From great mma newsletter FIGHTLIKEACHAMPION.COM
FightLikeAChampion: How do you develop mental strength to perform
your best?

Conor Heun: I developed my mental toughness growing up with my
father. He was a wrestling coach and I always really looked up to
him. He taught me to always try and out work everyone. It didn’t
matter what the task was, I was taught to always push my self
farther and harder than I thought possible. If I was told to go out
for firewood, I would always try to impress him with how many logs I
could carry back to the house in one load. Or if it was doing chin
ups, I would always strive to do one more than I had the day before.
In practice when everyone did 20 push ups I did 21. At first it was
because I knew he was watching and I wanted to impress him, but it
eventually just became a habit. In workouts we would do what we
called adversity training. For example we would be doing
situations in practice and he would say that I was down by a point.
I would get the escape to tie it and then the takedown to win before
the time would run out. I would think the match was over but then
he would say something like, “Oh, no! There’s some confusion at the
table and it looks like the Russian judge is indicating the takedown
came after the whistle. We are in sudden death overtime.” Then I
would have to start on my feet with a fresh opponent and I would
have to wrestle 30 second matches with fresh guys until I got the
takedown. He taught me to always prepare for the worst and to
make sure your training is tougher than your competition.

FightLikeAChampion: How do you remain motivated?

Conor Heun: I am motivated by an internal angst and uneasiness
that doesn’t allow me to remain satisfied with anything. I need a
constant challenge or I become bored. I fear mediocrity and am
unhappy unless I am being challenged. Because of these feelings it
is easy to remain motivated. The idea that someone else thinks they
can beat me eats at me and drives me to prove them wrong. As long
as I feel that there is a good chance my opponent will beat me, I am
extremely motivated by my own fears and self doubt. I train hard to
be sure that I am outworking my opponent and to give my self the
confidence to stand in the cage and face my fears. I remember being
almost paralyzed by fear when I knew that there was a bully waiting
to fight me after school. I was so scared before hand but
felt so good and such a sense of accomplishment after I choked the
asshole out that I vowed I would never allow my fears to dictate my
behavior. Looking at my profession, I guess that’s more than a
little ironic.

FightLikeAChampion: How do you build your strategy prior to your
fights and adjust during your fights?

Conor Heun: I watch tape with my trainer and look for weaknesses
in my opponent but mainly I just rely on my strengths and ability to
push the pace and bring the fight where I want it. I don’t adjust
much in the cage I just push forward and force my opponent to deal
with my game.

QUICK HITS w/ Conor Heun

5 favorite fighters to watch Why? Wanderlie Silva, Anderson
Silva, Fedor, Shinya Aoki, Uriah Faber

Favorite products that you use (food, supplements, equipment,
clothing, etc.) AstroGlide

Favorite songs to train to: House music and anything by Eminem

Most common training mistakes you see: Stopping ’cause it hurts

Most common mistakes you see with people during a fight:
Stopping ’cause it hurts

Favorite technique combinations: Short sonic boom to suplex

Most important drills or exercises: Adversity Training

Most important things to remember during the fight when you’re
WINNNG: Hands up, chin down, and work

Most important things to DO during the fight when you’re LOSING:
Keep your hands up, your chin down and work harder.

“Finals of the Ducth Open Grappling Championships -83kg advanced.”

RATE MY RUBBER GUARD, DUTCH EDITION!!!

Legends MMA in Hollywood is looking for college interns with film, web, Legend MMA, in Hollywood, is looking for college interns with film, web, marketing, and business backgrounds. We’re looking for intelligent, motivated people interested in gaining experience at one of the top Mixed Martial Arts facilities in the country. You’ll be exposed to the daily operations of the fight game. This is an amazing opportunity to gain college and real life experience while having a ton of fun.

For more information please email

For more information on Legends MMA, Please Check out our website.

www.legendsmma.com

10th Planet Watch brings you another Epstein featurette.

