Conditioning, Conditioning, Conditioning

Did I mention Conditioning! I was watching a two hour special two nights ago called How Bruce Lee changed the world. It was truly amazing to hear so many people; actors, comedians, musicians, body builders, pro athletes, Shaolin monks, and other martial artists talk about his impact on them and the world.

However, one thing that stood out to me beyond Bruce's personal dedication to training, was his realization on the importance of conditioning. While watching the show I started to reflect on a recent experience from the past weekend where I was asked to assist for three classes at RDT, each an hour long. I gladly took the opportunity to get some training time in and to have the opportunity to work with different people, each with different skill levels and styles.

In each class we were working an excellent punching and defense drill, however we were going to work our left side forward...About 30 minutes into the second class I was getting winded and my shoulders were killing me. At that moment I realized I needed to do more, much more, to elevate my personal physical conditioning. Matt Furey Combat Conditioning, here I come...

Bummed

I was supposed to train with Vince and Gregg last night but wasn't able to due to a sore throat.  It wasn't bad enough to stop me but I didn't want to pass it on to them, so I took the high road.  Oh well next week.

Close Quarters Combat/Battle Anachronism Club

In Virginia I had some very close friends that participated in SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and Darkon, live action role-playing games.

Although both are live-action role-playing games, they differ wildly in culture and implementation. SCA uses rattan weapons covered with foam padding while Darkon uses a different type of padded weapon. SCA allows head shots with the weapons but no hits from the back. Darkon doesn't allow head shots but does allow back shots. Ugh…

In order to move things forward, I am going to combine the best of both worlds but with the sole purpose of testing period based military combat strategies and tactics through weekly or bi-monthly meetings where groups compete for territory and glory.

Here is the call…I am looking for anyone that is looking for a way to test their weapons or hand to hand combat skills to help build a gathering.

Day One with Vince

Vince invited someone else to train with us, Gregg Suskin.  He has a background in Jun Fan, FMA, Silat, etc.

Our first day went well.  Slower than I would have liked, but it went well.  It will be a great format to supplement the structured teaching I get from RDT.

Self Discovery

Now that I am back in, I feel the need to test my new skills and do some research.  I turned to a local JKD expert, Vince Perez-Mazzola, whom I have known for almost four years.  He has been "retired" for about five years now, however, after telling him what I am trying to accomplish, he decided to train again.

The goal is to just work out, no teaching, no structure, just train and spare.

12 weeks in

After a 12 year layoff from close quarters combat, I decided to start training again at http://www.realitydefense.com/. After 12 weeks the training has been excellent and eye opening.

Having a year of Aikido in England (Kai Shin Kai), two years of Filipino Martial Arts with Sifu Billy Bryant, and years of JKD with George Lee (Virginia George Lee), I realized I had a lot of skills but no context.

After accumulating years of theoretical knowledge around strategy, tactics, philosophy, etc I came to the realization that only through actual contact am I able to "understand" it.