"Conditioning is your best submission hold."
-Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock became a legend in the UFC with his run in the late 1990s when he won the UFC middleweight strap and defended it four times with wins over Igor Zinovive, Jeremy Horn, John Lober and Tito Ortiz.

Not only has Shamrock enjoyed a tremendous amount of personal success, he has produced some quality up-and-coming fighters through his fight team at his Martial Arts Academy in San Jose, California. Well known for his expertise in fighting and training, Shamrock shares some of his secrets to success.

KETTLEBELL TRAINING

Kettlebells are for full-body training, and they're also for stability and core training. So I kind of break them up into two different parts. The first one is strength and balance, and the second one is fluidity and stability.

We do our exercises for the duration of a round, which is three, four or five minutes. The time matches the length of time used in the organization for which we are fighting. The goal is to get up to the maximum amount of minutes (of that round), whatever that time is.

So, a typical workout would be like 30 seconds worth of effort and 10 seconds worth of rest and then subsequent intervals until you've got the complete time of three or five minutes or whatever the round is. We do hip swings, breath-ups, different moving, standing and throwing and power techniques.

THE DAY OF COMPETITION

The day before the bout is a pretty important time because that's the pinnacle of stress for the event. Therefore, I try to teach my guys to relax. It's also important to distract their mind, rest their body, hydrate, fuel and let themselves charge up for the event without taxing their mind. To provide a distraction, I tell them to read, watch a movie, play cards or whatever it is that distracts them. For me, it's sleeping and reading.

TIPS FOR THE NEWCOMERS

MMA is an art, and it takes a lot to get deep into it. The No. 1 rule, of course, is keep your hands up (laughs). Rule No. 2 is to breathe; learn to breathe. After that, a fighter has to learn about and listen to his body, learn how to use it and build a successful art to make his body, mind and spirit one in fighting. To do that, he needs a good coach or instructor. He needs someone to guide him and give him the info.

MOST UNDERRATED ASPECT OF FIGHTING

The most underrated aspect of fighting is the mental part. Fighting is 90 percent mental. There are people who run from the fire, and there are people who turn around and run to the fire. There's a mental thing (difference) going on between those two. Most people just don't have the mental strength that is required for fighting. As I said, fighting is 90 percent mental and most people lack that.

The stronger you are mentally, the stronger you can tell your body what to do and the stronger you can do whatever. I think that's what prevents people from getting there. It's hard because the bigger a fighter gets or the more famous he becomes, the easier it is to get sidetracked from what's really important.

THE PROBLEM OF OVERTRAINING

It happens, I would say, 85 percent of the time, maybe even 90, because your mind tells you certain things that aren't really the truth, and it's easier to listen to your mind than it is to listen to your body. Your mind controls your body. Therefore, if you don't want to train, you'll talk yourself out of it. If you're hurt, you'll talk yourself out of it.

If fighting is the most important thing in the world to you, you'll show up with your leg broken. I've trained with my leg broken, and I didn't know it. It was just a case of, "I have to do this. It's the most important thing in the world and my leg hurts, but who cares?"

But that goes back to having mental control, having mental focus and having control of your mind and spirit and being in control of what's going on.

The 100s Workout
Conditioning for the Total Animal

Two days a week do the "100s Workout."
Do 100 squats, 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 leg lifts, 100 shots, 100 sprawls, 100 bridges, 100 elevators and 100 stand-ups.
Take a 20-second break in between and move right into the next technique and exercise.
This takes most about 40 minutes.
It's a very focused, repetitive, fatiguing workout in the sport-specifics of fighting. This is a full-body workout through all the correct mechanical and technical movements of fighting.
This includes all the basic core movements in 100s.
The objective is to tax you physically and mentally because when many people get severely taxed physically and mentally, they lose it, they lose focus or get tense.

Where To Find Him
Academy Shamrock Martial Arts Academy

Address: 5725 Winfield Boulevard, Suite 1, San Jose, CA 95123
Phone: (408) 225-2883
E-Mail:
Web Site: www.shamrockmartialarts.com

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