As a respected strength and conditioning coach, and mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer, Las Vegas’ Fred George is a sticker for improving human performance at the elite level. Such is his success rate within the increasingly popular MMA game, George has been asked to oversee the training schedules of many of today’s top athletes.
As a respected strength and conditioning coach, and mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer, Las Vegas’ Fred George is a sticker for improving human performance at the elite level. Such is his success rate within the increasingly popular MMA game, George has been asked to oversee the training schedules of many of today’s top athletes. Top MMA fighter Kevin Randleman is one such athlete who is expected to thrive under Fred’s guidance and expertise. No stranger to competitive fighting, Fred himself has had two sanctioned MMA fights winning both by TKO.
However, according to Fred, in terms of intensity these fights did not come close to the kind of training strategies he today routinely employs to get his charges into fighting fit shape. Beating his fighters down mentally and physically with intensive sparring sessions, coupled with a scientific approach to diet and training work wonders for Fred’s fighters. His goal is to be one step ahead of the pack so his school’s record will remain an excellent one. I was fortunate to talk to Fred recently. He shared some of his winning insights with me as he gave an inside glimpse into the world of MMA.
Martial Edge: Exactly what is your background in the martial arts Fred? What led to your involvement?
Fred George: I was working as an actor and stuntman in Hollywood, where I met the likes of Chad Bannon, Mike O'Hearn, Christian Boeving and Guy Grundy. We were on the set of Battle Dome where we met pro MMA fighters Eddy Millis and Erik Paulson. They were hired to teach the cast fighting techniques. When I saw Erik throwing these monsters around like little kids, I was hooked. Then, to add fuel to my fire, my house was robbed soon afterwards. Now I had all of this anger and frustration that needed a place to go. The logical and positive decision was to learn the mixed martial arts game. This all happened around the year 2000.
ME: And you have fought professionally as an MMA fighter.
FG: Yes. I had two sanctioned pro fights where I was fortunate enough to win both. However, my training schedule is much tougher than any fight that I have had. We train with Ken Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Josh Barnett, Jay Martinez, Kevin Randleman, Tony Fryklund, Joe Stevenson, Jeff Munson, Jeff Newton and Quinton Jackson. These guys are super tough and I teach and learn simultaneously. I am a partner in two schools, one with my coach Erik Paulson (Orange County Shoot Fighting), and the other with UFC veteran Tony Frykland, Kenny Rayford (boxing coach from The Contender TV show), Scott Ence and Ed Rice. We call it Fight Club Las Vegas.
ME: You also have a training company called Hollywood Bodies.
FG: Yes, that is my personal training company. But I am actually more of strength and conditioning coach now. I used to train celebrities because it paid well, but as of late I have followed my passion on college and professional athletes. I focus my training toward football, hockey and fighting. You have to go with what you know. I am also the strength and conditioning editor of Tapout Magazine. If that isn't enough, I do executive protection for celebrities and corporate personnel in Vegas and Los Angeles.
ME: As a trainer, what kind of style do you teach?
FG: I train and study under Erik Paulson who is the only American three times Shooto champion and arguably the best and most knowledgeable fight coach in America. We cover stand up and ground with the help of Erik. We specifically teach CSW, Combat Submission Wrestling. It is a hybrid of Shooto, Sambo, Jiu Jitsu, and work in some JKD (Jeet Kune Do), as well as regular wrestling techniques. That's our ground game. For our stand up game we teach what Erik calls STX. It is part Savate, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Western boxing, Kali, Silat and JKD all put together. That covers the gamut of fighting. We train an hour of stand up followed by an hour of ground training. There are seven ways to counter a jab for example, so we teach all of them. We do the complete offensive and defensive series of techniques. It is quite a bit more technical than anything that is out there.
ME: What else is good about your system of fighting?
FG: Today if you look at the good fighters like George St Pierre, they are hybrid fighters. They don't have a technique. Bruce Lee used to say that the best technique is no technique. These new fighters don't marry themselves to any one specific art. They have learned to adapt and open their minds, and are willing to try new things. For example, a small guy can't move like a big guy and a big guy can't move like a small guy. So, you don't have a small guy using his muscles to bully his way into a move, and you do not have a big guy practice rubber guard if he does not have flexibility. It is no longer just strikers versus grapplers. The game is highly evolved, and if you have not made the adjustments then you do not belong in the game any more.
ME: What do you focus on primarily for your athletes in the weeks leading up to a fight?
FG: Believe it or not, I beat them down mentally and physically, all the way up to two weeks before the start of the fight.
ME: What purpose does this serve?
FG: It's about mental toughness. It makes things automatic. The moves that you can pull off when you are tired, when your eyes are closed and you are generally in a bad situation - perhaps half unconscious -these are the moves that become automatic. Those are the tools that you are going to need to survive and win your fight. You have to be able to pull those off without question, to intelligently defend yourself.
ME: This seems like quite an extreme approach, but I bet it works.
