Inner Circle Fight Team - MMA in Watsonville

My brother made his amateur MMA debut last Saturday night in Watsonville, Ca.  This Rugged Life was on the scene to cover the action.

Amateur Mixed Martial Arts action came to the Monterey Bay last Saturday night for the C.A.M.O.-organized "Coastal Collision" in Watsonville, Ca.  Bryan Schatz entered the cage as the third event of the night, squaring off against Eduardo Carrillo out of San Jose, Ca.  The two met at an agreed-upon catch-weight of 145 pounds, with Schatz possessing a slight reach and height advantage over the shorter Carrillo.

The bell rang for round 1 and the two touched gloves before squaring off.  After a brief feeling-out period that saw both fighters land hard shots, Schatz took the action to the ground, closing the distance and shooting for a double leg take-down that turned into a vicious slam that brought the crowd to their feet.  After the scramble, Schatz ended up in Carrillo's guard, and both traded several blows to the head and body.  While competitive, the first round went to Schatz.



The second round started as a mirror image of the first, with both fighters showcasing their extensive experience in the stand-up arts of boxing and Muay Thai.  Trouble came shortly into the round when Carrillo landed a beautiful left hook, right hand combo that caught Schatz on the way in.  The right hand wobbled Schatz, but his instincts took him into a clinch to buy time.  Carrillo went on the attack for most of the rest of the round, leading with hard right leads and scoring with knees to the head at the end of his combinations.  The barrage left a large welt under Schatz's left eye.  The bell rang, and the 2nd round was a wide one for Carrillo.

Schatz's corner worked on the eye between rounds, applying liberal amounts of vaseline, and their fighter bounced off the stool to start the 3rd round.  He then looked over at the crowd and grinned.  Carrillo came out hard and aggressive for the last round, looking to finish off his opponent.  Schatz had recuperated well between rounds, and fired back with straight punches down the middle.  Halfway through, Schatz landed another hard slam to his opponent, changing the course of the round, and perhaps the fight.  The two combatants grappled for the balance of the round, both looking to finish the other with a submission but lacking the time to put one in place.

In what had clearly been the most exciting bout of the evening, the three judges scored a split decision victory for Carrillo.  Where most fights have a clear winner and loser, with the victor being elevated and the defeated knocked down a peg, this was the type of fight that saw both participants elevated just for their participation in it.  It was a very solid, back and forth type of fight that saw both men in danger at numerous times, and both men fight back with tremendous heart and courage.




On a personal note, I am very proud of my brother for accomplishing what has been a long-time goal of his, fighting bravely against a very skilled opponent, and being a gentleman both before and after the bout.

Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Training for Combat Athletes

Disclaimer: I am not a trainer, nor do I have any degree or certification in sports performance.

Over the last decade and a half, more and more "modern" athletes and trainers have turned away from the morning "roadwork" that combat athletes have relied on for centuries. The long distance work that generations of successful fighters have used for conditioning (mind & body) have been pooh-poohed as "backwards," and "unsuitable" for explosive sports like boxing or MMA.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be summarized as a series of all-out sprints of activity, followed by full or partial rest periods. The most famous study was directed by Dr. Izumi Tabata from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. What would become known as the "Tabata Principle" consisted of 4 minutes of training, broken down into 20 seconds of all-out effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, continued 8 times, for a total of 240 seconds. After 6 weeks of training, Dr. Tabata found that his athletes improved 28% in anaerobic capacity, and 14% in their ability to consume oxygen (VO2 Max/aerobic).

There is no doubt that interval training is intense, time-efficient, and effective. If anyone doubts it, just try it on the track. That being said, so many people now tout it as the end-all, be-all of conditioning, that steady pace distance running is completely disregarded. The following statements are heard often:

"MMA is a sprint, not a marathon."

"Long , slow distance running doesn't have a place in a sport that is as explosive as MMA (or boxing.)"

"Slow running changes fast-twitch muscle fibers to slow ones, limiting an athlete's ability to react quickly and explosively."

These comments have some basis in fact, but they ignore certain parts of the Tabata study, and are misleading in some ways.

For one thing, the Tabata study makes a big deal out of the improvements taking place on "trained athletes." This is important, as it is much harder to get significant results out of athletes already "in shape," compared to relative novices. In fact, the athletes in the study had decent, but not great VO2 max averages before starting the study. The argument that similar improvements could be made with other training protocols, especially since these are relatively un-trained athletes, rarely gets made.

Secondly, even the group of athletes who were being trained with the Tabata Protocol were also instructed to perform LSD (Long, Steady Distance) runs once a week.

Finally, are we sure that combat sports are REALLY anaerobic in nature?

Aerobic means "with oxygen," and being in an aerobic state is when the body's demands for oxygen and fuel can be met by the body's intake. (breathing in oxygen) An extreme example of an aerobic athlete is a marathon runner.

Anaerobic means "without oxygen," and the system is used under maximal effort, where the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the supply. The body must then rely on the stored reserves of fuel. An extreme example of an anaerobic athlete is a 100 meter sprinter.

The problem with the argument that combat sports are anaerobic is that this system can only operate for a short time before it is spent. Once that happens, the demands for fuel and oxygen must be supported and replenished with the aerobic system. This happens QUICKLY. In fact, by the time that maximum effort has passed 75 seconds, more than half of the energy being used is supplied by the aerobic system. During the two minute rounds of amateur boxing, 63% of the energy requirements are coming via the aerobic system. With professional boxing and MMA fights lasting as long 48 minutes, broken into 3-5 minute rounds, it is clear that these are not purely anaerobic activities.

The point of all this is that the title is misleading. There should not be a question of anaerobic OR aerobic training, but just a matter of using both to bring up your weaknesses. If you come from a sprint-heavy background before beginning training in combat sports, you will most likely benefit from longer distance-style training. This will help lower your resting heart rate, and allow for quicker recovery between rounds. Conversely, if your resting heart rate is low, but you are lacking in speed and power, you may want to place an emphasis on interval training to bring up the lagging areas.

In short, each is good, but both is better.

Further Reading
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/enduranc.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tabata-Anything---Four-Minutes-of-Pain-to-Gain&id=348486
http://8weeksout.com/