Tag Archives | cotswolds

The V-Step and Dirty Boxing (diary entry)

April 20, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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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 […]

Self Protection Course Begins at Kingham Hill School

April 19, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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18.04.18 Today’s first lesson was the beginning of a special course I am teaching for a term at Kingham Hill School. The students in attendance were between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age. The course was trialled last term with a good response. The agreed content was self-protection moving into Mixed Martial Arts. Today we addressed the legalities of self-defence, including when it is permitted to use a pre-emptive strike as well as other soft […]

Kicking Flexibility for Muay Thai (diary entry)

April 16, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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14.04.18 This lesson brought my client up to the four and a half hour point of his second Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross-Training. The main focus of the lesson was to improve flexibility for kicking and improve kick-based combinations. We warmed up with mirror footwork and then did some kick placement before moving onto dynamic stretching. This included Cossack stretches and split-squats, which serve as good callisthenic as well as mobility exercises. We also performed a series […]

Four Postures, Three Transitions, One Fight (diary entry)

April 5, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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06.04.18 Tonight’s special double lesson took an in depth look at the four postures and three transitions of fighting. This was all mainly taken with an MMA context. We spent time looking more at travelling movement through the postures as well as the usual single transitions. After a period of dynamic stretching and training specific calisthenics we began going through the postures. Four Postures: Standing – Stand-up Fighting and Clinch range Kneeling/Half-Kneeling – Combat Base for Ground Fighting Range […]

Kicking it up (Diary entry)

March 22, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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21.03.18 Transitioning through postures rounded off the revisions with work on kicking through postures and then we pressure-tested the different postures in specific sparring. The lesson began with our current regular warm-up of various movement exercises in the four postures. We then transitioned from each posture in isolation before combining them into one fluid movement of getting from the back to the feet without put our hands down. The kicking transition began with using the rear leg […]

More Fighting on the Inside (diary entry)

March 21, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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20.03.2018 In-fighting is a part of Western Boxing that is only truly appreciated by people who genuinely love boxing. Many all-time greats – Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and even the fleet-footed Muhammad Ali – were experts at fighting on the inside. Tonight’s lesson, which brought my client up to the eight hour mark of his 10 hour course in Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross-Training, began to look at this range with more depth once […]

Boxing Inside and Outside (diary entry)

March 20, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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19.03.18 I have embedded several highly recommended training and learning videos I currently follow on YouTube to compliment certain points and concepts outlined in this particular diary entry. Tonight’s lesson brought my client up to the eight and a half hour point of his second course on Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. We have been primarily focused on developing better mobility and integrating it into different tactics. I haven’t especially focused on one strategy, but looked […]

Fight to the Feet Continues to Develop (diary entry)

March 9, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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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

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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 […]

Taster Lesson at Kingham Hill School (diary entry)

March 1, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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28.02.2018 Today’s first lesson was a taster session for Kingham Hill School. The event was well-attended by students aged 16-17 years. My mandate is to deliver a course of self-protection/Mixed Martial Arts. I usually like to teach a strict 10 hour course of self-defence first before moving onto martial arts disciplines, but I appreciate the structure and audience is quite different in this respect and these lessons are more akin to a club format. Therefore, I have decided to […]

New Boxing Course Starts (diary entry)

February 28, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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27.02.18 Tonight began my new client’s course on Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training. This shouldn’t be confused with my current ongoing second course on the same subject. My new client has a good background in martial arts, specifically Krav Maga and also MMA. He has some good skills already in place. My mandate for this lesson is to focus on upper mobility and footwork to improve his martial arts skill base with a bias towards self-defence. […]

Flurry and Clinch (diary entry)

February 28, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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24.02.18 This lesson in my client’s second course in boxing for martial arts cross training brought us up to the five and a half hour point. The purpose of this morning’s training was to work more on blending upper-body mobility with footwork and introduce some strategies. Said strategy today highlighted the use of the clinch in Western Boxing. We began with a warm-up of line-work. First we just isolated footwork. Then we isolated upper-body movement – slipping, bobbing […]

Testing the Transition MMA-style (diary entry)

February 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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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 Continues (diary entry)

February 15, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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14.02.18 “They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most,”– Floyd Patterson Tonight’s lesson continued the transitioning theme for MMA and self-defence training. Our work was to hone coordinated striking and grappling techniques throughout the transitioning phases of getting up and standing. The lesson started with a series of break-fall exercises. This led us onto break-falling and regaining footing in the same motion. Then we went back to the core […]

“Fighting is making the other fella miss” (diary)

February 14, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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13.02.18 “Fighting is not hitting, any fool can hit. Fighting is making the other fella miss. He miss, he think, he worry. It’s a mind game.” (Gladiator, 1992) Tonight’s second course in Boxing for Martial Arts Cross-Training brought my client up to the four hour point. We combined the previous two lessons’ work on slipping, bobbing and weaving, and also introduced ducking for a comprehensive review of upper body mobility. As my client pointed out, we had mainly […]

Grapple ‘n Strike Transitioning Begins (diary entry)

February 12, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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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 […]

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Posts

Footwork Trilogy Conclusion (diary entry)
22.04.18 This morning’s lesson was my client’s final two hours of a 10 hour course on Western… Continue Reading
Attack from the Skies! (diary entry)
21.04.18 My second private lesson the morning brought my client up to the six hour point of… Continue Reading
New Self-Protection Course (diary entry)
21.04.18 This morning I began a new course with a new client. Training was conducted at… Continue Reading
The V-Step and Dirty Boxing (diary entry)
19.04.18 My second lesson of the day was a regular private class, where we have been focusing… Continue Reading
Self Protection Course Begins at Kingham Hill School
18.04.18 Today’s first lesson was the beginning of a special course I am teaching for a term… Continue Reading
Kicking Flexibility for Muay Thai (diary entry)
14.04.18 This lesson brought my client up to the four and a half hour point of his… Continue Reading