Health and Fitness

EVOLUTION OF FIGHTING TECHNIQUES   The Shaolin Temple in Henan province, China, was founded by a humble Indian Buddhist monk called Batuo around 495 BC. In 517 BC the Bodhidharma travelled from India to the Shaolin Temple, where he founded Ch’an Buddhism or what is more commonly known as Zen. The legend is that when he arrived at the temple, he discovered the monks were weak from practicing sitting meditation all day, so he conceived and taught them a series of internal and external exercises to increase their health, strength, and vitality. These later developed into what we now call Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Qi (Chi) Gong. Throughout the history of the temple, there has been a steady stream of monks bringing the best skills from the Asian world, combining them with ancient Shaolin skills, and then refining these modified skills for optimal effectiveness. The Shaolin Temple Fighting techniques are not pages from a history book but are something that are as alive and relevant tod...

Every morning, I get up and train. My students see me do the same thing, year by year by year. It’s only when they go in the ring and fight that they understand why I do the same thing every year, every day. The simple things are the most useful but they take time and effort to master. For example, I train my left leg to be fast and sharp. It’s not very powerful but it's fast. My right leg is very heavy and I use my left leg to attack, to break my opponents plan, any time I have the opportunity. I use my right leg to do the round house kick. If I get them with this kick then I know I will knock them out. I practice many years just for this one kick. I know I can do this kick from any angle, close or long distance. I have confidence because I've done this kick so many times. I'm not very tall but I'm quite heavy. My opponent is always taller than me so they have a longer reach than me. This is why I need good body conditioning. I don’t have as much opportunity as them to...

If you want to become a good MMA fighter then you need to train with focus. You can't be the best at ground, punch, and kick. You need to choose one or two skills that you will become special at and focus on these then have the other skills as the extra things you can do. I have many MMA students that want to study with me, they say they know Juijutsu, Thai Boxing, Boxing etc but when I see them train, I ask them, “Which  is your weapon? Your kick or your punch?”  Most people don't have a lethal weapon. They are not 100% in control of their punch or their kick. They have no weapon that can enable them to win.  This means they have nothing special. I tell them, this means that every time you go to fight, you are hoping for luck. You don't know which skill will help you to win the fight:  kick or punch or ground fighting. When you become a fighter, you can’t live for luck, you need to have full confidence, believe in your punch or your kick or your knee or elbow. Know ...