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Have Gi - Will Travel, martial arts, Product Reviews, RoadWarrior, Uncategorized

Have Gi – Will Travel: Greensboro Combat Sports

July 17, 2016 RoadWarriorFit Leave a comment

So let me start this post by saying the martial arts community in Greensboro, NC is not what I expected it to be. For the first time on this National journey, I felt really limited by my choices to train at. A quick Google search came up with 3 options……THREE!!!

Gym A: Just posted a letter announcing ownership change and that everything will be just fine……nope.

Gym B: No website. No reviews. No Facebook page……..nope.

Gym C: Greensboro Combat Sports/Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu……we have a winner!!!

To summarize, the instruction was good and detailed and the instructor made sure to work with all students in the room. As with most schools I visit, the number of beginning students by far outweighed those with significant experience but the diversity in the room of body styles, gender and age was great to see. All in all, worth the mat fee and very glad I took the time to go check it out.

Instructor:

The class (and school) was lead by a purple belt, Blayne Turnmire (pictured above winning double gold at a recent tournament). Now before you run off saying “The school is run by a purple belt!!”- as near as I could tell, yes, it is. Based on my research though, he is also one of the highest ranking people in the Triad area and definitely in Greensboro. His teaching style was a bit laid back compared to other instructors I have had but it did not lack in detail. We worked several stand up self defenses (loved it – I don’t do this enough) and then worked on knee-on-belly.

After drilling for 30-minutes or so, we rolled. Good skill level in the room and a few guys were going hard. Several of them were competing in a sub-only tournament the following weekend so they were getting after it. From what I could see on Facebook, looks like they did well and that was not surprising based on my experience with them on the mat.

Attitude towards outsiders:

From what I could gather from Mindy (she really runs the place), the gym regularly has RoadWarriors like myself dropping in for training. She was quick to respond to my inquiry (and I inquired very much last minute) and commented a couple of times of how she is always surprised how often it happens. In fact, I was not the only traveling visitor that day. They had another regular who comes down from Columbus, OH on a regular basis.

As I mentioned before, the class felt less formal than some that I have experienced but when I think back on it, there was definite structure to it. We bowed in and then went straight into warm ups. There were no pleasantries between the students (lots between the instructor and the students), it was pretty much straight to work. Nothing rude or exclusionary mind you, just not a lot of chit chat and welcoming (go back up and see that diversity comment again).

I want to make sure I am painting this picture correctly, I never felt unwanted, shunned, second class or any other form of being boxed out as an outsider. However unlike other gyms I have dropped in on, I think I would have to reintroduce myself to everyone there.

Facilities:

Located just West of downtown Greensboro, the gym is in a converted warehouse building, it has a HUGE mat space that is separate from an additional mat for stand-up training. It also boasted full weight training equipment scattered around the gym.

One warning, it is not the CrossFit gym……the one that happens to be next door. You can guess how I know they are separate facilities.

Overall Experience:

I really enjoyed my time at Greensboro Combat Sports. I actually took part in a fight fit class before rolling so got to experience a couple of different types of training. The technique instruction was exactly what I have been trying to work on so it fit with my training perfectly. And while the atmosphere was a bit more lax than what I have experienced elsewhere, the jujitsu was on point.

So if you find yourself in the Greensboro area and are looking for a place to train, look no further than Greensboro Combat Sports. It is proof that just because you don’t have much of a selection doesn’t mean that you don’t have the opportunity to get some great training in!!

See you on the road!!

Fitness, health, healthy living, RoadWarrior

Do you exercise, work out or do you train?

November 4, 2015 RoadWarriorFit Leave a comment

Let me start off by saying there is no “right” answer to the question above but how you answer tells a lot about your attitude towards fitness. It is actually a question that I have really struggled with recently.

“Why do I work out the way I do?” And more pertinently “How do I really want to train?”

Maybe it will help if I define the three options for you.

Exercise:

The person who says “I am going to go exercise” typically does not have a real plan in place. They may be the one who hits the hotel gym and decides based on availability as to whether they are going to run or hit the elliptical that night. Now mind you, they are still ahead of 28.3% of Americans, who according to the Physical Activity Counsel have done NO EXERCISE AT ALL over the last 12 months…..and they even included walking the mall as a form of exercise!! The reality is this group is also the least likely to see any type of real and persistent results from their efforts. It is also the easiest mindset with which to skip altogether and find yourself among the 28%.

Work Out:

These are the people who typically have at least a semblance of a plan. They know the muscle group they are going to target or the cardio exercise for the day. They are usually intentional in their workout and they may even have specific goals for the work out (for example, today my goal was 40 minutes on the treadmill at 7 mph). They make their time for their work out a priority.

