Warriors Weekend in Toronto

I had a great weekend in Toronto at Robinson's Karate. Master Robinson hosted a Warrior's Weekend for his students. Instructors included myself, Master Chris Rappold, Shihan Moti Hornstien, and UFC fighter Jeff Joshlin.

I came in early to work with Master Robinson and his staff on part of the Burn with Kearns Core Conditioning Certification Level 1. They definitely absorbed a lot during the course's 8 hours.

Since I am training Master Rappold for his World Championship fight in Italy next month, we took the opportunity to work on his gas in the tank program. He will be ready for his upcoming fight next month.

As a bonus for me I got the chance to train with Shihan Moti on gun defense. I was amazed at the detail that he went into during his seminar. Master Rappold and I teamed as training partners for that seminar and continued with Jeff Joshlin's striking seminar.

Saturday started off fast and furious with Master Rappold's sparring seminar. You can see why Master Rappold has been a champion so many times. With a short break the students hung in there and got ready to Burn with Kearns. Even though the weather wasn't great, we had an a boatload of training and laughs. Good food after was provided by Master Robinson in the form of miles upon miles of sushi.

I want to say thanks to Master Robinson and his team of instructors, Ian, Eric, Mike, Trevor, Jason, Troy, Tyler, Steve,and Nate for a great time as well as all the students.

Pull Ups

Pull-ups can be done just about anywhere. They are great for preventing shoulder injuries and are very functional. Thus, it's no wonder why the military and many top MMA athletes include pull-ups on a regular basis in their training. The really fun part is that they can be performed in a bunch of challenging and different ways.

1. If you can not handle your own bodyweight, place a chair behind you to put your feet on. This will reduce the weight load.

2. To avoid shoulder injury, never have your hands wider than shoulder width.

3. Vary your grips often to increase different muscles activated

UFC.com Now Carrying My Conditioning DVDs

I am pleased to announce that UFC.com is now carrying all of my strength and conditioning DVDs. The UFC is the premier mixed martial arts organization in the world and to have them carry my training DVDs is an honor. Here's the link.

We are in Full Gear Here

Jorge Gurgel will be working with me intensely over the next 4 weeks to get ready for his main event fight for Strikeforce's “Challenger Series 4” at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on November 6th. Yesterday, I worked with him and Rich Franklin. I put them both through my "Gas in the Tank" program. They loved and hated it at the same time.

Kru Mark Dellagrotte and I work together closely when fighters come into Sityodtong. Also on my schedue for next week is WEC fighter Alex Karalexis and UFC fighter Marcus Davis. Time to cowboy up!

By the way, last week was an awesome experience at the EFC Summit in Miami. I met many great people and look forward to working with their schools.

Sounds of Success

Recently I have had the pleasure of working with a musician named Malin Hess. He hired me to help him trim down for his latest music video. Malin already had been working out on a regular basis, but he needed to bring it up a notch.  We decided in order to get the most bang for his buck, we would use a combination of sandbags and agility ladders for his interval training program. The results have been fantastic! He dropped 12 pounds in 3 weeks. Malin is an extremely hard worker and really dived into the training and nutrition plan I developed for him. He was kind enough to send me this video of his workout accompanied by his music. Check it Out.

Over the next few months I will be working with Jorge Gurgel, Marcus Davis, Alex Karalexis, and Greg Rebello ready for their upcoming fights at my home base Sityodtong.

Honored

Last week I had the honor of being appointed as the strength, conditioning, and wellness coach for Kyoshi Steve Lavallee's Martial Arts University International. This appointment means a lot to me professionally and personally. Mr Lavallee is a great mentor for many top martial arts schools around the world. I look forward to working with him and all of his school owners.

Take Exercise to Heart

Interesting article from the Associated Press on the value of exercise for heart patients.

"Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have even shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties."