Chia Seeds for Athletic Endurance

A few months ago, I decided to add Muay Thai and MMA training to my schedule in order to prepare for my first MMA fight. I see jiu-jitsu as the foundation of my game so I didn’t want to neglect that area of my training for something new. Unfortunately, due to my full-time job, I am not able to split my marital arts training into different times of the day and so during an ideal week, my training schedule would look like so: 

Melyssa... In Rio

Melyssa Hutchinson is currently a BJJ blue belt under Vitor "Shaolin"Ribeiro in New York who started her jiu-jitsu training at Abhaya MMA in Wolfville, NS. She is in the process of changing training academies due to her experiences and connections in Brazil and also because of a family move to another city. Melyssa also teaches the children's jiujitsu class and has her own all-women's bootcamp style training program as well as co-ed conditioning classes called Fit to Fight. 

Titans Talk Tournaments

I've been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about 4 years now and I'm only beginning to prepare for my first tournament, or I was until I injured my wrist.  My ambition is to compete in MMA but since I've never competed in anything before, I think it's probably a good idea to start from the ground up.  

Vibram Five Fingers Komodo Sport LS Review

Komodo Sport LS

I've mentioned in this blog previously that when I began training BJJ, I stopped lifting weights.  Over time, I realized that in order to be more effective, I would have to work on my strength and conditioning so I bought a membership at GoodLife Fitness.  My strength program is outlined in my Strength and Conditioning post; I don't do that split exclusively but I definitely do squats, dead lifts, bench press and military press regularly.  I see the other exercises as accessories and they vary.

The Evolution of a Game

Desmond Stockard BJJ Brown Belt

Desmond Stockard is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt out of Kaijin MMA in Santa Cruz, CA.  I was introduced to mixed martial arts about 5 years ago through a blog called Five Ounces of Pain, which was written by Tim Burke, who currently writes for Bloody Elbow, and Desmond.  Their enthusiasm for the sport was contagious and following their writings helped me to become a well-informed MMA fan.  Their writings also led to my first steps into the world of BJJ.

Cubicle to the Cage

Boyd Sharpe 

Cubicle to the Cage is a documentary series which features hardcore MMA fans who are attempting to make the transition into professional fighters.  I train at Titans MMA in Halifax, NS, where a lot of the documentary participants' training takes place with our MMA Coach, Renzo Gracie Black Belt Peter Martell.  He looks scary in this photo but he's one of the nicest guys at Titans; he's a very effective coach and based on what I've seen since Titans BJJ and Titans MMA merged clubs in January 2012, he really cares about his fighters.  They certainly respect him and the quality of his training is reflected in their fight performances; Roger "The Hulk" Hollett, Ricky Goodall, Mike Kent, Gavin Tucker,  Mike Mallott and many others have been successful under his guidance.