The Academy

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Academy instructor Beau DeCourcy works on a blog called Exist Anew. On it, he discusses all things health and fitness from an Evolutionary persective. Its very cool! This is a post I saw on it the other day, that I thought you guys might enjoy. Check it out- Jay

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By: Beau DeCourcy

At some point in recent history people have become remarkably efficient at devaluing the need, and to some degree, the desire for a fit body. Fitness is simply no longer necessary for the majority of the population.  Once again, it seems our brains have out evolved our bodies.

The signs of antiquated fitness are everywhere.  People are using their body’s capacity as little as possible.  Increasingly, people enjoy going for rides rather than walks, play sports via computers, and undergo adventures vicariously through movies and the discovery channel.  The need and desire for a fit body has drastically reduced with the increase of not only medical technology, but leisure technology.

One of the major catalysts for the decline of the fit body lays in the idea of averages.  Being average is good, right?  Maybe good enough to get by, but certainly not exceptional or even desirable.  As Dr. Jack Kruse put it: “Is good the enemy of great?”   Be careful of average.  Remember that most markers of health are not markers of optimal health.  In fact, the very ranges used for lab tests are the AVERAGE of those tested.  Who do you think gets tested more often, sick people or healthy people?

READ MORE......

Coach Durfee Asks: To Roll Or Not To Roll?

Specific sparring. 

Although all of us like the live rolling  part of class, We all should be spending a lot of time rolling from various postions both offensive and defensive. For example, we focuse on the mount, we spend a lot of time doing live rolling from the mount, in which we start over (and reset again) if a submission or sweep happens.  We spend time rolling from side control and guard and so on and so on.  Then when it comes to a tournament or even a circuit training.  You would have felt those postions over and over again and be quicker with your reactions.  So when you roll how are you going to roll?

Coach Durfee

 

Why We Do This

One of our long time students, Chris Kokoll, just left to live in sunny California. We'll miss him. On his last day, he sent us this message. We've put up a few of these things in recent times, but I think it's the best way to show the depth of the effect of time at The Academy. Thanks for your time Chris. We'll miss you too! -Jay

Thank you Jay and thank you to everyone at The Academy. I can honestly say that The Academy has made me a better person. Jay, you’ve taught me many important life lessons through combat sports. From the bottom of my heart thank you for sharing your wisdom and thank you to you and Mandy for creating The Academy. Training there was the best part of my day.

-Christopher Kokoll

Success Stories

This falls into the category of "things that keep me going" also. This kid has made so many improvements, it's hard to even remember what he was like when he came here. We are so proud to have the opportunity to coach people through these kinds of life improvements. Thank you to Noah's parents for sending this in. And congratulations to Noah for all his accomplishments! Can't wait to see what you're able to become! -Coach Jack

Our son Noah enrolled as a student at the Academy in November of 2009.  When Noah started with Coach Durfee and Coach Jay, he was receiving occupational therapy as well as physical therapy an hour a week each.  He had trouble climbing stairs, walking with a normal gate and keeping up with children his age in general.  He had very low muscle tone in his hips and core, couldn’t do one sit up or push up, or stand from kneeling without pushing off of the floor with both hands.  He was also very fearful of his feet leaving the ground; this is called gravitational insecurity, which means he would become very anxious when off balance in anyway.  His physical therapist reported that he could not keep up with the other children in gym class and was always the last in the hallway.  Another concern we had for Noah was his fitness level and self confidence.  This was a year and half ago. 

Today Noah is a yellow with gray strip belt and has come leaps and bounds.  His physical therapist reported that he was a completely different kid than he was last year; he can now run laps and keep up in gym, do the stairs and is no longer last in the hallways.  She also wrote in her report that a big part of his gains are to be contributed to his participation in Jiu Jitsu, and highly recommends he continues.  He no longer receives occupational therapy and only gets physical therapy through school, where before he was getting it outside of school as well.  His BMI has dropped dramatically and he has gained a lot of self confidence, his gravitational insecurities have improved too, he can now do front rolls, back rolls and will even allow people to throw him, which doesn’t sound too big, but for anyone who knows Noah, this is HUGE!  He can do at least 20 pushups and sit ups, and on his last belt test, even stood up from kneeling without the use of his hands!  We are very grateful for all of the time, patience and attention Coach Durfee and Coach Jay give him, they have made a huge difference in Noah’s life.  We would recommend, without hesitation, joining the Academy to anyone with children (or without), it’s the best thing we could have done for our son.

