Tag Archives | Training

Peek-a-Boo & the Art of Good Head Movement (diary entry)

June 12, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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12.06.2018 The fourth hour of my client’s 5:30 a.m. sessions in Basic Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training brought more emphasis on upper-body mobility. We spent a lot of time on the slip, coordinating it with footwork and the basic 1-2 combination. Then I introduced the peek-a-boo guard as well as bobbing and weaving. The lesson began with mirror footwork. This teaches better dynamic movement when facing an opponent, anticipating and predicting actions as well as understanding […]

MMA Revision & Trapping (diary entry)

May 25, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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24.05.2018 Tonight’s lesson on transitioning MMA took the focus onto trapping. We spent the majority of the class going through all the ranges. This began with a series of movement exercises – snaking, butterfly guard movement, combat base knee-walking and various footwork. This was followed by transitioning through all these postures on the move. Finally punching combinations were added on top. We then changed to partner work. This began with mirror footwork, drilling two, three and four punch […]

Grappling Defence at Kingham Hill (diary entry)

May 17, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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16.05.18 The second lesson of the day was part of my continuing Self-Protection/Mixed Martial Arts course I am running at Kingham Hill School. Today the class moved onto anti-grappling tactics. We overlapped pad-work, technique application and live testing on all the techniques cover today. We warmed up with posture transitioning and movement exercises. Then we began an anti-grappling exercise that involved one partner using grappling holds and the other placing strikes. This built up into a series of […]

Specific Sparring for Transitions (diary entry)

May 10, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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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 […]

Attack from the Skies! (diary entry)

April 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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21.04.18 My second private lesson this morning brought my client up to the six hour point of his second course in Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross Training. I make no apologies for my focus on the v-step this week. You will note that I covered this in another client’s current series of lessons concentrating on transitions and general combative movement. The v-step will appear again in yet another client’s Western Boxing course. I will discuss my personal history […]

New Self-Protection Course (diary entry)

April 22, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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21.04.18 This morning I began a new course with a new client. Training was conducted at my home address, where a make-shift gym is beginning to see an increasing number of new students. We covered the first two hours of my bespoke 10 hour self-protection course. Having already been provided with advice on some reference material for personal security, we began the session with an overview of soft skills in general. I cover these areas quite extensively in […]

Self Protection Course Begins at Kingham Hill School

April 19, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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18.04.18 Today’s first lesson was the beginning of a special course I am teaching for a term at Kingham Hill School. The students in attendance were between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age. The course was trialled last term with a good response. The agreed content was self-protection moving into Mixed Martial Arts. Today we addressed the legalities of self-defence, including when it is permitted to use a pre-emptive strike as well as other soft […]

Kicking Flexibility for Muay Thai (diary entry)

April 16, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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14.04.18 This lesson brought my client up to the four and a half hour point of his second Muay Thai for Martial Arts Cross-Training. The main focus of the lesson was to improve flexibility for kicking and improve kick-based combinations. We warmed up with mirror footwork and then did some kick placement before moving onto dynamic stretching. This included Cossack stretches and split-squats, which serve as good callisthenic as well as mobility exercises. We also performed a series […]

More Fighting on the Inside (diary entry)

March 21, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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20.03.2018 In-fighting is a part of Western Boxing that is only truly appreciated by people who genuinely love boxing. Many all-time greats – Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather Jnr and even the fleet-footed Muhammad Ali – were experts at fighting on the inside. Tonight’s lesson, which brought my client up to the eight hour mark of his 10 hour course in Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross-Training, began to look at this range with more depth once […]

Developing Footwork (diary entry)

March 8, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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05.03.18 My client’s second course on Western Boxing for Martial Arts Cross Training brought him up to the seven hour mark. Building off this course, where we have focused on upper body mobility and defensive tactics, we looked more at footwork and looping punches. The lesson began with our revision of combining footwork with head movement. This was trained through line-work, then as partner-work and then onto the focus mitts. Techniques and combinations were trained in isolation and […]

Punches, Kicks, Submissions and Takedowns through Postures (diary entry)

March 2, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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28.02.2018 The second lesson of the day continued my long-time client’s transitional combative applications. We continued to go over and develop drills. Training began with the deck squat base exercise and then we broke up the various connection points used for fighting through postures. Next the humble jab was used as the single technique to transition through the postures. We began with a double jab, overlapping the second jab across the postures. Then, in order to promote faster and […]

“Fighting is making the other fella miss” (diary)

February 14, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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13.02.18 “Fighting is not hitting, any fool can hit. Fighting is making the other fella miss. He miss, he think, he worry. It’s a mind game.” (Gladiator, 1992) Tonight’s second course in Boxing for Martial Arts Cross-Training brought my client up to the four hour point. We combined the previous two lessons’ work on slipping, bobbing and weaving, and also introduced ducking for a comprehensive review of upper body mobility. As my client pointed out, we had mainly […]

New Personal Training Video

January 24, 2018 | Courses

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Stand-up Fighter’s Game (diary entry)

January 3, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes

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30.12.17 The final lesson of 2017 brought my client’s Basic Course in Mixed Martial Arts for Martial Arts Cross-Training up to the four and a half hour mark. We continued to take our cue from the stand-up range and looked at the bobbing and weaving/rolling action as well as an overall strategy maintaining a stand-up fighting range and disengagement. The lesson began with a series of exercises based on changing ranges. Partner-work included mirror footwork and transitioning out […]

Sparring in the Shadows

December 22, 2017 | Insights and Reflections

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Strange Behaviour? There are many elements to martial arts practice that look strange to the outside world. Despite its widespread and time-honoured use, shadowboxing is one of these elements. Most individuals can understand sparring with an opponent. Most individuals can see the benefit of hitting focus mitts, strike-shields and other hand-held pads. And just about anyone who has felt a massive urge to “let off some steam” can relate to hitting a heavy bag. By comparison, the act of performing […]

Extra Ground-Fighting (diary entry)

December 12, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes

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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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Posts

Over-Hook Double-Arm Trap (diary entry)
20.06.18 Tonight my client continued with our theme on trapping. We continued down our old school boxing… Continue Reading
MMA through the Ranges at Kingham Hill
20.06.18 Today was the final lesson of this term’s course on Self-Defence/Mixed Martial Arts. Last lesson we… Continue Reading
More Head Movement (diary entry)
19.06.18 The fifth hour of my client's early morning Basic Course in Western Boxing for Martial Arts… Continue Reading
The Hook & Home Workout (diary entry)
15.06.2018 We’re on the fourth hour of my client’s early bird 5:30 a.m. lessons. This morning we… Continue Reading
Trapping & Transitioning (diary entry)
14.06.18 Tonight, my client continued looking at dirty boxing and its relationship with MMA in its entirety.… Continue Reading
MMA at Kingham Hill
13.06.18 Today’s lesson at Kingham Hill School shifted our attention from self-defence to Mixed Martial Arts. It… Continue Reading