FG: Actually when I worked with Frank Mir, I watched his coach Ricardo Perez give him two to three minutes of pad work to get him exhausted, then he would drop onto the ground in the cage and I would jump on him and press him into the cage, trying to hold him in place. Frank would repeat this process five or more times, and his goal was to stand up, sweep, or submit me. So a lot of the guys are doing similar things. Your opponent is coming at you with 100-percent of his ability and you have to learn to conserve your energy, to perform at say 80 percent all the way through. Every once and a while when you have an opening, then throw 110 percent for three or four seconds - then shut it down again, relax and look for another opening.
ME: How would you go about replicating the conditions of a big fight, when training one of your athletes to face someone of say Ken Shamrock's caliber?
FG: Erik Paulson actually trains Ken Shamrock, so in his case I am the one who gets put in there as the guinea pig for Ken to face. The last time I worked with him was the Kimo fight. For this fight I played Kimo's role and had to learn all Kimo's moves. So I had to fight like Kimo, although sometimes I would fight like Ken, so it was like Ken fighting Ken. So, I often act as the opponent. If a specific fighter is a ground guy we will work on trying to take them down any way we can, and use whatever techniques that opponent is known for.
ME: In the Kimo Shamrock fight, what strategy did Ken use?
FG: Kimo specifically likes to shoot. He likes to throw a jab and then shoot a double leg. He wants to take you down because his stand up game has never been his strong suit. He has a big powerful punch, but you can weather the storm with him, because he will get tired quickly. He will strike you and go to the ground. Ken's game was to defend the shot and stand up and try to underhook him, hold him in place, with inside body hooks, and then throw knees constantly from either the clinch of the head or body. Knees would be thrown to Kimo's opposite legs, body, or head. Ken threw 20 to 30 knees and the game was over.
ME: How do you develop speed in your fighters?
FG: I use a wide variety of plyometrics, core work, powerbuilding and kettlebells. Also we do band training with a guy named Lou Smith, at Lou's private training in Fullerton. This is where Ken Shamrock and Josh Barnett go when they are in town. The band-training program is amazing. Lou uses it for Olympic athletes to improve their strength and speed. These are literally gigantic rubber bands. They can be used for all muscle groups. We do one move called the Human Slingshot where an eight to nine foot band with 200 to 300 pounds of tensile strength goes around two of your partner’s waists. The athlete that is being trained will run through the middle of the band and try to touch the floor further and further away each time. So he accelerates, decelerates, and accelerates again as many times as he can in one minute.
ME: What are the advantages of doing this?
FG: You are not working in one plane. With weightlifting you work in a linear plane, like with a Smith machine for example. With the squat you are working in a linear plane because gravity drops you 90 degrees to the ground even though you do use secondary movers. The bands make you work your proprioception muscles and secondary movers. If you are off line anywhere and your core is not centered, the stress will be pushed to that side. If you move to the left, you will get stressed to the left. So you have stress throughout the full range of motion all the way around the body.
ME: What do you have your guys eating? I am assuming they don't become overweight from eating too much protein.
FG: My guys usually don't have any problems because I have them eating pretty clean. They eat carbohydrates like yams, brown rice, small red-skinned potatoes and oatmeal. The bodybuilding lifestyle is all based on that, but I try to take it to another level. For example, the biggest trick I teach, which is a trade secret within bodybuilding, is before a contest (to make weight) or show, have your fighter sit in a hot bath - the hottest water they can handle - with approximately one gallon of Epsom Salt and five to eight bottles of Winter Green rubbing alcohol, (which is pored on the body). They lay in there and it sucks out all the subcutaneous water, while allowing the body to retain its intramuscular water. For bodybuilding purposes, if you sit in that for 30 to 45 minutes, pad dry it off, and go straight to sleep. When you wake up in the morning you will be shredded.
ME: So you take a more scientific approach to preparing your guys?
FG: That is why we beat up most of the goons in the sport, because they don't really think the game. Our approach is to use science rather than your fists to beat your opponent.
ME: I guess for guys like Ken Shamrock experience would be a big factor and at their stage they would have learned exactly what to avoid and what to do.
FG: Yes, you hit it right on the head. It is exactly the same thing with bodybuilding. The more you do it, the more you learn what works for you and what doesn't. Why would you train a specific modality that does not work for your body type. You don't have to waste time anymore. You are more efficient and can get your training done at a much faster rate of speed. You are a regular human; even have enough time for a wife and kids.
ME: What are some of the problems with the younger guys, that haven't gained this experience?
FG: They are often so eager and don't think through the situation well enough. They react instead of act. I would much rather see a guy think through a situation and be a smarter fighter. If you could learn those good habits earlier, you would be a champion much faster. You wouldn't make the mistakes in the fight.
ME: Well that wraps it up Fred. Thank you for your time. We will have to talk again.
As an active martial artist, bodybuilder and accredited personal trainer, David employs the latest cutting edge research to enhance his own training progress, and that of the many ...
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