Tag Archives | Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Ground Fight Transitioning (diary entry)

April 26, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

25.04.18 Tonight’s MMA transitioning lesson focused on the hook guard. This position needs good mobility between lying back and sitting up. We warmed up a series transitioning exercises that began with movement from set postures. Snaking/shrimping forwards and backwards for lying back, butterfly guard scooting forwards and backwards for sitting up, knee walking combat base for kneeling and v-stepping for stand-up fighting. Then we focused on the hook guard. From here we drilled taking the back and […]

The V-Step and Dirty Boxing (diary entry)

April 20, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

19.04.18 My second lesson of the day was a regular private class, where we have been focusing primarily on the three transitions and four postures. Today we covered this again in our warm-up, but ended up focusing on the v-step footwork and some dirty boxing. I was first taught the v-step in Tony Hayes’s Muay Thai. Its particular relevance cropped up in the Thai clinch. I later correlated with angling off in wrestling during my time training with […]

Fight to the Feet Continues to Develop (diary entry)

March 9, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

07.03.18 Tonight we made more progress with our transitional series of lessons. This area of training is planned to be at the core of the upcoming Vagabond Warriors seminar. We warmed up with dynamic stretching and mobility exercises before getting straight into postures. Here we moved through the postures with strict form. Then we isolated each one to perform specific exercises: • Posture one (closed guard position and fighting from the back): Bridging (upa), snaking/shrimping on the spot, […]

Punches, Kicks, Submissions and Takedowns through Postures (diary entry)

March 2, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

28.02.2018 The second lesson of the day continued my long-time client’s transitional combative applications. We continued to go over and develop drills. Training began with the deck squat base exercise and then we broke up the various connection points used for fighting through postures. Next the humble jab was used as the single technique to transition through the postures. We began with a double jab, overlapping the second jab across the postures. Then, in order to promote faster and […]

Testing the Transition MMA-style (diary entry)

February 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

21.02.18 As per the previous diary entry, we continued with this project on combative transitioning. This time we started to look at the possibility of having different base drills to teach different tactics, and also included some progressive specific pressure-testing. We began our transitioning from the warm-up onwards. This started with performing bridges/upa and then sit-ups into a three-punch combination. From here we built on alternate leg-triangles into butterfly guard (mid-range guard) and the three-punch combination again. Then […]

Grapple ‘n Strike Transitioning Begins (diary entry)

February 12, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

07.02.18 Tonight my client returned to the all-range transitioning course after a brief interval of stand-up training. After a warm-up of rudimentary dynamic stretching and specific calisthenics, we went back to the deck squat. This exercise is at the core of my transitioning work, developing the right force-vectors and muscle groups to enable individuals to fight off the ground to a stand position. The deck squat presents the fighter with a good indication on over all conditioning in relation […]

New Personal Training Video

January 24, 2018 | Courses [ssba]

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Progress with Transitioning (diary entry)

January 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

17.01.18 Tonight’s training continued my client’s series of lessons on ground to stand-up transitioning. We focused on working from the clinch starting position, combining strikes with grappling and pressure testing. The lesson began with a warm-up of MMA partner-drills. They were of the build-up nature I have currently been using with my clients. This is a great way to build muscle memory and encourage the mixing of ranges and techniques from different martial art disciplines. Please see previous recent […]

Sparring in the Shadows

December 22, 2017 | Insights and Reflections [ssba]

Strange Behaviour? There are many elements to martial arts practice that look strange to the outside world. Despite its widespread and time-honoured use, shadowboxing is one of these elements. Most individuals can understand sparring with an opponent. Most individuals can see the benefit of hitting focus mitts, strike-shields and other hand-held pads. And just about anyone who has felt a massive urge to “let off some steam” can relate to hitting a heavy bag. By comparison, the act of performing […]

Submissions from and against the Half-Guard (diary entry)

December 21, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

20.12.17 Continuing our work with the half-guard, my client and I decided to round up 2017 with details on incorporating the half-guard into the main guard game. The road that led us to the half-guard had begun with my client’s concerns in MMA that he didn’t feel very competent fighting from the guard. He had come across a common problem many students encounter when they pull guard in an intense fight; they become stuck in the position and are […]

Lockdown Work (diary entry)

December 14, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

13.12.17 Tonight’s class continued our work on the half-guard. As promised, we specifically looked at the lockdown. All our warm-up was partner-centred, gradually increasing range of mobility and intensity as the exercise drills progressed. We did under-hook/over-hook pummelling, butterfly guard sweeps and butterfly guard arm-drags. Then we immediately reviewed the basic lockdown sweep. From this position we looked at under-hooking the leg and passing an arm (handcuff), which we previously covered in the lesson before last time. We […]

Extra Ground-Fighting (diary entry)

December 12, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

09.12.17 This morning I taught a special extended two hour session on my client recent 10 hour basic submission grappling/ground-fighting course. Due to its nature I am now considering to make this course 12 hours as standard rather than the usual 10. There is just so much to cover in submission grappling with two distinct games going on. Every combat sport has its attack and defence strategies, but they are mainly confined to the two individuals standing in similar […]

Reviewing the Half-Guard (diary entry)

December 8, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

06.12.17 Tonight’s lesson turned into an unashamed revision of my client’s previous lesson. Not only did I not add on techniques or introduce new techniques, we reduced the number of moves executed in the previous lesson. This was important due to certain fundamental details we needed to better confirm. Half-guard is a very useful position for no-gi grappling and there is a burgeoning contingent of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu-inspired fighters that are arguing its place more in MMA. If you […]

Ground-Work Self-Defence (diary entry)

December 4, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

01.12.17 The final part of my client’s 10 hour basic course on Submission Grappling/Ground-Fighting brought us back to the self-defence line. All lessons up to this point worked within the context of grappling with another ground grappler. Here the student can explore the art and the sport rather than be concerned with its place as a counter-assault method. Tonight all of that changed, as we had a different objective. Here the fighter is focused upon damage control […]

Validating the Half-Guard (diary entry)

November 30, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

29.11.17 At my client’s request we explored the half-guard. I have observed how controversial this position has become in MMA over the past 10 or so years. Some still maintain that the position is far from ideal and fighters holding it are prone to “eat up a lot of punches”. Interestingly they make this argument against the deep half-guard, which is where a lot of innovations have been coming in since Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu have actively taken […]

Re-Covering the Cover (diary entry)

November 24, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

22.11.17 Tonight’s training was all about going back through the cover tactic. This simple method has been adopted by various different martial arts schools. Quite simply, it revolves around protecting the head by using the forearms and elbows. Everything written beyond this point is my view. I find that the cover can be applied barehanded and with MMA gloves. When it comes to boxing, I feel the peek-a-boo tactic of Cus D’Amato serves as a good equivalent, but one […]

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