Has everyone else got it wrong?
Been thinking recently about how most people train in MMA in terms of the disciplines they study under the MMA umbrella. For most it consists of boxing, muay thai, wrestling, jiu-jitsu. There has only been 1 website I have where these individual disciplines are not taught as individual arts or even talked about with any real significance.
What is special about Promai is that the learning is geared towards all around improvement of the individual. I looked at Bisping's training schedule recently and consisted of 2 hour slots of said arts in the first paragraph. This is the way most people train. I believe that Promai is at the cutting edge in terms of training approaches coupled with the unique yet logical naming convention.
Each class is a clear example of why Promai is positively different from other martial arts and MMA schools:
1: Techniques are taught around concepts of movement. Recently we looked at the takedowns against the lead leg then how that could be applied to passing the defending legs of a grounded opponent.
2: Movement is taught in phases of range. Standing, clinch/takedown, ground. There is no wrestling class or boxing class. The curriculum has been developed (and is always evolving) so that as students we do not need to rely on memory of hundreds of techniques and counters from each art. For me I am learning sound positional mechanics. I am not learning how to box or wrestle. I am learning MMA which we know stands for mixed martial arts. Much of what I see on the internet stating to be MMA is in fact a mix of martial arts.
3: Technique naming convention: I am becoming better as a student in all aspects of MMA because I understand what I should be doing with my body. I generally struggle to do it well but that is the joy of the journey. My ground game has improved because I am cognisant of what should be where as opposed to pulling of a Peruvian Necktie, an axe kick or a German suplex.
4: Hard work and effort. There is no place to hide in class. You put in what you get out. To my mind all work extremely hard to improve themselves.
5: No ego. When training in BJJ there were some people who I did not want to roll with as they just had something to prove and would go for fast and dangerous submissions with people below their level. I was injured several times (lower back, knees) in the jits class because of over zealous training partners. Last week I took two meaty shots to the head but understood that both times there was no malice involved, just good hard training. I have trained in less honest systems, ones where it is difficult to prove your abilities as the sparring is not full contact, and so ego can be massaged and inflated. Everyone in the class at Promai is respectful to all others, there are no cliques or students getting special attention or even a lack of attention. Years ago I used to train with my good pal Jonny under Joe Hubbard in the Scientific Fighting Congress. There were others lads in the class who were favorites and unfortunately treated as such. I have seen and continue to read of this bias practise elsewhere in the martial arts. Glad to be out of that loop.
6: High quality instruction. The ways the learning is broken down and developed in second to none. As a teacher by trade myself I have seen many examples of inadequate teaching. Being good at a skill does not equate to being able to pass on how that skill was developed and improved. Thankfully, Lee and his senior students are most capable educators.
To conclude, Promai is a true expression of mixed martial arts. I believe Bruce Lee would be proud and jealous. Efficient and effective combat at all ranges and no political bullshit.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Week 25: striking plus strength and conditioning
started the session by studying combination striking. What follows are what I remember the combinations to be.
7 (lead hand hook punch) - 2 (head height rear hand punch)-round kick to the thigh
1 - 2 round kick to the thigh.
Superman punch - 2 lead round kick. Then changed the combo by altering the kick at the end of a front round kick
1 - 2 - knee then front kick, off both legs. More of a leaping front kick using the first knee to develop power and momentum in the front kick.
5 (straight lead punch to abdomen) - overhand right, clinch, round knee to the thigh followed by rising knee to the face.
Combination building:
Each partner taking it in turns to attack with a combination of shots. The following attacks were called out and they had to be used in your combination.
3 rounds using each: round kick to leg, elbow to body, outward punch.
Strength and conditioning
Leg kicking footwork drill with Milsy. Only allowed to use footwork to evade, no blocking or checking. Keep eyes up, hands disciplined, Got mashed to pieces. Picked up some movement tips from Milsy in terms of faking, twitching the hips, attacking after my attack.
6 attack drill: Again with Milsy. Round kick to each leg kick, round punch to each arm, left and right punch to the abdomen. This is a psychological drill. Lee emphasised no matter what pain we were feeling we must not show it on our face. Don't give anything away. I found this particularly tough with the legs kicks. Either my thighs are sensitive or I am a big tart when receiving leg kicks.
Press up x 8, j partner jumps over you as you press up, when done roll onto back to receive 8 belly punches. Did several rounds of this. About 9 sets.
Leg raises and belly punches as the partner pushes the legs down to hover height over the floor. Legs must be kept straight at all times. 3 set of 10.
Static holds. cross legged, back against the mirrors, elbows against the mirrors with upper arm parallel to the floor. Partner pushes for a count of 10 then pushes down hard for a count of 5. I was with Tom who is massive structurally compared to me so it was more of a workout for me than him. Did 3 sets of this.
