For those of you who may not know, mixed martial arts (MMA) is one sport that is literally exploding into mainstream popularity. It will probably be the next boxing in this country. Unlike boxing where fighters only have punches to worry about, MMA fighters deal with kicks, knees, and elbows, as well as being taken down to the floor where it’s a totally different ballgame where there are submissions such as chokes and joint locks and how can I forget the “beat the crap out of you” ground and pound. Yes, this sounds like a street fight, but thanks to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the sport has been cleaned up a bit where a few rules have been made and the health of the fighters are now taken into account.
Enter Luke Cummo.
In the second season of the reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, on Spike TV, we were introduced to a rather unique individual. Luke Cummo, a mixed martial artist from New Hyde Park, Long Island was initially picked last when teams were being made by the show’s coaches. He was portrayed as a quirky “nerd” type who had to have his bed facing North in order to balance his chi (finally someone I can relate with!). To everyone’s surprise, this organic food eating, comic book aficionado made it to the finals where fighters fought to get a contract with the UFC. “How do you like me now”, was his famous phrase from the show. Although he ended up losing against Joe Stevenson, he earned much respect in the MMA world for his heart and physical and mental toughness. In the end, he too was offered a contract.
On April 6, 2006, Luke will be fighting Jason Von Flue for his debut in the UFC live from Las Vegas on Spike TV.
Enter Jocson Strength & Conditioning.
I was doing my weekly food shopping at Whole Foods one Saturday when I ran into Luke. Being a fan I introduced myself and to make a long story short gave him my card and offered my services as a physical therapist. Weeks later, Luke ran into a good friend of mine (and former patient) Hank Winnicki, a writer for Newsday who had previously written an article on Luke. Hank put in a good word for me and about a month or so later I received a call from Luke. He said he was having some problems with his neck which later was resolved within two sessions just by correcting his posture. Needless to say, I saw a lot of potential in this kid and offered my services as a CHEK Practitioner. What a CHEK Practitioner does is to take a holistic or integrated approach in improving one’s overall health by taking into account that we are all of the mind, the body, and the spirit. So whether a client’s goal is to drop a few pounds, have more energy, improve performance, or in Luke’s case, kick some ass and have a long and productive career as a fighter, Practitioner’s get it done.
Working with Luke is like taking a piece of clay and molding it into perfection. This kid is like a sponge. He takes whatever I teach him and absorbs it immediately. While his coaches, Matt Serra (www.serrajitsu.com) and Ray Longo (www.raylongomartialarts.com) take care of his technical skills and general conditioning, I take care of his postural imbalances through corrective and high-performance exercises as well as nutrition and lifestyle coaching. Many in the MMA world think that Luke is “out there”, but I think to Luke’s surprise, I’m actually more “out there” then he is. Not that I care what others think, but the bottom line is that I am known to get results. In my opinion, MMA fighters are the most conditioned athletes, even more so than professional hockey players. Think about it, in order to withstand 3 to 5 five minute rounds of not only trying to beat the hell out of your opponent, but to also have to defend and absorb the beating you’re getting takes a lot of physical and mental, and some would say spiritual toughness. According to Luke, “I’ve never felt so physically able since working with Michael”. I’ve basically taken a tough kid and made him tougher and more resilient. There are still great things to come from this young fighter. Expect to see more of him as he evolves through his career as an ultimate fighter.
