11.05.2022
Wednesday’s final two lessons were Junior Mixed Martial Arts and Senior Submission Grappling.
The junior lesson mainly focused on the hip escape. This came out during sparring in the previous lesson where my client asked me to go over the technique with more detail. A hip escape from the guard position is probably one of the most important techniques an MMA fighter can learn from fighting underneath. In MMA a fighter is far more at risk underneath than he would be in a submission grappling competition. We broke down the mechanics of the hip escape, a smooth transition from an open guard to standing whilst remaining combatively active throughout the process. This was then trained in application against a partner and then as a solo exercise. Throughout the training, we looked at weaknesses in balance, posture and defence. The first lesson was then finished with a 3 minute round of boxing focus mitt work and Muay Thai focus mitt work.
The senior lesson continued with the Z-guard and knee shield. This lesson we looked at a simple set up for an arm-bar from the knee shield. We also trained a new small but very useful detail that works in a similar fashion to the lockdown. This involves curling the toes of one foot around an opponent’s shin at the bottom of a half-guard position. The technique is a counter-move to a cross-face attack. Here the fighter uses a gable grip to trap the opponent’s cross-facing arm before bringing their leg over the opponent’s head moving into the arm-bar. The second lesson finished with 3 x 5 minute rounds of sparring. The first two rounds began with Z-guard/knee shield and the third from stand-up.