Tag Archives | Oxfordshire

MMA Self-Defence Adaptation

January 29, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
eye gouge standing

27.01.18 This morning we covered the final hour of my client’s course in Basic Mixed Martial Arts for Martial Arts Cross-Training. As with subsequent courses, the lesson brings my client back to his self-protection line. For the most part, this is a revision of the culmination of techniques taught in his original self-defence course and an examination of how strong MMA’s attributes are in this respect. MMA, being an art dealing with all ranges of unarmed combat and combining techniques […]

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Transitioning with Kicks (diary entry)

January 26, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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24.01.18 Tonight’s lesson continued on our theme of transitioning, still focusing on transitioning from postures. We warmed up with my current regular partner-drills that build on MMA combinations. Each new element involves at least two new ranges. This was finished with a revision of ground transitioning from pins and guard-work. We then got back to the main work in hand: going from the ground to stand-up. Our core attribute exercise for this is the deck squat. The entire movement required […]

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Progress with Transitioning (diary entry)

January 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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17.01.18 Tonight’s training continued my client’s series of lessons on ground to stand-up transitioning. We focused on working from the clinch starting position, combining strikes with grappling and pressure testing.   The lesson began with a warm-up of MMA partner-drills. They were of the build-up nature I have currently been using with my clients. This is a great way to build muscle memory and encourage the mixing of ranges and techniques from different martial art disciplines. Please see previous recent […]

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Transitioning Positions in Grappling (diary entry)

January 12, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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10.01.18   Following my client’s previous lesson, we are embarking on a series of classes focused on transitioning work. This is composed of various drills that can be layered and then applied under pressure. Their purpose is to promote more effective movement and general fluidity through Mixed Martial Arts and Self-Defence. Ideally the movement provides the fighter with options he can use to build on using his own experience.   We began with a series of MMA build-up warm-up exercises. […]

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Submissions from and against the Half-Guard (diary entry)

December 21, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]

20.12.17   Continuing our work with the half-guard, my client and I decided to round up 2017 with details on incorporating the half-guard into the main guard game. The road that led us to the half-guard had begun with my client’s concerns in MMA that he didn’t feel very competent fighting from the guard. He had come across a common problem many students encounter when they pull guard in an intense fight; they become stuck in the position and are […]

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Extra Ground-Fighting (diary entry)

December 12, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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09.12.17   This morning I taught a special extended two hour session on my client recent 10 hour basic submission grappling/ground-fighting course. Due to its nature I am now considering to make this course 12 hours as standard rather than the usual 10. There is just so much to cover in submission grappling with two distinct games going on. Every combat sport has its attack and defence strategies, but they are mainly confined to the two individuals standing in similar […]

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Reviewing the Half-Guard (diary entry)

December 8, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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06.12.17 Tonight’s lesson turned into an unashamed revision of my client’s previous lesson. Not only did I not add on techniques or introduce new techniques, we reduced the number of moves executed in the previous lesson. This was important due to certain fundamental details we needed to better confirm. Half-guard is a very useful position for no-gi grappling and there is a burgeoning contingent of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu-inspired fighters that are arguing its place more in MMA. If you […]

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Validating the Half-Guard (diary entry)

November 30, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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29.11.17 At my client’s request we explored the half-guard. I have observed how controversial this position has become in MMA over the past 10 or so years. Some still maintain that the position is far from ideal and fighters holding it are prone to “eat up a lot of punches”. Interestingly they make this argument against the deep half-guard, which is where a lot of innovations have been coming in since Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu have actively taken […]

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Fluidity of Techniques (diary entry)

November 21, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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18.11.17   This morning we brought the CCMA basic course on submission grappling/groundwork up to the seven and a half hour point. We focused entirely on submissions from the closed guard. After sport-specific calisthenics for groundwork, we revised the conventional arm-bar and leg triangle choke from guard.   An area I am very keen to express in training is the fluid linking of movements with minimal delay. This seems obvious, but often I find what gets lost in learning is […]

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Submissions from the Guard (diary entry)

November 14, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
triangle choke

11.11.17   This morning’s lesson took my client up to the six hour mark of a scheduled 10 hour course on basic submission grappling/groundwork for martial arts cross training. We finished off our basic escape from pins training and moved onto closed-guard work.   The warm-up consisted of all specific groundwork calisthenics and mobility exercises, especially movements from the back. Then we revised escaping side control and scarf-holding using both a reversal and snaking escape. We then finished off this […]

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Escaping from Pins (diary entry)

November 7, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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04.11.17   This morning brought us up to the four and a half hour mark in a 10 hour basic course on submission grappling/groundwork for martial arts cross-training. Previously we looked at basic top positioning, pinning and transitioning from the top with a few submissions. Today we looked at defence from underneath. It wasn’t my intention to work much on guard-work, which comes under its own very large category, but there is some degree of overlap that flowed well.   […]

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Guard Position Mobility (diary entry)

November 2, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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01.11.17   Tonight’s lesson moved away from MMA clinch and Muay Thai to explore ground-fighting and working from the guard. This topic came up after MMA sparring in the previous lesson, where my client expressed problems with executing effective movement whilst holding a closed guard position.   We warmed up with our usual set of mobility exercises into calisthenics. Then we completed a series of calisthenic exercises specifically for ground-fighting. This consisted of various crawls and also snaking/shrimping variations to […]

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MMA Clinch to Ground (diary entry)

October 26, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
standing arm triangle

25.10.17   Tonight’s lesson continued with MMA clinch-work, revising Muay Thai entries and adaptations, but focused on set-ups using the elbow and collar tie. We also did some ground work.   Training began with western boxing and Muay Thai shadow boxing, moving onto wrestling entries. This was followed by partner work, which included neck-wrestling, lock-off positioning for knee strikes, shoulder trapping and arm-triangle trapping. We then moved onto over-hook/under-hook pummelling. From here we looked at setting up knee-strikes, elbow-strikes and […]

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Child Self-Protection Course Continues (diary entry)

October 25, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
child training

23.10.17   Tonight was the second in my special course for child self-protection. We began with a warm-up of catching games teaching evasion skills, spotting exit points, moving out of corners and creating distance. This moved us onto the fence, where we did a series of exercises to help teach understand personal space and using boundary lines. When it comes to children, this can be especially difficult. Children are still developing certain mental functions to better understand spatial awareness and […]

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Muay Thai to MMA clinch (diary entry)

October 12, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes [ssba]
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11.10.17   Continuing our work on the Muay Thai clinch tonight’s lesson primarily looked at sweeps and finished with Mixed Martial Arts clinch-work. As I have discussed previously, modern Muay Thai is not an obvious choice to focus on throwing, but the restrictions allows for some interesting developments. Plus the art has one very important element: the long-time practise of striking in combination with the clinch. The way nak muay move their opponents fluidly whilst striking is an art unto […]

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