jluchau
06-12-2007, 06:11 PM
There's no holding back in MMA
Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
It's not too often that you get to punch your promoter in the head.
I'm sure there's plenty of mixed martial artists around the country that would love to do just that.
But Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup - who essentially runs the Palace Fighting Championships - is a great guy.
And I didn't mind sparring with him.
Printup is the hands-on type and if I ever want to train, I can call him up and he'd never say no.
"MMA is a sport," said Printup, who has become one of the more recognizable faces in boxing and MMA in the Central Valley - if not the country.
Printup took time out of his busy schedule on Saturday to come down to VQ Fitness to spar and grapple with me - a light Saturday work out followed by some sushi.
"Your strength is up, that's obvious," Printup said. "I'm as strong as anyone in the gym and I can feel your resistance when we grapple. This weekend you also let your hands go. You didn't seem interested in not hurting me to the head and that's good."
Thank you Steve Novencido and VQ Fitness!
I'm now walking around at between 165 and 170 pounds and I feel like I'm gaining strength each day.
"You appear more focused. You are getting stronger while maintaining your optimal training weight. This results from proper periodization training," Novencido said. "I have moved a majority of your functional training to the max strength phase. Additionally, I have moved ahead into a more qualitative approach (replacing some exercise) as well as quantitative (changing training loads). Although we have not trained within this mesocycle for very long, your body's response is better than I expected."
The popularity of MMA has grown so much over the last year it's amazing. The sport has been highlighted on ESPN and you can almost find something related to MMA every day on cable television if you look hard enough.
If you haven't had a chance, you should check out the "Tapout" show on the Versus network - not only is Tapout one of my sponsors, but it shows a side of MMA not many get to see and is quite similar to what I'm trying to do.
In one of the more recent episodes of "Tapout" they follow Antonio Banuelos. If you remember that name from somewhere, you should. I followed Casey Olson for a previous article and Banuelos helped corner Olson for his fight. Banuelos provided a large portion of dialogue.
Banuelos is one of the elite 135-pound fighters in the world and the show gave a great look at his training, which included a lot of what I do with Novencido, jiu-jitsu coach Luis Gonzalez, wrestling coach Rudy Lopez and Team Ochoa at Valley Fight Club.
Everything from plyometrics to medicine ball routines was featured on the show. Many of those routines are what have helped me get my strength up.
"Your ability to overcome the new challenges is going to be your strength. This is in direct relation to the SAID principal (Specific Adaptation to Increase Demands) another part of the theory of periodization. The power circuits which include: box jumps, lateral box shuffles, box jumps starts, MB (medicine ball) throws and tosses, and more multi-hip, multi-joint oriented movements will pay dividends," Novencido said.
"I have also included more sport specific exercises to your regimen. I have begun to place these challenges in front of you as a way to test your mental ability which is not an easy task.
"For example, the progressive box jumps in which you overcame the first day, was a method in which I am able to tell (depending on your apprehension or hesitation) if you are ready for the next height in jumps.
"On the highest box height, you just stepped up and jumped. Wow! Not even a hesitation. Now we're getting somewhere. Mental preparation is going to be more imperative from here on out."
There can be little hesitation in MMA, and I'm still trying to master this.
"You need to quit being so hesitant to get in there and spar when we are working hands. The only way you're going to get over your jumpiness when sparring is to get hit. Some people say that you can't learn anything from getting beat up but that isn't true," said Team Ochoa teammate Jacob Jeff, who by the way submitted me a few times the last few weeks.
"You learn how not to get beat up by getting beat up. If someone hits you with a nice hook shot and you drop, you know next time to cover up more properly.
"You got less than six months left [before the bout] and Team Ochoa isn't going to be babying you anymore. It's time to get to work."
I did some of this on Saturday with Printup.
"Your jab is going to be a great weapon. Use it to find your distance for your right hands, your shot and I feel it is just as important for takedown defense," Printup said. "If you're close enough to land your right hand, then your opponent is close enough to get the takedown. It's really a fine line.
"I know that you were holding back on your right hand when hitting me in the head. You're strong. Remember to work off your jab, move laterally and use combinations. When you strike something, work the head, body and arms. Use that to set up a shot."
I'm still training at a pretty high pace - five to six days a week and two to three times a day. Maybe this week I will let Printup and Jeff hit me in the head. It's only fair, right?
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.
Luchau is training to be a mixed martial artist, a project which will end with a bout in the Palace Fighting Championship at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in October. His column appears every second Tuesday.
