06.02.2023
My couple client’s second hour of their Mixed Martial Arts course was a review of the previous lesson, delving deeper into better transitioning and drilling, as well as chaining on ground-fighting.
After our warm-up, we looked at the nature of drilling. It is important that drills efficiently learnt and understood. They have set purposes to improve certain behaviours that should transfer to sparring. Once a technique or combination or tactic is understood, it is important for both partners to make training more alive. Although drills are compliant in nature, the partners need be aware of bad habits forming such as punching into blocks, catches, parries or covers. Hand fighting has its place, usually as a ruse for drawing guards out, but for the most part the fighter partner needs to be actively aiming at their intended targets as if they were light sparring and the opponent partner should deflect them in the same manner. A good way to encourage this is to vary footwork, especially circling and moving laterally. I find it helps break the bad habit-forming pattern of to and fro on tramlines. We then went over the jab/double-jab/body-jab/jab/shoot for double and single leg takedowns from all the variations.
Seeing a good opportunity to continue the fight to another area, I used the single-leg takedown to teach the “smesh” ground ‘n pound technique.
The lesson finished with 2 x 3 minute rounds of Mixed Martial Arts. I am increasing the lengths of the rounds each lesson.