Every year I look forward to doing our demo at The New Britain Rock Cats on field at New Britain Stadium. This year we lucked out with the weather since it will be a beautiful day. A demo, a high quality baseball game, and food. My kind of day! :0) The kids do an amazing job and I am very proud of them all.

I am looking forward to teaching my next seminar next Saturday. It will be in Centerbrook, CT at Valley Shore Martial Arts at 1pm. It is always great seeing old friends as well as making new friends and I always come away having learned something as well as having taught. It is going to be a busy Summer with Seminars in MA, NH, PA, and RI. This year has been rolling along very quickly but so far, it's a great one! :0)

i have been a part of hundreds of seminars over the years and I can honestly say that our March seminars of kenpo and modern arnis was one of the best seminars I have ever experienced. It was a day of people coming together in friendship from different States, different martial arts, and different lineages for an incredible day of learning. This is how it should be. Thank you to everyone that made this such an amazing day! Here is a clip from the end of my session. 　
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVBrE9REXpo&feature=youtu.be

Doing conditioning exercises before a martial arts session can help you improve your stamina, physical endurance and strength while enhancing your mental clarity and focus.

It’s largely accepted that in order to be a good fighter or warrior, you have to train both your body and mind but no matter how confident and excited you are about a competition, you won’t manage to achieve the desired results unless you physical condition is at its best. It is therefore obvious that in order to become a successful MMA player you have to work hard on improving your agility and reflexes, your physical strength and power, your endurance, quickness and muscle tone.

The easiest way to achieve these goals is to include in your daily schedule a personalized cardio and weight lifting routine, designed to match your body’s needs and weaknesses. If your main problem is muscular strength, this personalized routine should concentrate on heavy weights lifting but without neglecting cardio exercises. If you feel your body tired after only few minutes of kicking and punching, then you should concentrate on improving your resistance and stamina.

The purpose of martial arts conditioning exercises is to build a very strong and muscular physique that is able to recover faster after a fighting session. So let’s take a quick look at the exercises a MMA player should do to be in perfect shape before a competition.

1. Power training sessions


These exercises are essential as they improve the explosiveness, strength and stability, the muscular endurance and flexibility of the player. Squat jumps and thrusts, heavy bag kicks and punches, medicine ball rotations and throws, box jumps, depth push-ups and other plyometric exercises are designed to improve the functioning of your nervous system, the coordination between your body parts, the elasticity and responsiveness of your muscles.

By performing such high intensity exercises on a regular basis you’ll manage to react faster, hit harder, jump higher or through farther, depending on the goal of your power training session. So make sure you train both your upper and lower body and increase intensity whenever you feel your body is prepared for the next level.

2. Strength trainings


Next on the list of martial arts conditioning exercises you should include in your weekly training routine are strength exercises, which help in developing stronger muscles for more powerful knockout strikes. Most common exercises for strength improvement are bench press, shoulder press, squats, deadlifts, crunches, leg raises and push-ups. Make sure you start with fewer repetitions to avoid overworking your body as this triggers muscular fatigue, but choose heavy weights if you really want to see noticeable results in short periods of time.

Remember, strength training is important as it allows you to improve control over your opponent during competitions by increasing the power of your strikes. Core strength for example allows you to sweep easier, to execute specific movements faster and to throw more powerful punches. But unless your body is powerful enough, technique and resistance become useless.

3. Endurance exercises


The purpose of these martial arts conditioning exercises is to improve your respiratory and cardiovascular performance during fights so if you want to make sure your body won’t reach its limits right in the middle of the competition, include endurance exercises in your weekly training schedule. Jogging and running sessions, cycling and elliptical trainer workouts as well as swimming sessions are essential in building a more resistant body and keeping your properly motivated but besides these benefits, endurance exercises are also a great way of burning excess fats so if you need to lose some pounds for a competition you shouldn’t neglect this type of training!

Great job to all the participants in the Knife defense seminar for law enforcement officers! We covered emptyhand vs knife, knife vs knife and did some freestyle knife work. Thank you to Master Dominick Violante for hosting the event. Thank you to all the participants for all that you do. My next seminar will be in east taunton at east taunton kenpo karate on February 25th. Stick disarms will be the main topic.

We finished editing our blue belt weapons DVD today. ( Kobujutsu ). It contains Bo form two ( Choun No kon ) Arnis sticks 12 disarms, and double and reverse sinawali. It has been my goal to have DVD's for all 3 curriculums of the 3 arts that we do: Kenpo, Modern Arnis, and Kobujutsu. This brings us one step closer!

I am looking forward to teaching at Swift Waters Self Defense Club this Sunday. The topics will be the trapping and locking of tapi tapi and also joint locking with no stick. The club is run by Sifu Jonathan Leonard and it will be good to see him again. The seminar starts at 12pm.

Chris LaCava will be teaching a seminar here tomorrow 11am - 1pm. This is going to be a great learning opportunity and also Chris is one heckuva nice guy. We already have a good number of people showing up but the more the merrier so if you can make it we would love to see you there!

I will be teaching Modern Arnis tonight at Lacava's martial arts in Milford CT at 6:30pm. The host, Chris, is a great martial artist and all around nice guy. :0) Then tomorow I cross over the bridge to teach at CT Shorin Ryu in Portland CT at 1pm. They just had a grand re-opening and this will also be a lot of fun. This school can be traced back to the 70's and was one of the first martial arts schools in this area. One thing I love about seminars is the coming together of so many people from so many different backrounds. What a great learning experience and way to make new friends.

