Tag Archives | Chipping Norton

Elbow Strike Clinic (diary entry)

Cover Elbow (loose)

14.11.2022 Tonight for my client’s second hour of her second Muay Thai course we took a break from looking at southpaw strategies to focus on elbow strikes. It proved to be a deep dive into just two types of elbow strike – the horizontal and spear variations – and how they fitted into combinations. After a specific sport and muscle activation series of exercises, we isolated the two elbow strikes and looked at their delivery. This was done a shadow […]

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Trapping with Sticks & Tricks with Kicks (diary entry)

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12.05.21 My first client continued work with single and double stick fighting. We went through some more angles of attack, looking at extra stabs and then at one stick versus two stick sequences. The latter involved side checks to the head and I emphasised rebounding off intercepting strikes. Next we moved onto trapping with the sticks, making use of the butt end of the stick. My second client continued on the focus mitts with rhythm and flow combinations 11 and […]

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Combination 3 Partner Work (diary entry)

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01.03.21 Monday evening began with hour five of my client’s course on stand-up pad-work. As previously mentioned these are both lockdown partners, one of which is on the road to recovery from a knee injury. The previous course took them through the 14 Muay Thai combination for rhythm and flow. Now we are taking each combination and applying them to the focus mitts. Having a lockdown partner allows for me to coach pad work whilst not holding pads and it […]

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Combination 1 on the focus mitts (diary entry)

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15.02.21 This is the third hour of my client’s second 10 hour course on stand-up striking. After a 10 minute round of warming up, my client with her lockdown partner decided to completely focus on the first combination from our 14 rhythm and flow sequences. The benefit of having a lockdown partner allowed me to teach the combination in three stages: Stage 1: Shadow boxing the entire combination Stage 2: Virtual focus-mitt training – using the combination in direct response […]

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Dogs, Snakes and Pancakes (diary entry)

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09.11.20 Tuesday night’s teacher consultation continued with ground-fighting revision. We used escaping side control as a starting point, covering reversals, arm-triangles and sweeping from the dog fight position. The reversal – a technique referred to by my client as a “pancake” roll – came from head-lock version of side control. Here we set up for escaping to guard and timed our reversal off our opponent countering the guard escape by putting more weight forward. The fighter immediately switches from snaking […]

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Passing guard and sweep revision (diary entry)

17 08 20 submission grappling

  17.08.20 The third hour of my client’s Submission Grappling/Ground-Fighting course went back over the basic sweeps as well as the Kimura arm-lock from guard and passing guard. We began with our normal solo warm-up routine of ground-fighting callisthenics, including some new movements directly related to guard passing. Next the two lockdown partners performed some guard-passing drills before moving onto some resistance work. This took the form of a guard passing game where one had to get past the other’s […]

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Submission Grappling from the Top (diary entry)

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30.07.19 Tuesday night saw the first hour of my client’s first course in Submission Grappling for Martial Arts Cross Training. This lesson began with the top position and was mainly concerned with learning the major pinning positions and transitioning through them. We warmed up with bear crawls, lizard crawls, seal crawls and caterpillar crawls before snaking/shrimping forwards, backwards and from the side. Then we moved onto the first technique. Side control is a good solid position to begin from. It […]

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Vagabond Warriors Boxing Workshop Report (diary entry)

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28.07.19   The first of our Vagabond Warriors Workshops focused on Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We spent the majority of the lesson training footwork, various guards and the jab. These are all key components for setting up everything else in modern boxing.   We began with an overview of cross-training. I discussed the problems with “welding” martial arts styles and techniques. That is forcing together two fighting aspects that do not complement each other. This creates a […]

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Taking the Back (diary entry)

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30.04.19 Lesson three of my client’s course on Basic Clinch/Stand-up Grappling for Martial Arts Cross Training moved us more onto collar and elbow control as well as taking the back. We began with Indian press-ups and Indian Squats. Then we did isolated repetitions of forward, backwards and shoulder side rolls followed forward, backward and side break falls, which were then combined for the final series of sets. I also introduced neck bridges, another very traditional wrestling exercise. Then we moved […]

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Putting Elbows to the Test (diary entry)

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19.03.19   Tonight’s lesson brought my client up to the seventh hour of his course in Basic Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training. We concentrated mainly on the remaining elbow strikes.   The warm-up consisted of the usual specific mobility exercises, dynamic stretching and callisthenics. We then changed to mirror footwork, looking at placing techniques and gauging distances using teeps. Next we went through the basic punch, kick and knee combinations covered in previous lessons. Moving back onto the […]

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Position before Punching (diary entry)

footwork drills

09.02.19   My two junior clients arrived at the eighth hour of their course on Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. They are showing a lot of great progress and have clearly been putting the work in. This was my second lesson of the day. We went over 11 punch combination, uppercuts, body shots and general positioning.   The warm up consisted of partner-work, where the two junior fighters coached each other. They began with footwork and then […]

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Concluding Boxing (diary entry)

19TH CENTURY BOXING SPARRING

05.02.19   Tonight saw the final part of my client’s 10 hour course in Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. From the beginning of this course, my client’s objective has been to learn the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Tonight we put everything together and sparred for 5 x 3 minute rounds.   The lesson began with a warm-up of mirror footwork and slipping. This is a great form of attribute training that enables a student to focus on […]

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More Elbows (diary entry)

inside elbow to pads

16.01.19 Tonight’s double lesson – one junior, one senior – continued to look at elbow strikes. The junior lesson concentrated on their place in Muay Thai and also introduced the clinch. The senior lesson concentrated on cross-training in general and dealt with various ranges and disciplines from weapons to MMA ground-work. The junior lesson began with a quick revision of punch/kick combinations at different ranges. We tightened up the guard and balancing considerations. Then I introduced the switch-kick. The horizontal […]

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Different Guards (diary entry)

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28.11.18   Tonight was my junior client’s last lesson in western boxing whilst my senior client focused on stand-up guards in MMA.   Revision consisted of going over the entire boxing programme. We warmed up with a demonstration of basic footwork – forwards, backwards, lateral, circular and v-stepping. These were then mixed and step numbers were given e.g. one step back/two steps forward. Upper body movement was then covered – slipping, ducking and rolling. Finally the basic punches were all […]

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Peek-a-Boo & the Art of Good Head Movement (diary entry)

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12.06.2018   The fourth hour of my client’s 5:30 a.m. sessions in Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training brought more emphasis on upper-body mobility. We spent a lot of time on the slip, coordinating it with footwork and the basic 1-2 combination. Then I introduced the peek-a-boo guard as well as bobbing and weaving.   The lesson began with mirror footwork. This teaches better dynamic movement when facing an opponent, anticipating and predicting actions as well as understanding […]

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Footwork and the Jab

Boxing Jab

24.05.2018   Second early bird training this week with the usual 5:30 a.m. start and my client’s first lesson in Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training.   We immediately began with footwork – forwards, backwards, sideways and v-stepping. This was trained first in a standard freeway as a warm-up exercise. Then markers were introduced and we also used a tyre to discipline maintaining a strong stance throughout the movement. Next, we tested it with a cornering game. Attention was made […]

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