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Better Human Magazine is dedicated to helping athletes, fighters, boxers and martial artists improve their performance by providing education, tips and real stories from industry experts. We believe that the rules and disipline of training as an athlete can influence all aspects of life in a positive way – and make each one of us a better human.

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Keep your game sharp (and your guard up…!),
Shir

HOCKEY AND MMA?

Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about professional athletes training in traditional martial arts and modern MMA.

At first, I had warm and “fuzzy” feelings at the thought that today’s athletes are so open minded, inquisitive and disciplined to pick up a martial art. But as I’ve been discovering more and more Football, Hockey and even Basketball players that take their martial arts training seriously I started to suspect that there’s more to the phenomenon than just a downtime activity or interest.

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QUALITY OF LIFE

An eight part series on factors that can truly affect the quality of your years

Part III: Surrounding Yourself with Positive Influences

Considering the dozens of books, motivational seminars, and articles written on this subject, there is certainly something to be said for how significant an impact this principle can make in your life. Take a moment and think about how this information and its’ practice can affect and enhance your life.

There is an old adage that says, “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are”. Basically, you are a product of the company you keep.

The people you spend time with at work and in your leisure hours have the greatest influence on your mind. They also have the most profound affect on what you can ultimately achieve. These associations are mostly referred to as positive and negative, or sometimes you may hear “nourishing” and “toxic” relationships. Read More

TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS (TMA) VS. MIXED MARTIAL ARTS (MMA)

I was speaking with one of my students a few weeks ago and he said that a friend of his exclaimed that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is better than Traditional Martial Arts (TMA) because of the now tired axiom that “All fights end up on the ground.” He indicated if he had to have a fight on the street he would fare better than a traditional martial artist.

There are a number of misconceptions and problems with that statement. One, all fights do not end up on the ground. It is simply not true. Even if they do or a high percentage does, what does it matter? The fight could have ended on the ground because one person was knocked out and fell to the ground. In this case was the person who threw the knockout punch an MMA artist or a Boxer? If a Boxer, he has no ground fighting skills. Who knows or cares.

Let’s break the statement down statistically and determine how the person ended up on the ground. Statements can be misleading. Whe Read More

TOP DOWN / BOTTOM UP?

I was always taught that boxing was a sport that was 75% Mental, and 25% Physical. Even though it is a physically demanding sport, when you get in the ring, you both have two arms and two legs. Needless to say, it’s what each person chooses to do with those limbs that makes ALL of the difference. All of the movements are controlled by the mind. Oftentimes, the mind during a match is controlled by emotions. Read More

FOAM ROLLER AND MYOFASCIAL RELEASE

The foam roller is so simple and such an inexpensive piece of equipment, I’m amazed it’s not I every gym in the country. It can be used for a warm up and cool down. As a martial artist I find that my leg workouts (kicks, squats, power squats etc) and my recovery times are considerably better when I use the foam roller. Although Myofascial release is considered stretching, I would call it soft tissue manipulation similar to massage.

Before we get into the techniques we first have to understand what myofasial release is and how it works. Read More

MAKING CHOICES IN THE COMBAT ZONE

Staying fit and eating healthy is tough if you are an individual who is on the go and have to juggle a career, a mortgage, household tasks, a social life and a family life. Occasionally, working-out is the last thing on your mind. Everyone today understands the importance of staying healthy and eating right, but what happens when you are a Soldier in a combat zone?

The American military creates standards, and expects every Soldier to maintain a top physical fitness routine. As a rule, the United States Army conducts Army Physical Fitness Tests (APFT), semi-annually. The APFT gauges the progress and even maintenance of a Soldier’s readiness and basic health. For Commissioned Officers it is a huge indicator of discipline. During wartime deployment, how is it possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle and uphold the Army Standards?

Most Soldiers work a twelve-hour day, sometimes more, Read More

THE ‘CULTURE’ OF MARTIAL ARTS

Part I

We previously defined Martial Arts as “being skilled in the relations of war “. We also defined a martial artist as “an individual who is skilled in the relations of war “.

War, in early history was “personal “. It was often fought in close range between warring factions and many times required proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. The common belief is that the first version of martial arts was a fighting system developed in Asia, more specifically China or Japan. While there is a definite truth to this assumption, it is somewhat limiting in its scope.

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