Patrick Jernigan on MMA Prep, Noble Iron Fitness and His Upcoming Fight

On Saturday February 11th Patrick Jernigan, Manager of OTM SF and owner of Noble Iron Fitness will be fighting in the Dragon House Cage Fight Series at Kezar Pavilion. I asked him a few questions about his own MMA prep and the work he does to help athletes prepare to fight.

Who are you fighting?

I'm fighting Noe Tellez from K-One Fitness Academy.

What performance objectives have you set for yourself going into this event?

My main performance objective is to get the fight to the ground and stay on top. I like the guard but this fight has two minute rounds and judges don't always understand the guard.

What are the primary components of MMA competition prep for yourself and for the athletes you coach?

Cardio is the number one concern for most MMA fighters. Even at the top level you see guys gassing. In my kettlebell classes I work a lot on mobility, which goes beyond flexibility, in that some people have no idea how to use some of the muscles in their bodies.

How do you structure your training program?

I started training for this fight about six weeks out which is about average. I train six days a week outside of camp so fight training means more no-gi training and MMA specific stuff outside of the BJJ, and Muay Thai stuff that I do. I actually do less kettlebell training leading up to a fight, focusing on cardio and saving strength work for outside of camp.

What type of mental strategy do you focus on when preparing to fight?

Mentally, I try to relax when I'm not training and push the pace when I am training.

How do you dial in your nutrition and what do you do if you need to cut weight?

I cut out beer and ice cream leading up to a fight. I never really eat junk food anyway.

What do you do for your own strength and conditioning, and for the athletes you coach?

The main thing I do besides BJJ, and Muay Thai is kettlebells. Outside of camp I do presses and squats. During camp it's swings and turkish get ups. Nothing fancy. There's a lot of mobility work that I incorporate into my classes that I do before and after BJJ.

Check out this short video on Kettlebell lifting for MMA from Noble Iron Fitness:




written by Carey Rockland for OTM SF

Venus Tactical Training & The Women's Self Preservation Program

This weekend Sharon Sanghera, owner of Vincit Magazine and Carey Rockland of OTM SF taught women how to kick ass and take care of themselves in the event of a violent encounter.

Venus Tactical Training For Women is a component of a new larger project called The Women's Self Preservation Program (WSPP). WSPP provides information on health and fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, leadership and self-defense.

The Venus Tactical Training Program is a basic course focusing on incident prevention, de-escalization, situational awareness, mental / emotional prep and a series of strikes, blocks, escapes and basic weapon common sense. Advanced and / or specialized training is also available and coming soon.

For information on upcoming seminars and events contact carey@careyrockland.com
Photography by Vincit Magazine / Bob Gill

Bogdan Reznik is Student of the Week: 1/23/12

(Reznik pictured on the right)

Gene Royale, Reznik's coach at Mits Kimura Judo notes that at 10 years old, he is already a California State Champ and a two time National Champion. He will be competing in the US Judo Junior Nationals in July. He is currently a green belt and he sets the competitive standard for his teammates.

Congratulations Bogdan!

Each week we feature one student from one area academy who stands out based on effort, competitive success or improvement.

Ao Anderson: Student of the Week 1/1/12

Congratulations to Ao Anderson of Ralph Gracie San Francisco! He is Student of the Week for January 1-7, 2012.

Anderson's coach, Kurt Osiander, says that Anderson has thoroughly applied himself to learning proper technique and to taking his conditioning to the next level. Anderson won all the matches in his division by submission at the December Ralph Gracie In-House Tournament.

Every week we ask one coach to select one Student of the Week from their academy to be recognized for outstanding work. One Student of the Week will become Student of the Month and receive a gift certificate in recognition of their commitment to their training.

Fight Hard.
Train Hard.
Party Hard.

Venus Tactical Training for Women

Spend an afternoon with Sharon Sanghera and Carey Rockland (of OTM SF) learning how to prevent, deescalate and handle violence.

We emphasize the term self-preservation because it is all encompassing, whereas self-defense indicates that the threat has already become physically combative. Self-preservation is threat prevention, threat management and post-threat decompression.

Each person has different aptitudes, feelings and natural movement patterns. We will help you develop your individual strategy.

Practical, tactical and fun, this is not your average seminar!

