Tag Archives | cross training

Kickboxing & MMA from the Philly Shell (diary entry)

September 16, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
philly shell front kick

15.09.20 My Philly Shell training carried over into my teacher consultation lesson where we looked at bringing together much of what we had covered and integrated into kickboxing. We looked at the pullback/shoulder roll/rear hand parry into the right cross and back-step. From here we covered front kick variation or an inside round kick and then into a diamond step and spleen shot or outside round kick into a liver kick. This combination was then changed for MMA into jab/double […]

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Passing guard and sweep revision (diary entry)

August 18, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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  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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Muay Thai for Karate Cross Training Workshop (diary entry)

February 13, 2020 | Courses, Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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08.02.20   The Oxford School of Martial Arts kindly booked me for a two-hour clinic on Muay Thai tactics for Karate sparring. Quite simply, black belt gradings for these particular schools include a half hour fortitude test where conventional sport karate rules are abandoned in favour of a virtual no-holds-barred format (contact to the head is light and foul techniques are carefully monitored). I have previously taught a ground-fighting workshop with this in mind. This time we looked at the […]

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Pre-Cross-Training Workshop Lesson (diary entry)

February 10, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
low kick jamie

04.02.20 My second Tuesday night lesson continued my teacher training and we looked at material for this Saturday’s closed Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training Workshop. I began with an assessment of how fighters in this particular karate school sparred. This was so that I had a good idea of what I could add and how I would best be able to integrate the techniques I would be teaching. We decided that chaining punches with kicks, the low round […]

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From Butterfly to Back Mount (diary entry)

December 6, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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05.12.19   My junior clients covered their penultimate lesson in Submission Grappling/Ground-Fighting on Thursday evening. I introduced the butterfly guard, half-guard and back mount as well as the butterfly sweep, knee shield and rear naked choke. We also had some fun with a few advanced techniques.   We warmed up with the usual specific callisthenics for ground-fighting such as various crawls, snaking and escape movement drills. Then I introduced the butterfly guard. Here we paid attention to keeping sat up […]

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Danish Vagabonds Part 1 (diary entry)

November 12, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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08.11.19 I was delighted to be invited back to teach to Hinnerup Karate for a second time. Since I was last in Denmark both my cross-training programme, “Vagabond Warriors”, and my children’s self-protection programme “When Parents Aren’t Around” has considerably progressed. “Vagabond Warriors” Cross-Training Martial Arts Workshop in Denmark (Part 1) Vagabond Warriors is the Clubb Chimera Martial Arts approach to cross-training. We use a Single Objective Path diagram to illustrate how an individual may cross-train in order to get […]

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Vagabond Warriors Boxing Workshop Report (diary entry)

July 30, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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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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Agility Training for Clinch and Stand-up Fighting (diary entry)

July 18, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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17.07.19   The nephew and uncle team focused on agility and grip-breaking in the clinch as well as ring-craft in stand-up fighting. The introduction of the agility ladders and cones has had an influence on this lesson too. I brought in both agility and coordination exercises to form a good amount of the first half of each of these two lessons.   The junior clinch lesson began with the agility ladder. We covered various basic footwork exercises, including the wrestling […]

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12 Rounds (diary entry)

May 24, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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22.05.19   Tonight’s junior and senior lesson saw considerable overlap. Both nephew and uncle cover 12 rounds between them on Muay Thai and Western Boxing.   I began the junior lesson with a round of Western Boxing on the focus mitts. This was followed by a round of Muay Thai on the Thai focus mitts. Then we did a round of clinch before we began sparring. This consisted of two rounds of Wester Boxing and two rounds of Muay Thai […]

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Heavy Bag Training & Reverse Scarf-Hold Escape (diary entry)

May 10, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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08.05.19   Wednesday night’s lessons consisted of Junior Muay Thai and Senior Submission Grappling. The former provided an overview of combination set ups and counters to the back kick. The senior Submission Grappling continued work on escaping the knee-pin and also looked at escaping reverse scarf-hold.   We began with basic distancing and mirror footwork. This led onto combination setups. Here I focused on using the teep as an effective jabbing tool, creating and maintaining distance. Then it was used […]

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Taking the Back (diary entry)

May 1, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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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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Vagabond Warriors Workshop (diary entry)

March 26, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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17.03.19 The second of my two workshops taught Sunday 17th March 2019 for Keiryu Practical Karate in Maldon, Essex: “Vagabond Warriors” – Martial Arts Cross Training. As with my children’s workshop session, Lee Mullan, who heads Keiryu, has done a great job in garnering support from other forward thinking traditional karate clubs. The attendance for this course included teachers from Shinkyu Martial Arts, Do He Dai Shotokan Karate and Forest Schools of Karate amongst others. Lee and his Keiryu outfit […]

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More Elbows (diary entry)

January 18, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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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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Cross Training Angles (diary entry)

January 15, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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12.01.19   My first lesson of the day brought this client up to four and a half hour mark on what has becoming a course dedicated entirely to Martial Arts Cross Training without focusing on one particular discipline. We used 12 basic stick angles from Eskrima and then went through elbow and punching applications. Not every angle was accounted for, but we focused on representation of the slashing, horizontal, smash-down, chop, backward and side elbows as well as overhands and […]

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Cross-Training in Action (diary entry)

January 3, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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02.01.19   The first two official private lessons of the year saw the uncle and nephew team train inter-discipline connections and principles. Trite, pseudo-philosophical paradoxes to one side, sometimes you do need to go back to the beginning in order to move forward. My junior client was taught the behavioural connection between peek-a-boo slip/punching and the “Dracula” guard, and my senior client was taught the behavioural connections between the fence, angling off in general and various cover tactics.   My […]

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Submission versus Takedown (diary entry)

November 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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23.11.2018   My second lesson of the day continued my veteran client’s current theme on stand-up to ground grappling. We have been looking at takedowns, finishing in submissions. Linking directly to last week’s class, we looked at submission counters to takedowns.   The lesson warmed up with partner work. Stand-up grappling warm-up included collar/elbow tie up bulling, over-hook/under-hook pummelling, takedown entries, arm-drag drilling and arm-drag/takedown counter drilling, whereas ground grappling warm-up included pin transitioning, guard transitioning, submission and sweep drilling. […]

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