As this session was the last Monday of 2011 we 'played' lots of sparring games after some initial technical work.
The session began as always with warm up followed then by some striking combination work led by Pete.
1-2-1-2-6 (6 is right body hook)
1-2-low lead round kick-2
1-2-lead uppercut-2
1-spinning back fist-4-neck clinch to knee
We then had to string them all together in one long combo but taking out all the initial attacks except from the first one. Feels like a nice flowing attack phase.
Fun and games:
Free form sparring stand up in opposite stance to our natural one.
All against all free form stand up sparring.
Paired all against all free form stand up sparring.
Boxing sparring from the knees.
Boxing from the knees all against all.
All out (strike and grapple) free form sparring on the floor with eyes closed.
Free form kicking sparring.
Team line up sparring.
Tag team free form ground sparring.
So as the year ends it is time to reflect. I started the year happily training hard with at the Workman Wing Chun Academy. That closed and my path led me to the ProMai crowd. Martin is really pleased for me and knows how much I am growing training in MMA. If Martin ever starts teaching again he will open an MMA class and my heart will really be split as I feel as if I am learning and being challenged on a session by session basis with Lee and the lads.
It feels as if I have been with ProMai for longer than the Autumn term. Before each session I get the rugular dump of adrenaline in anticipation of what awaits. I enjoy working hard and learning new ways to use my body and refine those I already know.
There is no greater martial truth than MMA. You have to work against a multidimensional non compliant human. What other martial art system offers such an honest weekly challenge?
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Thursday, 15 December 2011
week 16: side control escapes
Pure grappling focus tonight.
Started by looking at escapes from side control. Tips and hints were obvious such as creating gaps, movement, tight defense.
We then moved onto looking at arm extensions and head and leg suppressions from bottom control.
Finally ended with some freeform before watching Charlie's victorious victory in the final round of his welterweight title fight in Battle of the Brawlers
Started by looking at escapes from side control. Tips and hints were obvious such as creating gaps, movement, tight defense.
We then moved onto looking at arm extensions and head and leg suppressions from bottom control.
Finally ended with some freeform before watching Charlie's victorious victory in the final round of his welterweight title fight in Battle of the Brawlers
Friday, 9 December 2011
Week 15: Compression submissions
Grappling night.
There are 5 types of submissions:
Suppression: Either side of neck stopping the blood. 10 seconds or less for a result
Choke: Front of neck on throat stopping air to lungs and brains. Harder to pull off as it is dependent on how long they can physically and mentally hold their breath for.
Extension: Looking to cause dislocation of elbow, knee and ankle joints.
Rotation: To ball and socket joints.
Compression: Using your bones against the soft tissue of their body causing lots of pain.
So tonight we looked a 3 compressions as they are the most advanced, hardest to be successful wife and simply the submission type that is least focussed on. From my perspective I have never done them before and not really done to me so they are not on my radar, until now.
Calf compression from top centre control: Heel to heel under their legs, feed one instep over their thigh, manipulate the arm to extend above their head to give them extra things to think about. Turn towards your feet and ensure your shin in tight in behind their knee and calf. Look to grab the foot and pull towards yourself. Your shin bone will compress the back quarter side of their calf causing plenty of distress. Key is keeping weight on them throughout the transition to the leg to avoid escape.
Bicep compression from top centre control: Feed an arm across his neck and put your weight on this. Already this is an unpleasant feeling from the bottom position. Secure your elbows on the floor either side of his head, palms on the mat too. Same side as arm across, feed your arm through the armpit on to the side of his face so that your palm is on his ear. Now move your elbow back onto his ribs to apply pressure to the bicep. Now grip palm to palm and turn the hands to the sky to finish the compression. If not working you can put the top hand on top of his forearm to cinch it in even tighter.
Calf suppression from sitting centre control: Sitting on his belly turn towards his legs and drive the forearm behind on of his knees. Then use your other side leg to trap your arm in position. Then use your other leg to complete the hold. It looks like a suppression (triangle) of your own arm and his leg. Fall to your shoulder and turn the forearm towards the soft tissue of the calf. Tight and nasty.
Free form grappling sparring: With Lee. His is very good at using his weight on the chest. I felt quite proud of myself tonight as I found myself in this position several times and never tapped from lung expiration. Tough times. Several times I went to turtle position to be defensive but hoping that a mistake or gap will appear for me to take advantage of. Of course non came. At one point Lee wrapped arms around my belly is suplexed me backwards. A damn horrible sensation. In the debrief he told me that it is OK to go to turtle but not for as long as I was. Instead look to explode up with positive posture, then in if need be and relax back into turtle. Then had a usually tough and fairly even grapple with Pitas.
24 hours later I am a wash with bruises and there is not a muscle that is not aching. It feels good to be alive.
There are 5 types of submissions:
Suppression: Either side of neck stopping the blood. 10 seconds or less for a result
Choke: Front of neck on throat stopping air to lungs and brains. Harder to pull off as it is dependent on how long they can physically and mentally hold their breath for.
Extension: Looking to cause dislocation of elbow, knee and ankle joints.
Rotation: To ball and socket joints.
Compression: Using your bones against the soft tissue of their body causing lots of pain.
So tonight we looked a 3 compressions as they are the most advanced, hardest to be successful wife and simply the submission type that is least focussed on. From my perspective I have never done them before and not really done to me so they are not on my radar, until now.
Calf compression from top centre control: Heel to heel under their legs, feed one instep over their thigh, manipulate the arm to extend above their head to give them extra things to think about. Turn towards your feet and ensure your shin in tight in behind their knee and calf. Look to grab the foot and pull towards yourself. Your shin bone will compress the back quarter side of their calf causing plenty of distress. Key is keeping weight on them throughout the transition to the leg to avoid escape.
Bicep compression from top centre control: Feed an arm across his neck and put your weight on this. Already this is an unpleasant feeling from the bottom position. Secure your elbows on the floor either side of his head, palms on the mat too. Same side as arm across, feed your arm through the armpit on to the side of his face so that your palm is on his ear. Now move your elbow back onto his ribs to apply pressure to the bicep. Now grip palm to palm and turn the hands to the sky to finish the compression. If not working you can put the top hand on top of his forearm to cinch it in even tighter.
Calf suppression from sitting centre control: Sitting on his belly turn towards his legs and drive the forearm behind on of his knees. Then use your other side leg to trap your arm in position. Then use your other leg to complete the hold. It looks like a suppression (triangle) of your own arm and his leg. Fall to your shoulder and turn the forearm towards the soft tissue of the calf. Tight and nasty.
Free form grappling sparring: With Lee. His is very good at using his weight on the chest. I felt quite proud of myself tonight as I found myself in this position several times and never tapped from lung expiration. Tough times. Several times I went to turtle position to be defensive but hoping that a mistake or gap will appear for me to take advantage of. Of course non came. At one point Lee wrapped arms around my belly is suplexed me backwards. A damn horrible sensation. In the debrief he told me that it is OK to go to turtle but not for as long as I was. Instead look to explode up with positive posture, then in if need be and relax back into turtle. Then had a usually tough and fairly even grapple with Pitas.
