CSW Training Center

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” — Thucydides

In the 233 years that have come and gone since its birth, America has served as a beacon for ingenuity, hope, courage, democracy and blue-collar toughness. The men and women who represent the nation in the sport of mixed martial arts embody those traits as well as anyone. To that end, Sherdog.com compiled a list of the most memorable All-American moments in MMA.

Read Full Story on Sherdog.com

(originally published in Tapout Magazine, December 2006)

View In PDF Format

by Erik Paulson

(originally published in Gladiator Magazine – 2007)

As a martial athlete I think it is very important for us to be able to write down and actually see what we are doing to and putting in our body. It is always a good idea to get a journal or book of some sort to record our daily thoughts and what we are doing on a daily basis, especially when we are preparing for a fight  or trying to achieve any goal of making ourselves better. I have always found this very useful and I recommend it for everyone. Below are some of the things that I write down in my personal journal.

Write down what you eat no matter if it is good or bad! I try to maintain a strict died but I’m human and when I write down everything it keeps me honest. I don’t cheat as much when I write it down.

Write down what time you go to bed and get up. It helps me see if I’m getting enough rest. You can jot down little personal notes to see what is keeping you from getting the 8-10 hours I recommend when you’re getting ready for a fight.

Write down the vitamins and minerals you’ve taken for the day. When you’re training, your immune system takes a major hit so make sure you keep up on all your supplements. This includes any protein supplements or additional amino acids to what should be your six to eight meal a day diet. I take Sport Formula, CQ10, Vitamin C powder, glutamine, and a glucosamine/chondroitin mixture with MSM.

Write down what your mindset has been for the day. When you are on a rigorous diet and training routine I feel that you should write this down because you can see if you have a good mental outlook and try to adapt if you don’t. Your diet can have a major effect on your outlook and when you’re getting hit over and over again your mentality sometimes changes. A fighter’s attitude doesn’t always work on the home front. So if you see that you have a poor attitude or are neglecting your family life it helps you change it.

I also utilize a performance chart to help me keep a balance with my daily checklist. This helps me stay accountable for all my daily activities and actions. My chart contains the following checklist, and this plays a very key role in my development as a human being.

1. My social life: What I’m doing when I’m not training.
2. How my academy is doing: What I need to do to make ends meet.
3. My personal training: How did I develop my skills today?
4. Injuries: How it happened and how I can prevent it next time.
5. Sleep: Am I alert or groggy?
6. Environmental factors: What is happening around me, positive or negative.
7. Nutrition: Food and supplements.
8. Coach-athlete interaction: If I trained with my coaches or teammates or anyone else and how it went. Did I listen? Did I agree? How can I change things that I felt were not right for me?

I based my chart on a performance chart that I got out of a book several years ago called “The Encyclopedia of Weight Training.” The book is an amazing reference and if it’s still on the market I recommend it to everyone. I also recommend that you get a massage once a week if you can afford it. This will make a major change in the way you feel after a hard week of training.

by Erik Paulson

(originally printed in TapouT – Issue 11 2006)

If you’re fighting and not running… YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING!

I have experimented both ways for fighting and found that my overall fitness, footwork and well-being were much better after putting in miles. Bruce Lee said running was the king of exercises and I believe that to be true. Running is moving meditation, think time, and self-visualization for a fight. Running gives you the polishing touch, the icing on the cake. When you’ve done all your pad work, heavy bags, sparring and jump rope, running gives you freedom and clears your head.

It’s controversial whether or not you should do more long distance running or sprints, but I say both. Loong distance running gives you that sustained energy you won’t get from sprints. Sprinting gives you explosive ability that allows you to blast out of a situation.

Near my house there is a steep dirt hill that’s about a half mile long. We take fighters there three to five times a week. Hill running adds a little spice to the same old path or straight, long distance run. Running out in the woods or eilderness is also recommended, as the nature runs wild, the energy is serene and the air is pure.

My all-time favorite run is on the beach either early in the morning as the sun rises or in the evening as the sun sets. The semi-wet sand has a certain energy and spiritual feel to it.

I usually prefer to do sprints at the football stadium and I’ll run the bleachers or the field – sprint 50 percent and jog 50 percent. I read recently in several studies that putting your sprints on the end of your long distance run can produce the same results as isolating each.

My fighters sprint 40 yards then hit the Thai pads, first doing the jab cross or crisscross, then the skip knee and double kick. Also at the end, try to do a focus mitt speed reaction drill and hand speed exercises to help you hit fast and think fast when you are totally fatigued.

