MMA Stuff » Review

Review: Got Fight?

Jimmy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:43:15 +0000

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post a review of this book because, once reading it there are no need for MMA Training blogs. I was excited when I heard about this book and I was lucky enough to get a copy from the publisher. The publishers probably sent me a copy because I’m so good looking.

Got Fight? is a really in depth and entertaining book that gets you in the mind of one of the toughest fighters in mixed martial arts. The book covers Forrest’s journey to becoming a professional fighter, useful tips for upcoming fighters, random advice, and a great illustration at the end of some technique. In my honest opinion, this book is so great. I remember just cracking up reading some of the stories shared by Forrest Griffin. All I can say is, he’s out of his mind and the man. You will love this, I promise.

Got Fight?: The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat

The Rotater Review

Jimmy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:41:52 +0000

Background
When I first saw The Rotater I was instantly interested. The Rotater is a simple tool that helps with shoulder flexibility and increase your range of motion. This great tool was invented by Scott Kay, a mechanic. Scott wanted an easy physical therapy tool to help him recover from a messy Motocross accident that destroyed his shoulder. So, The Rotater was born.

Benefits For MMA Training
Personally after a hard training session, the next day my shoulders are extremely sore. Just think about everything our shoulders have to endure, submissions that isolate the shoulders, grabbing, pulling, throwing, and punching. Shoulder flexibility is important when it comes to Jiu Jitsu. The extra bit of flexibility may give you that extra split second to escape that Americana. One of my favorite things about this great tool is it’s small and you can use it anywhere.

Application of The Rotater
So when do you actually use The Rotater? Before you train, after you train? While you’re eating cereal? Well I reached out to Kira aka The Fight Geek who is a Muay Thai expert. He’s been using The Rotater for quite a while now and shared his experience with The Rotater with Muay Thai fighters. Kira states

In Thailand the dudes train two, three hour sessions a day, six days a week … my friends over there found it particularly useful to use after the first session … it made the second session for the day noticeably easier.

Unfortunately I didn’t have The Rotater available during my fight training, when I was doing two-a-days but I’m glad I have it now. Kira has found a great way to use The Rotater after many trials.

Anyway, after screwing around with it for a while we basically use it in the following way …

1. Passive stretch and hold all the main positions.
2. Stretch, hold and then add joint rotation (once again do this from all the main positions).
3. Stretch, hold and then add spinal twist (try with all the main positions).

These movements not only loosen up the shoulder, they give you an ‘early warning sign’ for potential problems BEFORE they happen.

I would suggest you invest in The Rotater. Big thanks to Chris (Scott’s business partner) for letting me try out The Rotater.

Follow Kira (TheFightGeek) on Twitter
Check Out Kira’s Training Blog
Follow The Rotater
Purchase The Rotater

New Throwdown Shirts

Jimmy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:07 +0000

“Affliction is proud to present THROWDOWN. With its roots already establish in the Xtreme Sports and Mixed Martial Arts world, once again we prove that craftsmanship and artistic style can blend together and create a identity for all to separate themselves from the masses.”

So Affliction has bought Throwdown. A shirt I personally have is the Throwdown Headstone shirt. Affliction seems to be throwing their style of designs with the Throwdown brand. The shirt is extremely comfortable and fits right. The design on the front is the sign on the

BUY THE SHIRT TODAY & CHECK OUT 3 NEW THROW DOWN SHIRTS

Sprawl Fusion-S Series MMA Shorts Review

Jimmy — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:27:45 +0000

I’ve always been a big fan of sprawl shorts, they are tough, lightweight and provide a lot of room to move. One of the newest shorts that Sprawl has released are the Fusion Stretch Series. I only have about 4 fight shorts and I always thought all shorts are the same. These shorts prove one thing, that all fight shorts are not created equally.

Sprawl Fusion S - Channel Lock

These shorts address many problems with typical fight shorts such as

They Stretch! This is important when throwing kicks or knees and more important when you’re rolling. If you’re like me, you get into some awkward positions.
Light weight – although I don’t know the secret compound of the shorts nor do I care, they are extremely light weight. I almost feel like I have no pants on (I don’t like wearing pants). The light weight design allows better air flow.
The waistband – Sprawl designed a non-slip “Channel Lock” wristband which allows you to adjust your wristband once. The worst thing in the world is having your fight shorts slip off when you’re rolling…
Everything Resistant – Sprawl claims that these shorts are blood resistant, to be honest I haven’t been able to test that out because I don’t try to hurt people at my own gym but I’ll take sprawl’s word on the matter. They are indeed sweat resistant some how, so they are easy to clean.