24 hours later I am a wash with bruises and there is not a muscle that is not aching. It feels good to be alive.
Week 14: Cardio grappling
As Lee was working with Milzy for his up and coming fight, Joe took the main class on the mats.
We began with big glove boxing looking for the clinch.
The mental age and psychological preparation: Lee gathered us in to talk about he prepares us mentally. The use of key words and visualisation. None of this yelling and psyching up as it does not do any good and will have short term uses and benefits.
4 corner takedown pressure drill: Groups of 4, each person in for several rounds of grappling. New partner every 30 seconds. First round was hold down. Second round was submit. Third round was prevent partner from getting up.
Take down pressure: Same round idea as above, one person in and 4 rotating every 30 seconds. The idea was to give the solo as much takedown pressure as possible. No striking from either side. Solo needs to stay on feet and sprawl and defend the takedown. Very tough on the heart and lungs. I managed use get butted very hard in ear by Sami. Still hurts now 8 days later as I type.
Hold down and submit v stand up and escape: Does exactly what it says on the tin. Start again when all contact has been lost.
Free form grappling: Again, a week after class so can't remember with whom I was rolling with. Guaranteed it was hard, fast and fun.
We began with big glove boxing looking for the clinch.
The mental age and psychological preparation: Lee gathered us in to talk about he prepares us mentally. The use of key words and visualisation. None of this yelling and psyching up as it does not do any good and will have short term uses and benefits.
4 corner takedown pressure drill: Groups of 4, each person in for several rounds of grappling. New partner every 30 seconds. First round was hold down. Second round was submit. Third round was prevent partner from getting up.
Take down pressure: Same round idea as above, one person in and 4 rotating every 30 seconds. The idea was to give the solo as much takedown pressure as possible. No striking from either side. Solo needs to stay on feet and sprawl and defend the takedown. Very tough on the heart and lungs. I managed use get butted very hard in ear by Sami. Still hurts now 8 days later as I type.
Hold down and submit v stand up and escape: Does exactly what it says on the tin. Start again when all contact has been lost.
Free form grappling: Again, a week after class so can't remember with whom I was rolling with. Guaranteed it was hard, fast and fun.
Week 13: Stand up drills
Tonight was focussed purely on the hands as a tool of attack.
Pete was taking teh class tonight so we began by working a number of hand combinations against a moving person. Using lots of speed in the hands but stopping the power short:
1. Jab – jab – uppercut
2. Jab – jab – uppercut – rear knee
3. Jab – jab – uppercut – rear knee – front elbow and out
Head movement from partner feeding straight punches. Simply getting used to integrate the torso. I found it tough to work this so need to get practising in the garden.
Head on belly from striking: A challenge of getting your face on their belly in boxing sparring. When done they need to sprawl as a punishment. Got me really thinking about the footwork, posture and when to go in. I found that trying to follow their punches in was best but in reality a lot of tension in my legs meant I was heavy and cumbersome. It also made me realise that those people who make this kind of motion look easy are true masters of timing and movement.
1 -2 double leg shoot cardio drill: Up and down the hall in linear rounds. Did exactly as it said on the tin. Main idea was changing levels and not bending over and driving in. Drop and shoot to drive the back with good structure.
Free form sparring with fav technique and stance restrictions: Horrible and awkward and forcing the brain to work hard. For me I had to fight with my left leg forward, no straight attacks and no round low kicks. Tried to focus on footwork in and out.
Freeform grappling practise: As always my favourite aspect as this is where I feel most comfortable. I am writing this 3 weeks after, foolishly can't remember any details.
Pete was taking teh class tonight so we began by working a number of hand combinations against a moving person. Using lots of speed in the hands but stopping the power short:
1. Jab – jab – uppercut
2. Jab – jab – uppercut – rear knee
3. Jab – jab – uppercut – rear knee – front elbow and out
Head movement from partner feeding straight punches. Simply getting used to integrate the torso. I found it tough to work this so need to get practising in the garden.
Head on belly from striking: A challenge of getting your face on their belly in boxing sparring. When done they need to sprawl as a punishment. Got me really thinking about the footwork, posture and when to go in. I found that trying to follow their punches in was best but in reality a lot of tension in my legs meant I was heavy and cumbersome. It also made me realise that those people who make this kind of motion look easy are true masters of timing and movement.
1 -2 double leg shoot cardio drill: Up and down the hall in linear rounds. Did exactly as it said on the tin. Main idea was changing levels and not bending over and driving in. Drop and shoot to drive the back with good structure.
Free form sparring with fav technique and stance restrictions: Horrible and awkward and forcing the brain to work hard. For me I had to fight with my left leg forward, no straight attacks and no round low kicks. Tried to focus on footwork in and out.
Freeform grappling practise: As always my favourite aspect as this is where I feel most comfortable. I am writing this 3 weeks after, foolishly can't remember any details.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Week 12: Fear
KEY WORDS:
select two words for the stare down and then to apply in the fighting rounds. My words were calm or relax and attack or pressure. Was doing ok except when there was lots of pressure from my opponent. This was the first time a stare down had been part of my training. At first it was tough to stay focused but with the internal key word mantra it made it much easier to cope with.
FEAR AND INTENT IN STRIKING:
felt very scared when sparring with Ben. He seemed to be throwing powerful intent heavy shots. I went into a defensive shell and tried to weather the storm. It taught me to have more intent in my hands as this will have greater psychological effects on the opponent.
CLINCH DRILLS:
working the primary grip whilst striking with hands and knees. The first session i don't wear a box and take a knee to the plums. From here we looked at the knee tap takedown. Lee then emphasized the need to practise chaining techniques together. The more we can attack with pressured variety the more unable the opponent will be to settle into his own attacks.
STRIKING DRILLS:
the round kick to the lower body. You could block, check or evade. As both my thighs are struggling to work today I need to develop better and more dynamic footwork. On the plus side I am getting better at keeping the hands and eyes disciplined.
GRAPPLING DRILLS:
part 1 was from kneeling to grt your partner on their back. Restart when done. My first round was with Sami who was using his hips excellently to prevent my takedowns. Drill 2 was previous but holding down when their back
is on the floor. For this I had Pitas. An even and patient battle.
PETE'S TIPS: At the end of class I quizzed Pete about training and picked up the following tips.
HEAD MOVEMENT: Don't be a static target. Work on movement in attack and defence.
ATTACKING AT THE END OF THEIR ATTACK: This is when they are at their most vulnerable. Use body motion and head movement to create good angles for attack.
USING FOOTWORK AND STANCE: Use the lead hand to keep the distance you need. Having thus should enable you to be out of the range of attacks.
select two words for the stare down and then to apply in the fighting rounds. My words were calm or relax and attack or pressure. Was doing ok except when there was lots of pressure from my opponent. This was the first time a stare down had been part of my training. At first it was tough to stay focused but with the internal key word mantra it made it much easier to cope with.
