The Crazy Monkey experience

My buddy from the gym, Thong Weng Hong aka Thongo, wrote an excellent testimony of the Crazy Monkey Defense program in KDTA to our new members. Read about it below:

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I just want to share here my positive experiences with the CMD Programme.

We all have our different motivations and reasons for starting with the CM Programme. Some want to lose weight, some want to have a fun activity... Mine was to learn a real, functional martial arts which would work for me, if the situation called for it. Learning a functional martial art in today's society is no longer a luxury (IMHO), it is a necessity. After hearing and seeing all the violent crime happening to friends and loved ones (and sometimes, almost happened to me), I decided that I could no longer afford to take not learning martial arts lightly. If pushed to a corner, I needed to know for myself I could do something.

So where do you begin? And how much time would you have to invest and in how long a period would you be able to learn to defend yourself? Fortunately for me, I was already acquainted with Vince and the CM Programme when I was doing the Fizfit Programme. Here was a world class functional (and fun-tional!) programme right at my doorstep (of the gym) and with an excellent and dedicated instructor that I told myself, I would be stupid and doing myself a great disservice for not doing it.

And so I made it my 2009 resolution to do.. and stick with the CM Programme. Time is a big factor and consideration for me because of my work and family commitments. However, here in the CM Programme was something I could commit myself too. Make it at least 2 days a week for it. Very workable for me for reaping tremendous benefits and getting what I wanted (in terms of functional martial arts).

CM is great for me because it works for me, because it works for really talented martial artists like Vince, Mike and Charles (who have all nearly spent a lifetime pursuing and honing their martial arts skills). And now here is a programme which is so well structured and designed for the everyday joe (with little time, busy work, wife and kids) with zero martial arts knowledge like me.

I have been to other traditional boxing gyms with scary sounding names and regretted it. It's hard to learn anything of real, and lasting benefit without getting your head taken off in such gyms. Once was more than enought to convince me I didn't need such kind of alpha-male aggression which was not conducive to learning martial arts. With CM, I could learn at my own (slow) pace without getting my head blown off and going to work the next day without any broken teeth, nose or headache... and still really learn something.

At the same time, it is not watered down with just mere drills with no real application because it has the element of sparring, which is essential to hone your timing, distance, balance and judgement. Sparring here is different from other martial arts centres because it too is structured, balanced and grows progressively with your own growth in the programme. Having the element of sparring is good for me, because it gives me a feel of what might happen in a real life situation. Remember that Rodney King developed this programme with his input as a boxer, bouncer and martial artist.

Having a good lecture/teaching material is only as good as the person presenting it. All I can say here is, there is no one teacher who is more dedicated to our martial arts education and journey than Vince, who has put in more hours, dedication and heart into his craft and passion... and we're all reaping the benefits. I would like to say a big thank you to Vince for all your dedication to your work and to us, week after week, month after month, year after year.

I am more convinced that I am right after reading all the positive emails and seeing the enthusiasm on everyone's faces as the come for the CM classes every week.

Did I also mention the great sparring partners we have? There is no ego or danger of escalating egos in the CM Classes (unless you want to go toe-to-toe with Vince!) and all your sparring partners are intuitive and respond appropriately to your level of boxing. While they may be better than you, they don't need to prove it to you, although they can.. and that's where we all learn to improve, safely. Your Journeymen mentors are all dedicated to the programme and experienced. Learn from them and tap into their knowledge of which they're all to willing to share.

Hence to me, anything you guys want to work on is all fine by me because it is all good.

Congratulations on your choice. Your search stops here. CMDP @ KDTA.

Safe training,
Thong

Tennis Match MMA sparring

Last Wed night I had one of the best training session for a long time. We've been doing some MMA training since last year but when Vince introduced "tennis match MMA sparring", I realised that I could actually see how some of the techniques work in slow motion and this helps me to understand the intricacies of a particular technique so that I can apply it better. For those curious, tennis match sparring means each person take turns as attacker-defender so that both can drill a certain technique.

By limiting the sparring to a certain technique like the Single Leg Takedown only, it allows us to drill and practice this often-used technique with more focus and intensity.

By the time we were allow to spar like normal, most of us were able to apply those MMA moves smoothly. And I managed to do a few single and double leg takedowns, something that I've not been able to do whenever I spar in the past. By understanding the mechanics and flows of a particular technique through tennis match sparring, we improve our timing and execution of that technique. Tennis match sparring allows you to break down a technique and help you to understand why you fail to execute it earlier. Of course, there are other factors like physical attributes and fight plan but that's for another entry.

