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Welcome to Fighters Review, product reviews by fighters for fighters. From instructional DVDs to sparring gear and fight training apparel. If you're into fighting this is the place to be.
Mixed Martial Arts or MMA Training and Conditioning are becoming such hot topics these days that we decided to dedicate a page specifically to Mixed Martial Arts - MMA Training. Everything from our favourite MMA Training DVDs to newly developed MMA Training programmes currently on the market. We'll also be posting articles from specialist MMA fight trainers such as Spida Hunter from EHP - Enhancing Human Performance, who specialises in pre fight MMA Training programmes.
Hurt in practice so you don't bleed in bleed in battle!
Come back in the next couple of days to read Spida Hunters article on MMA Training and fight preperation.
Mixed Martial Arts has become alot more than Martial Arts, it has become high tech and cutting edge training programmes from IntoCombat's high tech IHP programmes to Zach Even-Esh's Gladiator style training with his Ancient Training Methods DVD set. These are a selection of some of our favourite Mixed Martial Arts training programmes:
Jeff Monson's MMA Training Final Count Down DVD
Another gem form the guys at Into Combat, JC Santana and Rhadi Fergusson.
The more I read and see from these guys, the more I realize these guys
are at the top of the field of fight training and conditioning.
Read more about Jeff's Training >>
Circuit Training for MMA DVD
This is from the guys at Into Combat - Rhadi Ferguson and JC Santana. In case you've been living in a
cave for the past couple of years Into Combatitling have been doing MMA training for such top notch fighters as
Jeff Monson, who is currently kicking but in the UFC and submission wrestling tournaments. These guys are
the kings of MMA training and conditioning.
Read about there S.A.I.D. MMA Training >>
Ancient Training Methods DVD and CD
This is a fantastic alternative to a gym membership. Zach has hit the nail on the head
when it comes to strength training for MMA and combative sports. In the past my MMA strength training has been like that of a body builder leading up to a fight.
After seeing this DVD and listening to what Zach has to say I've had to revamp my MMA training.
Read about Zach's training methods >>
Be sure to come back soon. We're setting up an MMA training blog so that you can watch and read as fighters record there daily training efforts leading up to various MMA fights. Any fighter who wishes to record and track there training is welcome to register and have there own training blog. We'll notify you in the next couple of weeks.
Wrestling for Fighting
| I’m torn about Wrestling for Fighting. I badly wanted to love this book, and it is good. Read article |
Fight Quest
| The Ultimate Fighters meets Lonely Planet is the best way of describing the Discovery channels latest offering on Foxtel. Read article |
Ian Freeman Seminar
| As such his seminar covering the basics of high level MMA was excellent, especially for someone as takedown deficient as I am. After the requisite warmup, Ian got us quickly working on two takedowns from the clinch, a body lock to trip and a throw from the tie up position. Ian took the time with each pairing of students and was open to questions along the way. Read article |
RMAX Grapplers Toolbox Reborn
| "There aren't many single person BJJ drills, you need a partner to practise grappling". When was first told this
by a BJJ coach, it was more or less true, at least as far as I knew. Read article |
Mastering The Saddle from RMAX:
| One of the good things about being a reviewer is that you get to see a
lot of things before they become "the next big thing". This is
definitely the case with RMAX's Mastering The Saddle DVD set, taught by
Coach Scott Sonnon. Read article |
Tuff Boxing
| As MMA becomes recognised as a legitimate sport, we're starting to see
professionals from many industries bringing their skills into the
collective fight market. Read article |
RMAX MMA Leg Attacks Review
| Attacking the legs still isn't all that common in MMA. The danger of
getting your head caved in with strikes while diving for a kneebar has
put a lot of fighters off. MMA Leg Attacks from Scott Sonnon is geared
towards safely applying leg attacks in an MMA and submission grappling
environment, without giving up good position or control of you opponent. Read article |
Xplosiv Fight Shorts rnd II
| I had been struggling with my one pair of fight shorts - the HCK ones I
reviewed a while back. Trying to get them clean for my next training
session was always a drama, since I train pretty much daily. Plus, with
the weather getting warmer here on the bottom part of the world, I was
going to be needing them a lot more. So, I was very pleased when I was
sent a pair of XPlosiv fight shorts to review. Read article |
Grapplersgym.com