FEAR AND INTENT IN STRIKING:
felt very scared when sparring with Ben. He seemed to be throwing powerful intent heavy shots. I went into a defensive shell and tried to weather the storm. It taught me to have more intent in my hands as this will have greater psychological effects on the opponent.
CLINCH DRILLS:
working the primary grip whilst striking with hands and knees. The first session i don't wear a box and take a knee to the plums. From here we looked at the knee tap takedown. Lee then emphasized the need to practise chaining techniques together. The more we can attack with pressured variety the more unable the opponent will be to settle into his own attacks.
STRIKING DRILLS:
the round kick to the lower body. You could block, check or evade. As both my thighs are struggling to work today I need to develop better and more dynamic footwork. On the plus side I am getting better at keeping the hands and eyes disciplined.
GRAPPLING DRILLS:
part 1 was from kneeling to grt your partner on their back. Restart when done. My first round was with Sami who was using his hips excellently to prevent my takedowns. Drill 2 was previous but holding down when their back
is on the floor. For this I had Pitas. An even and patient battle.
PETE'S TIPS: At the end of class I quizzed Pete about training and picked up the following tips.
HEAD MOVEMENT: Don't be a static target. Work on movement in attack and defence.
ATTACKING AT THE END OF THEIR ATTACK: This is when they are at their most vulnerable. Use body motion and head movement to create good angles for attack.
USING FOOTWORK AND STANCE: Use the lead hand to keep the distance you need. Having thus should enable you to be out of the range of attacks.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Week 11: Standing fun
Warm up:
Milzy took it and went sprawl mad which was nice. Doing them in sets of 10 almost resulted in my tea making an appearance on the mat.
Head movement and angles:
The feeder gives single shots from either hand as the defender had to initially move the head back over the rear leg to evade followed by a combo, of own choice, to the head and body. Following this was moving inside the punch and countering. Found this a little tougher as you are heading into the chaos. In addition it was tough to let the same side hand punch over his head. Neil noted that my distancing was too close. When I gave more space there was less jamming of my punches.
Working the angles:
Feeder was like a robot in that he held his hands together at face level but extended. This was simply to give the puncher a chance to work against a moving target. The point was to enter and exit with good head movement which brackets a flurry punch combination.
Positive footwork:
Keeping the rear heel of the floor is a slightly more active type of footwork and also keeps you a little more ready to fire attacks as opposed to being passive. Both sides were attacking but OK to throw all types of striking attacks. Footwork was primarily used to evade and move then enter to attack and exit safely.
Ground and pound practise:
Hitting the prone heavy bag with heavy relaxed power. Maintain the weight through the bag and attempting to simulate attacking a human. Also always be thinking of your form - don't get sloppy with the non attacking hand, keep the defense tight.
Free form sparring:
Worked with Hani. Focussed on keeping the short arm tight to the body and face and the other arm long. Really enjoyed it.
Milzy took it and went sprawl mad which was nice. Doing them in sets of 10 almost resulted in my tea making an appearance on the mat.
Head movement and angles:
The feeder gives single shots from either hand as the defender had to initially move the head back over the rear leg to evade followed by a combo, of own choice, to the head and body. Following this was moving inside the punch and countering. Found this a little tougher as you are heading into the chaos. In addition it was tough to let the same side hand punch over his head. Neil noted that my distancing was too close. When I gave more space there was less jamming of my punches.
Working the angles:
Feeder was like a robot in that he held his hands together at face level but extended. This was simply to give the puncher a chance to work against a moving target. The point was to enter and exit with good head movement which brackets a flurry punch combination.
Positive footwork:
Keeping the rear heel of the floor is a slightly more active type of footwork and also keeps you a little more ready to fire attacks as opposed to being passive. Both sides were attacking but OK to throw all types of striking attacks. Footwork was primarily used to evade and move then enter to attack and exit safely.
Ground and pound practise:
Hitting the prone heavy bag with heavy relaxed power. Maintain the weight through the bag and attempting to simulate attacking a human. Also always be thinking of your form - don't get sloppy with the non attacking hand, keep the defense tight.
Free form sparring:
Worked with Hani. Focussed on keeping the short arm tight to the body and face and the other arm long. Really enjoyed it.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Week 10: Centre back control
Warm up: hold down and submit over getting up and standing away.
Centre back control technique
1: From side back control look to get to centre back control. Put the near side leg in first and keep underhooks at the arm pit. When moved in to centre back control keep the toes pointing straight to avoid crushing when flattening him out. Keep the weight of your chest between his shoulder blades as opposed to the base of the back. Take the leg out back to the starting position, do a chest spin to the other side of his body and repeat.
2: Flattening out. Drive the hips towards his head and keep hands of the matt to give more pressure through his back. If he tucks the arms under to defend, take wrist control and pull towards his hip and flatten his shoulder to the matt.
3: Bicep and forearm suppression from inverted centre back control. formerly known in my mind as the rear naked choke. Key learning points – you can’t get the bicep enough across his throat. Close by putting hand as close to own shoulder as possible. Insert other hand behind his neck to tighten, suppressing arm still relaxed. Get your head into his to stop the neck hand being stripped. Put the non suppressing elbow behind his should. Even now it will be very tight and close to finishing him before tensing. Now tense the suppressing bicep to close the submission. Swiftly.
4: Inner forearm choke from inverted centre back control(x2). As he defends by turning the face away from the bicep he is now setting himself up and thus asking politely to be choked. Pull the suppressing arm out a touch to get the forearm on his throat. Close for a quick and friggin horrid choke. The variation on this was taking the palm to palm, pressure driving with own head towards his and use more strength to pull the forearm across the old windpipe. Hopefully he will be coughing quickly.
5: Arm bar from inverted centre back control. Get the head away from his by pushing away on his head to get the legs over his chest. Now sit up to ensure your hips are tight to his shoulder joint. Cross the ankles, keep the knees squeezing together and wrap the arm. As you lie back keep the ram close to your chest. When the arm is extended push your heels and knees down. This will be very hard as each of those actions will counter the other. This move actually does require an awful lot of presence of mind in all these areas of your body. Now raise the hips to finish. Doing these things with the legs means that the arm is being extended and stretched in the forearm, horribly before the elbow breaks. This detail in the arm will have more success as it is up to me to go through the checklist of points. It reminded me of when Dan Hardy was in this position against GSP who did not finish him from this position. I need to go back to study the clip to see if GSP is doing these details in his arm bar. I know this sounds supercilious and what could I tell GSP anything about MMA but the point is about analysis of technique in the chaos of combat. This was the worst feeling armbar I have ever experienced.