Sometimes I record class, I pay more attention to making sure the video camera is in the right place, than I do the techniques. I retard my own progress as a Jiu Jitsu player for you guys. Yeah, I’m that giving. Tis the season and all. Merry Christmas to everybody!!! Including our favorite jew, Scott Einstein!

 

In the sport or art of submission wrestling , Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ,Judo, Sambo and some others I forgot or don’t feel like remembering, one of the main objectives and the most important, in my educated opinion is to submit your opponent. In my sport/art of preference (Brazilian jiu jitsu minus the gi), once one has developed a game plan to set up submissions the next step, if your opponent has decent or good defense is squeezing.

Squeezing your opponent and getting the victory is not as simple as it sounds. If done correctly, its not to difficult either. How many times have you had someone in a tight rear naked choke or to save me time RNC and you put 100% of all your squeezing powers into it but for some reason she didn’t tap or pass out? Now you let go of the sub, you’re trying to catch your breath and let you muscles recover from the wasted energy. Yes your biceps might look like the ultimate warriors did in 1989, but the gods of thunder are not on your side because you do not wear face paint. Think about what happened. Was your submission shit? Maybe her defense was dope son! If you were a little more patient I bet you could have got the tap.

I know your thinking “If I have the sub then finish why be patient?” Well, in this case your sub didn’t work, that’s why. I want you to start to think of and use your squeeze in increments from 1% to 100%. In the situation I just gave, you set up the RNC and immediately squeezed at 100% then held on as tight as possible for a few more moments before failing mentally and physically . I want to attempt to help you fix this because I am a kind giving person who loves you. Go get your Grandma and apply the RNC, if she is already dead then use a volleyball, a stuffed animal, a very sharp meat clever, something you can simulate a choke on. Once you have everything in order , apply the RNC but just give about 20% of pressure now slowly start to add more pressure let it take about 1 minute till you have applied 100% . When you have 100% squeeze going, I want you to hold it for about another 30 seconds to a minute. This drill will help you develop stamina and strength with your squeeze . Try it with other simulated submissions, maybe the triangle?

To learn to squeeze in increments or percentages will help greatly. In a real session when you have your opponent locked into an RNC try applying pressure the same way I told you to practice except start the squeeze @ 40% ..to maintain this percent for an extended amount of time should not be very taxing on your body. Start to squeeze tighter you will find that by the time you are @ about 70% your opponent has given up. If for some reason its not done then, you can lighten your squeeze to readjust. When you are squeezing with 70% of your strength and you have not won, there is no need to try to go to 100%, your technique is just off. You are most likely doing something wrong. The beauty is you did not have to let go cause you were so tired. This like everything else needs practice. When you practice, try to never hold your breath and try to keep your face relaxed, these two things will burn you out quickly.

1 – weeeeak sauce
2 – blah
3 – s’ight, I guess
4 – that’s tight
5 – watch out eddie bravo, there’s a new sheriff in town

Explain you answers, somebody might learn something.

Here’s my boy Chris showing a slick way of getting to the D’arce choke from a shitty position like side control. Nice and slick, I’m going to drill this.

Coach’s Corner w/ Coach Chris Herzog

 

 

Skill:

In the first two installments of the Coach’s Corner we took a look “Preparation” and the role it plays in the “Equation for Succes”. Moving forward were going to cover “Skill”, and how it should be integrated into your training camp.

Skill training for competition is going to be different then general skill training and development. During our 3-6 week training camp we are going to be narrowing are focus to two areas: generic responses and specific attacks.

Generic Responses:
This drill training will be centralized around defending common attacks; armbars, triangles, guillotines, mount, side control, etc. This is about economy of time. Spend this time doing repetitions of defenses and escapes to basic and high percentage scoring techniques, that ones that win the most. Worrying and focusing time on techniques that you may not be exposed to is poor use of your time, that can be better spent drilling escapes to techniques that are likely to happen. There is a time and place to practice defenses to flying armbars and rolling leglocks but drilling them during a training camp is a wasteful use of precious time.