Brian and Nicole Cummings

Noah before

Noah after

What Keeps Me Going

I got this from a long time student, who recently moved away. He plans on eventually having his own academy. This is the kind of feedback that makes all the difficulties worth it. Thank you Josh. -Jay

What I want my school to be: 

A place where anyone can feel comfortable.

A place where no judgment is cast by what car you pulled up in or took the bus. or the clothes your wearing.

A place where someone can start making positive changes in their life no matter how bad life situation are for them now

A place that makes competitors with great sportsmanship, that want to have fun

A place that helps prevent someone, ANYONE, from feeling completely vulnerable in any situation outside.

A place that takes a person who walks with their head facing the ground and shows them how to be tall and proud of what they can accomplish

A place that gives people a chance to try something new without being scared

A place creates a family within itself

 

A place where I can give back every ounce of positive energy I have taken from your place.

 

Master The Basics

Advance techniques are the basics master. Sometimes students want to learn the flashy moves like a inverted heel hook or a flying armbar but that is not what makes a student proficient at the art. The goal is to look for consistency in the techniques that you use.


What makes a black belt a black belt is they use the same techniques that everyone else uses but the do them over and over mastering the basics and not the advance techniques? Think about when you roll with someone bigger then yourself the consistency of doing the flying armbar and landing it over and over is far and few between.  As Coach Jack says, "you have to do it 10,000 times before it become second nature"  So next time you are early to class grab some mat space and drill your game over and over until it becomes second nature.

 

 Here is my favorite video of a Belt Belt and one of the Masters Roger Gracie.  As you can see its all Basics!

Enjoy- Coach Durfee

MovNat Workshop In Trouble!!!

Guys, if you want this thing to come to town, you had better sign up asap. I have been told that if a few more people don't sign up before the 5th, they will move that clinic to NYC. Booooo. If we get the interest and keep it here, we will be the FIRST place in New England to host it. It's gonna be great!!!

Sign up.....

Or, forever hold your peace.

-Jay

Follow Up To "Academy Student Jumps Into Fray"

In that post, Rob Morrison, put up several posts on his blog addressing his medical view of MMA in Maine. He sent this in to the Portland Press Herald..... but never heard back. Don't worry Rob, they didn't want to print mine either.

So I'm putting it up for you here! Check it out everyone. -Jay

MMA in Maine

Mixed martial arts is coming to Maine and it has an image problem.  This problem is largely self-inflicted.  When you market something as a fight with “no-rules” you’re trying to attract a certain demographic.  I understand why the medical community would leery of the potential for head injury.  I understand calls to ban such a “savage” sport from doctors and other concerned Mainers.  MMA looks and talks pretty bad.  But folks, you can’t just believe everything you see on TV.   If you are against MMA, as a medical professional or just as a concerned human being, please take a closer look before you call for a ban.

The people selling MMA are out to make money.  Extreme sells and they’ll say anything to get people to watch.  The truth is that the people doing MMA are A) not all the same and B) just as concerned about safety as you are (if not more).  It is naive to think that there aren’t people who use MMA as an excuse for violence.  But that is not me, it’s not the people with whom I train and it is not MMA in Maine.  MMA in Maine is made up of graduate students, parents, police officers, doctors and small business owners.  Fights like the one taking place on May 6th are a very small (but important) part of what we do.  We’re not crazy.  We wouldn’t get in the ring if there were “no-rules,” or if the rules were anything like people who want to ban our sport seem to think they are.  Trust me, no one is going to be allowed to bite (or gouge) me, ever.

