wreck walking around, yet one!?! Chuck's leg must look like ground beef with A1 on it after all those leg kicks. Still both of them are inefficient.

Overall, after 2 full days of movement with Frankie, it was fun to watch some well-known fighters' movement patterns and pick apart how much potential each of them really do have if they are put in the right hands.

Sunday was review of some key concepts that I won't go into here. Way more information that I learned that I will continue to post as I extrapolate.

5.7 just a number?

On a scale of 1-10 5.7 is just over average. no.

5.7 mph. not quite.

5.7+ is the route that humbled my bag o' bones on a climbing wall today.

5.13+ is the highest in the gym.

The difference between the two? Kindergarten vs. a pro athlete. Climbing is going to be fun. I have been curious about it for a few years now and look forward to discovering new found strength and character in something so organic. Vertical Endeavors is a kick ass indoor climbing facility that boasts 18,000 sq ft of climbing wall and is one of the 3 largest indoor facilities in the USA. This is one of my new found homes and will deter me from being lazy watching TV.

Probably the greatest asset for me is that this is something that will challenge me beyond the physical and force me to map new problem solving capabilities in my brain due to different routes. I am looking forward to this new venture with a little-kid excitement approach.

Welcome to a whole new brand of beatdown! :)

5 Wheels and change...

More TSC thoughts after the fact...and other ramblings.

Pictoral Review of Saturday's TSC thanks to Derrick Torgerson (DDT).



5 wheels. That's what the iron heads call 495lbs.
This event revived my juices to revisit the DL often.

Next Goal is 515 then 545. 6 wheels in reach with some serious training. Meet on November 10th locally that I will work towards the next 7 weeks here.

Competition is a fantastic thing and I have missed it for over 8 years. It allows me to beat previous bests and check my mental state going against others even though I am really competing with myself. Looking forward to the next one in April 08.

**Thanks to one of my faithful class students Derrick Torgerson for this killer pictoral video of all the action!!

Tactical Strength Challenge...PRs and Good Times

495 DL 20lb PR!

Kinetic Edge Performance was invaded yesterday by 10 competitors for the Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) as well as some spectators. I will be posting video and pics as they become available.


Snatch with Long Spine ...still have some work to do with LS but these felt as good as they can feel when all out for 5 minutes.

Here are the results:

Results are in order of placing...Men's Open Mike N. and Aaron F. tied for 3rd.

Name / BW / DL / PU / SN

Women’s Open
Fawn Friday / 121.4 / 255 / 11 / 115
Jordan Hansen / 126.6 / 225 / 9 / 125
Arlene Kim / 120.6 / 235 / 9 / 28

Men's Open
Brad Nelson / 197.0 / 495 / 16 / 119
Laurion Burchall / 212.2 / 495 / 19 / 104
Mike Nelson / 203.4 / 400 / 7 / 108
Aaron Friday / 155.8 / 365 / 16 / 92
Brad Ellingson / 181.6 / 365 / 11 / 79
Nick Jasken / 180.4 / 290 / 11 / 86

Men's Masters
Bruce Wuollet / 166.8 / 335 / 9 / 70

Some interesting notes:
Nick Jasken did not train at all for this. Thanks for having heart!

Arlene Kim snatched the 16kg for the first time this past Wed. Way to gut it out!

Jordan Hansen deadlifted for the first time last Saturday...fantastic for the first time out!

Thoughts and ramblings on what I witnessed...

1 I was VERY pleased with the numbers for the first time hosting this event as well as participating.

2 Everyone who competed 'nutted up' when it came to competition...brings out the best. This environment is the #1 reason I do what I do and just by holding this competition gave me a plethora of ideas to exploit some clients into some sinister yet enjoyable competitive pain by means other than the 3 events yesterday. Stay tuned for more competitions like this one.

3 Women. Competitive women. I love them (especially my girlfriend). All 3 DLed over 225. All 3 did 9+ strict dead-hang pull-ups. All are between 120-126lbs. THAT is impressive. That is not something you will see at ANY fufu gym across this nation.

4 Comraderie. There is nothing better than encouragement from fellow competitors. When it's all said and done everyone is really only competing with themselves. (Although it helps to have someone close to your numbers to push you...Thanks Laurion for pushing me!)

5 Personal Records. I love breaking them. And I love that as we age we are becoming better athletes. That was evident by the different ages of today's competitors. I would venture to bet that Bruce Wuollet is in better shape now than he was at 20-25. And for that matter I would bet that he is in better shape at age 51 than 85% of most 20-25 year olds. Props to Bruce!

As for my own training...
This is the first time I have competed in a TSC. I have never been involved in any type of competition past college and it felt good to revive the competitive juices. I decided to host and compete 6 short weeks ago.

Training DL: Since I was on a DL hiatus since the end of January I thought I would get my butt in gear. I DLed Mon/Fri for 3 weeks singles only with 20lb increments per set. 4th week was back off week and did 3 sets of light DLs. 5th week did 3 heavy singles two different training sessions. 6th week. Pulled 455 for 2 singles on Monday and then nothing until yesterday.

Training Snatch: Off and on for 6 weeks trained VO2 intervals with the 24kg. I did do one day of 5 rounds per arm with the 32kg...all 7 reps per 15 seconds/15 seconds rest. I found this to be a fantastic way to increase numbers and endurance very quickly and will be implementing this again.

Training Pull ups: I did not train for pull ups. I have been doing 1 arm Push Ups GTG style and I think that may have had some tranfer.

Overall: A LOT of Z health. I know this increased my numbers and is definitely 'my secret weapon'.

*Good times had by all and many more to come!