Note to self: remember to check distance, setup or distract, level change then lift up.

MMA training in Kuala Lumpur

Haven't been blogging awhile but looking back, this year signaled a surge of interest in the Crazy Monkey Defense (CMD) class at our gym, KDT Academy.

From around 10-12 people training since 2007, the class has dwindled down to around 5-6 people by the end of 2008. Many stopped due to work commitments, traveling, relocation and etc. One of the highlight of 2008 was my fellow gym-mate Albert Lim graduating as Certified Trainer and opening his own gym called Studio 23 in Kuching, Sarawak. Congrats Bert and hope I'll have the chance to visit you in Kuching soon.

But come 2009, boom!! An explosion of interest and all of sudden, we have a big batch of newcomers to the Crazy Monkey Defense class till Vince have to allocate a separate session for them. This will help them pick up the basics faster and get them up to speed with us "old-timers". One of the best thing from this is now I get to train 2 hours a night instead of the normal 1 hour session we used to do last year. And so far, it has been most satisfying because not only do I get to train longer, I managed to refresh myself on the fundamentals again by joining the CMD beginners class. I began to notice a significant improvement to my game by going back to the basics which I've been neglecting in favour of a more flamboyant game.

Why the sudden increase in MMA (mixed martial arts) training, esp. in program with a questionable name like "Crazy Monkey Defense" in a country where traditional martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Aikido or Karate dominate the scene? Well, the answers could be many, but I suspect this is due to fast growing popularity of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) reality shows or fights.

While originally MMA is meant for professional fighters, in the sense that it has a much more demanding training regimen than most typical martial arts, the Crazy Monkey Defense training is specifically catered for people who want learn MMA as a fun and exciting pastime, perfect for people like me who enjoys combat sports minus the killer regimen (or risk of injuries) of a pro-fighter.

With so many new people in the gym, I look forward to some really interesting and exciting training sessions with lotsa good stuffs to learn. If you are interested to train MMA in Kuala Lumpur, please visit http://www.kdta.com/ for more info.

Rodney King seminar in KL

Despite my super busy schedule (PC Fair's here again), I managed to sneak some time off to attend an awesome seminar by the founder of Crazy Monkey Defense Program (CMDP), Rodney King.

This is Rodney's first seminar in Kuala Lumpur and having attended his seminar in Singapore before, I would have to say Rodney is an amazing coach with crazy skills.

Day One - Crazy Monkey Defense
Altogether there were around 12 of us and we were introduced to the basics of the Crazy Monkey Defense. Although few of us were familiar with CMD, it's always refreshing and enlightening to train under the Chief Mentor himself. Instead of showing us a bunch of techniques, Rodney shared and talked about the mental aspect of the game: apprehension, fear, pride, control and how they relate to the respective range and skillsets of CM1, CM2, CM3 and CM4.

We were put through few drills not really for the sake of learning few techniques, but more for us to experience the "concepts" of CMD in action. Every drills allow us to experience and reflect not just only on our boxing skills, but to truly understand how important is the four main drivers (Balance, CMD, TES and Conditioning) in a fight. We were allowed to do wrong initally so that we can experience for OURSELVES the difference between the right and wrong ways. This holistic approach to coaching an already functional fighting skill like boxing is what set the CMDP miles apart from the typical I-teach-you-follow martial arts schools. Which is why Rodney prefers to see himself as a coach rather than a teacher.

Day Two - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
With two superb and committed coaches in KDT Academy like Sam and Vince, I managed to pick up a decent ground game over the last few years although I'm more a standup guy. Having attended seminars from awesome BJJ fighters & trainers like Adam Kayoom and John Will, I wasn't expecting much from Rodney. I mean, Rodney is so well-known for his Boxing or Muay Thai that to me, it has overshadowed his BJJ credentials (Rodney is a BJJ black belt under Rigan Machado).

Boy, was I ever so wrong! Although I don't profess to know much about BJJ, what Rodney taught and shown in this seminar totally blown me away!! It's not so much about the techniques (although they were awesome too), but more about his APPROACH to BJJ. His approach to Jits is quite radical in the sense that there were so simple, yet so effective that you wonder why didn't you think about them (or use them) earlier. But like any functional fighting skills, concepts and strategies will only work if you put in the mat time.

The day end with some free rolling without any submission. Rodney explained that if everybody is so eager or afraid of the submissions, they will be a hindrance to learning. So removing them will allow us to learn more in this instance.

Day Three - Mixed Martial Arts
Final day and my favorite thingy, MMA! Again, using the Crazy Monkey Defense as the coaching methodology, Rodney showed us a progression from standup, takedown and striking from the controlling or dominating position. And then he showed us an escape from bottom back to standup. All using only a few high percentage techniques.