With us you will learn:

Incident prevention and deescalation

Mental strategy and emotional preparation

Environmental analysis - How to scan a street, a crowd and a room

How to handle physical contact- escapes, blocks, strikes, and basic weapon common sense

Sharon Sanghera is the Editor-in-Chief of Vincit Magazine, a mixed martial arts magazine, and CoFounder of Major Combat Sports. Sharon has been training in martial arts for over 12 years, has a Blackbelt JKD/Kali and has been using martial arts to help empower men and women of all ages. She has certification in various training systems such as Advance Tactical FireArms, Security Intelligence Specialist, MX26-X26 Taser, Tear Gas/Pepper Spray Chemical Agents, Rapid Assault Tactics and many more. For a full bio please visit: SharonSanghera.com

Carey Rockland is a full-time fitness trainer and a purple belt at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. She and has learned street-style self-preservation from several elite mentors in martial disciplines. Carey won the Gold in the Blue Belt Lightweight Division at the 2010 US Open and Gold in the Purple Belt Middleweight Division at the 2011 US Open. Carey has a Masters in Sport Management and physical training certifications through the NSCA (CSCS) and NPTI. For a full bio please visit: CareyRockland.com

With the combination of these two women’s training and real life experiences they bring to you Venus Tactical Training Workshop for women.

Location: Juno Fitness, 3007 Sacramento St, Berkeley, 94703

Cost: $50, space is limited.

Please email carey@careyrockland.com to enroll.

Grit

Grit: firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger

Is it born or made?

If you weren't born with it you aren't totally screwed.

10 Ways to Cultivate Grit in Your Training (and your life):

1. Grow your humility.
Grit should come from a good place. Forcing your way may work for a while, but to access the best of yourself, let it be ok to learn from others.

2. Stand up.
Accept the challenge. Get off the wall. Push those around you to go further, to work harder. If you gas out, at least you worked hard enough to gas out.

3. Try.
Actually try. Don't just pretend you are trying by going through the motions. Dig deeper and mean it.

4. Focus on your goal.
Put a target on the thing you are working toward and do not take your eyes off it. Laser sharp focus. Take it seriously.

5. Use your team.
Growing grit alone is ok, but you'll be more successful with your team. If you don't have one, get one. You will all go further by setting your sights on the next level and moving forward together.

6. Lighten up.
You have to. Being too serious leads to frustration and blow ups. Grit is not insanity. If you don't take breaks to laugh or chill out, you will go insane.

7. Train no matter what.
Get yourself on the mat like your life depends on it. If you can't get to the mat (due to extreme travel or crisis) stay close to your practice via video, notes, mental repetition.

8. Don't listen to the maniacal voices in your head.
Have you figured out which voices are crazy and which ones are helpful? If you haven't, take a minute to do it now. Or, wait until you are sparring and tell the one that says you're going to lose to shut the f*%k up.

9. Find a reason bigger than you.
Exactly that. How far will you go just for you? Compare that to how far you are willing to go for someone or something, or your coaches or your team. If the bigger than you reason is more effective, keep reminding yourself what it is and why it matters.

10. Keep going.
Today's hard stuff gets easier and new hard stuff shows up. Whatever is kicking your ass today will lose impact, and larger things will rise up to kick your ass tomorrow. If you keep going, in spite of all the ass kicking, you will grow, you will improve, you will have grit.

-Carey Rockland of Athletistry and Juno Fitness for OTM SF

Noble Iron Fitness

Patrick Jernigan is building an army!

Manager of OTM Fight Shop SF and Owner of Noble Iron Fitness, Patrick is a trainer specializing in hard style kettlebells. He is certified by the Russian Kettebell Challenge (RKC). He is also a Certified Kettlebell Functional Movement Specialist (CK-FMS) meaning: He will analyze your movement patterns and imbalances before you start training to ensure that you build a powerful foundation from day one.
















Hard style kettlebell training is an intense strength and conditioning method ideal for MMA fighters. It combines explosive heavy lifts, intense core stabilization and full body movement. Two 60 minute kettlebell sessions each week will give you a significant physical preparation advantage.


Patrick teaches 5 classes each week at:
Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu San Francisco
1166 Howard Street at 8th
M-W-F from 7-8 AM and T/TH 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Free for Ralph Gracie Academy Members,
$10 for non-members. All levels welcome
Private training is available