Tag Archives | mma

Adding Kicks & Restricting Movement (diary entry)

November 12, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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08.11.20 Tonight my two lockdown clients began their next course. One of them is looking to improve her kicking speed whilst her partner will be going into an operation soon that will restrict movements with one of his knees. With this mind, I continued with the boxing combination I taught last week and adapted it for both of them. Prior to making these adaptations I went through footwork patterns, slipping and ducking before layering on the punching combination. Then I […]

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More Superman Punching (diary entry)

October 29, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

27.10.20 My teacher consultation lesson was originally intended to tackle ways to set up the Superman Punch. Although this topic was touched upon, along with feedback on the Bizarro punch, we also took several detours into discussing several self-protection topics for teachers and students such as how violent crimes can dramatically adjust an individual’s morality and the problems with martial arts discussions in general. Superman Punch is generally set up with kicks. This isn’t to say the technique cannot be […]

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Fluidity & Footwork (diary entry)

October 26, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Dempsey book 7

24.10.20 My client reached hour seven of his course on Boxing techniques for martial arts cross training. We followed a similar routine to Tuesday and Wednesday’s clients, looking to increase fluidity through punches, develop footwork and look for small details to improve in basic technique. After our callisthenic and dynamic stretching warm-up we went through the basic punching isolation exercise. This consisted of throwing a constant flow of single straights, single uppercuts and single hooks before separating these into two-combinations […]

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Movement and Southpaw Fighting (diary entry)

October 20, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Boxing southpaw

19.10.20 My second Monday night lesson saw the beginning of a 10 hour Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training course with a new client. This client has been training for 15 years in Muay Thai and that includes in-ring fight experience. It was a new challenge for me and I enjoyed being able to introduce new concepts to an individual with firm knowledge on the art. After a warm-up of skipping my client went through some basic combinations before […]

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Ground ‘n Pound Against the Wall (diary entry)

June 19, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
wall takedown

16.02.20 Tonight, during teacher-trainer, we completely focused on fighting from the top position against the wall. This is fairly peculiar to MMA and offers certain benefits for self-defence training. A solid wall or cage has no give and there cannot really contribute much to a rope-a-dope strategy other than it limits an opponent’s angles. Being pinned or stacked on the ground against a wall is even worse as there is only way to escape and your opponent can concentrate all […]

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Restricted Training Zoom Class for Forest Schools Karate (diary entry)

May 26, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
forest school karate zoom

20.05.20 Tonight I was booked to teach for Forest Schools of Karate on Zoom. This 45 minute lesson focused on restrictive training and visualisation exercises to get the most out of home training. Whenever I guest-teach for clubs I am always impressed by the way particularly young students are continuing to engage as Lockdown fatigue sets in for society. Vijay Pathek’s child students were no exception. Siblings and individual students enthusiastically gave all my different training methods a fair go. […]

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Attacking the Back (diary entry)

May 22, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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19.05.20 The final part of this particular client’s MMA course was a round-up of most material previously covered with an emphasis on attacking the back on the ground. We began with our normal warm-up of dynamic stretching followed by shadow boxing where I grafted on kicks, takedowns and takedown defence to boxing combinations. This area transitioned from instructional to visualisation. Training switched to the loose heavy bag where we began clinching for knee strikes. Here I coached my client to […]

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Ground-Fighting using the Heavy Bag (diary entry)

May 15, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Heavy bag ground diary

12.05.20 Tuesday’s second lesson brought this client up to the ninth hour of his Mixed Martial Arts course. Unlike Monday’s – who was primarily a kickboxing student – this client has been through several of my different courses and is very familiar with ground work. However, this course has been his first introduction to striking on the ground. Having a free heavy bag in his isolation, we were able to complete his ground-striking drills. I also did some more clinch-work […]

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Arm Triangles and Snake Chokes (diary entry)

May 14, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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11.05.20   The ninth lesson of my client’s Mixed Martial Arts course saw her and her fellow self-isolated partner focus a lot on ground-work. We stayed in side-control, prompted some escapes and looked at set-ups for submissions.   The lesson began with some simple callisthenics, movement exercises and dynamic stretching starting with the neck and ending with the calves. We then moved into some shadow boxing, drawing combinations and individuals techniques from stand-up and clinch ranges. Training then went to […]

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More Grappling Bag Work (diary entry)

May 12, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
heavy bag ground 1

07.05.20   The eighth hour of my client’s Mixed Martial Arts course looked at more solo bag work for grappling. My client was outside and I instructed through video link how to execute double leg takedowns and supplexes. This was followed by transitioning through pins.   We warmed up with shadow boxing, sport-specific callisthenics and dynamic stretching, going through stand-up and clinch movement. Then my client brought out his heavy bag, which is not hung up, and we began drilling […]

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Partner Training via Video Coaching (diary entry)

April 28, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
double leg takedown shadow

27.04.20 Monday night’s client seventh hour of her current MMA course added in another element with the full inclusion of her fellow isolation inmate! It is always great to train a couple as we can do a lot more using two people and I took full advantage by going through stand-up to clinch combinations. The lesson began with a warm-up of simple dynamic stretches and sport-specific callisthenics. We then eased our way through some simple stand-up combinations before they brought […]

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Technique Confirmation (diary entry)

April 25, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Shadow Scarf Hold

20.04.20   My client continued her Mixed Martial Arts online live video training on Monday, reaching her sixth hour. Tonight was mainly concerned with running back through and re-confirming individual techniques.   After a short warm-up of dynamic stretching and sport-specific callisthenics, we began moving through the various stand-up techniques. These were first done slowly as part of the warm-up process and to check body mechanics. We covered jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, shovel hooks and variations on the major punches […]

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Shadow Ground Training Progresses (diary entry)

April 16, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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13.04.20   Monday night’s online video lesson was my client’s fifth hour of Mixed Martial Arts training. Due to the lock-down situation that has meant our regular face-to-face lessons are now adapted to online live video tutorials, I was grateful for the assistance of my client’s live-in partner. I do not charge any extra if other people who are self-isolating with my client wish to join in or assist with the lessons. Tonight we linked up some grappling with the […]

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Video Training: Chaining MMA Techniques (diary entry)

April 1, 2020 | Courses [ssba]
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30.03.20   My client began her third hour in Mixed Martial Arts training. This is her second live video link tutorial. We went back over details for the double-leg takedown, the sprawl and two break-falls. We also continued ground work positions and focused a lot on chaining and transitioning techniques.   We warmed up through the usual callisthenics and dynamic stretching exercises. Then I began technical work with the simple high and low jab. The low jab involves changing levels […]

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Visualising Ground-Fighting (diary entry)

March 24, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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23.03.20   My second Monday night online video coaching took my client up to the third hour of his first MMA programme. Being an online video training session, we looked at better developing shadow sparring, sport specific callisthenics and solo training in general to progress his MMA knowledge.   The lesson began with the usual series of dynamic stretching, muscle activation and sport specific callisthenics. We then onto some technical work, the first part of which was combining strikes with […]

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First Online Video Lesson (diary entry)

March 24, 2020 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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23.03.20   Monday night saw the first of my online video coaching. This is my client’s second lesson in her Mixed Martial Arts programme. This is a service I have always offered but only now with the world dealing with a global pandemic have I had to transfer all my regular clients over to this form of teaching. As can be seen by various media, I have a long history on developing solo training methods as a means for enhancing […]

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