Team:

Excellent job this afternoon on the mats! We spent the entire class performing drills designed to increase your technical ability, coordination and balance, stamina, as well as polish your skills and muscle memory.

Remember, open mat is at noon tomorrow, and think about carrying over into your free training the drills we covered today, such as:

• Kimura drill from guard;
• Triangle to arm bar drill from guard;
• Knee on the back (your opponent turtles, you switch side-to-side, staying parallel with your opponent's belt)
• Knee on the belly to arm bar (work this 1-2-3, where 1 and 2 are switches from side-to-side, and on 3, your opponent pushes your knee. Scoop his bicep and switch to arm bar);
• Open guard replacement (opponent stands above your head, raise and cross your feet at your opponent's hips. Turn your body and end up square with your opponent);
• Arm bar to arm bar from guard (if your opponent escapes the first arm you attack and postures, hook his head with your foot and arm bar the other side); and
• Arm bar to omoplata from guard (if your opponent escapes the first arm you attack but stays low, transition into the omoplata).

Remember, all of these drills work the fundamentals, which are essential to building a solid foundation. We ended class with several rounds of free training. Everyone is looking awesome!

See you on the mat -- tomorrow at noon!

Team:

Make plans to train before you cookout this weekend. In addition to Saturday's class, we've scheduled an open mat for noon on Sunday. Come in and polish your game! We'll also be closed on Labor Day, but will pick back up with class on Thursday at 7:45 p.m.

See you all on the mat -- tomorrow!

Team:

August 2008 marked the official one-year anniversary of Spencer County Martial Arts. As we look back over the past year and reflect, we can say that the school has come a long way. Starting with just a handful of students taught at a local church, SCMA has flourished into a school with literally dozens of faces, some old and some new.

As our space became limited at the church, we began a great partnership with Journey Fitness, which has helped us bring this art to even more citizens of Spencer County and the surrounding areas.

Whether you've been training with us for one year, or one week, we sincerely thank each of you for your dedication to yourself and to our Academy. You're part of an extended family who cares deeply about the success of its brothers and sisters -- young and old -- both on and off the mat.

Each of you is helping to shape the future of SCMA, one class at a time. There are ways to do things in this world. You can do just enough to get the job done, or you can go above and beyond. And in those endeavors you care deeply about, you should try to give it your all, for life is too short not to.

Such has been our philosophy with building and growing our school. We're committed to your personal growth and development in this amazing art of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. We love to teach, and seeing each of you proper and improve your game over the past year has been incredibly rewarding.

Exciting times are ahead for our Academy. More training opportunities will soon be available for children and adults. Our family is growing, and we ask that you continue to spread the word. Tell a friend. Bring him or her with you to a class.

Take time to reflect on life and on your training. If you get frustrated with your progress, realize it's a natural emotion and work through it. Look at how far you've come since you first stepped on the mat!

Going forward into year two of SCMA, let's all strive to make the Academy even more successful, together, as a united team.

See you on the mat.

Team:

Kimbo vs. Ken Shamrock...this is going to be an interesting fight to watch. Here's the details, courtesy of Gracie Magazine. My money is on Ken due to his overall experience, and especially if the match ends up on the ground, which it most likely will. That said, Kimbo always has a puncher's chance. What do you think?

Fighters to face off on US network television

Media monster CBS, the network television channel in the United States, seems not to be playing around when it comes to promoting MMA to television viewers. It is so serious about it that for the October-4 event it has called upon two of the biggest characters in the American MMA scene: Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. Considered to be a modern phenomenon, coming to fame through videos aired on the internet, Kimbo will have the chance to face someone many consider to be one of the most important figures in American MMA history.

The venue for the event will be the Bank Atlantic Center, in Florida, and already has the directors of EliteXC CBS excited. “Millions upon millions have been entertained by Shamrock over the years in Japan, the UFC, the WWF and now the WWE. He is the greatest example of a pay-per-view commodity in the sport. Putting the two together (Shamrock and Kimbo Slice) will maximize the attention to MMA on October 4th,” said Jared Shaw, EliteXC vice president.

At 44, Ken Shamrock is coming off a five-fight losing streak, and hasn’t known victory since June of 2004, when he knocked out Kimo Leopoldo. Now, Kimbo Slice debuted in professional MMA just last November. Since then he has had three fights, winning all by knockout or submission.

See you all on the mat -- tonight!

Team:

Here's a brief video of the 8/25 training this week. See you all on the mat -- this Thursday!