When the mind gives up and the body is ready to quit, the spirit takes over. Train your spirit to no matter what, never, never give up! Sweat is the lubricant of success and nothing on this earth replaces hard work. The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. Train Hard, Train Smart.

Drill Bits

By Erik Paulson

(From Gladiator magazine, November 1, 2006)

I would be the first to say that there is not necessarily a connection between having a black belt and being a good MMA fighter; there can be, but there isn’t always. There are many fighting styles and some of them are more geared towards self-defense, weapons, multiple attackers, pure sport, or simply fitness and exercise. So to have your black belt, black sash, or instructor’s certificate in a style such as karate, kung-fu, silat, escrima, tae kwon do, judo, or a similar martial art that isn’t geared toward one-on-one combat in a cage can certainly be admirable and is a worthy achievement, but that by itself isn’t going to make you successful in the cage. The type of black belt you have is more a measure of potential MMA success than just having “any” black belt.

If you take, for example, an average black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, and pair them up with a gi, there is a substantial difference in their skill levels. Now if you take a purple belt and a black belt and take the gi off, the levels become much closer. Now add striking, clinch work, and takedowns to the repertoire of that purple belt, and put him against that same pure jiu-jitsu black belt without a gi, then that would be a very exciting and well-matched fight.

So my point is that when you get your first black belt in any style that should just be the beginning of your training and not the end. It is definitely not time for you to quit learning from your teacher, open your own school, and stop training. I see a lot of people do that, and they lose sight of why they really started martial arts in the first place.

I’ve been training since 1974, long before some of you guys were a twinkle in your dad’s eye “know what I’m sayin’”? My first black was in judo and then tae kwon do and I really liked both sports. But I didn’t stop training and open Paulson’s Fu-Lin-Yu Academy of Throwing, Kicking and Screaming. I kept on learning and training and growing. I have had over 40 instructors, mentors, coaches, and trainers over the years whom I have trained with and who have greatly influenced my combat methodology. 

Due to this desire to learn, I have ended up with black belt or instructor rankings in judo, tae kwon do, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Kali/ Silat, and Shooto. I’ve taken something valuable away from each martial art. Learning is learning, no matter what level of success or failure. Knowledge is potential power. That is why it is so gratifying when high-level professional fighters such as Ken Shamrock, Josh Barnett, Guy Metzger, Vernon White, Sean Sherk, and Vladimir Matyushenko have asked me to help train them for their fights.

Even with all of that experience, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu first came to the U.S. with the Gracies and the Machados in the 80’s, I recognized the value of that training and started learning the jiu-jitsu way. Basically, I got bitten by the grappling bug! Just this past month I was awarded my black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by the great Rigan Machado. Rigan Machado and Royce and Rorian Gracie were actually my first teachers and I trained in their Redondo Beach garage, before there was any “real” academy in the U.S. and having a blue belt then was like having a black belt today.

The black belt was not my goal unto itself, and I was actually somewhat surprised when Rigan awarded it to me. What is significant about the black belt to me is that it reflects a continuing search for knowledge and self-improvement, which will not end now that I have it, but rather accelerate it. Using this knowledge along with everything else I have learned will enable me to help my fighters and students in my gym and all over the world to achieve world-class skills and the positive mindset and respect to back it up.

written by Freddy George.

Originally published in TapouT Magazine – Fall 2007

Hey Guys. I have put together a creative conditioning circuit for you to play with this month. I have centered most of my attention on the trunk and legs for this workout. Normally you have heard me preach that a tree is only as strong as its roots and trunk and that is a fact! Hence, we normally train from our legs to our head. However, I also preach that if you do the same workout over and over you will get stale. So let’s shock the system and duplicate an MMA Fight. The first round starts with striking so let’s work from our top down. do this training after your MMA practice when you are dog tired and push yourself to failure. Then, three or four days later go for a light jog to warm up and come in the gym as if it were a fight and kill this circuit before you practice. See if you can still concentrate on what your coach is teaching when you are exhausted. Remember, you still need to be able to think and react in the later rounds of a fight. I will change the exercises for you in the next issue.

The Circuit (1 minute straight)

1. Fedor’s Hammer

Square stance, open your torso up, reach back as far as possible, and flex your core as you slam the hammer down. Variation for punching power – stand in your boxing stance, retract the hammer back with a trunk twist to load your spring, now unload the spring by simulating a punch, turn your hips, and slam that hammer down as hard as possible.

2. 45LB Plate Thrusts

10 reps 45 degrees down angle with knees bent, chest out.
10 reps 45 degrees up angle.
5 steering wheels right.
5 steering wheels left.
5 around the worlds right.
5 around the worlds left.

