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MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FITNESS TRAINING
Achieving Real Results !
"A Lifestyle Change"
( Includes the STREET SMART curriculum schedule )
The same as we are each of different sizes and shapes, we each are also born with different degrees and types of talent. It's the same with skills. The difference being, we can improve our skill levels with practice.
Talent is genetic, skills are acquired. This means improved skills are attainable to each of us with practice - "serious routine practice", and that starts with desire and attitude.
Our future, our very lives, are dependent on our desires and what level we wish to attain.
While the STREET SMART course is simple in our 'Basic' version, starting right now, it can be the beginning of change, and hopefully bring improvement to your life from this moment forward. If you're serious, you'll continue training with the Advanced classes.
Stretches will improve flexibility, regardless of our age or condition. Light workouts improve our strength. Defensive practice helps us attain intuitive moves and blocks.
And remember, a reasonable diet and rest in between workouts are just as important as the training itself. So too is the proper mindset !
Together these habits will extend not only our lives, but the quality as well !
The only way to improve, the only way to start being better at what you want, is to act on your inner feelings. Don't think you can't learn, don't think you can't keep up with the others in the class. We all have to start somewhere, and that is always at the beginning. We progress each in turn, and with practice we do improve.
Henry Ford
We see it all the time, at the first class some people are withdrawn, like being in an elevator with strangers. Then, after a night or two, when we realize we're all here for the same reason, we loosen up. Before you know it, you're with a group of new friends all seeking the same improved self-confidence and capability of self-defense from unwarranted aggression.
We have students seeking different goals or levels. We have students who are overweight. We have students who are in their sixties who have never worked out a single day in their lives since leaving school. At the same time, we all desire to be able to protect ourselves, and our friends and family if need be.
If you are not located close enough to join us in the STREET SMART classes, check with friends and co-workers on where you can go to train. Just remember, every one of us is different, each of us are seeking different goals. Our point being, there are many types of schools teaching different disciplines, make certain before signing a contract that the school teaches exactly what you are looking for.
There's a huge difference in a school whose instructor strives for competition, if that is his or her personal taste, you'd best be prepared for that type of learning. Competition is a great way to seek conditioning and trophies, plaques and awards do help many individuals to continue with workouts and learning. Other schools, like STREET SMART, are dedicated to true self-defense tactics to prepare you for real world altercations, not sanctioned ring fights where there are rules, regulations and referees.
Please, do not misunderstand our comments here. Karate for kids can be good. It does teach them self-respect, self-confidence and how to obey instructions, along with a multitude of life situations...IF, you choose the right instructor. There are good programs, in our opinion, but there are also some that are simply "belt assembly lines" charging huge fees for each new piece of colored cloth. You should choose an instructor wisely.
We teach 'adults only' for several reasons. Ladies as young as sixteen are allowed only if a parent also takes the class with them. At eighteen many are away from home and can benefit from this type of training, so we do allow them to join us. With young men, and we're very serious about this, testosterone can be a problem. Our Basic class is open to those who demonstrate to us they are capable of reasoned thought and that they are of suitable temperament. We are not training students to go out and misuse their new abilities.
Our Advanced classes are just that, and contain some very serious strikes and throws which can be life threatening if misused. We do allow a few young men in their twenties to participate, again based on their attitude. Few men under thirty years of age are allowed to train in the 'eXtreme' version of our classes.
We also keep our classes limited to no more than ten students, preferring no more than eight per session, so we can better specialize in precise training. We want to be able to see what you are doing, right or wrong, so corrections can be made before bad habits settle in. Personal training, should be just that.
While fancy kicks, and even grappling techniques such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, are required learning for those interested in ring type competition. On the street, knowing a few of the better moves of several different disciplines is much more important to personal survival. Having a belt to the umpteenth degree will not impress a thief with a gun or knife, nor will that same threat of 'karate training' deter a group of punks intent on embarrassing you, or keep them from requesting your wallet.
There are hundreds of kicks and throws, with multiple hundreds of strikes and punches, which are available to the student of open-hand fighting techniques. Learning the proper defensive and offensive moves to protect yourself should be limited to the ones that really work, not because they 'look cool' in the dojo…
More importantly, every kick or strike you spend time learning should be simple enough to perform in the heat of battle, when your nervous system is screaming with adrenalin from the intense emotional rush of forced confrontation. When this happens, you better be able to react accordingly…without conscious thought or planning. There will be no instructor or coach standing nearby to hint at what you should do next.
STREET SMART shares important bits and pieces of mixed martial arts knowledge including tae kwon do, kenpo, muay thai, several 'on the ground' BJJ type moves such as arm-bars, a touch of arnis stick-type fighting moves, as well as the use of the kubaton, and a large dose of hapkido. Each and every cherry-picked technique is geared towards true close quarter combat battle winning education. Yet they are moves you'll learn quickly and can retain with minimal effort.
