10th Planet Watch – 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Van Nuys Blog

Thanks to everybody that came out to our 10th Planet Van Nuys, Orochon Ramen, UFC 154 party. We had an amazing turn out. As always the owner, Shigeki Matsuda and his friendly, helpful staff, hosted the event. If you haven’t heard of this place, check out the episode on “Man vs. Food” they have some of the best Ramen on the planet. This ain’t your college Top Ramen, this is the real deal, straight from Kanagawa, Japan. The place was jam packed with all kinds of people. It’s nice to finally have a place we can all go to watch the fights. With the team expanding and growing bigger, we may have to eventually rent out a movie theatre to fit everybody in it! Until that day, we’ll just stay with Orochon!

The show did not disappoint. The main event was a blood bath that saw Georges St. Pierre, dominate Carlos Condit. GSP did get rocked by a unorthdox high kick that landed almost out of nowhere. It momentarily looked like the interim champion, Condit could have bested the St. Pierre, but GSP recovered and continued to dominate the fight. In other fights, Martin Kampmann was steamrolled by an impressive, right hook, straight left combination by Johny Hendricks. The former NCAA stand out, Hendricks, has been brutalizing opponents with his power and wrestling for some time now. He may be in line for a title shot, if Anderson Silva doesn’t get the super fight he’s been wanting with Georges St. Pierre. I missed the actual match, but in BJJ news, Ivan Menjivar had an impressive armbar finish. So much so, he received submission of the night. I love that the UFC gives these bonuses, it makes for much more interesting matches!

We look forward to the next event December 29th, when Dos Santos takes on Cain Velasquez. This is the highly anticipated match from the first Fox show. Hopefully we’ll get to see the fight go just a little longer this time. In the first fight, Dos Santos made quick work of Cain.

Coach Alder Hampel

10th Planet Van Nuys

www.10thplanetvannuys.com

Dan Hardy is not new to myself, or 10th Planet Van Nuys. I had the pleasure of being his Jiu Jitsu Coach in his title fight versus Georges St. Pierre. It was at that point, the highlight of my MMA coaching career. Being able to have the honor of being a part of something that big, a title shot against one of the biggest draws in the sport, was indescribable. The coverage was crazy, Dan was doing interview after interview, photo shoots, appearances, and not to mention the camera’s followed up around everywhere. The UFC was doing a 24/7 type reality T.V. show leading up to the fight. The schedule was packed from sun up, to sun down, but when when could fit it in, we did like to get a bit of training in too!

The whole story itself is crazy. We trained all over the place, Matt Serra’s 2 gyms, LA Boxing in New Jersey, Ray Longo’s in Long Island, and Joe Defranco’s just to name a few. We even trained at this decrepit, old wrestling gym where many great NJ amateur champions had wrestled. The place had no heat and it was freezing cold, it was filthy, it was wet, it was falling apart and it made a great photo opportunity! I was miserable, my joints hurt, I was covered in dirt, but it was great material for the camera crew! After that training session, I was pretty confident we’d have a shot at that fight. Training in that place made me feel like we were the underdogs about to fight the Canadian Ivan Drago in GSP. I knew one thing, for better of for worse, GSP wasn’t training like we were!

Unfortunately, that fight didn’t finish how I would have liked it to. Dan ended up losing a 5 round decision to GSP. It did however show that he does not give up. Even when it looked like St. Pierre was going to finish him with a fully extended armbar, or a fully locked in kimura that was completely behind his back, he would not give up. He proved to the world it is not easy to finish him. Many critics didn’t even expect. him to last one round, much less, survive an entire fight and sustain little, to no damage! He did much better than most people expected. He went the distance and gained much respect from fans all over the world.

All personal things aside, Dan Hardy is legitimately one of my favorite fighters on the planet to watch. He exciting, he’s dynamic, and he’s always down to scrap! There’s a reason that even though he had a brief hiccup in his career, losing 4 in a row, that he’s still in the UFC. He proved he belongs in there in his last fight, when he knocked out striking legend, Duane Ludwig. I know tomorrow I’m going to have my tv set to watch Dan take on the always dangerous, Amir Sadollah in Nottingham UK. I have to guess Dan isn’t going to let his fans down when it’s in his home town. NO WAY!

Many of the fighters at 10th Planet Van Nuys look up to Dan and have modeled certain parts of their styles after him. In fact, just last week one of my top fighter, Mike “Lobes” Frausto, used devastating knees to finish his opponent in less than one minute in the first round. The last of which forced the referee to stop the fight because one of the knees that landed, looked like it broke his arm. After the blow was delivered, his opponent dropped his hand and started holding his arm in pain. The ref waived off the fight from there, declaring the fight a TKO. I know Dan would be proud!

