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24.03.14
General Lesson – Junior Mixed Martial Arts
Today was an all-sparring lesson. This was an opportunity for lengthier testing of individual progress and the use of newly learnt techniques, tactics and strategies. It was also a time for focusing on isolated areas. Although CCMA is open to teaching different methods, including classical training, I have always been more in favour of a reverse engineering approach. Sparring offers this opportunity. Students perform what they have been training for and I get to assess where they are improving or going wrong. The downside, of course, is that tired fighters might not be the most responsive to information. This then is the challenge for the coach to be mindful that his fighters have raised heart rates and are having their bodies flooded with naturally occurring mind-altering chemicals, and still be able to guide them toward improving their game. The same principle applies in self-defence training.
Sparring was specific and followed a progressive route to MMA fighting. We began with boxing in a confined area. This helped promote better head movement and angling, as well as a great volume of trading strikes. The next sparring bout pitted punches against kicks. This encourages an understanding of ranges. Then we pitted stand-up grappling against kickboxing. We then went to the ground for guard passing, permitting striking. Finally all ranges were combined for MMA sparring.
First Private Lesson – Junior Kickboxing and Submission Grappling
This is the first of a series of lessons for a regular student of mine. We looked at addressing aspects of stand-up and ground work. For the stand-up we looked more head movement and confidence about moving in close. Psychology was clearly a big factor in this otherwise very capable student’s fight game.
We began by covering evasive head movements, getting him used to moving his head correctly and with improved timing. This included work on the pads and against inanimate objects. The latter was important for the student to use back at home. We trained slipping as well as rolling/bobbing and weaving. Then we took this into a restrictive sparring environment. Using very light contact the student boxed against a much larger opponent with his feet kept in one place. This forced him to move his upper body more and to become less scared of the punches being thrown. We hit an emotional check-point, which I grasped as a decision time for him. He went in the direction of progress, acknowledging he had a choice in the matter. The moment seemed to embolden him and although he had been doing better than he realized earlier, he really moved into the fight with purpose. Later feedback from his father apparently revealed that he seemed overly more confident in general.
We then switched to the ground. A key technical problem the client was experiencing was taking control of the back. He could access it, but not secure the hooks properly. We broke down two typical scenarios involving the back mount. The first was from a sit-through and the second was from half-guard. Here we focused on keeping the weight distribution low on the back and also pushing the hooks in deep. I then corrected some typical errors with the rear choke/strangle. As is often the case the student puts too much emphasis on his arm and not enough on his chest and back muscles, ensuring to close all the gaps.
Second Private Lesson – Self-Defence/Cross-Training
We began on the rattan sticks. Today we addressed the formation of patterns in training, their use and use limitations. Having covered transitioning through postures in previous lessons, we now focused on transitioning through lines of attack.
My two clients came up with their own series of stick routines using the forearm/backhand motions, attacking high and low. They then explored related movements in boxing and kickboxing. Then we took the principle of dropping high to low in striking and grappling that had been a part of their improvised stick exercise.
Next we introduced an element of chaos throwing out any organized patterns of movement to prompt the cover response. Previously these two clients have only trained over-riding strikes by covering and striking back, now we looked at the combat grappling option. We covered highline, mid-line and low line grappling responses. The lesson finished with some leg conditioning in the form of jumping from combat base. This is an explosive exercise to better enhance transitioning movement.