Specific attacks:
This is the main reason I started with the preparation installment first, because development of strategy based on a events rules and how we score points will help formulate changes and tweaks to our personal attacking systems. Your PAS (personal attacking system) can be heavily influenced by numerous factors: your instructors teachings, your body type, strength, flexibility, etc. An example: you have your opponent in side control, ones PAS may have him transition to mount, another attempting a kimura or far side armbar, or even another transitioning to twister side control hunting to finish with a Twister. (Note: development of your PAS should be done during your on going training not during a training camp. However adjustments should be made based on individual rule sets.)

The drill training of your PAS should not only include the techniques themselves but the transitions that get your there. If your PAS includes systematic dissecting of your opponent by using Rubber Guard you not only need to drill your RG attacks, but how we get there, and what we do if we get shut down. This goes back to our strategic game planning. Pulling guard may not be an option if we loose points in doing so. However this is were we implement drilling training formulated based on our strategic game plan and our PAS. Remember our reference to Demian Maia shooting and pulling 1/2 guard in the previous installment. This is how we add transitions to our PAS based on the influence of a scoring system.

Whether your drill training your Generic Responses or your Specific Attacks make sure you pay attention to detail. Repetition of poorly drilled techniques will result in poor execution. Gradually increase resistance while drill training, if you can’t execute a technique against a partially resistant partner you can forget successfully applying it against a fully resistant opponent. To quote Eddie Bravo “the difference between most purple belts and black belts is numbers”. Putting in the numbers (reps) will revile itself when it matters most, on the competition mat

Coming Soon:

Right Mind Set and the part it plays in the competitor’s equation for Success. 

 

Chris Herzog Is a Brown Belt in 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, under Eddie Bravo. Chris runs 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Rochester out of Empire Academy of Comabt Sports & Fitness in Rochester, Ny. Chris also teaches Judo, Sambo and MMA. He is available for seminars and be contacted through the Academy website at: www.10thplanetjiujitsurochester.com or by e-mail: CoachHerzog@teamempire.us

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Technique: High Noon. Grip break to the twister

written by special guest correspondent Dave “Lo Pan” Callaham

Now, typically the modus operandi here at 10th Planet Watch, when it comes to the world-famous column “Rate My Rubber Guard,” is to post a video and then identify what is WRONG with the rubber guard therein. I will not be doing that today, because let’s be very clear about this: there is NOTHING wrong with the Undertaker’s rubber guard. It is structurally and practically PERFECT. I should know; I am a BLUE BELT IN RUBBER GUARD.

So instead, today we’ll focus on the many things that are RIGHT with the Undertaker’s rubber guard.

Let’s start on a general level. The Undertaker, as you no doubt know, is a fairly resilient corpse that was found in the deserts of Death Valley and brought to the WWF (now WWE) in 1990. Since his debut, The Undertaker has won the WWE Championship four times, which is one more time than current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, the scariest man alive. Don’t worry, there is no conflict of hyperbole here – The Undertaker is ineligible for that title because, let’s remember, HE IS DEAD. The Undertaker has also won a handful of lesser titles, including twice holding the WWE Tag-Team Title with his brother, who used to be a dentist.

The point I’m trying to make here is that The Undertaker (AKA “The Phenom” or “The Deadman” or, more embarrassingly, “The American Bad-Ass”) is a living legend. He has won 16 straight matches at Wrestlemania, an unparalleled streak that includes a win over the Big Boss Man, who LATER DIED OF INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE MATCH. He (The Undertaker, not the Big Boss Man [RIP]) has a litany of potent finishing maneuvers, only one of which has been banned after breaking Steve Austin’s neck. So it’s not like this guy NEEDS to be going out there every night and evolving his game. Yet, with the gogoplata, that’s exactly what he has done. In other words, The Undertaker’s use of rubber guard makes him AN INNOVATOR. You know who else is an innovator? Eddie Bravo. Coincidentally, The Undertaker only developed his Gogoplata after his previous finisher, the Triangle Choke (picture perfect, trust me) was banned by the WWE’s powers-that-be. Sound familiar? HELLO, TWISTER!

OK, enough history. Let’s break this bad boy down.