Training:

These people have a specific goal in mind. For some it is a race (think marathon running), for others it is a competition (fighters and bodybuilders), others still it is an amount of weight to drop. For me it has been various rank advancement in karate or the occasional grappling tournament. There is a different intensity to the workouts but more importantly, there is a different intentionality. You are there in the gym, or on the mat, or on the road with a specific goal and purpose all of which leads up to a larger result.

So why bring this up at all?

Because I find myself in a time of transition. For the last 7 years I have had something to train for and right now, I don’t. A random set of circumstances has really thrown my training off the rails.

Schedule changes at the dojo preventing me from getting in regularly.
Work obligations getting in the way of my lunch BJJ sessions.
Nothing on the calendar to run towards (although I am going to run a Disney Race at some point)
Traveling an average of 4 days a week

All of these have conspired to put me in a spot where I am not training for anything specific right now. There have actually been moments over the last few months that I have found myself walking into the gym with absolutely no plan…..and it terrifies me. The good news is I am still walking in the gym or pressing play every day though.

The reality is that people who have something to train for are more intentional about their exercise regime and far less likely to miss a workout.

No- I don’t have a study to back that claim up other than the anecdotal evidence and my own experiences but the bigger question is how do embrace that fact and apply it?

I want you to think back to High School Physics class and to Newton’s first law of motion. Do you remember?

A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force.

Intentionality is that external force to our stagnation. The Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG for all of you Good to Great fans) is what moves people from exercising to training. You have to have something you are working towards, or running from, that is so motivating that you not only exercise but you do so with intention.

I am on the hunt for mine now and I will be sure to share it when I identify it. I am one of those weirdos that are not motivated by a number on a scale but by the things I am able to achieve. That doesn’t mean that the chasing a number is wrong, it is just not what does it for me.

So what is it that will take you from exercising to training? What is your BHAG? Can’t wait to hear from you.

Fitness, RoadWarrior, Spirit, Travel

Starting over….but not from the same spot.

July 18, 2015 RoadWarriorFit Leave a comment

These last couple of months have been really rough travel months for me. I have spent more days on the road than I can count, been to all four corners of the country and in looking towards the end of the month, there is no letup in sight. I’m not going to lie; it has been difficult to keep my physical, emotional and especially my mental health in a good place through this season.

I find when I go on streaks like this, it is my mental health that seems to suffer the most, especially due to the central role my martial arts training contributes to keeping me centered. You see when you are on a mat with someone who is either trying to kick you in the head or stop you from breathing, you tend hyper focus on the moment and not worry about anything else. I no longer think about that project that is due, the deal I am trying to get closed or even the next blog post. I am completely in the moment. It really is cathartic for me.

The problem is, you have to be on the mat to really train and you can’t be on the mat if you are constantly on the road!!

I remember when I first started training in American Karate I started with a clear goal in mind, I wanted to earn my black belt before I turned 40. I knew the minimum time requirement spent at each belt level per the curriculum and knew that as long as I did not miss training sessions and always passed my belt tests, I could do it but just barely. Fast forward 5 years and I received my black belt 3 months before my 40^th birthday in dramatic fashion (read about that experience here). If I had had a section of travel like the season has been, it would have been devastating to me and put me way off on my goals, my training and my attitude. Training was about rank advancement not necessarily personal improvement at that point.

A forced break like this would have destroyed me.

In addition to training in karate, I also recently started training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. This forced break has made me realize that I have taken a completely different approach to training and my mindset. The different approach was not an intentional one but one that is a probably healthier. Maybe it is because I have lower expectations due to my schedule or maybe it is because I have matured as a martial artist but I have no expectations around rank advancement in BJJ. No goals around when I will advance, tournaments to win or techniques to master. I just roll and learn…..and get lost in my own head.

I am a no-stripe white belt and I am OK with that.

During my forced hiatus, I have continued to see my training partners and friends tweet, post, Instagram and Periscope their ongoing training sessions. I can literally see them progress past my skill level, and I am ok with that. This new journey has become much more than a color on a belt for me and their journey is not mine. I have also found that there is so much I can do off the mat to be ready to be on the mat and in seasons like this, it is where my training has focused.

So why share all of this? Because as RoadWarriors, it is easy to lose track of getting centered. We are trying to be productive, to utilize our time to the greatest of our ability and to simply survive the gauntlet that is living life on the road but even with all of that, you have to make time for the activities that center you. So what do you do to keep yourself centered and how do you make it a part of your daily routine? For me it is train, pray and read. I am not sure what it is for you but you have to make sure you do it.

Let me know and I will see you on the road.