Rodney mentioned the drawbacks of focusing exclusively on sports BJJ (pure grappling) and how this might develop bad habits (translate bad for your health) in a self defense situation. He said that the original BJJ was meant for the "streets" and can be applied both for combat sports or self defense.

Interestingly, Rodney shared that having a set of great fighting skills meant nothing if you do not live a good life, or set a good example to those who know you or look up to you. This is because some people define themselves just by how well they fight. Take away those skills, they have nothing else in life, just like an empty shell. Personally I find this very meaningful because we should strive to be a better person first before striving to be a better fighter. It's our deeds that define us, not our skills. Probably why many people like and respect polite and humble fighters like Randy Couture or Matt Hughes.

My only regret is I failed to take time off to bring Rodney for some sight-seeing in KL. Thank goodness for Mikey who managed to do the honour before Rodney left.

Kudos to Rodney for a great seminar and look forward to seeing you returning to KL soon!

Alive and Kicking

Last 2 months we have been working on our kicks, specifically Muay Thai low kicks. For warm-ups, we have been doing 2,4 and 6 punches, each followed by 2,4,6,8 and 10 kicks. This adds up to 30 kicks per set and on the average about 90 kicks per session. By then, I would be totally exhausted and burned out. What a warm up!

Finally I get to learn the much feared Muay Thai thigh kick. But our variation involved a switch step. I failed to understand why this is so (or I forgot to ask) because personally I prefer the typical "step 45 degree and kick" technique. I was taught to switch step fast and use the hip rotation + swing the arm back to generate the power for the kick. Easy to understand, hard to do for me. I'm afraid I have little flexibility left in this "chubby" and "seldom workout" body of mine. Still I'll train hard coz this is one kick I really want to learn.

During sparring, what I suspected became true: I was too slow to execute the kick without telegraphing it to my opponent. Without the switch step however, it's easier to execute, especially after some neat punches. Some of the my kicks landed on the side (the lower ribs) of my opponent instead of the thigh. Not sure if this is good. I also found out that I'll get deck in the head if I don't protect myself when kicking. The plus side is that it means I can move in and use boxing to counter kicking.

Wanna see a clumsy old man kicking? Click HERE.

Me Time

This has been a tumultuous year for me. After a good 06 and fantastic 07, my business suffered severe setbacks this year. Coz of that, I've been unable to make it for training consistently.

For those few times that I managed to attend, I really enjoyed the training despite some confusion due to me missing too many classes. It's the one thing I look forward to when I felt down from my business turmoil. Hmmm... perhaps I like to beat people to de-stress, or get beaten in return. Lol...

This is also the year Vince introduced to us many elements of MMA (kicks, clinches, takedowns, grappling, submissions, ground & pound etc). I absorbed some techniques (eg. passing the guard MMA style, basic clinch) like a sponge and yet failed to register some seemingly easy techniques (sprawl, basic low kicks, throws from clinch, breaking the half guard into submission etc).

There are times I contemplated stopping for good. I gave myself many reasons not to continue something I've been doing since the last 7 years. I told myself I'm too old for this shit, too clumsy and slow, this is not a priority in my life, my business is in a mess, I got a growing daughter to take care etc etc. I even said to myself that grown men mutually bashing one another for an hour is not healthy for my spiritual development and bearings. I got so demotivated that sometimes I just let time pass beyond 8pm to gave myself an excuse to skip training.

It has gotten to a point where I told myself I'll sign up a fitness center because I can workout anytime I like and to find something more "suitable" for my age, like Tai Chi, Chi Gung or Aikido, the latter being more appealing to me having so many friends into it. But I did not act on any of these. I'm still busy with work.

Then on Wed night, the guys asked me if I'll be more free now that I've released my company and will be going back to a regular working life. They asked me come to open mats on Sat. I was reluctant to answer because I knew there are many other things to do on Sat even if I don't work. My coach and old buddy Vince looked me in the eyes and said candidly, "Hey, look at it as some ME time... ME... get it?"

All of sudden, a realisation came to me. Why have I been so edgy this year, it's because I was derived of ME TIME. The Crazy Monkey Defense Program in KDTA has always been my favourite pastime. I have been neglecting my "hobby" for too long, hence no proper R&R. Of course there are other martial arts or sports I can do but this is me, full contact combat sports has always been my cup of tea. And the camaraderie in the gym is awesome, call it Brotherhood of Gloves. ;)

Guess I'll keep on this road till my tyres are punctured or worn out.

