MMA

While some Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes don’t see the link between CrossFit and martial arts, others say general physical preparedness can help athletes win on the mat.

Garth Taylor started doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1994, and by 1998 he was winning national-level championships. But Taylor wanted more. What he really wanted was a world title. Taylor’s coach, Claudio Franca, told him if he wanted to win a world championship, he didn’t need… Continue Reading

On Episode 251 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Jay White, a mixed-martial-arts pro and two-time Pan Am gold medalist in jiu-jitsu. He also spoke to CrossFit Matters owner Jim Caskey. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012.

The Words of Wisdom are from a CrossFit Verve article on post-WOD nutrition:

1. No fat intake after a workout.
2. Carbs. You need carbs.
3… Continue Reading

To develop power, CrossFit Striking’s George Ryan favors two pieces of equipment: resistance bands and the D-Ball.

“The resistance band is not going to develop the power, but what it is going to do, it’s going to help promote proper biomechanics in striking,” he explains.

With the band wrapped around a pole or column at shoulder height and a loop held in the hand, trainees learn how to move their entire bodies and find the proper… Continue Reading

When it comes to a successful punch, power is of the essence.

In this video, George Ryan of CrossFit Striking demonstrates some power-development exercises with pro MMA fighter Neal Abrams.

The first step, Ryan says, is to ensure the athlete is using the entire kinetic chain when striking. To check, he looks to see if the back foot is pushing off the floor, and then he confirms that the power is traveling… Continue Reading

Every heard of Striking Helen?

Everything’s the same except the 12 pull-ups become 12 full-strike combinations: one-two, one-two, then repeat.

Welcome to CrossFit Striking.

“Combinations have an amazing transference to athletics and life because in sports and in life you need to be able to rotate,” says George Ryan of CrossFit Striking, who is assisted by pro MMA fighter Neal Abrams. “And by performing striking combinations at a high frequency and high… Continue Reading

A little more than two weeks after he competes in the Canada West Regional as part of the team Pure Fitness Red Deer, Jason MacDonald will head to Virginia for a UFC fight.

The 36-year-old has been training as a mixed martial artist for 13 years.

“I fought a lot of tough guys, had a lot of fights,” MacDonald says. “Some of ’em went my way, some haven’t.”

Like CrossFit, MMA requires mental toughness… Continue Reading

“The only reason that I won that fight was because of CrossFit New England,” says Eric Cusson, a mixed-martial-arts champion and CrossFitter out of CrossFit New England. He says CrossFit gave him the endurance and mental fortitude to win an important tournament.

According to Cusson, CrossFit provides more than a physical benefit. It provides a mental edge. He says he became a fighter and a skydiver to conquer his fears, and he… Continue Reading

Jack Goodson examines the link between mixed martial arts and CrossFit.

Fight Gone Bad—famed mixed martial artist B.J. Penn named it. CrossFitters both love and fear it.

The workout, a benchmark in the CrossFit community, was designed to match the metabolic demands of an organized MMA fight. Five minutes on, 1 minute off for 3-5 rounds. Sounds simple enough.

Sure. Words such as “brutal” or “savage”—and assorted others—come to mind… Continue Reading