Tag Archives | mma

Create the Trap, Find the Clinch (diary entry)

June 1, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Attacking the cover1

31.05.2018 Tonight, my client continued his Dirty Boxing/Stand up Mixed Martial Arts course and we made it to the three-hour mark. After a preliminary warm-up we did some basic wrestling drills. This was to build up a familiarity with gripping and clinching positions. We drilled collar and elbow ties, over-hook/under-hook pummelling and arm-drags. Then we moved onto some grip-fighting sparring, emphasising circling to break and regain holds. Next, taking Roberto Duran as inspiration, we engaged in some boxing sparring. Here […]

Continue Reading

Transitional Sparring (diary entry)

May 18, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
ground

16.05.18   Tonight’s lesson with my longest consecutively training client looked more on putting all the transitioning training together. The warm-up began with mirror footwork, going through all postures – off the back, seated, kneeling and standing. We angled off for v-steps, attacked and drew attacks. This progressed into clinching through postures, drilling grips with strikes and strikes into takedowns, takedowns from different lines of attacks and submissions from the ground.   This moved onto the focus mitts and we […]

Continue Reading

Specific Sparring for Transitions (diary entry)

May 10, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

09.05.18   The transitional series of MMA lessons looked a lot at pressure tonight. We began with various specific exercises, dealing with the three transitions and four postures. These were layered with techniques. We tried moving backwards and forwards along the mats whilst moving into submission holds. Stand-up work focused on Western Boxing and Muay Thai set-ups. Next week we might bring in some takedown entries and combination that link the postures. After applying strikes from all the postures and […]

Continue Reading

Kingham Kickers (diary entry)

May 9, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Low striking whilist grappling

09.05.18   Today’s lesson at Kingham Hill School was supposed to address anti-grappling, but I decided to focus on a few striking fundamentals before moving onto this section of the training. We looked at developing power in the straight hand strike, revising pre-emption and recovery before moving onto kicks.   The class warmed up going through the basic postures and transitions off the ground, increasing intensity with each repetition. They then moved onto coaching one another on the focus mitts. […]

Continue Reading

Complete Combat Movement (diary entry)

May 4, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Guard for street

02.05.18 Work continued tonight on combat transitioning. We warmed up with movements from the back, seated, kneeling and footwork. After going through a few fundamental details, we added in punching combinations and kicking. Next we looked at the hook-guard and how it worked within the first transition. We revised the half-guard/butterfly guard flow drill, which was then used as method to train the hook-guard/butterfly guard flow drill. Here we went back over attacking with a knee-bar. Everything was then brought […]

Continue Reading

The Cover at Kingham (diary entry)

May 3, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
single cover

02.05.2018   My third lesson teaching self-protection/MMA at Kingham Hill School brought the entire class onto the in-fight problem of regaining the initiative. We began with an overview of the cover, which successfully tested to everyone’s satisfaction. The rules of using the cover were explained – namely that it is a recovery and temporary tool used to regain the initiative whilst recovering from an attack, the cover position of the hands must remain mobile and the person covering must move […]

Continue Reading

Ground Fight Transitioning (diary entry)

April 26, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
DSCF1418

25.04.18   Tonight’s MMA transitioning lesson focused on the hook guard. This position needs good mobility between lying back and sitting up. We warmed up a series transitioning exercises that began with movement from set postures.   Snaking/shrimping forwards and backwards for lying back, butterfly guard scooting forwards and backwards for sitting up, knee walking combat base for kneeling and v-stepping for stand-up fighting.   Then we focused on the hook guard. From here we drilled taking the back and […]

Continue Reading

Second Self-Protection Lesson at Kingham Hill School (diary entry)

April 25, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
DSC_0344

25.04.2018   Today’s afternoon lesson was the second in Kingham Hill’s Basic Self-Protection/MMA course. We began with some simple fence targeting and target familiarisation. These exercises are designed to train a robust and legal way to set up a pre-emptive strike. I do this as a touch-contact drill to reinforce the behaviour to hit realistic targets. This is then overlapped with hitting the focus mitts.     We discussed intent and the anaerobic nature of striking for self-defence. This was […]

Continue Reading

The V-Step and Dirty Boxing (diary entry)

April 20, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Knee strike to head from clinch

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 […]

Continue Reading

Kick Smuggling (diary entry)

April 8, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
low kick

07.04.18   This morning brought my client’s second course in Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training up the three hour point. We continued worked on setting up kicks and introducing advanced kicking techniques.   The warm-up began with mirror foot-work. This included forward, backward and v-stepping actions. We looked for targets and how to expose an opponent to attacks. We made a distinction between Western Boxing and Muay Thai by focusing the way Muay Thai covers and takes ground, […]

Continue Reading

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

April 5, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Against the Cage1

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 […]

Continue Reading

Mobility in Transitional Fighting (diary entry)

March 29, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

28.03.2018   Tonight we looked at incorporating more movement into our transitional drills for MMA. We began with a series of warm-up exercises in each of the postures, which promoted fluid transitioning. Then we built on boxing punching combinations to each posture in isolation and then through full transition – from lying on the back to a standing fighting stance. We then brought in travelling movement – footwork for standing and associated travelling movements for fighting from the back (snaking/shrimping), […]

Continue Reading

Shoulder Roll (diary entry)

March 28, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
mayweather-shoulder-roll

24.05.18   This morning’s lesson brought my client’s second course on Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training to an end. It has been a remarkable course, full of self-discovery and research. We have not only referenced and taking tips from information taken from the highlights of the greats in Boxing history, but we have kept the focus on improving specific aspects of my client’s game. The latter point was never more evident than in today’s lesson, bringing everything back […]

Continue Reading

Kicking it up (Diary entry)

March 22, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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 […]

Continue Reading

Boxing Inside and Outside (diary entry)

March 20, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Boxing Jab

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 […]

Continue Reading

Fight to the Feet Continues to Develop (diary entry)

March 9, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
Defence from guard to standing7

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, […]

Continue Reading