This week was one of the few good training weeks that I have had in 2014. My chest and my back are feeling pretty good and I don’t have any staph. I finally got back to drilling hard on Sundays. ... Continue Reading
Combat Skin Combat Warrior Rashguard and Tights (Product Review)
Photos of the Combat Warrior rashguard and tights from Combat Skin were circulated on Facebook when they were in development, and I lusted after them intensely. I was extremely excited to be asked to ... Continue Reading
Tatami Fightwear Women’s Black Phoenix Gi (Product Review)
The Black Phoenix is Tatami’s most ornate gi. Typically Tatami gis have a simple design, with just the company logo or patch along the shoulders and the lapel. This gi features embroidered phoenixes and ... Continue Reading
Product Review: Datsusara Gear Bag Mini
Datsusara gear bags are made of military-style hemp canvas and originally designed specifically for the MMA athlete. The founder, Chris S. Odell, was frustrated that he wasn’t able to find exactly what he ... Continue Reading
Athlete Journal: James Kearns, Entry 10 – 3/12/2014
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of James Kearns. James is an active Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting.Follow his journals here every ... Continue Reading
Product Review: 93 Brand “Arm Drags!” Rashguard
93 Brand Jiu Jitsu is an up-and-coming fightwear brand that, so far, has released BJJ gis, grappling shorts, and unisex rashguards. Someone must have told them women train BJJ, too, because their latest ... Continue Reading
Product Review: OK! Kimonos Tora Spats
OK! Kimonos is an up-and-coming fightwear brand founded by BJJ purple belt and Gi Reviews creator Brendan Hufford. Hufford has collaborated with designer Seymour Yang, also known as Meerkatsu, to create a ... Continue Reading
Product Review: Battle Balm
Topical pain relievers are fairly common in athletics, yet it seems that often there is little innovation or care put into their production. I recently checked out Battle Balm, a topical analgesic ... Continue Reading
Athlete Journal: James Kearns, Entry 5 – 2/5/2014
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of James Kearns. James is an active Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting.Follow his journals here every ... Continue Reading
4 Training Tips From the Godhand – Mas Oyama
Fierce power, incredible speed, and the endurance of a bison - when it came to physical strength, Masutatsu Oyama had it all. Mas Oyama lived from 1923 to 1994. He was the founder of Kyokushin karate, a ... Continue Reading
How to Get a Faster Punch
Boxing power, speed, and endurance rank amongst the areas of strength and conditioning fraught with the most bro science. There are many opinions and not many good scientific resources. The difficulty is ... Continue Reading
Athlete Journal: Jess Papi, Entry 9 – 11/30/2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of Jess Papi. Jess is a blue belt at Scranton MMA and also pursuing her degree in exercise science. Read her entries every week for insights on competing, ... Continue Reading
Athlete Journal: Jess Papi, Entry 5 – 11/2/2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of Jess Papi. Jess is a blue belt at Scranton MMA and also pursuing her degree in exercise science. Read her entries every week for insights on competing, ... Continue Reading
Athlete Journal: Jess Papi, Entry 4 – 10/26/2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the athlete journal of Jess Papi. Jess is a blue belt at Scranton MMA and also pursuing her degree in exercise science. Read her entries every week for insights on competing, ... Continue Reading
Aikido in Brief: A Short Introduction to a Large Art
I’m currently preparing for my third-degree black belt in aikido. I was discussing an article about test preparation with Becca, the managing editor here at Breaking Muscle, when she noted that a lot of ... Continue Reading
Mobility Work Reduces Risk of Injury for Fighters
As a longtime coach of combat athletes and also a researcher, I’ve found myself frequently frustrated over the years with a certain trend among MMA coaches. A lot of coaches out there believe MMA is a ... Continue Reading
How NOT to Use Thai Pads: The Art of Pad Work in Muay Thai
One of my favorite parts of training has always been working on the Thai pads. It’s a great way to sharpen your skills, build up your cardio, and develop the relationship between coach and teammates. My ... Continue Reading
A Day in the Life of a Muay Thai Fighter
The art of muay Thai, otherwise known as “the science of eight limbs,” has existed for centuries. However, the modernized sport of muay Thai evolved in the early 19th century. Many changes were made to the ... Continue Reading
Top 5 MMA Shorts for Men
Marmac Athletics Brazilian jiu jitsu instructor Scott Nauss has been training for over six years in both BJJ and MMA. During that time he has tried a lot of different brands of grappling shorts. Sometimes ... Continue Reading
The Muay Thai Roundhouse: Simple and Effective
With the popularization of mixed martial arts in the past decade, muay Thai has become quite popular within the American martial arts community. Ten years ago if you wished to learn muay Thai, you would be ... Continue Reading
Strength Training For the Fighter
One of the biggest mistakes fighters make in the gym is how they choose to apply strength training. More often than not, upon entering the gym fighters can be seen performing box jumps, slamming sledge ... Continue Reading
The Trials and Tribulations of Muay Thai: How to Treat and Prevent 6 Common Injuries
I have been training in the art of muay Thai for more than a decade now and I am in absolute love with the sport. Unfortunately for me though, the art of muay Thai is not soft on the body. In fact, I ... Continue Reading
For Older Guys Doing Martial Arts: 3 Rules and a Workout Plan
Photos provided by David Brown Photography. In the last few weeks I’ve had requests for articles on training older guys and the benefits of crawling and strength training for martial artists. All ... Continue Reading
The Official Durkin: How Patrick Cummins Became an MMA Fighter
When Patrick Durkin Cummins was growing up, he had a lot of respect for fighters like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. He could see the camaraderie among the fighters back then and thought that someday he ... Continue Reading
