Clubb Chimera Martial Arts : CCMA

 

 

 

On the 1^st March 2009 Mo Teague held another one of his pioneering Red Flag Days. Yet again the proverbial bar would be raised, pushing individuals to their physical limits. Other than the obvious good maintenance of health and fitness, there is very little you can do to prepare for a Red Flag Day. The flag itself is a symbol of danger. It is a challenge to the self. However, it is not just a high intensity circuit of sports specific exercises; Red Flag Day is a place for acquiring new ideas and inspirations. An example of the type of information helping to spur on Red Flag Day participants is the Central Governor Theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Central Governor Theory is a controversial idea on the reasons why we experience muscle fatigue first suggested by researchers, Tim Noakes, an “ultra-distance runner and exercise physiologist”, and his colleague Alan St Clair Gibson. Not content with the standard theory that this simply happened because our muscles ran out of fuel or were flooded by toxic by products, Noakes and St Clair Gibson suggested that fatigue was an emotional response started in the brain. As Mo Teague, the creator of Red Flag Day, might say, “Your mind will give in before your body does”.

 

According to Mo, “Central Governor Theory holds that the brain or a memory within the central nervous system limits the amount of muscle fibres being contracted at any one time in order to protect the body from damage. That limit is set as a result of perception/experience of training intensity. By exceeding physical effort beyond that level re-sets the Central Governor memory so that training performance can be increased”.

 

Based on this theory, Mo makes the following philosophical mission statement:

                            

                                               “AIMS OF RED FLAG DAY

 

• To push participants beyond their actual/perceived/physical/mental/emotional threshold so as to reset the Central Governor memory.
• To set a level of physical performance and effort to which participants can reference for further training.
• To introduce new Functional training methods and ideologies.
• To have fun in an atmosphere of friendship and shared hardship so that participants leave physically and mentally drained and emotionally re-charged”.

 

From the first time I met Mo Teague back in 2004 he has been a hard taskmaster. “I will take you places you have never been before” were the impassioned words I heard during one gruelling set of simple exercises he gave at this first seminar. This was the point. It has always been a journey with Mo and not just one to achieve good physical results. Knowing that attitude counts for everything, he is a staunch advocator of “stronger the body, the stronger the mind”. He also sees that we appreciate life better when we live it to the full.

 

As pointed out in the mission statement, Red Flag Day is not just about crude physical exertion. There is a lot of material for the mind as well and covering a wide range of related subjects. Despite extensive experience in different training methods, Mo’s background in handling civilian violence and seeing action as a soldier in Northern Ireland and during the first Gulf War made him become most well known for his self-defence/self-protection training. Recently I have just focused on mixed martial arts and functional fitness work with him, which are in line with the principles I champion in my own Clubb Chimera Martial Arts, but this time we returned back to the root of combat.

 

On the close quarter combat front, Mo covered tactics found outside of most limited rules competition. This is material he has recently been teaching to Special Forces operatives on intensive courses. First up, it was straight to full contact pressure-testing of finger thrusts to the throat and kicks to the groin. This was arranged with one person being gloved up and told to keep coming forward in a milling fashion. The defender was given permission to retaliate with finger tip thrusts to their unprotected throat and kicks to the groin whilst wearing trainers. It is eye-opening stuff for many in martial arts world, as participants of Mo’s spot at the 2008 British Combat Association’s Residential Course will testify!  

 

Next the Red Flag attendees were introduced to expedient ways to get takedowns. Gross motor skill attacks to the sensitive areas of face and using under the nose as leverage were the order of the day. As fingers almost involuntarily came up to defend the face, Mo took his attack these incidental and fragile targets. Degrees of resistance were introduced in isolation before these tactics were integrated into some other combat-related activities.

 

To encourage attacking from angles and efficient footwork Mo has created the “bodyguard drill”, now beloved of my junior students. This is a resistance drill where one student fights to pass the “bodyguard” of another. It can be done with grappling whereby the takedown work described in the previous paragraph can be employed or with boxing gloves on.

 

After all this it was time to get into the Red Flag Day proper. My day ran something like this:

 

First set of rounds:

 

Five minutes non-stop intensive exercises to the command: press-ups, squat jumps, tuck jumps, sprawls and sprinting.

 

This was followed immediately by one minute rounds per station of the following exercises. Rest time is minimal, you run to your next station and the clock only starts when the last person begins:

 

Slosh tube

Sand bag runs

Sledgehammer swings onto a tractor tyre

Medicine ball throws

Side-to-side medicine ball on rope swings

Side-to-side seated plate twists

Press and clean with kettlebells

Lat pulls with rope and medicine ball

Small medicine ball bounces

 

One minute of non-stop intensive set of exercises.

 

500 full speed punches on the focus mitts.

 

Second set of rounds:

 

Lat pulls with rope and medicine ball

Slosh tube

Bag rotations in front of the body

Sand bag runs

Different height pedestal jumps

Step-ups with kettlebells

Medicine ball throws

Plate rotations around the head

Bodybuilders with kettlebells

 

One minute non-stop intensive set of non-stops exercises

 

The circuit was performed with a training partner staying by your side for safety and encouragement.

 

The class then moved into coaching productive attribute training. This time we focused on developing speed in punches. Another constant expression of Mo’s is “If you can’t punch, you can’t fight”. By getting your pad holder to attempt to parry your shots when you try to hit the focus mitt you are reducing the telegraphing of techniques. Your pad holder also learns how to better read punches. This was just a sample of the proactive training methods on offer. The work on the punches was finished with a standard World Combat Arts 11 punch combination. This was delivered first within a very small space to reduce telegraphing with the shoulder and to generate better speed by leading with the hands.

 

There are many reasons why I attend Red Flag Days and encourage the students who train at Clubb Chimera Martial Arts to do the same. Mo’s background and credentials are certainly very admirable and his moral cause to develop better people is heartfelt and inspirational, but it’s not these elements that make me come back for more. He is one of the few coaches out there who are constantly and earnestly striving to raise better teaching standards and training methodology in the martial arts. Like me, he doesn’t accept absolutes and is both critically minded as well as open minded about martial arts. And yet he is always straight with his objectives. He wants functional and intelligent development in the arts, the sports and the services that we love. Red Flag Day cuts everything down to its base core, shows you what the rest of the world is doing outside the walls of your self-imposed dojo, dojang, kwoon or gym and then drops a big heavy ball of potential squarely in your tired arms, leaving you to decide whether or not to run with it.