If you’re interested in fighting, competing, or just learning martial arts give us a hollar. We cater to guys, like Dan Hardy, who are looking to become the next UFC champion. We also cater to the everyman who just loves to the sport, and wants to get a good work out. You don’t have to have aspirations of fighting or competing to train with us, we welcome all people at every level of experience. We have classes that fit all kinds of schedules. We’ll even give you a free private lesson, consultation, and tour! Stop having the internal debate in you head about it, and give us a call. You know you want to! (818) 925-JITS (5487)

Coach Alder Hampel

www.10thPlanetVanNuys.com

It’s been a little over 4 years since I had full time employment at a very famous post production sound facility, Danetracks Inc. Since then I made the move to opening up my own 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu affiliate in Van Nuys, California. I left Dane Davis, for Eddie Bravo, sound design for Jiu Jitsu. I went from Protools to The Twister. I won an M.P.S.E for best sound in a game., but we lost in the UFC title fight vs. Georges St. Pierre in New Jersey. I went from working inside the big blue Danetracks building, to training at the Van Nuys MMA Super Center. I walked away from the position of editor, and took up the title of coach. I traded the vibrant colors of West Hollywood, for dreary strip malls of Van Nuys. I went from an Academy Award winning sound studio, to cornering Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in his title shot. I gave up a Kensington track ball and gained a cage panel. I swapped out sound effects for bone-breaking techniques. I left motion pictures, for pay-per-view events. I said good bye to interactive media, and said hello to “As real as it gets.” I went from competing for jobs, to competing for the challenge. I exchanged an Aeron chair for a Zebra mat. I went from networking at E3, to competing in ADCC. to went from bicycling to work, to flying around the world. I was work in a room by myself, then i was teaching seminars to full rooms of people. Punching a clock, to punching a bag.  I went from recording the sounds of guns, to teaching how to use the body as a weapon.  I went from insecure and scared, to confident and brave. I went from employee to entrepreneur. I went from being downsized, to running my own budding business. In my mind, I’m starting to feel like a success.

Along the way I’ve fallen, I’ve stumbled, and I’ve contemplated quitting. What keeps me moving forward you ask? I find my motivation in the moments. It’s the thank you and a smile from a new student. It’s the grappler’s realization of his/her progression over time. It’s the advice of a mentor, it’s being humbled by a black belt. It’s the camaraderie of a team. It’s the direct result of hard work. It’s the responsibility of those times when you have to be a leader and a role model. It’s reaching a goal. It’s visualizing the yet to come. It’s the win of a fighter, it’s a hug from a competitor. It’s the student confiding in you. It’s giving, and receiving the gift of knowledge. It’s in solving a problem. It’s making a difference in somebody’s life. That’s what makes being a coach such a rewarding job for me.

Thank you to everybody that’s played a part in my journey. Good, bad, or other, you all all added to the storyline, I’ve learn so much from all my experiences, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m looking forward to what the future brings. I have a feeling the party is just getting started. Enter the Alpha-Black era.

Coach Alder Hampel

10th Planet Van Nuys

Hello gang, 10th Planet Burbank’s Alder Hampel checking in here. I arrived here today in Newark, NJ with Dan Hardy and striking coach, Steve Papp. We checked in with the UFC, and now the official countdown to UFC 111 begins! It’s been an amazing 2 weeks on the eastcoast, and I’d assume it’s only going to get crazier!

The trip began with my seminar in Christiansburg, VA at Henry’s TKD where I got to hang out with a who’s who of current and future 10th Planet affiliates. It’s always a pleasure to hang out with James, Jessica, Gwen and the rest of the gang. Good luck on the affiliation, I’m sure it’s coming soon. I expect to see some killers coming out if that school in the near future.

After leaving Christiansburg, I flew into New York’s JFK airport where I was picked up by Hardy and Papp. The gameplan was to finish up the last 3 weeks of Dan’s training camp in Saddle River, NJ before moving to Newark for the fight. We were also being followed by a camera crew 24/7 for the filming of the UFC’s Primetime show which airs on Spike T.V. The last of which will air Wednesday the 24th of March.

Dan’s reason for choosing to come out NJ early was to one to get acclimated to the time zone before the fight. The other reason was to come out and train with world famous strength and conditioning coach, Joe DeFranco. His reputation for creating absolute monsters and for pushing professional atheletes to their maximum potential is demonstrated in the documentary “Strong.”

Everything was set until rumors we were going to be training with former UFC welter weight champion, Matt Serra, started circulating. This was news to us, but when UFC president Dana White called, things changed. Mr. White had contacted Serra and a new gameplan was set into place. We were now going to split our time between NJ, and Long Island where GSP destroyer, Matt Serra, calls home.

For the last two weeks Hardy has been sharpening the blade into a razor. You haven’t seen a bigger, stronger, faster, slicker, more explosive and more focused Dan Hardy ever! It’s my professional unbiased opinion that come March 28th, we will see the welter weight championship belt change hands.

This Hardy blog has been pulled down. Please tune into UFC’s Primetime on Spike TV, tonight at 10pm

As everybody should know by now, Dan Hardy will be facing Georges St. Pierre for the welter weight title, March 27th. We need all the different Moons to band together for their own “Party Hardy” UFC 111 viewing parties. Dan would like all of the different teams together as they watch the first 10th Planet, UFC champion crowned.

Here’s how you do it. First you find a bar or one of your “best lads” houses to host such a ppv event. For instance, 10th Planet Burbank and HQ members will be attending a viewing party at “The Office” in Burbank. Secondly, you make a flyer for the event and post it all over your gym. Thirdly, call all your friends and family and let them know one of your team mate is going to be fighting for the championship, and that you’d like them to be a part of history in the making. Fourth, post on this thread where and when your crew is getting together.

Now for you brave types, here’s the next level. The “Dan Hardy Drinking Game”. Every time Dan lands a jab, you and your mates have to take a shot. I’m guessing most of you wont make it out of the first round.

Let’s all be a part of this historic event!