| Grapplersgym.com stands out among the now glut of MMA training resources
online; mostly due the extremely high quality of the content, the
expertise of the contributors and the large amount of information
available on the forums. Read article |
Xplosiv Fight Shorts
| It's rare that a high standard is set by a new company's first run at
the market. For the most part manufacturers spend several incarnations
of their products getting the mixture right. However the makers of
Xplosiv shorts seemed to have jumped that step and gone straight to
making a superb pair of shorts right off the bat. Read article |
CageWalk Fight Shorts
| CageWalk shorts have filled a almost impossible niche in the fightshorts
industry by being both low cost, cool looking and a downright fantastic
product. Read article |
Dynamic Kneebars
| I sometimes wonder if anytime I review a Grapple Arts product I should
just give the grunted caveman version of a longer review. Leglocks,
Kesting, Grapplearts.... Good! Buy! Read article |
San Da Punching and Clinching
| By Sifu David Ross
I remember seeing San Da for the first Time on ESPN many years ago during the Wushu world championships. At the Time I was doing Thai Boxing and I remember how impressed I was with these guys that fought like Thai Boxers, yet threw like Judo players. It was incredibly exciting to watch, and in alot of ways really started me on the path of MMA. After being impressed with the eclectic diversity of the San Da fighters techniques, my friends and I started sparring in the back yard and would add Judo throws such as Osoto gari to our standard Muay Thai sparring. Read article |
Strength and Conditioning
| for Combat Sports By Tim O'Connor Looking at a product like this it strikes me just how far the Martial Arts has come in terms of strength and conditioning training. Look at the early days of the UFC where you'd see guys getting in the octagon overweight and looking like they just came from the local pub. Now we see them as "athletes", ripped, defined and explosive in there movements and techniques. When I look at material like Tim O'Connor's DVD "Strength and Conditioning for Combat Sports" I see why. Read article |
www.mymalife.com
| It's much harder to review things that can be picked up for nothing,
there is a tendency to judge them more lightly than something you had to
part with some of your pay cheque for. With that said it's rare that one
of the worlds top instructors decides to just give away one of his older
DVD's "just because" and Rodney King has done just that. Read article |
www.scientificwrestling.com
| The internet is becoming the new place to train, with various different
sites offering everything from BJJ to "the Secrets of the Ninja"
(warning! Ninja secrets found online have limited MMA value). Jake
Shannon's Scientific Wrestling is offering something unique though, Catch
as Catch Can wrestling. Read article |
Quantum Crazy Monkey
| Everyone knows by now that I love Rodney King's Crazy Monkey and Clinch
boxing DVD's, so I had high expectations for Rodney's Quantum Crazy
Monkey. They were met and definitely exceeded. Read article |
Mac Danzig Post Fight Interview
| Fighters Review: Hi Mac, it's always difficult straight after a loss to
know where you're going next, now that we are a few weeks away from the
Mach Sakurai fight, what's next for you in MMA? Read article |
Yoga for Martial Arts DVD
| "Yoga for Martial Arts" produced by Grapplearts, who have
very quickly become one of my favourite producers of instructionals for
martial arts. This one is slightly different in that it contains no
submissions, no strikes and no techniques as such. What it does have is
top notch yoga instruction targeted at martial artists in general and
grapplers in particular. Read article |
Inspirit Compe Model Shorts
| While not as good as the Spec 2 Inspirit Shorts the Compe models are
still comfortable, hard wearing gear that I wouldn't hesitate to
recommend to anyone looking for good solid Vale Tudo shorts. Read article |
Grappler's Guide to Sports Nutrition
| I remember when I was a young chap, turning up to my Ju Jitsu class and my
trainer was sitting on the bench outside
the training hall with a meat pie in one hand and to his left side a smoke
sitting in the ash tray. Times have changed! Read article |
Mac Danzig Interview
| Fighters Review: Hi Mac, thanks for doing the interview with us. You are
currently preparing for your Pride debut on February 24th against the
legendary Hayoto "Mach" Sakurai who is considered one of the top
lightweight fighters in the world. Can you take us through your
preparations in the lead up to this fight? Read article |
Valentines Day with Fighters Review
| Right now, I'm feeling pretty lucky. After a hard morning workout I
arrived home to find my gear for the day set out for me and breakfast
bubbling away (I eat a lot of oatmeal). I, like a lot of fighters I
know, only manage to organise my life with the help of my girlfriend.
