Saddler & Zale in MMA (diary entry)

September 24, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
half guard attack

22.09.21 Wednesday night’s training was a junior and senior MMA lesson. The first looked at using the half-guard and the second also covered this, but also used the combinations of the great sluggers, Sammy Saddler and Tony Zale respective nemesises of Willie Pep and Rocky Graziano. Half-guard has evolved to become an important part of ground-fighting in MMA. The knee-shield and the lockdown are particularly important parts of this guard that can be used to better control someone fighting from […]

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Awareness and Pre-Emptive Actions (diary entry)

September 23, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Jamie Clubb coaches two seminar students in a pre-emptive strike drill

22.09.21 Kingham Hill School’s self-protection course for two groups continued. Soft skills focused on situational awareness and defining an immediate human threat. Hard skills included exercises to promote tactical escaping and recovery. We also tested pre-emptive striking, covered target familiarisation and layered this onto focus mitts for impact development. Services

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Teacher Development Programme: Muay Thai Sparring (diary entry)

September 22, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Screen Shot 2021-09-22 at 08.31.44

22.09.21 Hour four of my client’s teacher development course for sparring moved into the kickboxing range. This was for Denmark’s Holstebro Taekwondo Klub via Zoom. We focused on layering in Muay Thai teeps, round kicks, shin-checks and scooping blocks over the western boxing previous covered. Feedback Consultation: My client reported that attack versus defence specific sparring worked well on the whole with his class. Most students felt more confident with this boxing sparring once they could proactively defend. However, there […]

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Muay Thai Clinch Course Begins (diary entry)

September 21, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
clinch

21.09.21 Monday night’s lesson saw my client couple begin their course in the clinch for Muay Thai. We thought it best to start at the beginning as one of the two clients has not covered this area before and no one is above basics anyway, including yours truly. So, after a warm-up geared towards aspects of grappling as well as strikes I introduced the main knee strikes. These were performed as line work and also as muscle activation exercises. This […]

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Three Hours Private Lesson(s) (diary entry)

September 19, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
shin block

18.09.21 Saturday’s private lesson brought my new client up to the five hour mark of his course on Basic Muay Thai. At his request, I trained two adults and and two children over three hours on Muay Thai fundamentals. Lesson One – First lesson was a beginner lesson for an adult with some prior experience, focusing on use of the teep, basic footwork, shin-checks, teep scooping interception, covers, parries, jab, straight right and the rear leg round kick. We began […]

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Junior MMA Clinch & Senior MMA Striking Combinations (diary enry)

September 16, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Striking from the knee pin1

15.09.21 My evening sessions covered my junior client’s MMA training and senior client’s MMA training. In the junior class, after the warm-up, we began with some grip and clinch sparring adding on Muay Thai knees. We then went through using strikes to set up the arm-triangle clinch into takedown and submission. I finished the junior MMA with a tabata of jab/cross/sprawl/spear knee strike. The senior lesson began with a series of lowline takedown set-ups. We covered jab/inside leg feint/overhand punch/single […]

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Two New Self-Protection Courses for Schools (diary entry)

September 16, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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15.09.21 With restrictions now lifted, I returned to Kingham Hill School for my seventh term teaching self-protection. This time I had two classes to teach on the same subject. We covered self-protection definitions, local violent crime statistics and why “respect and attitude” are basic foundational tenets. After this I taught escape tactics and tested the pre-emptive strike. Services

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Bridging Eras Part 1 (diary entry)

September 16, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
walcott vs charles 1 (a)

14.09.21 Tuesday’s “Learn from the Fight” focused on the continuing decline of Joe Louis’s career, Jersey Joe Walcott’s continued determination to be the oldest man to lift the World Heavyweight Championship and the emerging force that was Ezzard Charles. Joe Louis versus Jersey Joe Walcott World Heavyweight Championship 25.06.1948 Joe Louis felt his career was nearing its end and wanted to go out on top. However, his financial problems were only getting worse thanks to money taken by his handlers […]

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Sparring for Teacher Development Continues (diary entry)

