Tag Archives | Training

Re-Covering the Cover (diary entry)

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22.11.17   Tonight’s training was all about going back through the cover tactic. This simple method has been adopted by various different martial arts schools. Quite simply, it revolves around protecting the head by using the forearms and elbows. Everything written beyond this point is my view. I find that the cover can be applied barehanded and with MMA gloves. When it comes to boxing, I feel the peek-a-boo tactic of Cus D’Amato serves as a good equivalent, but one […]

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Fluidity of Techniques (diary entry)

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18.11.17   This morning we brought the CCMA basic course on submission grappling/groundwork up to the seven and a half hour point. We focused entirely on submissions from the closed guard. After sport-specific calisthenics for groundwork, we revised the conventional arm-bar and leg triangle choke from guard.   An area I am very keen to express in training is the fluid linking of movements with minimal delay. This seems obvious, but often I find what gets lost in learning is […]

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Submissions from the Guard (diary entry)

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11.11.17   This morning’s lesson took my client up to the six hour mark of a scheduled 10 hour course on basic submission grappling/groundwork for martial arts cross training. We finished off our basic escape from pins training and moved onto closed-guard work.   The warm-up consisted of all specific groundwork calisthenics and mobility exercises, especially movements from the back. Then we revised escaping side control and scarf-holding using both a reversal and snaking escape. We then finished off this […]

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Child Self-Protection Course Continues (diary entry)

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23.10.17   Tonight was the second in my special course for child self-protection. We began with a warm-up of catching games teaching evasion skills, spotting exit points, moving out of corners and creating distance. This moved us onto the fence, where we did a series of exercises to help teach understand personal space and using boundary lines. When it comes to children, this can be especially difficult. Children are still developing certain mental functions to better understand spatial awareness and […]

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Ground-Fighting Begins (diary entry)

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14.10.17   This morning we began the first lesson in a 10 hour course on submission grappling/ground-fighting for martial arts cross-training. Our initial focus was on building a strong top position by learning the basic pins and how to transition through them in an effective way. We began with a series of mobility exercises on the floor, which increased their intensity until they were fully-fledged grappling specific callisthenic exercises. This was followed with a series of crawling exercises – bears, […]

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Stand-up Grappling as Self-Defence (diary entry)

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07.10.17 This morning saw the final part of my client’s first course in basic stand-up grappling for martial arts cross training. The 10 hour course focused mainly on takedowns and takedown defence. The final part of the course brought the training back round to self-defence tactics, looking at how the clinch range works within the context of counter-assault situations. For the most part, I am with the argument that grappling works best as a backup system in a defence against […]

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Clinch Sparring (diary entry)

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04.10.17   We continued our Muay Thai work by primarily working on clinch, but also spending a good amount of time overlapping into the previous lessons’ stand-up fighting range. We moved immediately into partner-work for the warm-up. This consisted of trading single techniques from the stand-up range, moving onto the clinch with some neck-wrestling and then onto some technique work. We looked at two methods to unbalance and potentially toss an opponent. The first consisted of combining a horizontal knee […]

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Takedown Defence, Counters and Escapes (diary entry)

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              30.09.17   This morning was the penultimate lesson of my client’s proposed 10 hour course. We looked more at combining ranges of takedown attack as well as takedown defence and escapes. This began with a series of callisthenic and mobility exercises, before we began some partner grip-work. This consists of “bulling” – necktie exercises – which progressed onto one-for-one grip attacks and escapes. We then moved this up into grip-fighting sparring. Next we […]

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Counter-Attacks in Sparring (diary entry)

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27.09.17 Tonight’s sparring lesson mainly focused on stand-up. We warmed up with a series of shadow boxing exercises, including mirror work and interspersed with sets of specific calisthenics. This moved onto combination partner-work in western boxing, followed by a round of sparring and then the same procedure repeated for kickboxing. The combination training was split into counter-attacks and in-and-out attacking. This procedure was very similar to last week’s class, except that after the round of kickboxing sparring we had a […]

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Big Throwing and Combination Time (diary entry)

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23.09.17   Tonight’s lesson on basic stand-up grappling for martial arts cross training brought us up to the seven hour mark of the scheduled 10 hour course. After an unexpected and extended break between classes I thought it was wise to do a fair amount of revision before we looked at some new techniques. This wasn’t simply just going back over old material, but I looked at encouraging more combination work. After a warm-up of specific mobility and callisthenic exercises […]

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Combination Transitioning Coaching (diary entry)

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20.09.17   As promised, my client focused more on Boxing/Muay Thai sparring this lesson. We warmed up with sport-specific mobility exercises, muscle activation and calisthenics. Then we continued with the shadow-boxing programme, working through different strategies for different fighters. This was first done using Western Boxing and then using Muay Thai.   We then began partner-work. Prior to Western Boxing and Muay Thai sparring we drilled a type of semi-free sparring. This began with single one-for-one techniques, which then built […]

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Targets Dictate Weapons (diary entry)

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16.08.17   My client is still recovering from a minor operation and still has stitches, so I decided to continue his dexterity training. This will hopefully serve as a good period of speed and technique attribute development.   We used handheld weapons to help dictate the pace and focused entirely on two angles of attack that are commonly taught as the first two angles in several Southeast Asian weapon arts. Angle one is a diagonal forehand strike and angle two […]

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DFLT on Peek-a-Boo (diary entry)

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01.08.17   Tonight my client’s double lesson focused on peek-a-boo boxing tactics and techniques. We began with some footwork using agility markers. We warmed up on basic obstacle jogging and then progressed into footwork patterns, looking at angling and then incorporated bobbing and weaving. This was then brought onto an obstacle pole. This exercise involves the fighter moving under a pole and encourages good bobbing and weaving. I had him retain his peek-a-boo guard and we gradually added on various […]

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The Power of Negative Training (diary entry)

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01.07.17   This morning, my client reached the six hour point of his 10 hour course in Basic Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training.  We spent a lot of time looking at fundamental principles of movement and positioning. My aim was to bring in knee strikes, which is a natural choice of short-range techniques to follow on from last lesson’s elbow strikes. However, in order to do this I needed to feel confident my client had a strong delivery […]

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Teep and Round Kick – Execution & Countering (diary entry)

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15.06.17   Tonight’s lesson on basic Muay Thai for martial arts cross training brought us up to the three hour mark. We focused further incorporating round kicks into basic combinations as well as working on some of the finer details of execution.   We warmed up with some specific mobility exercises and calisthenics. This began with the simply arm and waist rotations, moving onto the Indian press-up (dands). This excellent exercise is usually reserved for grappling – being a staple […]

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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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