Free form sparring
Sparred with Lee tonight. Subbed a ton of times with a different one each time. He gave me tips on arm bar defence (relax, go pencil thin and roll out) , triangle defence (strong posture and get the legs and knees towards his face to take the power out of the submission position), hitting whilst grappling (simply not hard enough!!! and using striking as a way of getting them to change their grips and make gaps for escapes). Knowing what is happening can help a smarter defence. This is due to the naming convention of moves and that the defence for one is going to be the set up for the next submission. Despite the sound beating I received, I learned so many things. More beatings say I.
Centre back control technique
1: From side back control look to get to centre back control. Put the near side leg in first and keep underhooks at the arm pit. When moved in to centre back control keep the toes pointing straight to avoid crushing when flattening him out. Keep the weight of your chest between his shoulder blades as opposed to the base of the back. Take the leg out back to the starting position, do a chest spin to the other side of his body and repeat.
2: Flattening out. Drive the hips towards his head and keep hands of the matt to give more pressure through his back. If he tucks the arms under to defend, take wrist control and pull towards his hip and flatten his shoulder to the matt.
3: Bicep and forearm suppression from inverted centre back control. formerly known in my mind as the rear naked choke. Key learning points – you can’t get the bicep enough across his throat. Close by putting hand as close to own shoulder as possible. Insert other hand behind his neck to tighten, suppressing arm still relaxed. Get your head into his to stop the neck hand being stripped. Put the non suppressing elbow behind his should. Even now it will be very tight and close to finishing him before tensing. Now tense the suppressing bicep to close the submission. Swiftly.
4: Inner forearm choke from inverted centre back control(x2). As he defends by turning the face away from the bicep he is now setting himself up and thus asking politely to be choked. Pull the suppressing arm out a touch to get the forearm on his throat. Close for a quick and friggin horrid choke. The variation on this was taking the palm to palm, pressure driving with own head towards his and use more strength to pull the forearm across the old windpipe. Hopefully he will be coughing quickly.
5: Arm bar from inverted centre back control. Get the head away from his by pushing away on his head to get the legs over his chest. Now sit up to ensure your hips are tight to his shoulder joint. Cross the ankles, keep the knees squeezing together and wrap the arm. As you lie back keep the ram close to your chest. When the arm is extended push your heels and knees down. This will be very hard as each of those actions will counter the other. This move actually does require an awful lot of presence of mind in all these areas of your body. Now raise the hips to finish. Doing these things with the legs means that the arm is being extended and stretched in the forearm, horribly before the elbow breaks. This detail in the arm will have more success as it is up to me to go through the checklist of points. It reminded me of when Dan Hardy was in this position against GSP who did not finish him from this position. I need to go back to study the clip to see if GSP is doing these details in his arm bar. I know this sounds supercilious and what could I tell GSP anything about MMA but the point is about analysis of technique in the chaos of combat. This was the worst feeling armbar I have ever experienced.
Free form sparring
Sparred with Lee tonight. Subbed a ton of times with a different one each time. He gave me tips on arm bar defence (relax, go pencil thin and roll out) , triangle defence (strong posture and get the legs and knees towards his face to take the power out of the submission position), hitting whilst grappling (simply not hard enough!!! and using striking as a way of getting them to change their grips and make gaps for escapes). Knowing what is happening can help a smarter defence. This is due to the naming convention of moves and that the defence for one is going to be the set up for the next submission. Despite the sound beating I received, I learned so many things. More beatings say I.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Week 9 Close quarter punching
Usual warm up of toes, shoulders and chest.
Main learning points I took from tonight were most definitely to keep the eyes up. I thought I was but thankfully my partner Neil was most swift to remind me.
To get us moving we did a low kick drill whereby the only attack was to be the low kick to the legs. First line of defense was to use footwork to get out of the way. The last and laziest option was to actually check the kick. This seemed like a smart way to work as it keeps you in a protective mindset rather than a degenerative one.
We then looked at a clinching and standing grappling drill but the constriction was on the actual closing of the grips. I guess it could be seen as a grappling without the hands. Fighting for position, looking to control the other and stay as relaxed as possible. This is something Lee emphasizes every lesson. In all situations we must be as relaxed as possible as this will benefit our stamina in addition to make us harder to control.
Ground defence against a standing opponent. Posted on the floor as the stander looks to attack or pass the pass legs for ground and pound attack. Key on the floor is to stay alive and keep moving and look to stand at the first opportunity.
Holding the ground drill: Stand in the phone box with your partner, no moving backwards and using hands only attack each other from the hips to the top of the head. Even allow yourself to be hit in the face to develop desensitization to to facial attacks. I found this quite tough and hard to relax in. This is still new to me and a tough barrier to overcome and get used too. But get used to I will.
Target practise: Partner A puts themselves in horribly bad situation such as on one knee and tucked. Partner B then attacks at full pelt but pulling the contact on contact. Partner A needs to keep changing and moving the bad situations to give sound target practise. Every minute swap over. It was an intense cardio drill.
Ended with free form sparring. I worked with Neil all night. An outstanding partner and guide through the learning tonight.
Main learning points I took from tonight were most definitely to keep the eyes up. I thought I was but thankfully my partner Neil was most swift to remind me.
To get us moving we did a low kick drill whereby the only attack was to be the low kick to the legs. First line of defense was to use footwork to get out of the way. The last and laziest option was to actually check the kick. This seemed like a smart way to work as it keeps you in a protective mindset rather than a degenerative one.
We then looked at a clinching and standing grappling drill but the constriction was on the actual closing of the grips. I guess it could be seen as a grappling without the hands. Fighting for position, looking to control the other and stay as relaxed as possible. This is something Lee emphasizes every lesson. In all situations we must be as relaxed as possible as this will benefit our stamina in addition to make us harder to control.
Ground defence against a standing opponent. Posted on the floor as the stander looks to attack or pass the pass legs for ground and pound attack. Key on the floor is to stay alive and keep moving and look to stand at the first opportunity.
Holding the ground drill: Stand in the phone box with your partner, no moving backwards and using hands only attack each other from the hips to the top of the head. Even allow yourself to be hit in the face to develop desensitization to to facial attacks. I found this quite tough and hard to relax in. This is still new to me and a tough barrier to overcome and get used too. But get used to I will.
Target practise: Partner A puts themselves in horribly bad situation such as on one knee and tucked. Partner B then attacks at full pelt but pulling the contact on contact. Partner A needs to keep changing and moving the bad situations to give sound target practise. Every minute swap over. It was an intense cardio drill.
Ended with free form sparring. I worked with Neil all night. An outstanding partner and guide through the learning tonight.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Week 8 Side back control
First part of the session was spent looking at different ways of controlling and maneuvering the opponent when in this position.
We looked at abandoning wrist and head control by switching the weight to turn and pull the foot and roll him on top of you. From here manipulate for a spine lock as well as the the calf compression. A nice note on the calf compression was pushing against your own ankle with the foot maximises the pain for him coupled with the swiftness of tapping.
For the rest of the session we freeform grappled with 1 constraint. One to hold down and submit as the other attempts to get up.
Just under 24 hours later my neck and trapezium are tight than a closed clam shell.
