Tag Archives | mma

12 Rounds of Grappling-Based MMA (diary entry)

September 15, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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14.09.2021 Sticking to the 12 x 3 minute round formula, my client covered specific areas of mixed martial arts training. We began with our usual warm-up of dynamic stretches and the full body flow drill. Then we moved onto the rounds. Round 1 – Striking (stand-up) versus Pure Takedowns (clinch) Round 2 – Pure Takedowns (clinch) versus Striking (stand-up) Round 3 – Takedowns versus Takedown Defence (with striking) Round 4 – Takedown defence versus Takedowns (with striking) Round 5 – […]

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MMA School Project (diary entry)

August 21, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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19.08.2022 Friday night’s second session was booked as part of a mixed martial arts project my new client is conducting at his school. We went through several ideas on how to proceed. When a new client comes to me with the mandate to teach them mixed martial arts, my usual advice is for them to go through the composite discipline course of boxing, muay Thai, wrestling and submission grappling before learning mma in earnest. On certain occasions I have just […]

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12 Rounds MMA Pad-Work (diary entry)

August 4, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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03.08.2022   Tonight my client repeated the 12 round format we used last week, but this time we mixed in more Mixed Martial Arts based work and centred certain rounds on specific techniques. The lesson was begun with a warm-up of dynamic stretching and muscle activation exercises. Round 1 – Setting up the cross and straight right. We used double-jabs, feints and shoulder rolls to provide opportunities to throw this power punch. Only straight punches were permitted in addition to […]

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Butterfly Guard Basics (diary entry)

August 2, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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01.08.2022 The first hour of my couple clients’ new course on Submission Grappling/Ground Fighting looked at the butterfly guard. We covered three sweeps, including two different types. After our normal specific warm-up and muscle activation we moved onto the fundamentals of the butterfly guard. Having covered some posture work in our warm-up, I specified the importance of a concave back so that the core was fully engaged and it was difficult for an opponent to flatten a fighter out. We […]

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Five Rounds of MMA Pad-Work (diary entry)

June 26, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
set up sprawl

23.06.2022 Last Thursday saw the beginning of my clients’ new course. We do not have a set theme this time due some injuries he has suffered outside of lessons so tonight we had a general overview of Mixed Martial Arts. After a warm-up of sport specific exercises and dynamic stretching we trained for 5 x 5 minute rounds on the focus mitts, covering individual areas. Round 1 – Boxing Round 2 – Muay Thai Round 3 – MMA Clinch Round […]

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MMA & Rubber Guard Revision (diary entry)

June 9, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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08.06.2022 My last lessons on Wednesday were my junior MMA and senior Submission Grappling. In the former we went through boxing, kickboxing and a new strategy on the ground. In the latter we looked at linking up the basics of Eddie Bravo’s Rubber Guard in a flow pattern. The first lesson began with our normal warm-up specific and muscle activation exercises. We then went straight into boxing. After some assessment on my client’s defence against straight rights and some basic […]

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Clinch in MMA (diary entry)

May 22, 2022 | Uncategorized [ssba]
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19.05.2022 My long-term client picked up on his return to MMA revision, finishing at hour seven of a 10 hour scheduled course. Tonight we moved onto the clinch in MMA. After a warm-up and a series of muscle activation exercises, we moved onto partner work. From here we drilled collar and elbow ties, pummelling over-hooks and under-hooks, before moving onto some grip-fighting. Next we went back through some dirty boxing combinations before working a five minute round of clinch-based focus […]

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MMA Combos 6-8 & Muay Thai (diary entry)

April 29, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
kick to pads

28.04.2022 After recovering from a work-related back injury, my long-time client returned to finish at the 5.5 hour mark of his scheduled 10 hour (7 session) course. We are working through some set MMA combinations (thank you MMA Shredded!) and finishing with two rounds of one specific discipline. Last session we covered MMA combinations 1-5 and finished with Boxing. This time, having a shorter time allotment, we finished off this series of combinations with 6-8 and completed 2 x 3 […]