January 25, 2008. The Undertaker debuts the Gogoplata against Big Daddy V, an opponent that could charitably be labeled “grotesquely large.” As V drops into Undertaker’s guard (jiu-jitsu 101: never sit in the Undertaker’s guard), the Undertaker isolates V’s left arm using the patented “one–handed elbow control.” At the same time, he plants his left foot firmly on the mat – exactly where it should be. He swings his right leg in front of V’s throat, closes the guard, and finishes the move by heel-kicking Big Daddy V in the spine. He probably learned this at Cobra Kai. Undertaker licks his lips, game over. Royce who?

Next we get a montage of The Undertaker applying his devastating new Gogo to a slew of unfortunate victims (in order: Mark Henry, some announcer, Edge, Edge, Festus, some announcer, Edge), followed immediately by another montage of opponents rendered unconscious or near death by the maneuver (Festus, Edge, ‘Turley’ from the Adam Sandler remake of “The Longest Yard”, Edge, some announcer, Big V, Edge, Edge). This serves to demonstrate the potent nature of the submission. As Eddie always says, “No move is 100%, except for the 100% and the Undertaker’s gogoplata.”

Finally, we move on to the “main event” (a boxing term): The Undertaker defends his title against top contender Edge. Now we will see if this mythologized maneuver will work when it counts…at Backlash! After Edge reverses “The Last Ride” into a traditional sunset flip (Jerome does this a lot), he bizarrely threads his own left arm in between the Undertaker’s legs. MISTAKE! Time slows, fades to black and white, and then The Undertaker chokes Edge for seventy-five minutes. This might sound excessive, but the reality here is that, as the announcer kindly points out, Edge should have tapped when he had the chance. We all know that jiu-jitsu is not a sport where you can allow your pride to get in the way of your safety…tapping is a necessary and honorable way to succumb to a superior opponent. Remember Rubber Guard Purple Belt Cliff Seminario’s famous t-shirt slogan: “Tap, snap, or go to the bathroom in your trousers.”

ANYWAY, Edge doesn’t tap when he should, and by the time he DOES submit, the referee is nowhere to be found. One has to assume that he has been rendered unconscious somehow; this is more common than you might think. I’ve seen Epstein complain about it at tournaments before. And now Edge is tapping furiously, caught in the tightest, most secure gogoplata ever attempted, and The Undertaker is not letting go because he has been told in the pre-fight meeting to fight until the ref stops them. And I have to say: Edge has only himself to blame for his unfortunate scenario. For you may have noticed in the previous montages that this is not the first time Edge has been victimized by The Undertaker’s rubber guard. Quite the contrary; he had been a victim to the gogoplata on a number of occasions, and yet here he is, getting a shot at the title, and he hasn’t learned to defend the ONE submission move (granted, and I can’t stress this enough – it’s perfect) that has proven time and time again to be his personal kryptonite. How much does it cost to have Erik Paulsen come out and train gogo defense for a week? Do you have any idea how much money Edge makes per year? Honestly. There’s no excuse for this sort of stubbornness at THE highest level of combat sports.

So anyway, Edge is eventually spared further damage when his fiancée, Vickie Guerrero, is wheeled to the ring screaming like a banshee. On a side note, Vickie is the widow of the great Eddie Guerrero, who had a heart attack while brushing his teeth several years ago. And you know Eddie must be proud, looking down at Vickie from Heaven, watching her pretend to be the handicapped fiancée of a man who cannot defend a gogoplata.

We are left with the searing image of Vickie bemoaning the hospitalization of her new fiancée, all at the hands of a 10th Planet classic: The Gogoplata. In defeating Edge in this manner, on internationally covered Pay-Per-View, The Undertaker has not only cemented his status as one of the top jiu-jitsu players in the world, he has PROVEN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT RUBBER GUARD WORKS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF MIXED MARTAL ARTS.

Stay tuned for my next guest appearance, in which I will break down The Undertaker’s standing gogoplata setup (seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_stFc08vWM) as well as the surprising science behind maintaining flexibility in the face of 18 years of rigor mortis.

Rate my twister. 10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest