Elite Training Center: Redondo

Lots of people recognize that Elite Training Center’s staff is “always here.” This is true. In order for us to truly relay the necessary information to the students we must stay current. By staying current means, up keep on not only techniques from Krav Maga, Kali Silat, Muay Thai Kickboxing, MMA and BJJ, but our own fitness and health as well. We must simply “practice what we preach.”

The above is not to say we are perfect as mentioned before in other blogs, perfection is something unattainable. NEVER give up in the pursuit of it though.

Really great to see all of the various martial arts careers unfold and progress at Elite Training Center. The movement and commitment the instructors have been witnessing continues to impress and make us proud. I’m eager to keep moving forward and continue to evolve with you all in the future. Great job yet again students of Elite Training Center, Redondo Beach, CA!
-A. Haro

Naturally we all come to a plataue in our martial arts training. Sometimes information can leave us feeling frustrated and confused. Take this holiday season to relax and reassess your goals. Realize that although you may struggle with the comprehension of new material, it is this struggle that makes the reward of knowledge so sweet.

Krav Maga, Kali Silat, Muay Thai Kickboxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu all came to fruition through hours upon hours of practice. It is important to understand that through trial and error that the arts ultimately found a platform to work from. This said platform will still be reworked as most martial arts should be. To not maintain a consistent push to make techniques and arts more feasible to the masses defeats the purpose of training. If anything is to improve it must be broken down and built back up to be stronger, faster and more effective.

As a student living the martial way the realization and acceptance of this process will only lead to a more positive outlook on your martial path.

With the holiday season upon us it is important to think about how truly fortunate we are. At Elite Training Center in Redondo Beach, CA, we stress the importance of giving back to the community and those less fortunate. Daily we are able to practice a myriad of martial arts which consist of Krav Maga, Kali Silat, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and MMA. These very functional and effective martial arts would not be with us today had the importance of sharing and giving back not been instilled by the practitioners of the arts.

To truly understand the martial way is to give the self to the arts with the understanding that the responsibility of sharing this information is vital. If one can share information, should it be so difficult to volunteer time and other material goods?

This time of year there is a call to give to those less fortunate. Somewhere a child will wake up without a gift to open. Somewhere a child will be huddled with a loved one just to keep warm. Take some time to look around at what you have, what you want and then what you can give.

Hello Elite Training Center Friends,

This week’s classes in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program saw us practicing techniques in combatives and self-defense focusing using the guard to influence and control the distance against punches, elbows and headbutt strikes by the top fighter. After this instruction, we moved on to additional submission attacks from the bottom position using the triangle choke & kimura armlock.

During the punching defense classes from the guard, we continuously practiced the understanding of making it extremely difficult for the top fighter to land successful strikes in a series. If the top opponent is hitting you effectively, you are not influencing the control of the distance. The middle position in the guard is the major factor of control. When the top fighter can stay in the middle position with good posture, it is going to be a difficult day for the bottom fighter. This is the start of effective guard passing and striking attacks for the man on top.

The basic strategy was to keep the opponent very close (Closed Guard) or very far away from you (Open Guard). This is a similar concept that relates to the standing clinch and closing the distance in jiu-jitsu. We need to keep in mind, our opponent will be bigger and stronger than us in a ground fight; therefore, you will not be able to hold a position for ever or a long period of time. When your opponent attacks with a strike or a punching technique, you will need to move at the right time in this situation to counter it. Using too much strength or wasted energy will quickly make you tired. Move at the right times and use your whole body: Mostly your hips and legs to control the bigger opponent.

Later in the week we continued our understanding of the kimura armlock and the triangle choke from the guard. Some of my observation saw many of the students trying to understand the details of the triangle choke. The kimura was easy to perform after a basic review. The triangle choke had many of you making adjustments to finalize the technique. And adjustments in the details are exactly what you have to do to making all jiu-jitsu techniques and strategies work for you: not just the triangle choke.

Keys to success in finishing the opponent with the triangle choke for the guard are: Getting a good bite on the opponent’s neck with your leg; controlling the opponent’s arm to bring it to the correct side of your body; controlling the posture on the opponent’s body by controlling the head; making body adjustments with your foot on the opponent’s hip to get the best angle to finish the technique; and finally, using a figure-four lock with your legs with the foot behind the knee to squeeze the opponent’s neck for the choke hold. Extra details to finalize the leg choke triangle is to pull downward on the opponent’s head with your hands, squeeze your knees together and lift upward with your hips. This is done at the same time and making for a three directional pressure.

For many of you this was the first time really learning the triangle choke. All the details will get easier: I promise you! There are 15 partner drills I can think of that will help you improve this technique; plus, you will also get a nice workout while improving your jiu-jitsu!

Be ready for next week!

Best,

Prof. Tony Pacenski

Elite Training Center

As the instructors and students take the day off to be with their immediate families, I wanted to take a minute to express how thankful I am for my Elite family.  Elite Training Center has become a cornerstone in my life, and it’s not just the world-class training and martial arts instruction that is so special.  The people at Elite, from the newest students to the most experienced instructors, are universally wonderful and exceptional people.  Whether it be an everyday class or a Krav Maga test or supporting one of our fighters at an MMA fight, everyone is truly there for one another, encouraging, guiding, pushing, and, if needed, holding each other up so he or she can stand side by side with his or her teammates.  What an amazing thing to find in a world where people are increasingly disconnected from one another.  I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be a part of such a unique school.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Katie

Although beautiful days are not a rare thing in Redondo Beach, yesterday was exceptionally gorgeous.  There’s nothing like the crisp, clean air after it rains, and there was a light breeze off the ocean that made the salty smell in the air even stronger than usual.  Days like yesterday make me feel alive, so naturally they’re usually the perfect days to work out…

But for some reason I just wasn’t feeling it, coming up with every excuse in the book to delay it.  Finally, after a guilt trip from my husband, I headed out to train.  My plan was to start with 15 minutes and see how I felt, but within 2 minutes of hitting the pads and hearing that solid “thwack-thwack” of punches and kicks, it no longer seemed like a chore, and I felt like I could continue for hours.  Afterwards I was happy, calm, proud that I’d made that first step, and ready to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day.

Taking that first step onto the mat can be hard to do sometimes, but it is probably the most important part of health and training.  We all have mornings when hitting the snooze button again feels like the best idea in the world, and we all have evenings after a long day of school or work when all you want to do is head home and collapse in front of the TV.  Working out or training feels like another chore…but I don’t know anyone who has said, “That was a waste of time and now I feel worse,” after forcing him or herself to show up at the school or gym after a long day (or short night)!  We all struggle with motivation at times; life can be complicated and exhausting.  Work, school, spouse, kids, finances, health, etc…all of these things can be overwhelming.  But through it all, martial arts will support you, and everyone at Elite is here for you.  All you have to do is take that first step.

Elite has a schedule that makes it easy to stop by and take a class at convenient times, such as before or after school or work.  And the classes are offered in such a way that you can choose your speed or discipline.  Not feeling up to a cardio-blasting Extreme Kickboxing class?  Perhaps a more mentally challenging Jiu Jitsu class fits your mood better.  No matter what class you choose, by taking that first step onto the mat you have already succeeded, doing more and pushing yourself more than most people do.  Recognize it and be proud of it.  We are proud of each of you.

See you at the school!

Katie

Hello Elite Training Center Friends,

This week’s classes in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program saw us practicing techniques in combatives and self-defense focusing on escaping from the front bearhug over both arms and under both arms; effectively using the front headlock snap down; the single leg takedown & the standing hook sweep takedown. On the mats this week, we continued to practice sweeps from the guard.