Some people are just turned off by the thought of combat sports and have emotional or ethical objections to our sport.  That’s OK, those are valid objections and they should be discussed.  But the primary factor in deciding to allow MMA or not should be facts.  The facts don’t support banning MMA because of head injuries (or any other kinds of injuries).  Here’s a quote from two Canadian doctors opposing their association’s stand against MMA: As physicians . . . we need to be evidence-based, not emotion-based. We suspect that if MMA were as visually pleasing as horseback riding, or as internationally accepted as rugby, or as financially substantial as professional football, there would be more acceptance of the sport (the whole article is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038368/?tool=pubmed). They reference three studies about MMA injury rates to support their claim. There is a fourth one that is freely available to the public at: http://www.jssm.org/combat/1/18/v5combat-18.pdf.  If you have concerns about safety, take the time to read it.

As sensible people ought to, we want the medical community to help us understand the risks fighters take and the ways to minimize those risks.  While my sport is no more dangerous than other contact sports it is far from as safe as it can be.  For example, shouldn’t MMA fighters take the same concussion screening test that high school athletes do in Maine?  The doctors who best understand the sport are going to be in the best position to answer questions like these.

If you have concerns about our sport, take the time to get to know what it really is and is not and then let’s talk about them.  My hope is to get doctor’s, skeptics and sensible MMA people talking.  That is what’s going to make real differences in the safety of MMA in Maine.  And, even if we can’t agree and you still want to ban us, at least you’ll be trying to ban what we’re actually doing.  But honestly, if we do a better job of presenting ourselves I think you’ll agree there is a place for well regulated MMA in Maine.

I train at the Academy of Mixed Martial Arts on Riverside street in Portland.  Come in and meet us if you’re curious what MMA is really like, we don’t bite (or gouge).

Rob Morrison

 

Questions

Students question:

I waited until I was 37 to become athletic. What can I do to work on coordination? I'm thinking off road runs? parkour? Of course, drilling as well.

My answer:

I think all of those things help, but not because they in themselves are of benefit, but because they (and in most cases any new endeavor) require an attention to details in movement. In reality, all you need to do is work on being present, and aware in your movements. You can do this is Thai Boxing, but it may be helpful to step sideways and find another avenue of developing the skills. Problem is in fighting arts, there is no automatic carry over. Even if you focus on parkour AS A MEANS of developing mindfulness in movement. You still have to practice not listening to the unique distractions thrown at you in Martial Arts.
I know you have attention to detail in movement in you. You're an artist! You have to command movement in your body to produce a desired outcome. That's all it is. But in your art, you don't have a voice in your head telling you that you can't. Not saying you're too old, fat. weak..... whatever you're nightmare voice tells you. Likewise, you're not distracted with qualities of the procedure. You can fall into the trap of trying to kick "too hard", but when you draw..... all you care about is the outcome, not the process. If the piece looks good, you don't care what your strokes looked like during it's creation.
On the bag/mats.... you judge the process, not the outcome.
Have you ever worked with clay? You have to add water and knead it out like dough. Have to get the right consistency. No pockets or bubbles. This is a very important step. That's the part that you're missing. You're in such a rush to make the bowl, you aren't attentive to making the clay right. So the bowls never right. So you work more and more at making bowls (sparring/performing in case my analogy is losing you!). You never think to go back and work the clay.
But you have to. You have to hit the bags, mitts, and do touch drills with a presence of mind. An awareness of THAT MOMENT. That's how it'll even out.
Your problem isn't physical. It's mental/emotional.
If it's easier mentally to do that in another activity (parkour, trail runs, bosu balls, whatever), then come back to this art form and APPLY THAT SKILL to this medium. Then yes those thing will help. If when you return to this medium, you don't apply those skills because you're still distracted by the sounds of what you think you're not, or what you aught to be....... Then it won't help you.
I know that this is a frustrating process. I go through it too. We all do. But, I believe in you. And I can't wait to see what your art ends up looking like!
Jay

Life Gets In The Way

This post was sent to us from a long time student Nick Collins. He's in the uber-typical boat of being madly in love with BJJ, while having to juggle it with spouse, child, job, and other grown up stuff. He talks about the the way he keeps all the plates spinning. Check it out. -Jay