3. Power Wheel Core Rollouts On Knees

30 reps left, straight, right.

4. Power Band

30 reps left, straight, right.

5. Power Band

45 degree frog leaps with hip snap.

6. Explosive Split Lunges

7. Core Slams With The Motion Master Dummy

Alternate left and right shoulders.

8. Turkish Get Ups

5 left, 5 right.

9. Sit outs

5 left, 5 right.

10. 100 Crunches

11. Wall Sit

Quads parallel to the ground (2 minutes)

If you have more energy, get some water, rest 1 minute (repeat)

Send me feedback on this workout. I’d like to know if it is tough enough for you monsters.

Freddy George: detroitdiesel34@aol.com

written by Fred George “The Detroit Diesel”

Originally published in Tapout Magazine – Fall 2007

Remember me telling you guys not to open a fight school without a passion for the sport? Yeah, well nothing has changed. In the beginning it is a thankless task that will cost you a ton of time and money. Give yourself six solid months to get your facility up to speed. After you come up with your business plan and basic design it is time to go shopping. Let me give you some great advice. Buy the best products made in each category before you open your doors or you will regret it. you will find yourself repurchasing or retrofitting your gym if you do not buy high quality products in the beginning. Cheap gloves flall apart, the velcro stops working, the stitching tears, and the internal foam fails. My cheap Muay Thai pads leaked out stuffing and the stitching material in the seams blew out.

Fortunately I work for TapouT Magazine and MMA Worldwide. So I contacted every vendor in the business and performed an unbiased review of each product, and chose the best in each category. If you are a gym owner, this is priceless information. The CSW Training Center is a showcase club that TapouT Magazine and Hollywood Productions are currently using as a shoot location. In fact, if you watch “The Human Weapon” on the History Channel, you will see the CSW Gym on September 28th. It features Erik Paulson teaching Combat Submission Wrestling. Here is the Vendor list that I came up with. Mention to the vendor that you got their contact info from Freddy George, for the TapouT Magazine discount.

We are building a custom cage for the spring floor that will be out of this world. If any of you fighters or gym owners would like to come by and train on the new flooring, feel free to call anytime. Again, if it weren’t for our fantastic sponsors this gym would have never happened. Erik and I want to thank TapouT Magazine and our vendors for all of their support.

Wrestling Mat – Dollamur

2 inch Rollout Smooth Mat with Matching Vinyl Seamless Tape (New Product)

Contact: Mike Swain (408) 591-6704 | Gary McDowell (817) 360-9391

Spring Floor (24 x 28 feet)

Wood Frame 2 x 8 Studs

21 Sheets of 4 x 8 foot pieces of 1/2″ plywood

Mats on Spring Floor

1/2 in. rollout padding (white)

Black & Blue Zebra matt

Smooth Cage Matt (New Product)

Contact: Chuck Blanski (763) 370-6897

Jimmy Pedro

Bags

Fairtex Fight Gear

Wall Bags

Knee Bags (red, white, blue)

Banana Bags

300 lb Heavy Bag (Every gym should have one of these)

(Pole Mounted)

Contact: Michael Bruno (415) 777-0702

Bag Rack

Fabricated and welded by

Mike Tetzloff and Freddy George (702) 604-0829

Artistic Grinding / Clear Coating: Tavo (562) 445-7177

Tavo is also a World Class Car and Motorcycle Painter.

Cage Options

Combat Sports

Contact: Joe Taylor (877) 426-9864

Throwdown Cages

Contact: Aaron Maddox (619) 204-4019

Gloves and Shin Pads

Combat Sports

Contact: Joe Taylor (877) 426-9864 | Revgear (818) 847-1111

Shorts

Sprawl

Warrior Wear

Sinister

Gym Sponsors

HD Net

TapouT Magazine

MMA Worldwide, Inc.

Zildijan Cymbals (I play the drums)

Affliction Clothing

Team Doctors

Eric Dotson (562) 458-8080

Doctor Steve Eledge A.R.T. – Specialist (714) 636-2060

Nutrition Sponsors

Americell (ACL Labs) “Buy these products! They Work!”

CNP – Propeptide Protein

Protein Slam (Beta Alanine)

Core Training Sponsors

TRX System “Fitness Anywhere”

Power Wheel

Power Bands

Lous Private Training (714) 322-8432 “Brutal – Not for the Faint of Heart”

Contacts

Fred George: (714) 675-4666

Erik Paulson: (818) 919-4785

CSW Training Center

4080 Palm St. Ste. 801

Fullerton, CA 92835