Gabriel's Taekwondo Purple Advanced Belt Testing at CMA Martial Arts

My son Gabriel tested for his Advanced Purple Belt at CMA Martial Arts in Langley. He is halfway to getting his black belt now and has worked really hard over the past year and a half to get to where he is now. I am very proud of his hard work and dedication to the sport!

Testing involves demonstrating some punching and kicking combinations, breaking boards, sparring and grappling with opponents. It is really cool to see the boys putting everything together now when they spar and grapple together, it's really entertaining to watch :)

Sadly my $1200 Sony RX100 IV camera has been giving me some issues with the occasional video file and it corrupted the final video which was of the boys receiving their belts :( 

Congratulations to all the boys for their hard work, commitment and for earning their new belts!

I'm Giving Martial Arts Another Try :)

Here is a video Darren Clark from CMA Martial Arts (AKA CrossFit Langley) uploaded. It showcases some of the boys doing strength training and martial arts, what a combo! You get Body, Mind and being Kick Ass combined!

I have been wanting to get back into martial arts for some time but had some concerns about getting injured.Darren takes a very safe approach to his training avoiding a typical high risk injury situations and focussing on standup striking and kicking skills along with ground work submissions, chokes and positioning.

So far I have done three days of training with Darren and have truly enjoyed all of it. If you are in the Langley BC area, come on down and see what kind of program Darren can set you up with!

Daily Workout - Back Pain!

Today I went to my Saturday morning MMA Class for 2 hours and then came home and did some stuff around the house. I thought I'd also do a quick leg workout as I still had some energy.

Maybe I should have skipped it today cause when I was on my last heavy set of squats I tweaked my back a bit. I've always had a bad lower back even in my 20's I suffered with pain but it actually has been better until today.

I did finish my workout but took it a bit easier. I am going to look for a good weight belt as a back injury is something nobody wants and once this gets better I'm going to make sure I keep the back pain away!

I hate injuries, so hopefully this sorts its self out over the next few days.

Daily Workout - MMA at World Class Martial Arts

I wasn't sure if my MMA gym was going to have Saturday sessions as this Thursday is Canada Day. So to be safe and make sure I got my Beat-down in this week, I went to a Wednesday morning Muay Thai & MMA class.

We did a really heavy skipping warmup that consisted of regular skipping for 30 seconds and then knee high skipping for 30 seconds, it seemed to go on forever! After which we did 100 Pushups, 100 Sit ups and 100 Squats.

Then we got into the training side of things and worked on some basic sweeps and arm bars. We finished off with about 10 minutes of rolling (BJJ Wrestling).

Total workout was 1.5 hours.

Air Punching Bag Cardio Workout

This video shows you how to get a great cardio workout by using MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) style boxing techniques (Punching Bag Optional). I show you basic jab, cross, hook, and upper cut punching techniques that focus on feet, leg and hip movement.

Some of the exercises demonstrated are: Jab Punch, Cross Punch, Hook Punch, and the Upper Cut Punch.

All of these exercises can be done with no exercise equipment at all!