Month: May 2009

“Karate is back”, said an ecstatic Lyoto Machida tonight after his UFC 98 victory over Light Heavy Weight Champion Rashad Evans.

At 3 minutes and 57 seconds into the second round, Evans collapsed like a rag doll with his legs buckled underneath as a result of a punching onslaught by Machida.

It was an exhibition of superior karate tactics, strategy and application. Machida dominated the fight, barely taking a blow from Evans all the while employing textbook karate tactics and combinations.

What makes Machida such a great fighter is his awesome understanding of fighting dynamics, and his ability to apply it against any opponent. His perfect MMA record now stands at 15-0-0.

This makes such a great victory for us who practice and teach karate because Lyoto didn’t just “get lucky”. Rashad is no slouch with a record of 18-1-1. Simply put Rashad Evans is the last in line of the Machida path of destruction. Others include Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva and B.J Penn – all very successful fighters.

And as usual when it comes to talking about karate, Joe Rogan again had a severe case of verbal diarrhea. To paraphrase, he made a rash generalization about karate kicks not being as powerful as muay thai, and also some reference to the “one punch one kill” karate philosophy not applying when fighting a grappler.

Hmmm, don’t know about you but it seems to me that you can’t grapple too successfully when you’ve been knocked out – what do you think, Joe?

This is a good day for karate teachers.

You can now give a stunning example of a traditional karate fighter in the public eye, who now rules a sport where BJJ and muay thai have dominated. As Joe Rogan said after the fight (the one thing I think I can actually agree with him on) is that the UFC has entered a new era.

The funny thing is that those of us who teach karate see exactly what Machida does and we understand his strategies, but so many UFC fans, fighters and coaches are completely bamboozled.

Use this opportunity to promote your school. Reference it in your classes and get people excited and talking about karate again…

Karate is back!

Last week we welcomed 2 news students to the karate club.

BOB

and

Bobby Bully

Man, these guys are great!

If you’ve never beat on a BOB then it’s about time you did. The “BOBs” are free standing human like rubber manikins that you can practice just about all your striking techniques on with full force.

When I brought these two new guys to the club last week my students went nuts. Kids and adults alike.

You may think that punching a heavy bag is the same and there is no need for a “gimicky” human looking punch bag – I used to feel the same way until I put BOB and Bobby Bully to the test. Years ago I’d used an early version of BOB and enjoyed it, but due to the cost never invested in one for the club when a heavy bag is about 1/3 of the price.

But finally thanks to a successful fundraiser we did last month we went ahead and teamed up with the BOBs. And like I said, my students love beating on the BOBs and yours will too.

Reasons to invest in the BOBs:

1. More realistic than a punch bag – contoured, and dense like a human body but flexible at the neck so the head moves when you hit it. You can practice striking to the eyes, ears, throat, solar plexus, groin, etc.
2. Actual size – BOB and Bobby Bully are life size and adjustable in height so you can make them shorter or taller to suit your students height, or set them at their tallest setting for an encounter with a bigger person.
3. Easily incorporated into your class – an easy way to use your BOBs is to use them in an obstacle course and relay races for kids, or virtually any other drills that invovles striking for your adults. And of course you can always pull the BOBs off their stands and lay them flat on their back for a good “ground and pound” session.

The BOBs range from about $250 USD for Bobby Bully, $350 for the regular BOB and about $400 for “BOB with groin”. Of course if you’ve got a wholesale account you can pick them up for less from your supplier.

If you already have a BOB or two, post your comments below and let people know what you think…

Jason

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– Jason