Inspirational figures #1

The Brooklyn-born Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) first entered football limelight during the mid-1930s as a guard on Fordham University's famous "Seven Blocks of Granite" line. He didn't play in the NFL but went directly into coaching. He built a sterling reputation as an assistant with several strong college teams and, in the 1950s, as the NY Giants' offensive coach under Jim Lee Howell. Meanwhile, desperation had set in with the Green Bay Packers, who were at the lowest point in their history. In 1958, they managed to win only one game. Lombardi was hired as head coach and given complete control.

It was the first time he'd been head man other than of a high school team. Lombardi traded for such young players with potential as Wille Davis, changed quarterback flop Paul Hornung into a star running back, nurtured unheralded Bart Starr into a brilliant quarterback, and drove the team mercilessly. Lombardi emphasized execution, blocking, and tackling rather than razzle-dazzle. Most important, he instilled in his players a willingness to "make the effort."

Results were instantaneous. His 1959 team won seven of 12 games. In 1960, Green Bay took its division title, but that was only the beginning. Lombardi's Packers were NFL champions in 1961 and 1962. After two years of retooling, they won titles in 1965, 1966, and 1967. The latter two teams won the first two Super Bowls. In 1969, the Washington Redskins, another team with a long losing habit, hired Lombardi to turn them around. He was well on his way to doing just that when he was fatally stricken with cancer before the 1970 season. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He is memorialized by the Lombardi Trophy, awarded to each year's Super Bowl winner.

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"Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is."

"The Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price."

"None of us are born equal... rather we are born unequal... some of us are born with an inherent and competitive drive."

-Vince Lombardi

Train intelligently,

David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com

Stickfighting - Muay Thai - Karate - Olympic Judo - Submission wrestling - BJJ - MMA
"Synergy between theory & best practice"
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Attention to detail

Over the last few weeks I have noticed a great deal of improvement in my overall game from striking, vertical grappling, my takedowns and throws and of course the final range, horizontal grappling. After taking a long hard look at my training over the last 4 weeks or so and analysing some of the class notes I have taken and pondering over the times from my runs against average heart rates whilst doing these runs it is no coincidence that these improvements in efficiency and effectiveness [against training partners] is down to attention to the finer details of my work.

I have spent a great deal of time hitting my conditioning hard for about six weeks now, with that my percentage body fat has dropped markedly, my times have improved by almost one minute on some runs, my cardio has improved a great deal and as a result I am able to work harder than my training partners during hard sparring and stay at this intensity for longer.

Concentrating on compound exercises has meant my strength has improved a vastly and due to some more intense plyometric work I feel more 'athletic' (if that is possible). My greatest gains however have come about within the technical aspects of my performance - I am 'catching' people more often. Drilling has been a big issue for me in the past, all my consciousness was getting through the 'boring' drill and looking ahead to 'testing' the drill in rolling or stand up sparring. There is no coincidence in the fact that due to the time and effort I have put into the finer aspects of training whilst on the mat I have improved dramatically!

Every single book on physical education, sports science and the like will stress that same. That through drill and repetition comes mastering of skill and the more concentration we put into this drill the better and more efficient our open and closed skills become. However, most of us skip this part and yearn for the end product (or close ot it) this is the difference between recreational players and world-class performance.

Look closely at the passage below:

Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of many years.

How many F's did you count? 3? Look again; you should pick up six... Don't forget the F's in 'of'.

The word 'of': It may seem like a mundane, everyday word that just links words in a sentence but it counts. It counts to form sentences, narratives, paragraphs, books, journals, novels and masterpieces...

Drill practice: it may seem like a bore and monotonous repetition but it breeds skill development, it enables and lines cognitive pathways that we call on without a second thought and is paramount to development.

Train intelligently!

David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com
Sponsored by: KombatClinic.com & Fixahome
Full-contact Stickfighting - Muay Thai - Karate - Olympic Judo - Submission wrestling - BJJ - MMA:
"Synergy between theory & best practice"
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Satoshi Ishii road to the UFC video

Satoshi Ishii to the UFC

According to Ishii's Facebook it seems he might be about to grace the Ultimate Fighting Championships. There was some footage of the 2008 Olympic Judo Gold medalist training with Lyoto Machida (current Light Heavyweight champion) a while back and I can't wait to see what he brings to the table in the best MMA organisation on offer!

War Ishii!!!