Running laps as partner continuously jumps on safety mats. Switch on given call. This was the last conditioning exercise of the night, the jumping was particularly draining but great fun when finished. 3 sets.
Free form striking sparring. Worked with Pete. I focussed on the using the combinations taught at the start of the session. Pete commented on how predictable I was. Fair enough but I did tell him I was using the time to work. Pete then gave me some positive feedback about the progress my striking has made, more relaxed. This is all due to high quality teaching at Promai.
7 (lead hand hook punch) - 2 (head height rear hand punch)-round kick to the thigh
1 - 2 round kick to the thigh.
Superman punch - 2 lead round kick. Then changed the combo by altering the kick at the end of a front round kick
1 - 2 - knee then front kick, off both legs. More of a leaping front kick using the first knee to develop power and momentum in the front kick.
5 (straight lead punch to abdomen) - overhand right, clinch, round knee to the thigh followed by rising knee to the face.
Combination building:
Each partner taking it in turns to attack with a combination of shots. The following attacks were called out and they had to be used in your combination.
3 rounds using each: round kick to leg, elbow to body, outward punch.
Strength and conditioning
Leg kicking footwork drill with Milsy. Only allowed to use footwork to evade, no blocking or checking. Keep eyes up, hands disciplined, Got mashed to pieces. Picked up some movement tips from Milsy in terms of faking, twitching the hips, attacking after my attack.
6 attack drill: Again with Milsy. Round kick to each leg kick, round punch to each arm, left and right punch to the abdomen. This is a psychological drill. Lee emphasised no matter what pain we were feeling we must not show it on our face. Don't give anything away. I found this particularly tough with the legs kicks. Either my thighs are sensitive or I am a big tart when receiving leg kicks.
Press up x 8, j partner jumps over you as you press up, when done roll onto back to receive 8 belly punches. Did several rounds of this. About 9 sets.
Leg raises and belly punches as the partner pushes the legs down to hover height over the floor. Legs must be kept straight at all times. 3 set of 10.
Static holds. cross legged, back against the mirrors, elbows against the mirrors with upper arm parallel to the floor. Partner pushes for a count of 10 then pushes down hard for a count of 5. I was with Tom who is massive structurally compared to me so it was more of a workout for me than him. Did 3 sets of this.
Running laps as partner continuously jumps on safety mats. Switch on given call. This was the last conditioning exercise of the night, the jumping was particularly draining but great fun when finished. 3 sets.
Free form striking sparring. Worked with Pete. I focussed on the using the combinations taught at the start of the session. Pete commented on how predictable I was. Fair enough but I did tell him I was using the time to work. Pete then gave me some positive feedback about the progress my striking has made, more relaxed. This is all due to high quality teaching at Promai.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Week 24: ground and pound
After the usual exercise we got warmed up with a nice clinching drill. The aim was to secure double under hooks.
Then the real fun started, ground and pound training. One person in bottom control and both people are striking. Person on the top could not pass. Bottom controller was allowed to use legs in any way and set up submissions but not complete. This first several rounds were with big gloves. Was good hard training? Mishael almost managed to remove my face from my head with a left hand from hell to the right cheek bone.
We also did the same drill but with the small gloves and were more observant of contact.
Following this we looked at striker versus grappler in ground fighting. This really did limit the striker even though they had to continually strike from all angles. It did mean there had to be some creativity with parts of the body used to strike plus targets searched for. For the second time tonight I almost lost my face thanks to a meaty knee from Tom in transition of movement.
Final drill of the night was looking at options when going for the arm extension and they escape by pulling out and stacking. The end point was a the leg and shoulder suppression. The interesting details were how this transition was achieved. As the pull out and turn towards you squeeze the heels together and into his back, maintain wrist control too. This leg control is a powerful form of control. Keep the legs controlling his spine and posture, loosen the hand control a little so one can be pulled out and likely posted on the floor. As soon as posted attack with leg and shoulder suppression. With initial control you can apply an arm extension as squeezing his spine with your legs.
Strength and conditioning:
Neck: on belly with partner on your back. They push the head down for 10 as you lift it, then hands on the forehead and pull up for 10 as you look to put it back on the matt. Next they push against an ear for 10 then on the other side. Did 2 rounds of this.
Tricep burner: 10 cobra push ups with partner on your back and over the top of the head. First 9 went down with a 4 count, last one went down with a 10 count.
1 1/2 laps of hall 5 sprawls, 1 1/2 lap of hall a 10 strike combination. Did about 5 rounds of this.
