Tag Archives | Wrestling

Conditioning the Lead Side (diary entry)

February 27, 2019 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
Straight lead

22.02.19   The first lesson of the morning began my long-time client on his course of Combat Conditioning. We worked on improving speed and power as well as the underlying fitness needed to execute jabs, lead leg teeps and double-leg takedowns – all lead side techniques.   The lesson began with a series of callisthenic/mobility exercises focusing on combative movement. We then looked at the jab from both stances. In order get maximum movement, flexibility and to keep the lead […]

Continue Reading

Head & Foot Fight Coordination (diary entry)

November 16, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
footwork drills

14.11.18   Tonight’s second lessons consisted of my regular junior class followed by my senior class. These are private lessons for an uncle and nephew team. My junior class focused on western boxing concepts, tightening up footwork and upper body movement. My senior class continued work on grappling – stand-up/takedown wrestling and submission/groundwork.   The junior class included mirror footwork and head movement exercises performed in isolation before being combined. This was the difficult part and requires a good amount […]

Continue Reading

Takedown and Submit (diary entry)

November 13, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
DSC_0146

07.11.2018   Tonight’s junior boxing lesson focused on moving in and out of the fight zone. Previous lessons have promoted footwork with upper body mobility, but we haven’t done a lot of work on tactics. This time I looked at a hit and run strategy for shorter fighters. We looked at slipping past linear punches and then moving out of the striking range only to come back in again from another angle. Forwards and backwards footwork, v-steps and circling were […]

Continue Reading

MMA through the Ranges at Kingham Hill

June 21, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
armbar from guard5

20.06.18   Today was the final lesson of this term’s course on Self-Defence/Mixed Martial Arts. Last lesson we switched entirely over to the MMA programme. This lesson offered a mixture of basic footwork, clinch, kicks and submissions.   The warm-up began with various techniques on the move – blitzing/bull-rush forwards, side-step transitioning from stand-up to clinch ranges, sprawl/knee combinations, snaking/shrimping and bear crawls. Everyone then partnered off for some important mirror footwork and coaching. Simple prompts consisted of jab/cross, sprawls, […]

Continue Reading

Up Close & Dirty! (diary entry)

June 8, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
Knee strike to head from clinch

06.06.18   The second lesson of the day was a two-hour session focusing on dirty boxing/stand-up MMA. Please note that this is an advanced course connected to the transitioning work I have been doing with this particular client and not part of a set 10 hour course I am also teaching to another client. To avoid confusion I will always indicate the stage of this other course in these diary notes.   We began with the cover and discussed the […]

Continue Reading

The Clinch of Boxing & Wrestling (diary entry)

June 4, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

02.06.18   This morning’s lesson on Dirty Boxing/Stand-up Mixed Martial Arts brought us to the four-and-a-half-hour point. After the warm-up we moved into five rounds of specific sparring broken up with discussions on improving techniques. My client’s confidence has grown a lot in just 48 hours I am happy to say with a good understand with out to use and deal with boxing clinches. The wrestling is also strong. We now need to go back over Muay Thai clinching aspects […]

Continue Reading

Kingham Combat Grapplers

May 24, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

23.05.18   Training at Kingham Hill School moved onto combat grappling. We began with an energetic series of movement exercises, designed to reinforce various behaviours learnt over the previous lessons and to increase reaction timing. This started with simple changing directions, then altering heights of stances, varying footwork, striking whilst moving, covering, sprawling, switching ranges and finished with transitioning through postures to regain footing.   We began our technical training with the side headlock. This is a primal grappling move […]

Continue Reading

Grappling Defence at Kingham Hill (diary entry)

May 17, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
eye gouge standing

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 […]

Continue Reading

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

March 2, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
armbar from guard5 (close up)

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 […]

Continue Reading

Testing the Transition MMA-style (diary entry)

February 23, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
fight back

21.02.18   As per the previous diary entry, we continued with this project on combative transitioning. This time we started to look at the possibility of having different base drills to teach different tactics, and also included some progressive specific pressure-testing.   We began our transitioning from the warm-up onwards. This started with performing bridges/upa and then sit-ups into a three-punch combination. From here we built on alternate leg-triangles into butterfly guard (mid-range guard) and the three-punch combination again. Then […]

Continue Reading

Transitioning Positions in Grappling (diary entry)

January 12, 2018 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
DSCF1418

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. […]

Continue Reading

Sparring in the Shadows

December 22, 2017 | Insights and Reflections
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
Hook Punch (close) darker

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 […]

Continue Reading

MMA Range Training (diary entry)

November 16, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
ground and pound 2

15.11.17   Tonight’s MMA lesson focused on bringing everything together. This is where we look at transitioning through ranges and skillsets within a limited rules format. Although MMA isn’t self-protection training, it provides a very rich training ground for mining practical attributes and provides an excellent area to test various specialised techniques in conjunction with others.   We warmed up with some dynamic stretching; focusing a lot on unilateral bodyweight calisthenics that allow for a large range of movement i.e. […]

Continue Reading

Submissions from the Guard (diary entry)

November 14, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
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 […]

Continue Reading

MMA Clinch to Ground (diary entry)

October 26, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
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 […]

Continue Reading

Muay Thai Clinch for MMA (diary entry)

October 23, 2017 | Diary / Training Notes
SHARE THIS POSTTweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail this to someone
over hook

18.10.17   Tonight’s lesson looked at using the Thai clinch for mixed martial arts. We began with a series of mobility exercises and then some calisthenics before we moved onto the plumb position. This partner work began with neck-wrestling and some light grip-fighting. From here we did some one-for-one striking from the clinch and sweeps.   Next we brought Muay Thai clinch into the MMA arena. With a greater allowance for stand-up wrestling holds and even submissions, we were able […]

Continue Reading