We looked at abandoning wrist and head control by switching the weight to turn and pull the foot and roll him on top of you. From here manipulate for a spine lock as well as the the calf compression. A nice note on the calf compression was pushing against your own ankle with the foot maximises the pain for him coupled with the swiftness of tapping.
For the rest of the session we freeform grappled with 1 constraint. One to hold down and submit as the other attempts to get up.
Just under 24 hours later my neck and trapezium are tight than a closed clam shell.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Week 7 (Primary) Neck clinching
WARM UP: Shoulders chest and toes timing drill as last week.
PRIMARY GRIP NECK CLINCH:
This is one of the 4 primary clinches. The optimum choice is 2 primary grips but we looked at a primary and secondary grip (wrist control).
Key learning points with neck clinch:
Eyes up
Pressure through the head and strong neck posture
Drive through his chest with your elbow
Affect his balance with your lead leg
Strong base and positive spine.
We the looked at attacking with knees from the clinch. After each knee return to a solid base and position of control. Avoid going for full power and being sloppy. Instead throw 5 or 6 with control of the opponent. Good control in this position can mess them up psychologically.
DOUBLE NECK CLINCH:
All of the above with the addition of:
Use chest to deliver pressure.
Chin on top of his head.
Squeeze the elbows together.
Progression was into moving into the side @90 degrees perpendicular for single clinch, deliver 2 or 3 devastating knees then step away in stance ready for action.
To escape from the primary single neck clinch they need to be doing it badly. Pop up and out with the chest.
SPARRING:
Enjoyed trying to work a variety of angles of attack. Eyes on opponent, facing the punch. I guess this will change as the power coming in increases.
PRIMARY GRIP NECK CLINCH:
This is one of the 4 primary clinches. The optimum choice is 2 primary grips but we looked at a primary and secondary grip (wrist control).
Key learning points with neck clinch:
Eyes up
Pressure through the head and strong neck posture
Drive through his chest with your elbow
Affect his balance with your lead leg
Strong base and positive spine.
We the looked at attacking with knees from the clinch. After each knee return to a solid base and position of control. Avoid going for full power and being sloppy. Instead throw 5 or 6 with control of the opponent. Good control in this position can mess them up psychologically.
DOUBLE NECK CLINCH:
All of the above with the addition of:
Use chest to deliver pressure.
Chin on top of his head.
Squeeze the elbows together.
Progression was into moving into the side @90 degrees perpendicular for single clinch, deliver 2 or 3 devastating knees then step away in stance ready for action.
To escape from the primary single neck clinch they need to be doing it badly. Pop up and out with the chest.
SPARRING:
Enjoyed trying to work a variety of angles of attack. Eyes on opponent, facing the punch. I guess this will change as the power coming in increases.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Week 6: Technical striking - one motion several strikes
Before class tonight I was most nervous as Monday night classes are striking only. This is my greatest fear so entered with apprehension to the class.
In and out drills: Designed to my mind to develop quick feet, maintaining the discipline of keeping your eyes up and timing.
Foot attacks, chest attacks, shoulders attacks, all at once. Essentially you have to attack the areas said. When successful the partner needs to sprawl as a consequence of a positive attack.
Multiple lead punch drill: The point was to use the one arm over and over to develop relaxation through sound technique and not to let the tension build in the body and shoulder. In terms of my own stance I was given several pointers:
Rear hand need to be tucked into the belly and hand is against the jaw.
Front hand is extended and of motion to keep you in control of the distance.
Spine slightly rounded giving a tucked appearance to the torso.
Feet shoulder width apart and length and width on the diagonal.
Using body motion to deliver multiple strikes
Combos studied:
Jab - Jab - Rear cross - knee
Jab - jab- rear hook - round kick
Jab - jab - rear hook - spinning backfist
Jab - jab - rear hook - round kick - spinning backfist
Ground and Pound sparring.
Working from back control, both just strike. Not looking at passing, subbing or sweeping. Hitting from the bottom and the top. Person on their knees must try to stay on balls of the feet, head in the centre of his chest or applying pressure through his face, arms at his sides with hands on his shoulders. On the call we had to stand and free form sparring. On the next call rolls reversed on the floor.
Final exercise challenge.
Shadow fighting in the mirrors followed by a series of slow count and dynamic push ups.
When the session had finished I had a grappling roll with Charlie. He has great relaxation in his grappling as well as creativity. He displayed excellent patience, pressure and skill. Ultimately subbing me with a downward shoulder rotation. A great session.
In and out drills: Designed to my mind to develop quick feet, maintaining the discipline of keeping your eyes up and timing.
Foot attacks, chest attacks, shoulders attacks, all at once. Essentially you have to attack the areas said. When successful the partner needs to sprawl as a consequence of a positive attack.
Multiple lead punch drill: The point was to use the one arm over and over to develop relaxation through sound technique and not to let the tension build in the body and shoulder. In terms of my own stance I was given several pointers:
Rear hand need to be tucked into the belly and hand is against the jaw.
Front hand is extended and of motion to keep you in control of the distance.
Spine slightly rounded giving a tucked appearance to the torso.
Feet shoulder width apart and length and width on the diagonal.
Using body motion to deliver multiple strikes
Combos studied:
Jab - Jab - Rear cross - knee
Jab - jab- rear hook - round kick
Jab - jab - rear hook - spinning backfist
Jab - jab - rear hook - round kick - spinning backfist
Ground and Pound sparring.
Working from back control, both just strike. Not looking at passing, subbing or sweeping. Hitting from the bottom and the top. Person on their knees must try to stay on balls of the feet, head in the centre of his chest or applying pressure through his face, arms at his sides with hands on his shoulders. On the call we had to stand and free form sparring. On the next call rolls reversed on the floor.
Final exercise challenge.
Shadow fighting in the mirrors followed by a series of slow count and dynamic push ups.
When the session had finished I had a grappling roll with Charlie. He has great relaxation in his grappling as well as creativity. He displayed excellent patience, pressure and skill. Ultimately subbing me with a downward shoulder rotation. A great session.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Week 5: Ground battles
As there were lots of first timers tonight Lee took that group to the other end of the hall and the rest of us got to work on the mat.
Starting with swimming and fighting for double underhooks to get warmed up. Moved on to the double hip takedown from the clinch and ending in side control. I hate takedowns. Not arsed about being takendown but feel out of my depth doing takedowns. Perhaps that is why I do do commit to anything other than a double leg.
Leg passing:
One is on the floor, posted defensively and the other is standing over looking to pass into side control. Person on the floor is looking to defend or stand up and escape.
Side control battle:
Start in side control. Striking permitted. Person on top has to simply maintain the position. Person underneath needs to escape. I was told by Joe that I was being too gentle with my hits so reluctantly turned up the energy in the strikes.
Bottom control ground and pound:
Person defending bottom control simply keeps pounding person with back on the floor who has to defend, sweep or submit.
Final part of the session we were all brought together and I got to work with Tasio towards the end of his first lesson.