Throwing proper body hooks

I had few nicknames that the guys gave me in Facebook. One of them is Uncle Choy Lay Futt. I guessed this had to do with the way I sparred. Although I can no longer be considered a newbie in boxing, I still do few common no-nos like dropping my hands (see the pic in previous entry) and throwing those telegraphic long winded haymakers like a gorilla swinging his arms wildly.

Although my last entry detailed out the steps I need to do to correct these mistakes, it wasn't until I observed Mike sparring recently that I realised the beauty of proper boxing moves. Mike just rushed in and threw textbook body hooks that were not only beautiful to watch, but also painfully effective.

His body hooks were simply by the book: bend the knees, keep the hands close to body, rotate the elbow and hip 90 degree and use the legs to drive the shots. Read this entry for more details.

The only advantage he probably had is his height where he doesn't need to level change much when throwing those body hooks. I imagine any tall guy would have real troubles from his body shots. Way to go buddy!

Boxing - back to basics

Just broke my own record. Not fights won or lost, but attendance record! I managed to train twice a week since, err... this year. ;D

This week we sparred one pair at a time while the others observed. Everyone will then comment on their performance. This is really helpful for us to reflect on our strengths, and to correct our mistakes.

Although I wasn't aware of it during sparring, it appears that I dropped my hands too much (see pic above), esp when delivering body shots and was slowed to pull my hands back when doing straight shots. Everytime I dropped my hands to do body shots or even hooks, I got decked in the face. I felt like a sitting duck in an open field.

Some comments were:

1. I need to pull my hand back faster. Earlier I was worried about my control when I jab and pull fast I might hit too hard. Then Vince suggested I pull back fast but keep an open hand instead of a clench fist. This worked rather well for me tonight.

2. Remember TES - Tight Economical Structure. Hunchback, hands up, diving board punches and circle off.

3. Stick to boxing basics: level change when throwing body shots, bend the knees, keep the hands close to body, rotate the hips and use the legs to drive up the shots.

4. I need to do more pad works and focus mitts. Argh, how to spare time for this lar?

Thanks guys for the feedbacks.

My first MMA sparring

I finally got a taste of the what MMA sparring is like on Wed. And it was nothing like what I imagined it would be!

After another class featuring more takedowns from the clinch, we move on to some light sparring covering standup, clinch and ground aka MMA. I've done sparring before during my Karate days and Boxing lessons but none in a proper MMA format.

Things I learned from my first MMA sparring:

1. You can tire easily especially when you clinch or grapple too much. OK I admit, I'm as fit as pig trying to do horse jumping.

2. Be careful when kicking because it compromise your balance. Don't let your opponent trap or catch your leg. Anderson Silva vs James Irvin comes to mind.

3. Keep the defense tight. Do not neglect defense in favour of an offensive game. Do not engage openly if you are exhausted. Slither away to catch your breath. I failed to learn this the umpteenth time and guess I need some hard knocks to be reminded of this.

4. Setup for kicks or takedowns. Do not blindly rush in or you'll eat many nasty shots.

5. It's real hard to defend strikes when you are in the bottom. See my post on Ground and Pound.

6. Focus on my strengths and do not try too many things at once. This is probably more applicable in a real match because it's only through sparring you can discover what works best for you. So it's ok to try out whatever you've learned. Sparring is also the best way to discover one's strengths and weaknesses.

7. Despite learning maybe 4-5 throws/takedowns from the clinch, I didn't get to make it work during sparring. Guess I just need to put in more mat time.

Looking forward to the next sparring sessions.

The Whizzer of Octagon

I gotta admit I know very little about takedowns. I preferred standup striking to takedown or grappling, except for the clinch or Muay Thai neck tie.

Things have gotten to be very interesting this year. With focus sessions and integration of MMA techniques into our Crazy Monkey boxing structure has ignited my interest in a whole different way. I missed pure boxing, and BJJ rolling too. Too bad we have limited time to feed our infinite interest.

One of the most interesting technique I've learned is the whizzer, or some called it overhooking the arm. This common MMA technique has multiple use: from defending a single leg takedown to controlling your opponent or taking him down.

As demonstrated above by one of my favorite MMA instructor, Mark Hatmaker, the whizzer is a must have tool in any MMA fighter arsenal. Because of my hectic schedule, I still haven't got the opportunity to put this to a test. Will write more as soon as I get the chance to try this in sparring. Felt kinda awkward having learned so many MMA techniques recently. I'm worried I'll be slowed down by the increase of techniques in my fighting toolbox - too many to choose from. Hope more mat time will disprove this.