Tag Archives | Mixed martial arts

Fighting off the Ground and Pound (diary entry)

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14.06.17   Tonight we looked at a problem I noticed my client was having during sparring, namely defending under the mount. Most would agree this is one of the worst places to end up whether you are fighting in the cage or fighting for your life. Known to some as the “schoolboy pin”, this is a primal grappling move instinctively acquired when humans wrestle for individual dominance. It has been refined through every grappling combat sport that comes to mind. […]

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Muay Thai Footwork and Beginning Kicks (diary entry)

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08.06.17   Tonight began my client’s first hour and a half of a projected 10 hour course on Basic Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training. This is his third course with me, having previously studied self-protection and western boxing for martial arts cross training.   We began with basic Muay Thai footwork. Muay Thai’s footwork resembles Western Boxing to a certain extent. Both cover the same ranges and angles. Both have drop steps and both used a lot of […]

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Clinch Combination for MMA (diary entry)

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07.06.17   Tonight’s MMA private lesson focused the clinch, but also contained setting up from stand-up range. After a warm-up of mobility exercises and calisthenics we went onto the focus mitts. This part of the lesson began with boxing combinations using MMA gloves, which allowed for some interesting angulations with the hands. Then we moved into high, mid and low entries. The cover was brought in to allow for a smothering counter-attack. I paid attention to transitioning from the cover […]

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Full Mixed Martial Arts Training (diary entry)

24/05/17   Tonight we looked at all ranges of Mixed Martial Arts. We began with stand-up, then moved onto clinch takedown drills, followed by Muay Thai clinch and then went through ground work before doing some integration work and sparring.   The stand-up was broken up into western boxing and Muay Thai. We built up through various punching combinations, slipping, bobbing and weaving, and basic tactics on the focus mitts. Then we switched to the Thai focus mitts. Here we […]

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Over and Under Punches (diary entry)

18.05.17   Tonight’s lesson brought my client up to the seven and a half hour mark in his 10 hour course on Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. After revision we looked up and under punches – namely the lead hand anchor punch (made famous by Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson), the rear overhand (David Tua, Ernie Shavers and MMA’s favourite knockout punch) and the liver and spleen shots (so beloved of Ricky Hatton and Bas Rutten). These […]

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Clinch-Work (diary entry)

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10.05.17 Tonight we looked at the clinch range in MMA. We primarily focused on the wrestling application with advice on solo exercises for my client to incorporate into his regular workouts, and then briefly moved in Muay Thai clinch before finishing with two rounds of specific clinch-based sparring. The lesson warmed up with over-hook/under-hook pummelling, bulling, lowline takedown slides and single leg link-ups. We then looked at solo drills using the heavy bag and solo takedown drills. We then moved […]

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Back to the Stand-up Range (diary entry)

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26.04.17   Tonight my client took a brief break from submission/ground fighting and focused on the stand-up range. Over the next few lesson we will aim to have a review of MMA to address any outstanding problems and to add to the knowledge base.   We began with Western Boxing concepts. Taking the focus mitts it was straight into footwork, progressing onto upper body movement (slipping, bobbing and weaving) and onto various angles of punches – jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks, […]

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Oma Plata and Open Guard (diary entry)

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19.04.17   Tonight we revised chaining and guard movement patterns before focusing on the oma plata as a sweep and a gateway into open guard training.   The lesson began with specific sport-specific callisthenics and mobility exercises moving into techniques. We then drilled the arm-bar and triangle choke applications to promote flow. We checked and discussed angulating and correct posture. The shoulder stand was covered as a means to help promote a stronger core when executing submissions from guard.   […]

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Coaching Notes on the Jab (diary entry)

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15.04.17   Today began my client’s first basic course on western boxing for martial arts cross-training. We covered one and a half hours of a scheduled 10 hour programme. The objective of the lesson was to develop footwork and the jab punch.   We warmed up using agility markers. This began with repetitions of gentle jogging around the markers. The client was encouraged to keep their guard up and to then repeat the movement backwards. I then introduced angling off […]

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Deconstructing the Triangle Choke under Pressure (diary entry)

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12.04.17   Tonight’s lesson continued my client’s series on chaining together of submissions/sweeps from closed guard. We are currently going back over individual techniques as they fall within possible combinations. Tonight we mainly looked at the triangle choke and looked at how it linked in with arm-bars and the oma plata shoulder lock.   We warmed up with mobility exercises and specific callisthenics. Whilst looking at ground movements I focused on the essence of bridging and snaking/shrimping. These are the […]

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Avoiding Shape-Seeking (diary entry)

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29.03.17   Tonight’s lesson brought us onto the omaplata. This Portuguese word for “shoulder blade” has become the most popular term used to describe a type of shoulder key-lock applied by the legs. Despite the move existing in competitive judo (and especially in kozen judo), where it is known as “ashi-sankaku-garami”, translated as “triangular entanglement”. Apparently catch-as-catch-can wrestlers call it a “coil lock”. The omaplata’s name popularity is probably down to the fact that it is a very common move […]

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Triangle Choke in MMA (diary entry)

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22.03.17   Having covered countering the leg triangle choke in MMA we looked at setting up the choke itself.  The lesson began with the usual series of mobility and muscle engagement exercises with a special focus on groundwork movements. We then began deconstructing the technique.   This time, when it came to the set-up, I looked at the importance of using the guard to immediately break the opponent’s posture. During the previous two lessons with this client – where we […]

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Breaking down and breaking through the triangle (diary entry)

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15.03.17   We continued our ground-fighting training for MMA with a look at handling the classic leg-triangle choke from closed guard. The lesson began with a simple warm-up of grappling specific exercises before moving onto a breakdown of this submission hold and the various phases where a fighter is vulnerable.   Breaking Grips/Releasing Hands to Strike: Much like any submission using the legs from closed guard the attack is usually initiated through climbing the guard up an opponent’s back. As […]

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Active Guard and the Relaxation Myth (diary entry)

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02.03.17 Beyond the superficialities of martial arts techniques there is a reoccurring and consistent point that is critical for any fighter: being proactive. Traditional Japanese martial arts scholars often articulate the driving force behind proactivity through the practice of zanshin. Modern Reality-Based Self-Defence teachers preach the concept of awareness to the point of semantic satiation. Fortunately tonight’s proactivity and awareness can be easily conveyed through direct physical training. The one snag is that training a proactive guard on the ground […]

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Closing the Distance (diary entry)

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15.02.17   Our seeking the clinch theme took on a wider approach tonight. Previously we trained how to attain a takedown against a striker. Covering and grappling made up a lot of this work. This lesson focused more on the general tactic of closing the distance.   After our muscle engagement/mobility warm-up of quadruped shoulder rolls, scapula press-ups, dynamic cat stretching, Indian press-ups and Indian squats, we moved onto the focus mitts. We began with some simple freestyle flash-pad training, […]

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Seeking the Clinch (diary entry)

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08.02.17   Having spent the past four lessons focusing on takedown defence I thought it was time we swapped roles and looked at MMA matters from a grappler’s point of view. Whether one is seeking a takedown, trying to control an opponent for more effective close range striking or simply trying to smother an overload of strikes, getting the clinch is definitely a tactic every well-rounded fighter will have to seek at some point.   We warmed up with the […]

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