Kindest regards,
David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com

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The Tokon Academy badge

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Kindest regards,
David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com
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Sponsored by: KombatClinic.com & Fixahome
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Full-contact Stickfighting - Muay Thai - Karate - Olympic Judo - Submission wrestling - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Mixed Martial Arts:
"Synergy between theory & best practice"
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PMA: part two

Positive mental attitude part two, in my first rambling I conceptualised PMA using successful sportsmen such as Lance Armstrong and Sir Alex Ferguson as examples of individuals who have enormous amounts of self-belief and mental toughness to get on with a job no matter how hard it becomes. Imagine if you will, Lance Armstrong as he climbs Port de Lers, on the 13th stage in Le Tour. Cold and wet from the rain and perspiration that has soaked his race jersey, legs burning but still with miles to pedal and a hungry peloton breathing down his neck.

Does he give up? F*** no! "It's all about inflicting pain on my opponents" he says.

Did he give up when he was forced to have a malignant testicle removed due to cancer or did his drive subside when a CT-Scan revealed that the condition had spread into his lungs, brain and abdomen? F*** no!

These are the sort of instances and human beings that drive me to achieve what I set out to achieve. Whether it is winning more silverware for the trophy cabinet at Old Trafford and in the process overtaking Liverpool Football club with more Premier League titles for Sir Alex or telling yourself that you will beat cancer as in Armstrong’s case, self-belief and perseverance are paramount.

What do you do to reinforce positively during exercise and everyday life? I’d be interested to find out.

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Positive mental attitude!

As a person and I don’t mind admitting, I am very negative. Not in the way that I come across as a negative individual; always putting things or others down or putting a ‘downer’ on any given situation – far from it, in this sense you cannot get a more positive individual.

What I mean is I am very self-critical, over analysing the self over and over again. My appearance, my performance, my appearance during my performance, how I look in front my peers and so on and so forth. I am the kind of individual who aspires to a high degree. In business, in athletic performance and also how I feel may be perceived by others. In about 99% of cases all things I have ever entered or started I have fulfilled, completed, passed or achieved. Dan grades in martial arts, entering MMA, taking the step into the arena of full-contact (low armour) stick fighting, driving test, academia all have been done to a decent degree with high success but in getting there I am a constant worrier.

When I embark upon a new task or attempt to kick start something I tend to sit down and write a ‘game plan’. I have a habit of writing lists and planning instances right up to their conclusions with no contingencies and or alternatives, everything has to be finely organised and executed to a tee. If it doesn’t I get mightily pissed off with myself. Whether it’s a new conditioning programme I have set myself over a period of 8-12 weeks or a session plan for the juniors and the elite performance programme at my academy everything has to be right. It is not some form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), although being a Virgo apparently means I am a perfectionist it’s more than having all the labels on tins in the cupboard facing the same way or my clothes lined up neatly and colour coded.

One thing I enjoy immensely is reading about individuals in the public eye and their success, whether it be business, sporting triumphs or the overcoming of adversity and obstacles. Meticulous sports scientific planning and its breeding of success, tactical and strategic excellence and stories of sportsmen and women ‘gritting their teeth’ and getting on with it. Sir Alex Ferguson; possibly the greatest football manager to ever live, a master of his trade (I am a Spurs fan by the way) over 1000 games in charge of Manchester United since 1986, Sir Clive Woodward; a man who is so revered in sporting circles he could put his blueprint to coaching success to anything, Lance Armstrong; seven times winner of the Tour de France and survivor of testicular cancer, the list could go on and on.

They too plan meticulously; execute the plan right down to finite proportions, nevertheless, not always have they been successful. All these individuals are different, they come from different backgrounds, some better off than others but paradoxically they have all arrived at the same place using one common denominator: positive mental attitude. Remember the old Persil advert from way back with the Dad telling his son “PMA – Positive Mental Attitude!” as he was about to enter his school sports day race? Little did the Dad realise that he was up against Linford Christie in the sack race…

What am I getting at? Well, next time something doesn’t go your way, regardless of how much you plan, list, set aims and objectives and or worry about the outcome don’t give up and forget the driving necessity that bore the idea in the first place, rather: positive mental attitude - always!

Until next time!
Dave
http://www.tokonacademy.com

Lyoto Machida - UFC LHW champion!

Okay the emails and private messages have started. "I told you there was nothing wrong with Karate", "all that time rolling around in those tight pants, you should have carried on with Karate"...

Machida put on a great show last night, he made Rashad Evans look like a guy with no clue and more importantly, a fighter so far removed from the guy we saw dominate Forest Griffin for the LHW title and win TUF 2 it was unreal. Using better Maai (distance) and Tai Sabaki (body evasions) Machida was in control the whole fight, his elusiveness was something to behold. I feel a great sense of pride knowing that Shotokan Karate has taken a huge step back into the 'mix' of all things concerning functional combat.