What to do when life gets in the way of BJJ

 

Those who know me know that my attendance at the gym is not spectacular.  Those who don’t know me, you don’t know me because my attendance at the gym is not spectacular. Over the past 6 years that I’ve been a student at The Academy (six years?!?), my attendance has been spotty at best.  Even early on before the wife, house, and child, I trained 3 maybe 4 times a week.  But as life’s responsibilities added up and I moved further north, my training time took even more of a beating.  I still managed to earn my purple belt, and then I bailed.  I was in a major training “valley” (see Jay’s post on peaks and valleys) and instead of reassessing my training and goals, I pulled the chute and left the gym for a year.  I’ve been back for a few months now and I am paying the price for my time off.  Leaving for a year was a bad choice, but this post isn’t about that.  It’s about coming back and some of the things I’ve been doing to try to accelerate my return from the world of suck.  Grappling is a perishable skill after all.

My in-the-gym training time is still very limited, but I want to make progress, I want to improve, I want to perform like a purple belt again; so what to do?  Train outside the gym.  Think of it as homework, but the fun kind.  Nothing replaces time in the gym with a great coach, great training partners, and live rolling, but there are things you can do at home to help improve your game when life gets in the way.  Note: NONE OF THIS IS A SUBSTITUE FOR GOING TO THE GYM, just a supplement.

1.     Drill the basic movements

a.     Get on the floor and bridge, hip-out, hip-in, etc.  You can’t practice these movements enough.  Drill them over and over, and when you are sick of it, do a few more.

2.     Review the curriculum/watch tapes/drill individual techniques

a.     Get on the floor with your curriculum and go through each technique slowly, imagining (visualizing) where you make contact with your opponent, where your weight is, etc.  This is an opportunity to really think about the details of the techniques

b.     Break out your Soneca DVDs (you have at least one right?) and find ONE technique.  Look for a technique that is applicable to your game or a spot you get stuck in.  Drill that one technique over and over and over.  Watch other tapes, online videos, etc.

3.     Shadow grapple

a.     Again, get on the floor.  Start from wherever and visualize a match, working from the start through to a finish.  Go at whatever speed is necessary for you to perform the techniques correctly.  Don’t just think about you; think about your imaginary partner.  Allow your imaginary friend to stuff one of your techniques and then counter.  Make these as complex as you can, not just pass the open guard, hop to knee to stomach, finish with a spinning armbar.  Be creative and visualize.  Your imaginary friend should be pretty good so you don’t walk right through him/her.

4.     Visualize

a.     Where to begin...just type “imagery in sports” into the Google and see what comes up.  Visualization works.  Still not a substitute for live training and coaching, but a great supplement.  We’ve all done it, laying in bed at night after circuit training trying to figure out how the hell Scott escaped your stack pass and landed you in a triangle.  I still get lost trying to visualize some of the basic positions that tells me I don’t truly understand those positions.

b.     Incorporate visualization into all of the above.  When you are drilling basics movements, understand why and visualize the application of the movement.  When you are shadow grappling, visualize your opponent, like playing a game of chess against yourself.  Focus on technique and the fine details, not speed.

5.     Workout and read the blog!

a.     If you access to weights, get on The Academy S&C program.  If not, check out the many websites with bodyweight only exercises.  Jog, sprint, climb trees, do push-ups, squats, sit-ups, pull-ups, shots, whatever.  Just keep moving!

b.     Read the blog and revisit the older posts.  There are so many good posts covering everything from S&C, nutrition, goals and attitude towards training, techniques, and motivation; it’s an excellent resource, use it.

I’ve said it three times already but it bears repeating, you’ve got to get into the gym to train with non-imaginary people.  But when circumstances get in the way, or you want to accelerate your development as a BJJ practitioner, consider incorporating some of these supplemental tools.

-Nick Collins

Thanks Nick! Great suff. LOVED the Shadow Grappling. Very cool Idea.

Anyone else want to send something in feel free. I love hearing from our students.

-Jay