While certainly not every fighter has the backup of an understanding
partner, those that do are often quick to attribute at least some of
their success to having a partner that understands the
demands of the sport, especially at a high level. Read article |
Kettlebell Training For Combat Athletes
| At the top levels of MMA there are so many fighters using kettlebells to great effect.
Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Shamrock are among the notables that are pushing the training envelope with kettlebell training. Fighters are boasting stronger more
powerfull striking techniques, explosive take downs and an unbreakable ground game as a result of kettlebell training. With such
dramatic results coming from the kettlebell trend, every man and his dog are starting to use kettlebells to lift there combat performance.
This is were the smart fighter can lead the pack. Read article |
Inspirt Spec Model 2 Fight Shorts
| I was excited to get these shorts, for a long time the fight short
market has been dominated by a few major brands and its great to see
some more competition coming to fore. So with the help of Vale Tudo
fighter Scott Benson we put the shorts through their paces to see if
Inspirit's newest MMA shorts the Spec Model 2's were all that was
promised. Read article |
Flexicose
| Supplements are everywhere these days, promising every thing from
decreased body fat to bulging muscles (sometimes both). Sadly most
supplements are worthless and a small few are actually stupefyingly
dangerous (if anyone tries to sell you a supplement with uric acid in it
kick them in the face). Flexicose is none of these things; all it says
on the bottle is that it will help with joint pain and limb flexibility.
And it does. Read article |
Clinch Boxing Series: Volume 1
| Rodney King's Clinch Boxing Series: Volume 1 I love the clinch. I'm not especially good at it but it's such a versatile position to strike from that I'm learning to love it. Rodney King has gone to a lot of trouble to expand on the traditional "get the Thai Clinch, throw knees" mentality. While Rodney does cover firing knees from the various clinch positions this DVD is really geared at getting the different clinches and then going through a wide variety of alternative attacks. Read article |
The Dynamic Half Guard DVD
| Stephan Kesting and the crew at Grapple Arts have made a fantastic
product in their Dynamic half Guard DVD. Once again proving that in
depth content doesn't require six DVD's or a three figure price tag this
DVD takes a very detailed look at one of the most neglected aspects of
the BJJ/Submission grappling game. Read article |
Street Boxing Series: Volume 1
| The Crazy Monkey defence system is something of a revolution in the
striking arts, and it's not often that you com across a DVD that will
change your game forever, but Rodney King's Crazy Monkey system works,
and works well no matter what you throw at it. Read article |
A New Beginning DVD set
| It's amazing, for such a small country New Zealand churns out some absolute wrecking machines on the global fight stage.
