06.11.2024 My 1.5 hour client focused on attacks and defences to and from the back. 5-minute freestyle sparring warm-up 11 x 3-minute specific sparring Full back mount. Objective to choke, five uninterrupted strikes to the head or move to another dominant position versus objective to free one hook Ditto Single hook back mount. Objective to submit, deliver five uninterrupted strikes to the head, move to another dominant position or get a second hook in versus free single hook or turn […]
MMA Turtle Again (diary entry)
05.11.2024 My Tuesday night client also agreed that turtle in MMA needed work, so we began it with his fourth hour. 6-7 minute warm-up of light placement sparring and grappling 3 x 5 minute rounds Free sparring Turtle Ditto Rounds were broken with tactical assessments. For example, we looked at using the single back hook/seatbelt position to present a dilemma to the opponent: receive punches to the face, take choke or second hook. My client concluded we should continue with […]
Introducing elbows (diary entry)
04.11.2024 My other Monday night lesson saw my teenage client return for hour-five of his Muay Thai course. Tonight we did a series of layering rounds before I introduced elbow strikes. We completed these specific-sparring 2-minute rounds: Placement kickboxing – very light no-equipment warm-up round Linear techniques only Kickboxing Clinch with no strikes Clinch with knees Clinch with elbows to the arms and body Pad-work – chaining elbows onto punches jab/rear horizontal elbow jab/cross/lead spear elbow jab/cross/hook/rear horizontal elbow jab/cross/hook/cross […]
Bob ‘n Weave (diary entry)
04.1.1.2024 Hour eight of my couple client’s Boxing course focused on rolling. This practice is also known as bob and weave, and might be described as U-shaped ducking. Although the obvious purpose for this movement, along with slipping and ducking, is to evade strikes I believe it is most effectively executed as a repositioning technique. This makes it more proactive and less negative. Fighters like Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Henry Armstrong, Rocky Marciano, Archie Moore and Jack Dempsey all heavily utilised […]
Arm-bar and gi work online training (diary entry)
01.11.2024 Hour five and six were covered with Zanshin Karate’s online lessons. At their request, I taught a full deconstruction of a simple arm-bar from full-mount and, building on that, we went through some work with the gi. Games: Arm-bar position. Continuous objective to maintain arm-bar position versus objective to free arm. S-mount position. Continuous objective to maintain S-mount versus objective to reverse position. Full-mount double under-hook. Continuous objective to maintain full-mount double under-hook versus free arms or reverse position. […]
MMA Turtle (diary entry
31.10.2024 My 1.5 hour client continued on the theme of MMA and our focus went to the turtle position. Our five-minute rounds consisted of the following: Light free-sparring MMA Turtle – Objective to land five uninterrupted punches to the head or knees/kicks to ribs or get back-mount vs objective to escape/stand-up without giving the back Ditto Free sparring The rounds were separated with some extra drilling and live play working form specific areas brought up in the round e.g. after […]
Ground-Focused MMA Training (diary entry)
30.10.2024 My client, in his third hour of MMA, requested we look more at striking on the ground. He even suggested a constraints-led game to help with his development. 5-hour rounds: Light free-sparring with an emphasis on flow and working all ranges. Ground ‘n pound. Top objective to score 5 strikes to the head versus bottom objective to stand-up, sweep or submit Ditto Ground ‘n pound to the wall. Top objective to push opponent to the wall versus bottom objective […]
Refining Skills (diary entry)
28.10.2024 My second lesson of the night was 1.5 hour session with my couple client as they reached the end of hour seven. We decided to continue with the previous lesson’s theme but with more constraints-based 2-minute rounds. One-for-one sparring Ditto Ditto One-for-one sparring with no guard Ditto Ditto Lead hand only sparring Ditto Ditto Rear hand only sparring Ditto Ditto Inside versus outside sparring Ditto Ditto Free sparring Ditto Ditto Services
Thai Clinch (diary entry)
28.10.2024 Hour four of my teenage Muay Thai client’s first course and we focused more on the clinch. 3-minute rounds were broken up with instructions for the next round: Clinching without strikes Striking to enter clinch versus defence Holding onto clinch Escaping clinch Free sparring The session was finished with a round of pad-work, using the belly pad and the heavy uppercut bag. We switched between using long-guard to set up long knee strikes and clinching for shorter-range spear and […]
MMA Conditioning Circuits (diary entry)
24.10.2024 Tonight my 1.5 hour client took on an MMA conditioning circuit. This sandwiched between dynamic stretching, mobility exercises and muscle activation at the beginning with an extended session of static and PNF stretching. Individual circuit = 5 x 1 minute non-stop round with 15 seconds between and 1 minute before the next circuit Circuit 1 (movement/shadow work) Footwork drill Double leg entries Single leg entries Sprawls Snaking/shrimping Circuit 2 (resistance) Hang clean and press Back squats Trap bar RDLs […]
Range Transitions (diary entry)
22.10.2024 Hour two of my client’s MMA course. This lesson focused on better range transitioning and we also did more ground-fighting. Warm-up rounds (2-minutes): Shoot boxing Shoot kickboxing Tag the head (asymmetrical ground-fighting) Ditto Training rounds (3 minutes): Objective to get off the wall and stay off the wall vs to keep opponent pinned against the wall or put them back against the wall Ditto Begin in takedown position on wall. Objective to achieve takedown into pin or land 5 […]
Submission Grappling Workshop (diary entry)
18.10.2024 The workshops have returned! Tonight saw four of my private clients plus one guest focus on Submission Grappling for three hours. The lesson largely consisted of constraints-led games, specifically targeting certain areas of the ground-fighting game, mainly looking at the guard in the general. We warmed up with sport-specific activities including snaking forward and backward drills with a partner increasing resistance. We used the following games: Escape or maintain pin without using arms or hands Break stand-up or break […]
Deconstructing the MMA shoot (diary entry)
17.10.2024 Tonight my 1.5 hour focused on attacking with and defending shoots in MMA. We trained the following rounds: 2-minute rounds: Shoot Boxing Shoot Kickboxing Ground n Pound top Ground n Pound bottom 5-second clinching only (promotes shooting) Begin single leg position (right) Ditto Begin in single leg (left) Ditto Begin in double-leg Ditto 5-minute free-sparring PNF and static stretching. Services
MMA Begins (diary entry)
15.10.2024 My client began his first MMA course tonight after several years focusing a lot on the component disciplines (we recently finished his Submission Grappling course). We covered the following 2-minute rounds: Boxing with MMA gloves attack vs defence Ditto Boxing with MMA gloves free-sparring Wrestling with MMA gloves free-sparring Shoot boxing free-sparring Ground ‘n pound free sparring Ditto Services
Self-Critique and Review (diary entry)
14.10.2024 With our lesson finishing at the fifth hour of this latest Boxing course for my couple clients, I decided it was review time. More to the point it was time for some self-critique and proactive learning. They only sparred me tonight under free-sparring conditions. However, they dictated areas to train. One client fought me under switch-hitting conditions and also with the mandate that I make him move faster. The other client had me push her to fight a counter […]
Kingham Hill School MMA Seminar (diary entry)
12.10.2024 I returned to Kingham Hill School to teach a 3-hour Mixed Martial Arts seminar. We went through three ranges of MMA in the form of games. We covered the following: Shoulder tapping (calling out either 1, 2 or 3 taps) over a line and retreating Free play shoulder tapping One-for-one body shot sparring One-for-one teeps Free sparring teeps and body shots Over-hook/under-hook pummelling game to gain double under-hooks Arm-drag game to gain back position Free sparring upper body grappling […]