Quick update on me. Ive decided to take a seriously look at my health since...well...im not getting any younger. I have started to close monitor my diet and workout routines to get myself back in shape.

as of September 1st I have lost 7 pounds and have completed my first 5k. Might not seem like a lot but I have terrible knees so that fact that I'm running at all is a big accomplishment for me.

I look forward to reporting back in a couple more weeks with even greater numbers

B

i have said it before but i need to say it again. I am back and this time i am serious.

Spurred by my love for my wife, my friends and family, the MA's and the great site that is MT....I AM BACK!!!

I have renewed energies to get in shape and improve myself both physically and mentally. My own mortality has come into question far to many times this year and far to many time for someone only 26yrs old. I plan to be a father one day and i plan to watch my children grow up. I also plan to watch my little cousin (who is more like my sister) graduate college and eventually get married. I have a lot of life left and i plan to live it.

I tell you this not to make you think "WTF has this guy been doing?" or to create any kind of sympathy. I tell you only because i want to and need to. My only hope is that my friends here (I am pretty sure i have made a couple) offer me support and encouragement and that maybe i also encourage someone else.

So...Here is to a new and better life!!!

B

We recently took a vacation at Ridin Hy ranch in NY. If you or your family like activities such as horse back riding, swimming, fishing, games, and great food, this place is worth trying. Everything is right there on the ranch so you don't have to go anywhere once you are there. Morning horse back riding through the trails is amazing. Most of the horses were great although one that I had was stubborn and wanted to do his own thing! :0) My favorite horses are Champ and Ernest. I am riding at intermediate level and hope to work toward advanced next year Alas, summer vacation is now over.

Where is the Summer flying off to? Lots going on in addition to regular classes. We will be filming some new videos soon as well as re-filming some older ones now that we have a brand new camera and there is also some additional info I want to add. Also it was my honor to be invited to conduct several modern arnis seminars including one in E. Hartford, CT on August 13th. This will be at Crossroads Commumity cathedral on Silver Lane, and another seminar is booked for September in Portland CT at one of the longest running schools in Central CT! I hope that everyone is staying busy and having a great summer!

A tongue in cheek look at what it takes to upgrade MT to the latest and "greatest" version of vBulletin.

Originally Posted by Bob Hubbard

When we first launched MT back when life was simple way back in 2001, upgrading the site was a simple matter of download the new files, update the config file, upload everything and run a script, then login and go.

Today, it's a bit more of a pain in the ass.

Due to the size of MT, and the growing complexity of things, I have to go through more steps to make sure nothing goes wrong, or so wrong it can't be fixed.

A recent attempt to import another site caused significant damage when backups failed to import due to corruption.

So, today's updates work something like this:

Download new files.
Update config file, including disable all plugins code.

Log into server.
Close forum.
Export out -2- full backups of database. (3GB each)
Do test import of each to a dummy database to check integrity.
copy entire web folder to backup (1GB)
upload new files.
run updater.
update all plugins.
remove abandoned ones.
upload new config file reenabling plugins.
fix or remove plugins causing issues.
fix broken template bits.
test site on 4-6 browsers and platforms.
run another backup of database and code.
reopen.

watch issues come in from members running different configurations, attempt to fix issues, often running blind from issues that only seem to effect -1- person and cannot be duplicated.

Find issue notes in the strangest of places as people forget there is a suppoprt forum and suddenly mention greyed out text in the middle of a karate thread I never read. Get PM note a week later complaining issue never resolved. Debate stopping by users house and throwing my fatter cat at them, decide scotch and scooby more important than airfare.

Spend 4-12 hours pouring through support forums for issue fixes, often finding fix to be 'in next version', 'deemed unimportant' or 'must be a conflict, you're on your own'.

Debate chucking it all and retiring into the woods.

Once certain site is reasonably stable and secure, delete most of the excess backups to free up server space.

Attempt to pacify irate member who misses feature removed by software designers, or whose coder has abandoned that isn't compatible with current version due to X. Get told 'well X has that feature and you suck', in about as many words.

Reread thanks from members who appreciate it all and decide that the woods can wait a bit longer.

Deal with expected influx of forgotten user names and passwords as a result of cache clearing and cookie resets.

Drink way too much soda, tea and coffee, avoiding checking blood pressure so as to not break machine.

Periodically rewind video playing in background to double check latest clue found by Velma.

Spend an hour trying to do something in vB4 that took 5 minutes in vB3 only to realize that software designer was probably stoned, drunk or being buggered when coding and ended up hiding the 1 bit needed to make things work and no one's ever looked for it so good luck finding it.

Decide a pay rise is over due, and debate making site pay only. Decide begging for scotch more likely to work.

Gradually kill bugs, develop workarounds and fixes for member complaints, and within a few days be back to normal.

Until next time.

When all the fun starts over again. :D

I will be making another trip to Fitchburg, MA this saturday to teach Modern Arnis. We will break into two groups and work yellow and blue material. It is very exciting to see this group growing and learning! We will touch upon high blue material and the next time we will have three groups going to include more of high blue. Dr. Brassard's group is a great group of people and the day always flies by. Stay tuned for several cool upcoming events!