There is nothing wrong with Shotokan Karate and its effectiveness, there never has been. You have to look no further than the likes of British Karateka such as Dave Hazard, Ronnie Christopher and Terry O'Neill to understand that. However, those individuals that practice the watered down variety of Karate [or any style of combat for that matter] where points and Kata are the only aim or the lining of their pockets through 'nice Karate' do nothing but add to the queue of criticisms. Although Machida's performance was first rate last night and his record is still unblemished (15-0-0), those now touting Karate's supremacy should remember whay he is so good: his Jiu Jitsu, his Karate, his Judo, his Muay Thai and his wrestling and the training partners that play such a vital role in his development and support don't do a bad job either...

Until next time!

David Webb

Head Coach

The Tokon Academy

http://www.tokonacademy.com

Being the 'best' is not all it seems

We do a lot of Karate here at the Tokon Academy; we hold regular courses and seminars with Karateka that are revered the world over. Karate is the most popular programme here at the academy with 150 juniors training just in Karate. As a result of teaching and training I obviously know of others that training and coach the same. As with all the other martial arts/sport or combat athletics (call then what you want) I train I love the passion that people have for their chosen art/sport, the reasons that people give for constantly pounding the dojo/gym floor or mats but what drives me insane [and I have experienced this from mostly Karateka – apologies if that offends] is the blatant ignorance and blinkered approach to training and the nonchalant dislike for anything other that Karate.

I have been enthralled by mixed martial arts and in particular Vale Tudo since I saw my first video of Federico Lapenda’s World Vale Tudo Championships bout between the decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter Fabio Gurgel and Olympic wrestler and former UFC Champion, American, Mark Kerr. The fight lasted 30 solid minutes Gurgel took a horrendous beating but refused to submit and came close, at one stage to catching Kerr in an arm-bar from the bottom (Juji Gatame). From this first WVC video I was hooked and spent every free minute in Cambridge HMV scanning the shelves to see if they had any other WVC in stock and indeed started training in MMA straight away (1999/2000).

From the moment training partners from Karate knew that I was into MMA the wise cracks started, slagging off the grappling stuff I was getting into and remarking that all that MMA was just a ‘five minute wonder’. Well, here we are UFC 98 and those same people have now jumped on the bandwagon, are teaching ‘UFC fighting’ in their dojo and or fumbling around on the ground during sparring trying to emulate the techniques they have seen on television (although they still haven’t taken the plunge and tried learning the techniques from a qualified grappling coach, ivory towers springs to mind).

More to the point, all I hear now from these blinkered idiots is one name, Lyoto Machida. “Did you know he is a Karate man?” Yes I did, comes my answer. “See we told you there was nothing wrong with Karate, you’ve been wasting you time”.

My response?

Yeah Machida is a great fighter, a great Karateka who is doing wonders to establish that Karate should be taken as serious as other tried and tested fighting styles. But what these people seem to forget is that Machida is training with the likes of UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, has been sought as a training partner for Olympic gold medallist, Judoka Satoshi Ishii. Machida cross trains twice per day, six days per week as a professional athlete should, in all disciplines needed to reach the top of the tree in the world best fighting organisation and he is only able to fight in such a way [that is so different to everyone else’s style] because he is so good at the other ranges taken into the arena where he plies his trade.

The argument has never been about the style of martial art you train; rather the training mechanism within it used to develop and indeed the naïve idiots that train in this manner and believe it to be the be all and end all.
The answer: train intelligently at all ranges and open your eyes – until next time!

David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com

Full-contact Stickfighting - Muay Thai - Karate - Olympic Judo - Submission wrestling - BJJ - MMA:
"Synergy between theory & best practice"
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2403992214

Functional circuit training

Enjoy!
David Webb
Head Coach
The Tokon Academy
http://www.tokonacademy.com

Sport is all about rising to the challenge...

Sport is all about rising to the challenge, whether it is laid down by your own limitations, the prowess of your opposition or the magnitude of the event; to win you have to have the ability to overcome. Though it may be years in the creation, for many sportspeople their chance to win is minutes or even seconds long. The efforts of a champion marksman, a field athlete in their throes or a sprinter might be a fleeting experience by which they are indelibly remembered and admired. Matthew Pinsent, 2009.

Beautifully summed up. Click here for Pinsent's article on Oscar Pistorius the South African Paralympic athlete.

Shobu Ippon International report

On Sunday 9th May 2009 the Tokon Academy travelled to the Shobu Ippon International Shotokan Open off of the back of a great performance at our last outing (the 9th Legend Open Karate Championships) back in March where, what was our juniors first major championships, we scooped 3 third place finishes. Expectations were high with an aim of coming home with a total of five medals [one of which a first place]. Despite the juniors efforts, unfortunately the tally was not met but for a bigger, more professionally run event the Tokon Academy juniors did themselves and everyone associated very proud.

Elite performance programme standout Rian Smeaton had a great day click here to read more...