Push ups
Sit ups with 2-6 punches at the apex.
Good hard and honest session as usual.
Then the real fun started, ground and pound training. One person in bottom control and both people are striking. Person on the top could not pass. Bottom controller was allowed to use legs in any way and set up submissions but not complete. This first several rounds were with big gloves. Was good hard training? Mishael almost managed to remove my face from my head with a left hand from hell to the right cheek bone.
We also did the same drill but with the small gloves and were more observant of contact.
Following this we looked at striker versus grappler in ground fighting. This really did limit the striker even though they had to continually strike from all angles. It did mean there had to be some creativity with parts of the body used to strike plus targets searched for. For the second time tonight I almost lost my face thanks to a meaty knee from Tom in transition of movement.
Final drill of the night was looking at options when going for the arm extension and they escape by pulling out and stacking. The end point was a the leg and shoulder suppression. The interesting details were how this transition was achieved. As the pull out and turn towards you squeeze the heels together and into his back, maintain wrist control too. This leg control is a powerful form of control. Keep the legs controlling his spine and posture, loosen the hand control a little so one can be pulled out and likely posted on the floor. As soon as posted attack with leg and shoulder suppression. With initial control you can apply an arm extension as squeezing his spine with your legs.
Strength and conditioning:
Neck: on belly with partner on your back. They push the head down for 10 as you lift it, then hands on the forehead and pull up for 10 as you look to put it back on the matt. Next they push against an ear for 10 then on the other side. Did 2 rounds of this.
Tricep burner: 10 cobra push ups with partner on your back and over the top of the head. First 9 went down with a 4 count, last one went down with a 10 count.
1 1/2 laps of hall 5 sprawls, 1 1/2 lap of hall a 10 strike combination. Did about 5 rounds of this.
Push ups
Sit ups with 2-6 punches at the apex.
Good hard and honest session as usual.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Week 23: Clinch and takedown, strength and conditioning
Warm up: shooting single and double step repetition.
Main class:
• Getting round the legs of bottom control: compress, extend up and pass in to side control. Compress, insert leg, spin 360 in side control
• Single hip capture from primary shoulder grip and secondary wrist grip. Scissor.
• Single leg pick up into side control.
Strength and conditioning:
• Free form sparring
• One look for the clinch
• Clinch fighting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ9u1F6fLE&context=C3fc7fccADOEgsToPDskIMLkFg9wP5I8f_3WVFSO2f
• Body weight training using another.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pI8zIVuI2w&feature=g-all-a&list=PL00DDBAAF87B30C5A&context=G29cd17eFAAAAAAAAAAA
• Downward shoulder rotation 10-10-10
• Matt lift and holding, release and catch, turning
• Grappling with Ptas
Main class:
• Getting round the legs of bottom control: compress, extend up and pass in to side control. Compress, insert leg, spin 360 in side control
• Single hip capture from primary shoulder grip and secondary wrist grip. Scissor.
• Single leg pick up into side control.
Strength and conditioning:
• Free form sparring
• One look for the clinch
• Clinch fighting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ9u1F6fLE&context=C3fc7fccADOEgsToPDskIMLkFg9wP5I8f_3WVFSO2f
• Body weight training using another.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pI8zIVuI2w&feature=g-all-a&list=PL00DDBAAF87B30C5A&context=G29cd17eFAAAAAAAAAAA
• Downward shoulder rotation 10-10-10
• Matt lift and holding, release and catch, turning
• Grappling with Ptas
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Week 22: Grappling syllabus
Warm up: Grappling themed reminded me a lot of my time in BJJ. I prefer this type of warm up as it uses the whole body in a range of ways that prepare the body, especially the hips, for fighting. I find it softens the body as it has to work with the floor in a variety of ways: Front and back rolls, bear crawls, shrimping, shooting.
Main class:
• Side control battle. Player in side control was simply holding the position with relative strength and control. Player on their back had to escape to bottom control. For me this is all about movement and aliveness. If I am still on the ground then my opponent can keep me there all day long. If I am pressuring his head, exploding my hips continually and looking for and creating gaps, then I have a very good chance to escaping the side control. It is absolutely knackering but vital to keep moving. Simply put it makes life harder for the person attempting to control you.
• Inner leg with shoulder suppression detail. Lee went over it great detail and I will inevitably miss one or two. The ‘with’ part of the technique refers to using part of his body. In this case the shoulder under his chin. We worked from bottom control and opponent helped to drill the technique by looking to pass guard by under hooking one leg and thus giving the move up to you.
Suppression occurs on either side of the throat and not the side of the neck. It is a blood to brain inhibitor. Chokes inhibit oxygen and are on the front of the neck.
