Stand-up Combination 3 (diary entry)

January 22, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
High Kick - Kickboxing

18.01.21 Athena School of Karate very kindly booked me back to continue my series of workshops on stand-up combinations. These half an hour sessions conducted – as all training sessions have been during the lockdown restrictions – via online live video streaming, teach and break down Dutch-inspired kickboxing combinations. Our objective is to promote better rhythm and flow in stand-up strikes. This week we covered combination number 3. This particular combination is noted for its particularly lengthy series of punches […]

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Lateral Movement & Kicks (diary entry)

January 22, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Kickboxing Thai Boxing Combinations Skype Online Training (2)

22.01.21 The final hour of my two lockdown clients’ 10 hour course of stand-up fighting, brought them up to combination nine. As previously described, one of the lockdown students is recovering from knee surgery and we are adapting these combinations as he continues to heal. In addition to introducing the new combinations we also went back over combinations six to eight. Combination six uses two back/hammer-fists and one spinning hammer-fist. Combination seven teaches moving up and down targets in a […]

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Footwork! (diary entry)

January 20, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
footwork 4

17.01.21 I was booked for teacher consultancy on footwork development for stand-up fighting. We went through a pattern of basic footwork exercises, layered them with punching combinations and then moved onto footwork conditioning exercises. Key things to remember include retaining a balanced stance (Never place more than 50% of your weight on the front foot, preferrably less), back heel should always be raised and front heel should be just off at all times, most Western Boxing stances (with the exception […]

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The 13th Combination (diary entry)

January 18, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Kickboxing Personal Training Punching Skype Home Training

16.01.21 We made it to magic number 13 in our stand-up combinations on my client’s seventh hour of his current course. Saturday’s lesson consisted of 5 x 10 minute rounds. We began on combination six which is all hand techniques and progressed through varied work, including weaving, slipping, blocking and switch-hitting to support punches, kicks, knees and elbows. I can see real progress with my client who, having worked through these combinations for the past six hours of private lessons […]

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The Fifth and Sixth Combinations (diary entry)

January 13, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
mary diary 7

12.01.21 Tuesday night saw my teacher consultancy continue through the stand-up combination work. We revised the very lengthy combination three, which involves using punching combinations to deliver powerful rear leg round kicks, and combination four that is mainly made up of kicks and also include a superman or cobra punch before moving onto combinations five and six. As with my Monday night client, we looked at ways to adapt these combinations for individuals who might not be able to pull […]

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Stand-up Combination Workshop 2 (diary entry)

January 12, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

11.01.21 My stand-up fighting course with the Athena School of Karate continued with the second combination. We warmed up by going through the last week’s combination at a steady pace. Tonight’s combination was a set up for a high kick  whereas the previous one featured two body kicks and a low kick, so it was a good way to get the hips mobile and to prepare for the big kick. I also made a point about swapping out the high […]

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Technique Breakdowns (diary entry)

January 12, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
catherine diary hook 11 01 21

11.01.21 Hour nine of my client’s current course on stand-up fighting/kickboxing spent more time actively looking at specific techniques. The technique in question was a recent yet old and neglected friend, the lead leg Thai round kick. We also spent time tightening up punching combinations. Lead round kick links were in the previous blog I wrote for Saturday’s client. In essence, we are training to open the hips up and turning the hips by ensuring the back foot is turned […]

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Switch-Hitting & Back-Fists

January 11, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
chamber kick

09.01.21 Hour six of my client’s course on Kickboxing was a revision of previous material, going through everything up to the ninth combination. We focused a lot on switch-hitting and the use of back-fists. Again, the lead leg round kick was flagged up as problematic. Despite being a one of the first kicks I teach, it has inherent issues compared to the savate/karate/taekwondo version. I have put in a couple of links that might be helpful in developing this technique. […]

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Lengthy Combos and Superman Punches (diary entry)

January 6, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
check superman punch 3

05.01.21 Tonigth my teacher consultancy continued with pre-lesson prep on Dutch-inspired kickboxing combinations. We revised the first two taught last week and I introduced two more. The new combinations included a lengthy one that brought in aspects from the first two – slip/crosses, slip/hooks and hook/body kicks – and a kick-based one that was more traditional Muay Thai in flavour.

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Stand-up Combination Workshop Series 1 (diary entry)

January 5, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

04.01.21 My second lesson of Monday was the first in a series of workshops on stand-up fighting. On the instructions of my teacher client, we are looking at one combination each half hour lesson. Tonight’s combination was jab/cross/slip/cross/hook/rear body round kick/shin-check/rear body round kick/hook/low round kick. I broke down certain component parts such as slipping and the execuion of the Thai style round kick. Much of thinking for this particular lesson was outlined in my teacher consultancy class last week. […]

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Recovery Road and Lead Thai Round Kicks

January 5, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Catherine & Ollie Dutch Kickboxing (1)

04.01.21 The eighth hour of my two clients’ current online course had us go back through the earlier combinations. One of my clients you will recall is currently recovering from surgery so he is having to adapt some of our work. We followed the usual format of 5 x 10 minute rounds. The first round consisted of warm-up exercises. The next four rounds brought up to combination five. We addressed issues with adapting and also the lead round kick. Adaptations […]

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Building Dutch Combinations

January 5, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
dutch pt 6

29.12.20 Tonight’s teacher consultancy served as preparation for a series of online workshops I am running for the Athena School of Karate on stand-up combinations and strategies. We looked a two Dutch-style Kickboxing combinations, designed to promote fluidity of techniques, chaining of punches with kicks, blending in defences and the camouflaging of powerful kicks. The first combination utilised heavy body kicks and was used to set up a powerful rear low kick. This final technique was made particularly effective by […]

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Self-Protection Review (diary entry)

December 23, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
grappling lesson athena

22.12.20 Tuesday night’s professional development/teacher consultancy discussion focused on a review of the CCMA self-protection programme. Given that this is probably the last lesson of the year, it seemed appropriate to going over feedback and changes to what I have been coaching my clients in relation to self-protection. Covid-19 Impact First of all, 2020 has seen the rise of online training. All my services have gone online and I have introduced new services to cater to the demand for teachers […]

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The Fifth and Sixth Combinations (diary entry)

December 22, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

21.12.20 Hour seven of my clients’ divided Dutch training brought us up to the fifth and sixth set combinations. As previously described, these sessions are for two client, one who is currently recovering from a knee operation. These combinations are Dutch style in their complexity and length, trained to develop speed with fluidity and coordination. I adjust the combination for the injured party, where they are adapted – liver or spleen shot are used to replace some body kicks and […]

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Denmark Under-Cover (diary entry)

December 22, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
HS3 Denmark

20.12.20 My final webinar for 2020 was hosted by my friends, Hinnerup Karate in Denmark. We went over the third part of my hard skills series, working on everything from hunting a target to using the cover. This was a lot more physically demanding than the previous webinar and we also made use of available furniture in dealing with obstacles and obstructions. Questions included dealing with weight problems when fighting from the ground and how much this area of training […]

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Takedown Defence (diary entry)

December 22, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
ryukyukan karate WPAA 8

19.12.20 Saturday morning’s second lesson was my eighth hour with the Ryukyukan Okinawa Karate and Kobdudo, Matsuri Dojo teaching children’s self-protection as part of my “When Parents Aren’t Around” course. We are in our third hour of anti-grappling. When things go wrong and a person is grabbed matters can really go bad, especially with children who are likely to be dealing with disproportionately larger threats. This morning we revised all previous grappling material from the clinch plus escaping the mounted […]

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