07.06.21 Monday night saw my couple clients tackle their seventh hour with a second go at all 14 combinations. This time they switched roles as to who was taking the even number combos and who was taking the odd numbers. We also kept it confined to 4 x 10 minute rounds, which was a practice we undertook during the Zoom lockdown sessions. Round 1 – Warm Up – Dynamic Stretching and Callisthenics Round 2 – Combinations 1-4 Round 3 – […]
10.05.21 It was hour four of my couple client’s rhythm and flow padwork combinations on Monday. We went over combination four that feels like a Dutch/Thai hybrid. It has a lengthy punching combinations including a weave/roll before sandwiching in a rear horizontal elbow and a lead spear knee. The elbow and knee strikes bring the fight into close range, the former set up with same side cross and the latter sets up the same side lead leg round kick. Given […]
21.04.21 My first lesson continued my combat stick work. Using Filipino influences, we warmed up using several dexterity and mobility drills. These exercises include getting used to the length of the sticks, moving them around the body and seamlessly switching hands and grips. The focus tonight was to get my client used to adapting, changing levels, stance, postures and fighting whilst moving. This will be a continuous theme of the course. We then trained the first two angles from both […]
27.02.21 Saturday morning’s first lesson was my client’s third hour on training stand-up fighting combinations for rhythm and flow. We are currently going back through all the 14 combinations and training them on virtual focus mitts. These exercises help develop and maintain timing that cannot be acquired through just training the combinations in a shadow boxing. This morning we worked through combinations eight to 10. Combination eight links opposite leg kicks together and finishes with a drawing technique onto a […]
22.02.21 Hour four of my client’s second course on stand-up striking combinations continued her and her lockdown partner’s work on transferring shadow boxing to focus mitts. We looked at combination two, which is short and deals with chasing an opponent off landing a powerful head kick at its climax. Her lockdown partner is doing well with his recovery, but we adapted the head kick to a calf kick. This combination also introduces the same side cross and kick dynamic. The […]
24.11.20 Tuesday night’s third lesson saw my client conclude his latest 10 hour Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training with a 10 round workout that included several rounds working the solo focus mitt. I was asked about the dangers to form when using a single focus mitt. It is a fair question and I am sure there are some coaches who would argue that form is in danger of being sacrificed. However, I would contend that we can get around […]
28.04.20 Tuesday night’s first lesson was my teacher training currently focusing on blending Dutch and Thai kickboxing combinations. The teacher I am training is self-isolated with her daughter and the two both partake in these live video sessions. We began with a warm-up that compressed the partner drills covered in previous lessons. This comprised of one-for-one kicking (with hand set-ups), two-for-two and then 1,2,3 combinations. I then addressed countering. Initially this was to bring in the shin-check and […]
29.08.19 We covered the third hour of my client’s course on Sparring Conditioning. We are currently focusing on the stand-up range (Boxing and Muay Thai). Today we ramped our training up to 10 x 3 minute rounds with one minute breaks to focus on specific areas. The lesson began with dynamic stretching and sport specific callisthenics. We then did ladder agility drills and agility cone drills to develop footwork. The lesson then went into the 10 rounds. […]
23.08.19 Tonight I was booked for a special two hour instructor private lesson. My client wanted me to coach self-defence/counter-assault focus mitt exercises. These will be used for children and teenagers. My client was a highly experienced martial arts teacher with good cross-training credentials as well as a progressive attitude towards coaching. Each of the below focus mitt exercises are underpinned with the overlapping principles of the “Training Matrix” (thank you Iain Abernethy, for coining this term). Each […]