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Double Leg Set-ups 1-5 (diary entry)

March 11, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
set up sprawl

10.03.2022 I returned to teaching a longtime client of mine at the 4.5 hour point of his course. This client books six 1.5 hour private lessons with me and 1 x 1 hour course. It is an arrangement that better suits clients who live a bit further out of the half an hour radius I offer for regular one-to-one or small group training. He has trained with me for several years and also transferred over to online training during lockdown […]

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Cover to Clinch (diary entry)

March 10, 2022 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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07.03.2022 Monday’s lesson brought my couple client up to the third hour on MMA clinch. Building off the previous lesson’s swarming tactics used to clinch, this lesson we looked at the cover in MMA. We began with looking at the temporary transitional nature of covering and then looked at accessing the highline. From here we attacked with the plum clinch and the arm-triangle hold into strikes and a takedown. A demonstration I gave at Denmark several years ago on covering […]

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Junior MMA Trial Lesson (diary entry)

November 7, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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04.11.21 Thursday night’s class saw a new client begin his course. He is a junior who has opted for my Mixed Martial Arts programme. I have advised that the best way to tackle MMA is by training in its component arts first. Usually this takes the form of boxing, then muay Thai before wrestling and submission grappling. However, some choose to start with any of the other arts depending on their experience or general preferences. Upon conducting an informal and […]

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Junior & Senior War! (diary entry)

October 5, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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04.10.2021 Tonight my junior and senior private lessons were combined as uncle and nephew had a fun session of sparring and conditioning in MMA. This is the first time the junior client has sparred under full MMA rules (light contact). During each two minute round the student not sparring or working pads shadow boxed, reacting to the targets and openings they watched. Round 1: Focus mitts – MMA punching with kick and grappling defences Round 2: Focus mitts – MMA […]

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Mirror Side & Defence in MMA (diary entry)

October 3, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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29.09.2021 Somewhat inspired by the Usyk vs Joshua World Heavyweight Championship match, we focused on dealing with a mirror side opponent in the junior MMA. That is an opponent with reverse side stance. This mainly consisted of fighting with the lead foot on the outside of an opponent’s lead foot. From here I introduced using the rear side first in combinations that utilised boxing, muay Thai and MMA techniques – punches, kicks and takedowns. This was all mainly done using […]

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Saddler & Zale in MMA (diary entry)

September 24, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
half guard attack

22.09.21 Wednesday night’s training was a junior and senior MMA lesson. The first looked at using the half-guard and the second also covered this, but also used the combinations of the great sluggers, Sandy Saddler and Tony Zale respective nemesises of Willie Pep and Rocky Graziano. Half-guard has evolved to become an important part of ground-fighting in MMA. The knee-shield and the lockdown are particularly important parts of this guard that can be used to better control someone fighting from […]

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Junior MMA Clinch & Senior MMA Striking Combinations (diary enry)

September 16, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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15.09.21 My evening sessions covered my junior client’s MMA training and senior client’s MMA training. In the junior class, after the warm-up, we began with some grip and clinch sparring adding on Muay Thai knees. We then went through using strikes to set up the arm-triangle clinch into takedown and submission. I finished the junior MMA with a tabata of jab/cross/sprawl/spear knee strike. The senior lesson began with a series of lowline takedown set-ups. We covered jab/inside leg feint/overhand punch/single […]

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Striking Set-ups for Takedowns (diary entry)

September 2, 2021 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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01.09.21 Wednesday night’s 1.5 hour lesson continued my client’s MMA work from the previous week. We are exploring eight set-ups for double-leg takedowns. Each of tonight’s four alternated between right and left double leg takedowns. Combination 1: This one was a nice continuation from the single combination we explored last week. After leading with a jab, the fighter feints a single leg takedown with an inside leg tap from the same side that is used to set up an overhand […]

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