It's not too often that you get to punch your promoter in the head.
I'm sure there's plenty of mixed martial artists around the country that would love to do just that.
But Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup - who essentially runs the Palace Fighting Championships - is a great guy.
And I didn't mind sparring with him.
Printup is the hands-on type and if I ever want to train, I can call him up and he'd never say no.
"MMA is a sport," said Printup, who has become one of the more recognizable faces in boxing and MMA in the Central Valley - if not the country.
Printup took time out of his busy schedule on Saturday to come down to VQ Fitness to spar and grapple with me - a light Saturday work out followed by some sushi.
"Your strength is up, that's obvious," Printup said. "I'm as strong as anyone in the gym and I can feel your resistance when we grapple. This weekend you also let your hands go. You didn't seem interested in not hurting me to the head and that's good."
Thank you Steve Novencido and VQ Fitness!
I'm now walking around at between 165 and 170 pounds and I feel like I'm gaining strength each day.
"You appear more focused. You are getting stronger while maintaining your optimal training weight. This results from proper periodization training," Novencido said. "I have moved a majority of your functional training to the max strength phase. Additionally, I have moved ahead into a more qualitative approach (replacing some exercise) as well as quantitative (changing training loads). Although we have not trained within this mesocycle for very long, your body's response is better than I expected."
The popularity of MMA has grown so much over the last year it's amazing. The sport has been highlighted on ESPN and you can almost find something related to MMA every day on cable television if you look hard enough.
If you haven't had a chance, you should check out the "Tapout" show on the Versus network - not only is Tapout one of my sponsors, but it shows a side of MMA not many get to see and is quite similar to what I'm trying to do.
In one of the more recent episodes of "Tapout" they follow Antonio Banuelos. If you remember that name from somewhere, you should. I followed Casey Olson for a previous article and Banuelos helped corner Olson for his fight. Banuelos provided a large portion of dialogue.
Banuelos is one of the elite 135-pound fighters in the world and the show gave a great look at his training, which included a lot of what I do with Novencido, jiu-jitsu coach Luis Gonzalez, wrestling coach Rudy Lopez and Team Ochoa at Valley Fight Club.
Everything from plyometrics to medicine ball routines was featured on the show. Many of those routines are what have helped me get my strength up.
"Your ability to overcome the new challenges is going to be your strength. This is in direct relation to the SAID principal (Specific Adaptation to Increase Demands) another part of the theory of periodization. The power circuits which include: box jumps, lateral box shuffles, box jumps starts, MB (medicine ball) throws and tosses, and more multi-hip, multi-joint oriented movements will pay dividends," Novencido said.
"I have also included more sport specific exercises to your regimen. I have begun to place these challenges in front of you as a way to test your mental ability which is not an easy task.
"For example, the progressive box jumps in which you overcame the first day, was a method in which I am able to tell (depending on your apprehension or hesitation) if you are ready for the next height in jumps.
"On the highest box height, you just stepped up and jumped. Wow! Not even a hesitation. Now we're getting somewhere. Mental preparation is going to be more imperative from here on out."
There can be little hesitation in MMA, and I'm still trying to master this.
"You need to quit being so hesitant to get in there and spar when we are working hands. The only way you're going to get over your jumpiness when sparring is to get hit. Some people say that you can't learn anything from getting beat up but that isn't true," said Team Ochoa teammate Jacob Jeff, who by the way submitted me a few times the last few weeks.
"You learn how not to get beat up by getting beat up. If someone hits you with a nice hook shot and you drop, you know next time to cover up more properly.
"You got less than six months left [before the bout] and Team Ochoa isn't going to be babying you anymore. It's time to get to work."
I did some of this on Saturday with Printup.
"Your jab is going to be a great weapon. Use it to find your distance for your right hands, your shot and I feel it is just as important for takedown defense," Printup said. "If you're close enough to land your right hand, then your opponent is close enough to get the takedown. It's really a fine line.
"I know that you were holding back on your right hand when hitting me in the head. You're strong. Remember to work off your jab, move laterally and use combinations. When you strike something, work the head, body and arms. Use that to set up a shot."
I'm still training at a pretty high pace - five to six days a week and two to three times a day. Maybe this week I will let Printup and Jeff hit me in the head. It's only fair, right?
The sports reporter can be reached at jluchau@HanfordSentinel.com or 582-0471, ext. 3055.