Bottom Line
Although they don’t have the most badass designs, they are functional which is the most important thing. I definitely recommend picking these up. They stay on and they don’t absorb sweat like a lot of other shorts do.

Sprawl Fusion S

Buy a pair of Sprawl Fusion-S Shorts at Performance MMA

Manumission Fightceuticals Review

Jimmy — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:16:12 +0000

Everyday we use all kinds of product to keep ourselves to hygienic standards. Face wash, body wash, face moisturizer, and shaving gel (for the d00dz). One of the things about Manumission Fightceuticals that separate them from their competitors is their complete solution that they offer. Here is an excerpt from their website about their products.

We decided it’s time somebody recognizes the sacrifices you make day after day. That’s why we engineered the first comprehensive line of personal care products specifically for you. We started by combining natural ingredients. Then we added vitamins, nutrients and anti-oxidants to give the body’s first layer of defense every advantage possible. Once we had the formulas just right, we battle-tested them to make sure all Manumission products are tough enough to do their job when it matters most.

Manumission provides the following products

Body Wash
Body Bar
Face Wash
Shave Gel
Facial Moisturizer

For some reason I really liked the Shave Gel. It provided a smoother shave than a lot of the commercial products. Although I’m very upset that the TSA took my shaving gel when I was flying last week – so I want to thank terrorists for that. All of their products have a great scent and fortifies your skin with essential vitamins.

I cannot stress enough the importance of hygiene when it comes to MMA training. Just think about all of the contact our skin takes on a daily basis training alone. Rolling on mats, the equipment we use and the constant contact we’re having with other individuals.

I recommend purchasing the Manumission Starter Kit. Also follow @Manumission on Twitter.

Gladiator Mouthpiece Review

Jimmy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:30:54 +0000

Ad: Save on your martial arts equipment.

I have a lot of money invested in my teeth, especially because I spent about 3 agonizing years with braces. Now that my teeth are all straight it would be a shame to get my teeth knocked out. Like every person who starts MMA training, they run out and get one of them boil and bite mouthpieces. There are several problems with boil and bite mouthpieces, first off they are too big and they fall out too easily. I saw that a few guys in my gym were using gladiator mouthpieces so I checked out their website.

Gladiator Mouthpieces
So I went to the Gladiator Mouthpiece website and picked my guard. I was told to get the Gladiator Pro mouthpiece, so I picked that. It’s $55 dollars, but for two more dollars you can get a tricolor mouthpiece. Of course I had to do the tri color and get yellow and black to represent the Wu-Tang Killa Beez. After placing my order I waited a few days then in the mail I recieved all the materials I needed to make my mouth impressions.

Mouthpiece Impression Kit & Fruit

The mold comes in the little red and white containers. This is where the magic happens, you take half of the putty type mold from both containers and mix them together. After that you place the mold into the impression plate thing. Then you bite, then do it again with the rest of the mold. The trick is, the putty stuff will harden within a few minutes so you have to get it all done before it hardens. Seems easy right? Not for me, I messed up 4 impressions. I had to call up Custom Guards (the Gladiator Company) and ask them to resend impressions..twice. The issue was my two front teeth biting too high on the impression plate. The solution was to just use a mirror to ensure that you don’t bite too high on the impressions.

The Perfect MMA Mouthpiece
So after sending out the impressions, I received my mouthpiece rather quickly. No more than 4 days I received my wu-mouthpiece. I quickly ripped open the box and tried on my mouth piece. It fit perfectly and actually stayed on my teeth. I also found it easier to breathe with when using it during drills and sparring.

Gladiator Mouthpiece

The great thing about getting Gladiator Mouthpieces you get the mold so you won’t have to go through the impression process again AND 50% off reorders. I love my mouthpiece, would definitely get it if you’re gearing up for competition or fighting. Boil and bite mouthpieces are weak.

BUY A GLADIATOR MOUTHPIECE

Gladiator FTW

GymSoap Review

Jimmy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:29:51 +0000

GymSoap is a wonderful product that is made for those who use the gym. The benches, dumb bells, cardio equipment, and mats are loaded with bacteria that can prevent things such as Staph or Athelete’s Foot. The same goes for MMA mats, all loaded with things that can mess you up pretty bad. GymSoap will prevent infections by killing the influenza virus, bacteria that causes athlete’s foot, staph, and ringworm. It has a nice smell and isn’t harsh on your skin.