I trained in Auckland New Zealand during the 90's and watched fighters such as Ray Sefo and Jason "Psycho" Suttie start
there fighting Muay Thai/Kickboxing careers in local and international fights. Jason Suttie, was one of my favourite
fighters to watch, he was fearless in the ring, and had the attitude and the technique to take it to the next level. Read article |
Ultimate Stand Up DVD set
| Back in 1990 a very excited teenager purchased a Muay Thai instructional DVD starring Ajarn Chai Sirisute and narrated by
Guru Dan Inosanto. 17 years later the tape only just works, my 2 year old nephew taped a portion of Young and the Restless over
the first 5 minutes, but 17 years on the tape holds its ground against other stand up DVDs in the market today. Read article |
Best of Clinch Boxing 2005
| I have been fortunate enough to look at a large cross section of Rodney
King's products and I had a hard time choosing which one to review
first. I eventually chose "Best of Clinch Boxing 2005" as you get a huge
amount of bang for your buck. Rodney runs his gym in South Africa,
training MMA, Thai Boxing, Boxing and BJJ fighters for national and
international competition. He is also a sought after guest at seminars
held world wide and he has just returned from teaching a retreat with
John Will in Singapore. Rodney has designed the striking program for
Straight Blast Gym, and Matt Thornton goes so far as to describe Rodney
"Chico" King as the best stand up coach in the game. High praise indeed,
so to say my expectations for this DVD were high would be a huge
understatement. Read article |
Russian Kettlebell Challenge DVD
| When starting a new exercise regime it pays to start properly, and learn correct technique from the outset. Incorrect form and bad habits can cause major problems in later life, when tweaked joints, tendons and ligaments start playing up. So in order properly get swinging with Kettlebells we had a look at Pavel Tsatsouline's DVD - "Russian Kettlebell Challenge". Read article |
Australian Kettlebells
| The neighbours must think I'm nuts. They've seen me flip giant tractor tires, carry sandbags around the yard, beat up old tires with
a sledge hammer, including doing weird things with giant rubber bands. Now they've seen me, while on their 5:00 am morning walk,
swinging cannon balls with handles at the local park. When they say "good morning", you can almost hear them thinking,
"Why doesn't this clown get a mountain bike". Read article |
The Clinch - Dan Henderson DVD
| If your going to buy an instructional it's a good point to find someone
who's a specialist in the area your interested in, for example you
wouldn't buy a DVD on Tank Abbot's spider guard. Usually when I purchase instructionals
I don't normally buy them in a set. I buy an individual DVD on the fighters specialty and leave the rest. Dan Henderson comes from a champion Greco/Roman Wrestling career, stand up clinching is his specialty, this is a skill I've really been pushing lately, so that's what I got. Read article |
Gyrotwister and Powerball
| Right now the Gyrotwister and the Powerball are sitting on my desk. The
only reason I'm not using either one is my arms are so worked that I can
barely type let alone attempt another hand workout with either one of
them. There is a warning written on the side of the box, and present on
both www.gyrotwister.com.au and www.powerballs.com.au that says "Warning!
Addictive!" This isn't said lightly at all, these are seriously
addictive. Read article |
My Mixed Martial Arts - Denis Kang
| It seems that lately every new DVD I see becomes a favourite, with a
very few exceptions. Denis Kang's My Mixed Martial Arts is no exception.
While it isn't specifically geared towards beginners, this DVD is
exceptional in the material shown is all good, all usable under pressure
and even complete beginners will have something to gain from the DVD.
Denis Kang is a very good presenter; he gets his point across clearly
and breaks down every move he demonstrates.
Read article |
Watch My Back - Geoff Thompson
| If I hadn't just read this book I would want it for Christmas. 'Watch
My Back' is Geoff Thompson's account of a decade spent on the doors of
Coventry's most infamous pubs and clubs. Even if you take 'Watch My
Back' as a series of vignettes detailing Geoff's battles with the likes
of the Bell Green Crew... Read article |
Real World Submissions
| This DVD should be compulsory viewing for grapplers. Everything in it is
good, from the film to the actual instructional segment on the DVD. Dean
Lister has put together one of the best MMA/Submission DVD's on the
market today. While the number of techniques on hand isn't huge, the
quality of the moves themselves and Dean's instruction make this well
worth buying in their own right. Read article |
Submission Master Clinic
| I was sitting at home one night watching some old King of the Cage Fights when my Father in law turned up. Usually when he talks my eyes go glassy, and my brain turns to screen saver mode. This time was different, he said something that caught my attention. "This looks a bit like the old pro wrestling shows my father took me to as a kid", he was referring to the pro wrestling in England during the 40's and early 50's. Intrigued, I questioned him some more... Read article |
Godfather of Grappling - Gene Lebell
| Gene LeBell has been causing people pain for almost a century now. He
has, at different times, been declared the saviour of martial arts, the
toughest man alive and a sadist. Gene himself only seems to agree with
the sadist description, but there is no denying that without Gene
LeBell the martial arts world would be a very different place.