Upward and downward shoulder rotation from side control. Key learning points were maintain the angles of 90 degrees. In upward grab his and your own wrist as close to the hand as possible, paint a straight line with the back of the hand on the floor.
Good session tonight. Not as physically draining as previous sessions as there was nno sparring. Two days later my body feels less painful and tired hopefully meaning my upper body work out later will be less taxing... And today is the Saturday when it was in the high 20s.
Starting with swimming and fighting for double underhooks to get warmed up. Moved on to the double hip takedown from the clinch and ending in side control. I hate takedowns. Not arsed about being takendown but feel out of my depth doing takedowns. Perhaps that is why I do do commit to anything other than a double leg.
Leg passing:
One is on the floor, posted defensively and the other is standing over looking to pass into side control. Person on the floor is looking to defend or stand up and escape.
Side control battle:
Start in side control. Striking permitted. Person on top has to simply maintain the position. Person underneath needs to escape. I was told by Joe that I was being too gentle with my hits so reluctantly turned up the energy in the strikes.
Bottom control ground and pound:
Person defending bottom control simply keeps pounding person with back on the floor who has to defend, sweep or submit.
Final part of the session we were all brought together and I got to work with Tasio towards the end of his first lesson.
Upward and downward shoulder rotation from side control. Key learning points were maintain the angles of 90 degrees. In upward grab his and your own wrist as close to the hand as possible, paint a straight line with the back of the hand on the floor.
Good session tonight. Not as physically draining as previous sessions as there was nno sparring. Two days later my body feels less painful and tired hopefully meaning my upper body work out later will be less taxing... And today is the Saturday when it was in the high 20s.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Week 4 Takedown set ups
Warm up: Clinch free form.
Looking for double underhooks keeping sound body form.
Takedown sets ups.
Looked at double hip, single hip, single leg and double leg. Proceeded to chain them all together then from striking range. Entering on his lead punch and following it back.
The key learning points for me tonight regarding the set ups was head and chest pressure: the head needs to stay in the centre of the belly and lower chest; the elbows need to squeeze together to avoid gaps for defense; apply chest pressure when as a point of contact; avoid putting the head under the arm pits.
Small gloves ground work:
From the knees clinch up and do not allow to be put on your back. Make them tired and fight for it.
I went with a variety of lads with different pressure and skill sets. An enjoyable and tough drill.
Passing or escaping when in bottom control.
Sweeping or sub'ing from bottom control.
Then it moved into to strikes being allowed. A little scary but I feel like I am becoming more confident in delivering strikes from the ground. Being hit does not bother e too much on the ground. My mental obstacle is knowing how much energy to put into the strikes. Matt gave me some great advice, as well as an ass kicking, go the same level as your partner and do not be to shy to say if it needs to go down a level.
Free form sparring.
Starting standing with fast but light strikes then working the clinch, takedown and fighting from the ground.
Again I started with Matt guiding me. Gave me some simple yet obvious tips (keeps eyes on him, move laterally when being attacked) that helped me greatly. He landed a nice kick to my knee cap which is currently limiting my ability to negotiate stairs. 3 hours after receiving said lump.
The stand up is still making me very nervous and tense. That is why I love it.
Looking for double underhooks keeping sound body form.
Takedown sets ups.
Looked at double hip, single hip, single leg and double leg. Proceeded to chain them all together then from striking range. Entering on his lead punch and following it back.
The key learning points for me tonight regarding the set ups was head and chest pressure: the head needs to stay in the centre of the belly and lower chest; the elbows need to squeeze together to avoid gaps for defense; apply chest pressure when as a point of contact; avoid putting the head under the arm pits.
Small gloves ground work:
From the knees clinch up and do not allow to be put on your back. Make them tired and fight for it.
I went with a variety of lads with different pressure and skill sets. An enjoyable and tough drill.
Passing or escaping when in bottom control.
Sweeping or sub'ing from bottom control.
Then it moved into to strikes being allowed. A little scary but I feel like I am becoming more confident in delivering strikes from the ground. Being hit does not bother e too much on the ground. My mental obstacle is knowing how much energy to put into the strikes. Matt gave me some great advice, as well as an ass kicking, go the same level as your partner and do not be to shy to say if it needs to go down a level.
Free form sparring.
Starting standing with fast but light strikes then working the clinch, takedown and fighting from the ground.
Again I started with Matt guiding me. Gave me some simple yet obvious tips (keeps eyes on him, move laterally when being attacked) that helped me greatly. He landed a nice kick to my knee cap which is currently limiting my ability to negotiate stairs. 3 hours after receiving said lump.
The stand up is still making me very nervous and tense. That is why I love it.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Week 3: Head and bicep suppression
Looked at it from:
standing
side control
side attack (knee on belly(
centre control
reverse side control
standing
bottom control.
The keys that I picked up were around the use of the head. It is this that manipulates their arm to position under their jaw line. Essentially the head needs to move 2 ways. Towards his face to trap the arm then down to get it into final position. I made the error of using the palms to help the arm. When using the head it just feels like you are in more control and finer adjustments can be made. Keeping head pressure against theirs is also important.
The language and labelling of techniques within the Pro Mai syllabus:
Lee explained to the class why the techniques within Pro Mai do not have the same generic terms terms across MMA such as kimura, mount, anaconda etc. He could I gues have gone down the Eddie Bravo route and upgraded names. Instead he has chosen to name techniques exactly represent what is happening. This will hopefully ensure a better awareness of what you are doing to him and how from a biomechanical point of view, rather than x or y technique. It seemed bizarre to me at first but now after musing it, it is much more logical. Yes it may not be as exotic as running thunder hand or omoplate but I reckon it is evolution of the martial arts. We are now in the 21st century and do not need to rely on the glories of past masters or bullshit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJr2BdUTYkU&feature=related
MMA shows us what works and what is honest
Sparring.
Freeform on the ground with strikes. Scary times as i went with several seniors. I managed to hold my own on the ground and have some good spells of control but the hits came in quite hard. Was a shock to the system and also stood to remind me that I need to hit too. I did when in control start to throw hits. Even small one get people’s hands to move. So I need to look to hit on the nose to get the arms up to get the submission. More fear and trepidation next week...
standing
side control
side attack (knee on belly(
centre control
reverse side control
standing
bottom control.
The keys that I picked up were around the use of the head. It is this that manipulates their arm to position under their jaw line. Essentially the head needs to move 2 ways. Towards his face to trap the arm then down to get it into final position. I made the error of using the palms to help the arm. When using the head it just feels like you are in more control and finer adjustments can be made. Keeping head pressure against theirs is also important.
