Fighter Conditioning at the Cave

Guest post by my friend, Coach Frank DiMeo!

Ever since my early days of martial arts training I have always looked for ways to become more effective.

Much of the best information I gathered over the years came at a painful, and often humbling, price.

No matter what type of fighter you are, being stronger and faster is essential. Being able to “go the distance” is also a must as is developing greater stopping power in your strikes and kicks. Continue reading

Stopping Power for Kicks & Strikes

The following is a guest post from my friend and fellow Underground Strength Coach, Frank DiMeo. 

It is always an honor to do a guest blog post for another coach, especially regarding martial arts and strength training.
To many people UFC is the only martial arts they are aware of, but the experienced martial artists know how broad a spectrum martial arts cover. Continue reading

5 Ways to Improve Your Hand-Eye Coordination

Check out this awesome guest blog post by Australian Strength Coach sensation, John Wayne Legg!

Nobody would argue that to reach your true potential in a martial art or combat sport, you need to be accurate when executing a move. Whether you are attempting an arm-bar, single leg take-down or a punch to the face, you are going to suck if you don’t connect with your target where you want to. And while much practice in your chosen sport will go a long way to building this skill, there are extra things we can do to either catch up or put the icing on the cake, so to speak. Continue reading

6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Strength for Combat Sports

Huge thanks to John Gaglione, AKA Coach Gags, of Gaglione Strength for this guest blog post!

So you want to be a fighter? Maybe your sport is wrestling or BBJ? All of the fight sports have a few things in common. You need to be strong, powerful, mobile, and HOSTILE! Follow these so you can become a BEAST on and off of the mats! Continue reading

Lessons From The 500

Yesterday morning I woke up (as I’m sure most of you did too) and decided that the day’s workout would be devoted to mental toughness.  The particular form my mental toughness training took was to complete a 500 rep push-up challenge by the end of the day. Continue reading

Combat Conditioning and A Challenge

The video below is a brand new combat conditioning circuit I put together for martial artists.  It will be especially good for my Buyu (warrior friends) training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu.  If you are ready to put your body, mind, and spirit to the test, this circuit is guaranteed to kick your conditioning into high gear. Continue reading

Why Do You Do That?

Here’s a quick video I put together Friday afternoon to answer a question posed by one of my non-training friends.  I had described to him some of the brutal and intense workouts I put myself through on a weekly basis and he couldn’t quite wrap his head around why anyone in their right mind would want to do that to themselves. Continue reading

Get Up, Stand Up!

“Get up!”  “Stand up!”

I never allow my clients to slump, sit down, or lie down crumpled in a heap after an exercise, set, or workout.  They know my rationale is partly physical, but mostly mental.  You see, it’s critical to never allow the workout to beat you, no matter how tough it feels. Continue reading

Destroy What You Are

Lately I feel like a fire’s been lit under me in my training.  Somehow through sheer persistence, perseverance, and being too dumb to quit, I feel like I’ve broken through to a new level.  And this level is more difficult than the one before. New levels always are.

Sometimes I think people have the impression that if you keep training in something long enough, like martial arts or strength training, then it somehow gets easier as you get better.  I don’t think this is true.  At least it’s not true for those who continue to push themselves to break limits. Continue reading

There Are No Fitness Secrets!

At no time in history has there ever been more information, research, in-depth studies, and knowledge-sharing available than the present moment.  Those who are still waiting for the latest “fitness secret” to be revealed to the public have missed the boat, in my opinion. Continue reading