Diary / Training Notes

08.01.2025 My first 1.5 hour private lesson of 2025 (fourth lesson overall this month) brought us back onto focusing individual disciplines that influence MMA. This lesson was the turn of Wrestling. After a warm-up of muscle activation and dynamic stretching we covered the following 3-minute rounds: Grip sparring Grip sparring with MMA gloves Takedown sparring with MMA gloves Par terre sparring Ditto Clinch permitting punches and knees Clinch permitting all strikes Par terre/turtle sparring with all strikes (5 uninterrupted punches […]

06.01.2025 My couple clients returned to training on hour five of their Kickboxing course. As previously explained, this course focuses primarily on just punching and kicking strategies and tactics. Tonight we worked with two concepts on using range. First, we pitted Boxing against kicking techniques. This highlights key different tactics on using range. Then, we switched to a more subtle constraints-led approach. We pitted forward pressure against backward drawing. 4 x 45 seconds heavy bag warm-up with 15 seconds active […]

05.01.2025 Today began my new client’s first course with me. After a discussion on what she required, we settled on Boxing. In essence she was interested in learning martial arts as a means for improving overall fitness. Her husband has been a client of mine on and off and her son trained with me briefly. We used the following skill development games, trained first as warm-up exercises and then put into 2-minute rounds: Foot stepping – attack only Foot stepping/target […]

03.01.2025 My first lesson back teaching was with my Cotswold Karate School client. We are on hour seven of his Submission Grappling course and decided to have something of a review from all positions. We used the following series of 3-minute sparring games: No hands series: Pins versus escape (no hands) Ditto Sweep, submission position or escape using turtle versus getting both hooks in or get pin (no hands) Ditto Sweep, submission position or escape using closed guard versus stand […]

10.12.2024 Rather than summing up material covered in this online course with Dunstable’s Zanshin Karate, we decided to go in a totally different direction and cover stand-up work. Tonight’s theme mainly focused on taking angles. The session began with some fairly standard line-work exercises, training Boxing and Muay Thai techniques with some visualisation. We began with a simple single shoulder tap game where both fighters stand in mirror stances. They take it in turns to call out the number of […]

10.12.2024 Hour nine of my client’s Mixed Martial Arts course continued our problem solving approach to sparring. We ended up focusing on the clinch, first from the wall and then in general. I placed an especial emphasis on landing and defending knees due it being an area that was lacking in my client’s arsenal. His Wrestling is very strong but he is fairly reluctant to throw knees due to the takedown risk whilst also prone to receive them. 5-minute rounds […]

09.12.2024 My couple client followed a similar lesson plan to my Muay Thai client in my second lesson of the night. However, due to three of us sparring we changed to 2-minute rounds and ensured all of us had an opportunity to play each role against one another. Punches versus kicks Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Jab/teep versus everything Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto This training encouraged more creative thinking within the restrictions, including finding new angles for teeps and […]

09.12.2024 Tonight for my client’s ninth hour of his course, we followed a more basic plan. It was time to have a more overall look of his performance. This was done by checking basic areas of out-boxing and also pushing him with his conditioning. We covered the following 3-minute rounds: Punches versus kicks Ditto Teep/jab versus everything Ditto Combinations versus combinations Attack versus defence Ditto Southpaw versus orthodox Ditto Heavy bag tabata (8 x 20 second rounds with 10 second […]

04.12.2024 Due to an injury, my client and I decided to er on the side of caution and not spar for a change. That didn’t mean training wasn’t intense! He followed this routine: 5-minute rounds Uppercut bag – knees and punches Heavy bag – low kick combinations Uppercut bag – combinations into body locks Heavy bag – combinations into shoots Ground bag – ground ‘n pound Ground bag – guard pressing All rounds with active rests of footwork, shrimping, break […]

03.12.2024 Hour eight of my client’s MMA course focused on more problem-solving through sparring. Round one was free-sparring where my client had trouble trying to pass my shield. Round two focused on attacking the knee shield. Round three focused on defending from the knee-shield. These were repeated for rounds four and five. Services

02.12.2024 My second Monday lesson took my couple client to hour two of their kickboxing course. We decided to push everyone outside their comfort zones with constraints taken different sport rule-sets. Sport kickboxing – all kicks above the waist, no sweeps, no holding, all punches allowed Ditto Ditto American Kickboxing – all kicks above the waist, sweeps permitted, no holding, all punches allowed Ditto Ditto Low-kick Kickboxing – all kicks permitted as well as sweeps, no holding, all punches allowed […]

27.11.2024 Tonight’s 1.5 hour lesson focused put Muay Thai at the centre of the MMA training. We looked through everything using the Thai Boxing lens. Warm-up of dynamic stretching and muscle activation exercises. Focus mitts Kicks versus clinching Ditto Side control knees and elbows versus defence Ditto Clinch striking Kicks versus take the back Ditto Boxing versus elbows (MMA gloves) Belly shield Low kick shield PNF and static stretching warm-down. Services

26.11.2024 Hours six and seven were combined in my client’s MMA course. We decided to pace the class out over a series of five minute rounds, each being used inform the next. I am encouraging this client to think about areas he wishes to most improve upon. MMA free-sparring – warm up and highlighting initial area of study Fighting from leg-clamp ground position Ditto Fighting from half-butterfly clamped position Ditto Half-guard off the wall Ditto Services

25.11.2024 As a change of pace my couple clients, who have just come off three Boxing courses, decided to bridge the gap between this art and Muay Thai with a course dedicated more towards Kickboxing. Kickboxing, as a martial art, is not as easily defined as many would have you believe. Savate, probably the influence over certain kicks in karate, taekwondo and freestyle semi-contact, is a specific form of kick-boxing. It developed its own punching techniques through cross-training with British […]

25.11.2024 Hour seven of my teenage client’s Muay Thai course focused on the switch kick. We used the following rounds to train this particular technique. 3-minute rounds Boxing permitted but objective is to touch the opponent’s lead foot with the inside of the rear foot. This encourages correct fast foot placement to “switch” the kick. Same as above but rear foot needs to be followed up with a lead hand to touch the shoulder. This pairs the two switches movements […]