Observations in the basic program this week were how very good all of you are getting at jiu-jitsu and of how very fast the advance program will be here. I for one am excited to see you all start sparring full time in the advance program. Up until now, the basic program has been learning techniques and light positional sparring. In the advance program, each class will have sparring at the end of the lesson; moreover, we will begin having open mat sessions. During open mat, it is common to see students practicing jiu-jitsu right-along-side other students practicing krav maga, kickboxing and mixed martial arts.

Be ready for October,

Prof. Tony Pacenski

Hello Elite Training Center Friends,

This week’s classes in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program saw us practicing techniques in combatives and self-defense focusing escaping from the back mount and finishing the fight from the mounted position. In addition, we learned how escape from the standing headlock and attacks from behind oneself by surprise.

The self-defense strategy of escaping from a headlock was a technique we continued address this week. This time around we learned how to prevent the attacker from breaking our posture. Once on the ground, we practiced the spinning armlock with knee on the belly and also added the standing armlock variation. These two types of armlock finishes were said to used in many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu self-defense techniques. At the end of the week we practices escapes against the rear choke attack. Each move used a throw to takedown the attacker. The rear choke escape throw showed us the importance of quickly gaining our base and throwing the attacker over your head. Two points during the escape is to lower your hips lower than the attacker’s and after the throw is performed, hold onto the arm of the opponent so you do lose your balance moving backwards.

The second technique to escape the rear choke attack practiced this week was when the opponent pulled you off balance and backwards with the choke. If was important to attempt the first throw over your head first and only use the step back throwing strategy second if pulled off balance by the attack. One tip was to step back on the arm-side you are being choked with deeply. A second tip was to turn your head and look to the spine of the opponent. This will help you get gain superior leverage and the best angle to trip the attacker to the ground as you move behind him.

On the mats this week we looked escaping the back mount and finishing from the front mount. Quick notes to about escaping the back mount, aways protect you neck from the choke, learn to be in control of your hips and found an effective escape strategy. Remember that when you are late in your defense, many times the opponent will determine what type of defense strategy you will use. You can not force it.

Lastly, during the week of classes, we explored basic finishing attacks from the front mount. Techinques that were reviewed and taught were the spinning armlock, the arm trap to rear naked choke and the arm trap to armlock. I could see a lot improvements in the students jiu jitsu practice in the performance of the armlocks this week.
This weekend led us to the first Elite Training Center Survival Camp in Santa Barbara, CA. Many of you that attended quickly learned the difference between training jiu jitsu on the mats verses ground survival training in the elements. But that is another story…

Best,

Prof. Tony Pacenski

This week’s classes in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program saw us practicing techniques in combatives and self-defense focusing takedowns and escapes if attacked from behind.  In addition, we explored the knee in the belly position and how to turn the fight with a variation on the hook sweep.

For the self-defense aspects on this week, we learned what to do if attacked and held over both arms or under both arms.  This was the classic bearhug attack. Both attacks were easily defended with jiu jitsu by use of leverage and basic tricks.  Further in the week we defended against the sucker punch.  This attack led to the clinch and the basic hip throw.  Two takedowns that were added this week were the hip throw and side trip takedown from the clinch reference point.  

On the mat this week we practice how to control the opponent using the knee in the belly position.  This position opens up many strategies such as submission attacks, transitional position control and the ability to where down the opponent with control, strikes or technical grips on the pants, sleeve and jacket.  Simply using the knee in the belly to transition to the mount position is a key objective.

Lastly, on the mat this week, we practiced using the hook sweep from the guard position.  Before learning this move, we reviewed how to use the armtriangle choke and also create an angle to take the back of the opponent.  It was this ability to move your hips under your opponent that determined what technique you could use or where you would end up next in the positional battle.  What we practice was to move the hips out to side the opposite way than taking the back position.  By doing this, we were able to learn the hook sweep and turn the fight.  In the end, this strategy led to the submission finish using the armtriangle choke.  Remember that the submission from the mount is half neck crank and half choke hold.  Therefore, it was practice to move to the side control to finialize the armtriangle.  All choke this way!

Best,

Prof. Tony Pacenski