Read article |
Gameness USA Platinum Gi
| I really like this Gi. I decided to pick up the Gameness USA Platinum Gi
after I tore my regular type BJJ Gi number three. I got mine through a
Gameness affiliate www.gsw.net.nz however you can get USA Gameness
Gear sent internationally from www.gameness.net
For comparison I have used a friend of mines Gameness USA single weave. Read article |
Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete
| I came across the Diesel Crew one night when surfing through the endless
amounts
of strongman video on YouTube. The Crew were pulling off some pretty
impressive lifts,
just do a search on YouTube for Diesel Crew and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway I eventually
went to there website to find out a little more about the Diesel Crew,
www.dieselcrew.com and
found that they actually had an MMA training manual titled "Building the
Ultimate MMA Athlete". Read article |
Magnificent Mobility DVD
| We all know the feeling that comes with an injury, along with
the now familiar pain, there is the terrible thought: "I'm going to have
to take a week off training and let this heal". However, with the
exception of over-enthusiastic training partners, most of us can be
doing a lot more to prevent the injuries that are interfering with our
mat time. Read article |
Masters of Grappling DVD
| Masters of Grappling, put together by Jeremy Ta'kody of Blitz magazine
fame, is a great sampler of techniques from a wide variety of sources
in the grappling world. While there is very little shown on the video
that is directly marketed as being MMA, almost all of the no gi
techniques (even some of the ones applied in a gi) work very well in a
limited rules environment. Read article |
Kickboxing S.A.I.D. Circuit Training
| Gone are the days of doing endless press-ups, sit-ups, and running for Kickboxing training.
Get your conditioning workouts done in minimum amount of time with maximum results. It all sounds like a
cheesy TV ad you'd be watching at 2 in the morning, but this is coming from the elite fight fitness aficionado's
JC Santana and Rhadi Fergusson, the co-owners of Intocombat.com. Read article |
Vale Tudo Boxing by Vitor Belfort
| The reason I got this DVD is because I'm a big Vitor fan. He's got to be one of the cleanest boxers in MMA,
he doesn't throw the wild haymakers with his hands down by his waste like alot of other MMA fighters. Read article |
Greg Nelson's Clinch - DVDs 1 and 2
| When I first started Muay Thai, we had two Thai instructors that our gym owner had imported from Thailand.
They'd show you the clinch positions and arm weaving etc. But when you'd see them training knees together they'd
be doing all sorts of funky stuff that we never got to learn. Go to most Muay Thai clubs outside of Thailand and the
clinch game is pretty much bread and butter. The Thai's on the other hand are incredibly advanced when it comes to the
knee and clinch positions, after all they developed it.
Read article |
Tekken - Dark Resurrection
| I've always been a big fan of the Tekken series of games, but was
skeptical when I heard it was coming out for the PSP. I just didn't think they
could pull it off, but was pleasantly surprised. Read article |
Fight Logic by John Will
| In my opinion this is one of the best books out there on integrating
your stand up and ground techniques. While it does have a self defence
focus, almost all of the moves and principles shown are applicable to
MMA and, as with all of his products, John Will does a great job of
breaking down each move into their component parts to make them easy to
understand and apply.
