MMA Training with Baret Yoshida

(Baret teaching a no-gi class after training.)

This morning I started a new conditioning program to help increase my endurance. I'm doing a combination of stairs and wind sprints. I was completely drained after just 15 minutes and my legs were burning. As I type this entry, my hamstrings are so sore and painful, that I can't even touch my toes!

After conditioning, I had a good stretching session, then took care of everything I had to do today. I'm some weird natural food craze and have been experimenting with all sorts of vitamins and all types of natural and organic foods. My findings thus far are very interesting and surprising. Because of grad school, I started drinking coffee to make sure I could keep up with all the work. I became dependent on numerous cups of coffee a day to just stay awake. I no longer drink coffee, and I truly feel that the vitamins and other natural foods I'm taking are a big reason why I feel energized throughout the day without caffeine.

Late afternoon, I went to Undisputed to train. I was planning on just rolling, but Baret needed some help preparing for a fight, so we stepped into the ring for some MMA sparring. Baret did three 6 minute rounds straight, alternating a fresh guy at the 3 minute mark. The type of sparring we did is extremely tiring--extremely. Baret was visibly exhausted, but being the fighter that he is, kept pushing while Philip (another guy at the gym) and I were alternating every 3 minutes. After, Baret was pretty spent and also had to teach class. I sparred one more round with Philip, then we rolled for about half and hour.

I was planning to take some pictures today, but I got caught up with training. This always happens! We're going to do more MMA training tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll get some pics or video up for you guys. Baret suggested that whoever is resting tomorrow should take pics of the training. Maybe Baret will be kind enough to show some techniques, too.


For those of you who are not completely familiar with Baret, I want to take some time to give him some genuine compliments. There are a lot of great fighters in the world who don't get much publicity or as much credit as they should receive. In my opinion, Baret is one of those fighters. Brazilian jiu jitsu stylists and MMA fighters who've been in the sport for a long time know Baret and recognize him to be one of the best grapplers out there. However, many people, especially those relatively new to the sport, don't know much about Baret. They may have heard his name here and there, but they may not realize how good Baret really is.

I tracked Baret's career since I was a white belt and watched a ton of his matches and videos. He was one of my favorite fighters in the 90s--someone I really looked up to, and he still is today. I'm not alone. Many of today's young, star grapplers even mention how they looked up to Baret a lot. It's great to be able to train with Baret regularly.

Baret was #2 in Shooto at one point in his career, and is now back in the game after a hiatus. He is fighting on March 28 in Tokyo against the 5th ranked Shooto fighter in his weight division. I've read how some people suggest that Baret should work his way back slowly into MMA, but these people might not really "know" Baret.

Baret is down to always compete. He doesn't look for easy wins and is always out there trying to finish his opponents. He isn't a point fighter--he goes out there for the kill, which is why he's nicknamed "The Finisher." In addition, Baret is a fighter who "stays hungry" and "stays foolish." He's constantly looking for more ways to improve and get better. He doesn't have the luxury of having a big sponsor who will provide help provide the very best training support out there, but Baret pushes himself, trains hard, works with what he has, and continually excels. He also has to be the humblest fighter I've met. I can't quite explain it, but Baret has a different mentality from typical mixed martial arts trainers or fighters.

I was hoping to be in Tokyo for his fight because I'll be in the Philppines, but my schedule isn't looking to good. Baret and I also talked about him visiting the Philippines after his fight, but we aren't sure how it will work out because he may have to be back in San Diego right after his fight. We'll see what happens.

Tags: baret yoshida, myles vives, training, mma, shooto, undisputed, san diego