My recommendation is using it only on workout days and using it with a mesh shower sponge. It costs 12 bucks, which is very affordable. They also provide free trials. I would buy in quantity though to save some cash. You can also follow GymSoap on twitter: @GymSoap

Buy GymSoap – You won’t regret it, any MMA or fitness person needs this product. **EDIT** Alissa from GymSoap has given me a coupon to give out for you guys: gs20 – as promo code will get 20% off.

Athletic Body Care Products

Jimmy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:58:53 +0000

Since I’m running a hygiene series, I figured it would be great to talk about some products that will really help you out in the hygiene department. The folks from Athletic Body Care have a great line of products that can defend you from nasty infections. “Prevention Before Infection” is their motto, and their products do just that, prevent you from getting infected from fungus or germs.

ABC Foaming Skin Sanitizer

Most people use them hand sanitizers that use harsh chemicals and alcohol that really dries out your skin. Athletic Body Care has the answer by creating their own sanitizer that is alcohol free, and more effective as you use it. It can be applied to almost anywhere. Personally I’ve thrown this bad boy right right in my MMA gym bag. Instead of using baby wipes that are meant for babies, I can use this product BEFORE and AFTER my workout. You just rub some in, in the specific area, and bam that’s it. No need to rinse and wash.

ABC Clean Power Wash

This wash has 4 functions, washing away dirt, sweat, bacteria, and makes you smell nice. It also keeps your skin nice and moisturized, I’ve noticed a lot of regular soaps and body washes cause your skin to dry out, this does the exact opposite. The soap also is made from mostly natural extracts. The one thing I would suggest buying is a mesh shower sponge when using it so you don’t use it all quickly. Also there are little beads in the soap, be careful you don’t get any of them in your eye.

ABC Daily Defense Lotion

This is a product I’ve been waiting for a lotion that doesn’t feel completely greasy and will help aid with some of my damaged skin. From training, I get little scratches or dings in my skin, which are dealt with by the lotion. It will also protect the skin from bacteria. I use it in the morning and after I shower at night.

Conclusion

These three products are the ones I’ve personally use, and fully endorse. I feel that, yes I could spend a bit less and get regular cleaning products that will dry out my skin and be geared towards regular people. Lets be real here though, us that train in MMA are exposed to a lot of bacteria and germs from mats, our equipment, and our sparring partners. It only makes sense to use product designed for US.

You can check out Athletic Body Care Products at their website. They offer free demos and you can buy their product off of Amazon. The cost is about $10-15. To save money, I do use regular body wash on days I don’t train, and when I do train I use the gym soap, but that’s just me. Also, I contacted the company via email, and they contacted me back really quick, which I want to give kudos for.

USE ATHLETIC BODY CARE PRODUCTS

Combat Sports Hybrid Fight Gloves

Jimmy — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 04:26:09 +0000

These gloves have lasted me for two years of throwing combinations against sparring partners, dropping bombs during ground & pound and throwing thousands of punches during drills. These 70$ gloves are obviously from Combat Sports which are great for MMA sparring. There is a great amount of technology below the surface of the gloves that I don’t want to get into and I figure no one cares. The bottom line is, the gloves protect your fists really well.

Pros

Durable
Lightweight
Allows mobility for jiu jitsu

Cons

Expensive compared to other gloves
Not good bag gloves

More About The Cons

I don’t know if it’s just me but after doing bag or pad work my pinky knuckle gets all cut up. It seems to be the gloves irritating my knuckle and causing the skin to get all cut up. It feels like really terrible rug burn that takes a long time to heal. Now, it’s a possibility it maybe the glove size or I don’t know how to punch but I doubt it.

I would buy them if you have the money, if you don’t there are many cheaper solutions. Do you own these gloves? Let me hear your review.

Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts

Jimmy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:06:28 +0000

I picked up this book from the Martial Arts section at Borders for about 20 bucks. It’s called Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts by Sean Cochran. Overall it’s a great book to have in your library. Though the name of the book can be deceiving because a lot of the content is Strength Training related.

The bookcovers

Warm ups and stretches
Dumbell, Elastic Cord, Medicine Ball workouts.
Body weight exercises (push ups and stuff)
Core and other basic exercises
Plyometrics (Really good coverage)
A touch of nutrition and program examples

If you’ve lifted weights prior to MMA training, you’d probably know a lot of these exercises. Such as their coverage of deadlifts and squats. The book really touches base on Plyometrics though. They have a nice sample schedule and many different plyometrics (upper, lower, high impact, low impact). The book is about 175, so there isn’t much to read. It’s a good reference if you’re trying to customize your training regiment. A recommended buy for beginners.