Read article |
Jeff Monson - Final Count Down DVD
| Another gem form the guys at Into Combat, JC Santana and Rhadi Fergusson. The more I read and see from these guys, the more I realize these guys are at the top of the field of fight training and conditioning. Read article |
Mastering Ju Jitsu by Renzo Gracie
| Mastering Ju Jistu is somewhat misnamed and could easily have been
called "Mastering MMA" as with the exception of some brief descriptions,
Gi Ju Jitsu does not appear in this book at all. Renzo Gracie and John
Danaher do a good job of covering... Read article |
Shock Doctor Power Double
| Now this is more like it. Much easier to mould than the Pro this mouth
guard fits to both the upper and lower teeth and allows breathing
through the mouth via breathing channels cut into the guard... Read article |
Shock Doctor Pro Mouthguard
| While this mouthguard from Shock Doctor certainly does protect your
teeth, I can't recommend it for anyone participating in an MMA event as
I found it extremely hard to get the moulding to work, despite following
instructions exactly... Read article |
Ouano MMA Gloves
| As MMA becomes more and more popular the number of gloves that has hit
the market is huge. With more than twenty brands floating around now,
all proclaiming to be the greatest thing to happen to MMA since Royce
Gracie... Read article |
The Ultimate Fighter 1
| I missed the first season of TUF (The Ultimate Fighter), so I got the 5 disk box set and watched it in one sitting. Thank goodness it was fathers day, other wise I'd be sleeping in the garage. Read article |
Body Quicken
| So many supplements just don’t work. Some of them only work
under ideal conditions and only after several months’ worth of taking the
product. It’s quite a shock when something works as advertised the
first time you take it. So it was with Body Quicken... Read article |
The Day Gene LeBell Saved Martial Arts
| Think the UFC was the first MMA event in the USA, think again. This VHS video tape is of the first MMA event in North America. It took place in Salt Lake City Utah in 1963 between Milo Savage and Judo Gene Lebell. Read article |
Gameness Vale Tudo Shorts
| Gameness have been around for a while now compared to alot of the MMA and BJJ Gear companies. In a way they are a pioneer in this niche industry. One of the reason they have been around and stayed around is simply because of there products quality. Read article |
Double Trouble DVD - By Tony Cecchine
| This is the Dynamic Duo of Tony Cecchine and Shawn Chitwood teaching and combining there unique skills of Catch Wrestling and Sport Jujitsu. The combination of the two respective arts creates some very effective techniques for Brazlian and competition Jujitsu. Read article |
Circuit Training for MMA DVD
| This is from the guys at Into Combat - Rhadi Ferguson and JC Santana. In case you've been living in a cave for the past couple of years Into Combat have been training such top notch fighters as Jeff Monson, who is currently kicking but in the UFC and submission wrestling tournaments. These guys are the kings of MMA conditioning. Read article |
UFC Tapout - Xbox
| Tapout is by far my favourite fighting game on the Xbox. The graphics are greatly improved over previous versions. The game play is fantastic. This is the perfect game for a bunch of friends over who are fight freaks. Nothing like a couple of beers and a good punch up, or tap out. Read article |
Sprawl FlexFighter XT Shorts
| Kick, grapple, sprawl, quard, mount, regardless of the position you want good range of motion, and shorts that don't restrict your movement in a fight. Thats what Sprawl offers in there FlexFighter XT shorts. Read article |
Fairtex MMA Gloves
| I've used these gloves in two professional fights now, and I'll keep using them, I give them a gloved double thumbs up. Read article |
Dirty Boxing DVD - Jens Pulver
| This is a great DVD for anyone wanting to learn how to get from striking distance standing up, to forcing the clinch into a wrestling position, such as under and over. Read article |
Ancient Training Methods DVD and CD
| This is a fantastic alternative to a gym membership. Zach Even - Esh has hit the nail on the head when it comes to strength training for combat sports. In the past I've trained like a bodybuilder for strength leading up to a fight. After seeing this DVD and listening to what Zach has to say I've had to revamp my training.
Read article |
Extreme Boxing DVD by Mark Hatmaker
| Everything seems to be extreme these days. So heres another extreme to add to the list, "Extreme Boxing" by Mark Hatmaker. Which I didn't find all that extreme. Read article |
The Twister - Eddie Bravo
| Very impressed!! Eddie gives a very strong rationale behind his radical new
techniques, and believe me these are radical. The Twister DVD shows the evolution behind his mentality and his progress as a no-gi grappler. Read article |
MMA Gear reviews from Sprawl MMA shorts to Fairtex MMA gloves.
Improve your MMA or sport Jujitsu with the Double Trouble DVD starring Tony Cecchine