The language and labelling of techniques within the Pro Mai syllabus:
Lee explained to the class why the techniques within Pro Mai do not have the same generic terms terms across MMA such as kimura, mount, anaconda etc. He could I gues have gone down the Eddie Bravo route and upgraded names. Instead he has chosen to name techniques exactly represent what is happening. This will hopefully ensure a better awareness of what you are doing to him and how from a biomechanical point of view, rather than x or y technique. It seemed bizarre to me at first but now after musing it, it is much more logical. Yes it may not be as exotic as running thunder hand or omoplate but I reckon it is evolution of the martial arts. We are now in the 21st century and do not need to rely on the glories of past masters or bullshit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJr2BdUTYkU&feature=related
MMA shows us what works and what is honest
Sparring.
Freeform on the ground with strikes. Scary times as i went with several seniors. I managed to hold my own on the ground and have some good spells of control but the hits came in quite hard. Was a shock to the system and also stood to remind me that I need to hit too. I did when in control start to throw hits. Even small one get people’s hands to move. So I need to look to hit on the nose to get the arms up to get the submission. More fear and trepidation next week...
Friday, 9 September 2011
Week 2: Lifts and getting to the outside.
Decided to change the content of the blog from technique details to more of a reflection of the session.
We covered:
Standing clinch drill:
Head control
Neck control
Shoulder control (underhook)
Arm control (overhook)
Both sides then Switch sides
Learning points I picked up from here was about 3 points of pressure contact at all times. A new concept to my ears.
Take downs: front body clinch
Body lift (chest to chest)
Double hip capture
Single hip capture
Single leg capture
Side body clinch double hip
Double leg (head in middle)
Pass to side control
The learning from these lifts we looked at was to do with my head and spine. Lee repeatedly emphasised a strong positive spine and for these to be as effective and efficient you need to get under their hips. The point of these moves is to disrupt their base by taking the feet off the floor. When, on the rare occasion the links of the chain connected, it felt simple and effortless. Mostly it felt a little cumbersome and awkward.
From standing:
Passing bottom attack pull opponents leg straight and pass to the outside into side control
Free form grappling with strikes
Felt a little nervous as the call was made as I have not just striking with grappling before. My first spar was with Alan and we just focussed on grappling. It was a fun roll and there were lots of positional changes and a wide variety of sub attempts. The second roll was with Lee. He felt very strong and gave no space and worked very slowly but methodically for position and ultimately a pair of submissions. He also threw lots of strikes to my none. In a post spar chat he said that this is something I need to start to do. When throwing strikes it will cause the opponent to move and thus set up more opportunities for the sub or striking finish. I talked about my strategic preference to fight from my back. In MMA this is a poor strategy. Lee instructed that if that is the preference, make them getting you to your back so tiring for them, that once they get you there they are knackered. My ground strategy needs to be to get dominant positions and not to easily give my back to the floor.
Free form standing to any take down position-with out completing the take down
When the call was made to switch ends of the hall I became very nervous and struggled a little to get the big gloves and shin pads on. I went up with Charlie who is one of the more senior lads at the club. He gave me some excellent tips and advice. ON reflection I might have actually enjoyed it!!
We covered:
Standing clinch drill:
Head control
Neck control
Shoulder control (underhook)
Arm control (overhook)
Both sides then Switch sides
Learning points I picked up from here was about 3 points of pressure contact at all times. A new concept to my ears.
Take downs: front body clinch
Body lift (chest to chest)
Double hip capture
Single hip capture
Single leg capture
Side body clinch double hip
Double leg (head in middle)
Pass to side control
The learning from these lifts we looked at was to do with my head and spine. Lee repeatedly emphasised a strong positive spine and for these to be as effective and efficient you need to get under their hips. The point of these moves is to disrupt their base by taking the feet off the floor. When, on the rare occasion the links of the chain connected, it felt simple and effortless. Mostly it felt a little cumbersome and awkward.
From standing:
Passing bottom attack pull opponents leg straight and pass to the outside into side control
Free form grappling with strikes
Felt a little nervous as the call was made as I have not just striking with grappling before. My first spar was with Alan and we just focussed on grappling. It was a fun roll and there were lots of positional changes and a wide variety of sub attempts. The second roll was with Lee. He felt very strong and gave no space and worked very slowly but methodically for position and ultimately a pair of submissions. He also threw lots of strikes to my none. In a post spar chat he said that this is something I need to start to do. When throwing strikes it will cause the opponent to move and thus set up more opportunities for the sub or striking finish. I talked about my strategic preference to fight from my back. In MMA this is a poor strategy. Lee instructed that if that is the preference, make them getting you to your back so tiring for them, that once they get you there they are knackered. My ground strategy needs to be to get dominant positions and not to easily give my back to the floor.
Free form standing to any take down position-with out completing the take down
When the call was made to switch ends of the hall I became very nervous and struggled a little to get the big gloves and shin pads on. I went up with Charlie who is one of the more senior lads at the club. He gave me some excellent tips and advice. ON reflection I might have actually enjoyed it!!
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Week 1: Head control
DISCLAIMER... All that follows in this blog is through my eyes. Any errors in technique are all mine and will be edited and refined as I progress
Tonight was my first session at Pro Mai MMA. For pretty much all of the day I was nervously going through the session I knew nothing about in my head. I had mentioned to Steph several times my feelings and was very reassuring, supportive and calming. When I got there only a few people were in the hall. One guy introduced himself and made me feel very comfortable and welcomed and the nerves disappeared. I guess being a new person you always feel a sense of dread as you know you are bottom of the ladder and few people want to train with newbies as they are an unknown quantity.
Warm up: Very similar to a Jits warm up in that consisted of movement to increase core heat. A nice change was the lack of intense exercise. That is for my own time. We then made a circle and started shadow boxing (hands and feet) with the insertion of the calls jump, sprawl, burpee and shoot.
DOUBLE LEG TAKEDOWN DRILLING:
Main focus was posture, something that I need to be frequently aware of and thus adjusting. Hips back, short arms, elbows in, spine concave head tucked in but chin up. When shooting for the TD keep looking up and squeeze ear to the hip of opponent. This will ensure you are harder to be head controlled. Once in hold step around and stand as you lift, posted leg side, and turn (away from the posted leg). This was something of a real learning curve for me as the subtle details I had not heard before. Perhaps doing Jts by a Brazilian, details were lost in translation. Things at Pro Mai feel more detailed and technical than I have learned before.
CONCEPT: HEAD CONTROL.
STANDING:
If the opponent gets lazy with his clinch, get it to the centre of your chest with proper wrestling posture. Hips and feet away. If you need to move forward to apply pressure to his posture take small steps as this will prevent the leg being caught. The clinch grip (one arm along neck, other under arm pit) meets at the centre of his chest. Clasp fingers to ensure the elbows are in tight and the head control comes from the elbows.
TAKEDOWN 1:
Give him forward pressure (action – reaction) he should push back into you. As he does sprawl down to complete the takedown. The pressure on his back from your chest will ensure this completion.
TAKEDOWN 2:
From head control release a hold but keep elbows in, swim an arm out to clasp the top of one of the shoulders. Using a scissor action turn his head and spine. The hand on the shoulder becomes the top hand. Keep the pressure through your chest and drive him down towards your foot. Step out and complete the takedown. I did get very confused with the completion as my feet were all over the place.