In STREET SMART training we don't make our kicking attacks at the head or torso, we strike out at the knee or, better yet, just below. Even an ankle strike can cause 'thought disruption' with our opponent, which can then give us time to prep for a more serious defensive attack.
High kicks to the head or body may look professional and cool, but there's no need to acquire that skill level. Dancing around like a ballerina is not advised while out in a darkened parking lot. We aim for his knees as our bodies' joints don't take well to being reversed. When a knee is struck with force, there's no give, especially if his weight is on that leg. Bone breaking, tendon tearing, results are what we'll get. This is a harsh way to treat another human…but when the circumstances call for anything goes, we better be prepared to defend our selves and family in any legally justifiable way we can.
There are times when simple moves are best. We would not desire to break the leg of a drunken friend or brother-in-law at a family gathering simply because he is rude or belligerent, so we do learn a few usable techniques which can settle these types of confrontations. The same would apply to a misunderstanding with an inebriated diner at the next table in a restaurant. At the same time, we also learn to disarm an attacker who is holding us at gun point, or how to safely disarm someone with a bladed weapon intent on causing us bodily harm.
We practice simple moves in the first couple of classes, then we'll soon find ourselves delving into serious hard-core techniques which may save our life or another innocent bystander.
Street Smart - Basic Class Holds, Throws, Strikes & Kicks
| TYPE | METHOD | CLASS |
| Strikes: (7) | Edge of Hand | 1 |
| Chin Jab | 1 | |
| Jab | 2 | |
| Roundhouse | 2 | |
| Ear Slap | 4 | |
| Knuckle Slap | 4 | |
| Elbow Thrust | 6 | |
| Breaking Free: (4) | Wrist - One & Two Hands | 1 & 2 |
| Bear Hug | 2 | |
| Hair Hold | 2 | |
| Choke Hold | 2 & 7 | |
| Kicks: (4) | Foot Thrust | 2 |
| Ground Kick | 3 | |
| Side Kick | 3 | Knee Strike | 3 |
| Holds: (3) | Handcuff | 6 |
| Arm Reverse | 6 | |
| Thumb Hold | 1 - 8 | |
| Throws: (1) | Hip | 7 |
| Intermediate Weapons: (3) | Sticks | 4 |
| Kubaton | 5 | |
| Karambit | 5 | |
| Kubaton "Takedown" | 7 |
Over the short period of four weeks we'll learn different aspects of self-defense in each class. First it will be simple defensive and offensive strikes and breaks, then we'll get into a little more detail about what to do once we've struck our attacker.
In our second class we'll learn how to get out of stronger holds like a "bear hug", or a "stranglehold", if, we were to let someone get us in those positions. Then the next night we'll learn how to utilize the best "kicks", how and when to use our feet and legs since they're stronger than our arms. We're going to learn to fight back with whatever we've got on us.
"Tools" will be used if available... but remember, we are the "weapon" !
Fighting is about attitude. It's about winning. It's having the self-confidence to be aggressive when faced with someone who is bigger than we are. It's about taking care of ourselves when there's no one else there with us that we can depend on.
Remember, every confrontation is different! We cannot learn set responses for every combative situation… To do the right thing at the right time requires knowing why we should do a particular thing. It requires doing certain things automatically without thinking about how to do it while we're doing it. This takes practice, it takes repetition. And, it takes the proper mind set !
Mental training, thinking on our feet, is every bit as important as knowing various moves. We positively have to be prepared to react to any unforeseen move on our private space. Knowing we can defend ourselves is the first step in the line of progress after we choose the type of learning we desire. Next we must convince ourselves we can do these things to another individual. Sounds simple, but it is not that easy for many people who have not wrestled with these thoughts previously.
I once had a lady in her sixties join my classes with her daughter and son-in-law after the daughter escaped a kidnapping incident. The three of them learned quickly and well. Then when we reached a night when we began discussing moves which could cause serious, even severe damaging bone breaks, the mother-in-law openly stated to the entire class that she "could never do that to another human".
I then asked about the future grandbaby they had told all of us they were planning. What if, someone cornered the grandmother alone with the infant or child as it grew older and threatened to harm it ? Her response was immediate…"Why I'd kill the S.O.B." she blurted out, without a second thought.
Now, that was what I wanted to hear. But, if you would do so to protect a child, why not your own person ? Then she agreed, she simply had not given the situation the proper thought. The main point being, to be able to defend the grandbaby, she would have to know how to protect herself…
There are times we MUST think outside of our normal thought processes…bad guys, do not let moral issues affect them, and when placed in these circumstances…neither can we !