September 15, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Mikael

14.09.21 Tonight we entered hour three of an 11 hour course on teacher development. This was for Denmark’s Holstebro Taekwondo Klub via Zoom. We took a more in depth look at better addressing the dual concerns of defence and confidence. These are elements that can be positively linked. Many students fear sparring due to an exposure of their own limitations or, as is true for a substantial proportion, timidity. Building a strong defence can help install better confidence when it […]

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Muay Thai Basics (diary entry)

September 14, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
kick to pads

13.09.21 My second lesson of the evening was my new client’s second hour of his first Muay Thai course. He has requested more mobility and flexibility training on top of my individual technique development. After a warm-up of mobility and dynamic stretching exercises, we focused on using a four angle directional drill to develop better technique delivery on the move. We began with the jab, angling off and then punching. This was followed by the teep where we took some […]

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Switch-Hitting Finale (diary entry)

September 14, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
vagabond warriors boxing snip3

13.09.21 Monday night’s first lesson was the final hour of my switch-hitting course. We used the lesson to focus purely on principles, tactics and strategies rather than specific combinations or techniques. We began with using 1920s ace featherweight ring general, Benny Leonard, as our inspiration for dealing with southpaws. This involved remembering to angle off and being fluid with different types of jab rather than fighting for the outside of the lead foot. We acknowledged the clear danger of facing […]

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Freestyle Mirror Sides (diary entry)

September 13, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Jamie Clubb of Clubb Chimera Martial Arts in the Bodyguard drill! (small)

10.09.21 The ninth hour of my client couple’s course on switch-hitting. Tonight we worked more on a freestyle basis, moving from one mirror side to another. We covered and went back over techniques and strategies particular to this type of fighting. This included up-jabs, question mark uppercut and overhands as well exiting with teeps. We warmed up, ran through some examples and then went straight into two minute rounds on the focus mitts on boxing for two rounds then kickboxing […]

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New Kickboxing Course (diary entry)

September 10, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
pad coaching

09.09.21 I began  my new client’s Kickboxing/Muay Thai course. After a warm-up of dynamic stretching and some basic footwork exercises, we began on the focus mitts. This started with the lead leg teep. Here I assessed form and balance. Next we moved onto the jab forwards and backwards before changing to the double jab and introducing the straight right. Finally the rear leg round kick to leg was taught. These then was put into a series of combinations.   Services […]

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Sparring Teacher Constultancy – Jabs (diary entry)

September 10, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Mikael

10.09.21 Tuesday night I continued my teacher consultancy on sparring for Denmark’s Holstebro Taekwondo Klub via Zoom. We focused on a run through of boxing, focusing on the jab. Warm-up involving dynmatic stretches and basic techniques.  Jab for jab partner training – compliant drilling to specific one-for-one sparring Double jabbing partner training – compliant drilling to specific one-for-one sparring Body jabs partner training – compliant drilling to specific one-for-one sparring Footwork jabbing – compliant drilling to specific one-for-one sparring All […]

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Rematch, Knockout & a Steal (diary entry)

September 9, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Screen Shot 2021-09-09 at 09.10.18

Tuesday night’s second lesson was my regular “Learn from the Fight” class. We returned to the career of Joe Louis for tonight and his first three fights/title defences after he finished his service in World War 2. The last time we saw Louis was in a rematch that retired Buddy Bear in one round. He dedicated his entire purse to the war effort before fighting Abe Simon two months later in another rematch that also saw Louis claim a knockout […]

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Switch-Hitting Counters (diary entry)

September 3, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
southpaw combo

02.09.21 The eighth hour of my couple’s switch-hitting programme focused entirely on counter tactics. Here the switch-hitter worked defensively. Countering an aggressive jab with a switch-hook, countering an inside leg kick with switch-straight punch and an inside leg kick with a switch-outside leg kick. Using switch-hitting tactics in a counter situation creates new possibilities with angles, can throw more force into the counter technique and also encourages an opponent to over-reach with their attack. However, they have to be timed […]

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