INNER FOREARM CHOKE FROM STANDING:
Lee talked briefly between chokes and suppressions. Chokes are against the front of the throat and cut off the air to the brain whereas suppression cut of the blood supply to the brain. The target here is just either side of the throat and not the sides of the neck as I previously believed.
Keeping chest pressure throw the arm up and over his head deeply inserting the forearm across his throat. Keep him in close and tight to the ribs. Clasp the throat arm with other hand at the wrist, palms facing in and 90 degree angle. This does require some elbow flexibility. Stack the non choking hand on top of his shoulder. This will help to lift and secure the choke. I did find this motion very hard.
HEAD CONTROL FROM BOTTOM CONTROL
ESCAPE:
From guard, wrap the head as you sit up and get vertical. This is key. Then post the hand out behind you and scoop same side leg as posted arm out. Maintain pressure through your chest as you sprawl the legs out.
INNER FOREAEM CHOKE:
Get vertical and wrap the head, close the guard and the choke.
SWEEP:
Post up and grab at the elbow on the triceps as you squeeze it tight to your own torso. Look up and behind yourself in the direction of the clasp. Lift the hips ups and sweep in to top control (mount).
DOWNWARD SHOULDER ROTATION (KIMURA):
Get vertical and take wrist control of his posted hand. Swim your arm up and over his back then under his armpit trying to maintain as much pressure as possible on the top of his shoulder. This ensures better control of him. As you lie back and close guard at a perpendicular angle to him, tightly and securely bring his elbow to the centre of your chest. Close the grip and start the submission. His elbow needs to stay on the chest Keep his arm at 90 degrees and rotate towards the shoulder. Keep the arm inside rather than past the 90 for greater pain compliance and efficiency of submission.
BOTTOM CONTROL CHAINING:
With resistance we worked chaining the moves together and feeling for pressure one way then moving to another move.
FREEFORM SPARRING:
Was fortunate enough to spar with 2 seniors. The first guy was a bull of a man with good top control. I looked to recover bottom control often and did manage to pull top control. The second lad seemed to less reliance on power and more on positional top game. Thoroughly enjoyable and knackering. I have forgotten how physically tough free grappling is.
It seemed at the time that there was an awful lot to take it. I am going to endeavour to do visualisation and shadow fighting both standing and on the ground to help make better memories of the training. Great class in terms of the instruction, the ambience, the lads.
Tonight was my first session at Pro Mai MMA. For pretty much all of the day I was nervously going through the session I knew nothing about in my head. I had mentioned to Steph several times my feelings and was very reassuring, supportive and calming. When I got there only a few people were in the hall. One guy introduced himself and made me feel very comfortable and welcomed and the nerves disappeared. I guess being a new person you always feel a sense of dread as you know you are bottom of the ladder and few people want to train with newbies as they are an unknown quantity.
Warm up: Very similar to a Jits warm up in that consisted of movement to increase core heat. A nice change was the lack of intense exercise. That is for my own time. We then made a circle and started shadow boxing (hands and feet) with the insertion of the calls jump, sprawl, burpee and shoot.
DOUBLE LEG TAKEDOWN DRILLING:
Main focus was posture, something that I need to be frequently aware of and thus adjusting. Hips back, short arms, elbows in, spine concave head tucked in but chin up. When shooting for the TD keep looking up and squeeze ear to the hip of opponent. This will ensure you are harder to be head controlled. Once in hold step around and stand as you lift, posted leg side, and turn (away from the posted leg). This was something of a real learning curve for me as the subtle details I had not heard before. Perhaps doing Jts by a Brazilian, details were lost in translation. Things at Pro Mai feel more detailed and technical than I have learned before.
CONCEPT: HEAD CONTROL.
STANDING:
If the opponent gets lazy with his clinch, get it to the centre of your chest with proper wrestling posture. Hips and feet away. If you need to move forward to apply pressure to his posture take small steps as this will prevent the leg being caught. The clinch grip (one arm along neck, other under arm pit) meets at the centre of his chest. Clasp fingers to ensure the elbows are in tight and the head control comes from the elbows.
TAKEDOWN 1:
Give him forward pressure (action – reaction) he should push back into you. As he does sprawl down to complete the takedown. The pressure on his back from your chest will ensure this completion.
TAKEDOWN 2:
From head control release a hold but keep elbows in, swim an arm out to clasp the top of one of the shoulders. Using a scissor action turn his head and spine. The hand on the shoulder becomes the top hand. Keep the pressure through your chest and drive him down towards your foot. Step out and complete the takedown. I did get very confused with the completion as my feet were all over the place.
INNER FOREARM CHOKE FROM STANDING:
Lee talked briefly between chokes and suppressions. Chokes are against the front of the throat and cut off the air to the brain whereas suppression cut of the blood supply to the brain. The target here is just either side of the throat and not the sides of the neck as I previously believed.
Keeping chest pressure throw the arm up and over his head deeply inserting the forearm across his throat. Keep him in close and tight to the ribs. Clasp the throat arm with other hand at the wrist, palms facing in and 90 degree angle. This does require some elbow flexibility. Stack the non choking hand on top of his shoulder. This will help to lift and secure the choke. I did find this motion very hard.
HEAD CONTROL FROM BOTTOM CONTROL
ESCAPE:
From guard, wrap the head as you sit up and get vertical. This is key. Then post the hand out behind you and scoop same side leg as posted arm out. Maintain pressure through your chest as you sprawl the legs out.
INNER FOREAEM CHOKE:
Get vertical and wrap the head, close the guard and the choke.
SWEEP:
Post up and grab at the elbow on the triceps as you squeeze it tight to your own torso. Look up and behind yourself in the direction of the clasp. Lift the hips ups and sweep in to top control (mount).
DOWNWARD SHOULDER ROTATION (KIMURA):
Get vertical and take wrist control of his posted hand. Swim your arm up and over his back then under his armpit trying to maintain as much pressure as possible on the top of his shoulder. This ensures better control of him. As you lie back and close guard at a perpendicular angle to him, tightly and securely bring his elbow to the centre of your chest. Close the grip and start the submission. His elbow needs to stay on the chest Keep his arm at 90 degrees and rotate towards the shoulder. Keep the arm inside rather than past the 90 for greater pain compliance and efficiency of submission.
BOTTOM CONTROL CHAINING:
With resistance we worked chaining the moves together and feeling for pressure one way then moving to another move.
FREEFORM SPARRING:
Was fortunate enough to spar with 2 seniors. The first guy was a bull of a man with good top control. I looked to recover bottom control often and did manage to pull top control. The second lad seemed to less reliance on power and more on positional top game. Thoroughly enjoyable and knackering. I have forgotten how physically tough free grappling is.
It seemed at the time that there was an awful lot to take it. I am going to endeavour to do visualisation and shadow fighting both standing and on the ground to help make better memories of the training. Great class in terms of the instruction, the ambience, the lads.
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