How We Train
This is a contact sport we are dealing with here and the odd bruise or scrap is a given, as it is in any contact sport. This doesn’t mean you should be coming out of class feeling beaten up.
Longevity is the key word here. We want to make sure that we can train for years to come, and as such you have to be intelligent about your training. This means training in a realistic way, without doing your body too much damage day in day out. Even with this in mind, its important to remember that contact is a vital part of the training,
Imagine learning to swim and the coach telling you that you can’t get in the pool and making you practice your strokes in thin air, then telling you what a fantastic swimmer you’d be if you ever got in the water. It’s a ridiculous concept, isn’t it? Why should it be any different in Martial Arts? Learning to do the techniques isn’t enough. You have to learn how to apply them in an unpredictable environment. This doesn’t mean that the swimming coach should drop you in the middle of the Atlantic, and it doesn’t mean that a new Martial Artist should be going straight into a full contact ‘No Holds Barred’ fight. It should be done in easily manageable stages… but it should be done.
At Momentum you will do some form of sparring or grappling from your first lesson. It won’t be anything too rough, just a gentle introduction. We’ve found that, if you understand the concept of the unpredictable environment that real fighting is, right at the beginning then the rest of your training will come at a much faster pace. You will straight away understand why you need to keep your hands up to defend your head, what we mean by a good, solid base and so on and so on.
Whilst sparring is a necessary part of your development, no one in their right mind wants to be taking countless big shots to the head. Most people who train will have a day job to go to the next day, no one needs to be going to work battered and bruised, or worse, having time off sick due to an injury. We therefore make it a rule in the sessions to be very controlled when training and safety equipment is paramount.
We pride ourselves on the people training at our sessions having a good attitude. They are always willing to help people with less experience, as they understand that the faster they make the new people better, the faster they will have better training partners. Every one of our members has been a beginner at some point and therefore understands how hard it can be.
As well as safe controlled sparring/grappling proper fitness training is the other side to longevity. Martial Arts is a dynamic sport. To be able to perform the techniques to their full potential, your body needs to be in shape, to avoid injury, your body needs to be in shape, to compete with the others in the class, your body needs to be in shape. Momentum sessions will most definitely help you achieve this.