Capture own shin behind his head as soon as inner thigh on neck.
Have own lower leg across the back of his neck, perpendicular to your hips.
Ankle not foot under crease of knee – ensure a tighter control.
Heel of top leg at his side and not on his back.
Hip up to get his arm across, feed it necessary during the hip up.
Pull down on back of head to speed up the suppression.
To close even more, hook your arm around the opponent’s leg that is on the same side as your inner thigh on his neck. Most people perform the suppression square on to opponent. By turning to look down your leg that is over his neck it closes the suppression very quickly thus his chances of escape are dramatically reduced.
Whilst a converted admirer of the naming convention the next development of the suppression was most exciting both in terms of name and how it is applied. The development was called inner thigh and fist suppression. AKA the Ninja choke. It did, and now 24 hours on make me smile for the pure silliness that a move could be called the Ninja choke. How trained stealthy killa... This has been done to me a few times by more experienced people at the class and I never had the sight or sense to feel it. It crept up on me. Push the head to open the neck and insert the fist palm up. Aim to get the little finger just on the side of the windpipe and this should ensure the flat of the fist pressuring the arteries to stop blood to brain flow. It is a fast and painful way to close the submission. Lee expressed surprise at how infrequently this is seen in MMA. My own feelings are that people might not even know it. In 3 years of BJJ I never saw anyone use the fist in this way, gi or no gi. Now that I have been shown it, had it done to me and applied it in sparring it almost seems like one of the most obvious things to do.
• In addition to the inner thigh with shoulder suppression detail, Lee talked about setting it up by taking mind away by attacking other parts of the body. One example was attacking from bottom control with the inner forearm choke, they go to defend and you cheekily slide the leg over to begin their demise. To me these are grappling fakes and tonight was the first time that I understood what this meant. I knew such things existed as I fall for them all the time but could never spot them. Through drilling tonight then being more aware in sparring I managed to use and save myself from at least one submission as I knew I was being ‘faked’. Perhaps faked is an inappropriate term because if the set up attack is successful then a quicker end to the fight. For me the point of this part of the learning is that I can now play and discover what attacks will elicit what response in order to facilitate another attack rather than move 1, fails go to next move etc. Now it has become a game of chess and strategy more than a reactionary analogy of table tennis.
Sparring:
• Hold down and submit or get up and escape (with strikes). Managed to apply the inner thigh and fist suppression as well as chest trap from top position. Looked for the bicep compression from top control but Neil was way too smart to allow that to happen. Rolled with Lee as well. He reported that I did well defensively and used the head with improved effect. Still at times too tense. Softer, softer, softer.
Just posted a video of Marcelo Garcia on Facebook. he is my size -77kg and is a remarkable grappler. Several similes could be used to describe how he uses his body: Like a snake, a ball, a rucksack, a ghost and a wet blanket. Watch the linked video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY8JlJZBgCk
I know it is pure grappling and not MMA but his control and movement are phenomenal.
Several things made me shake my head in awe.
He makes the grappling look effortless against high level grapplers.
Like a snake in that he gives no space and punishes opponents for giving space.
When there is no space he creates it and captialises by sweeping and attacking.
Like a ball in that he seems compressed. Rarely do you see him long in the leg for more than a fraction of a second.
Like a rucksack as you are going to carry his weight and thus expend more energy.
Like a ghost because he seems to sweep with consummate ease and evades attacks with almost a contempt.
Like a wet blanket because he is always on you. All of him is on you.
Main class:
• Side control battle. Player in side control was simply holding the position with relative strength and control. Player on their back had to escape to bottom control. For me this is all about movement and aliveness. If I am still on the ground then my opponent can keep me there all day long. If I am pressuring his head, exploding my hips continually and looking for and creating gaps, then I have a very good chance to escaping the side control. It is absolutely knackering but vital to keep moving. Simply put it makes life harder for the person attempting to control you.
• Inner leg with shoulder suppression detail. Lee went over it great detail and I will inevitably miss one or two. The ‘with’ part of the technique refers to using part of his body. In this case the shoulder under his chin. We worked from bottom control and opponent helped to drill the technique by looking to pass guard by under hooking one leg and thus giving the move up to you.
Suppression occurs on either side of the throat and not the side of the neck. It is a blood to brain inhibitor. Chokes inhibit oxygen and are on the front of the neck.
Capture own shin behind his head as soon as inner thigh on neck.
Have own lower leg across the back of his neck, perpendicular to your hips.
Ankle not foot under crease of knee – ensure a tighter control.
Heel of top leg at his side and not on his back.
Hip up to get his arm across, feed it necessary during the hip up.
Pull down on back of head to speed up the suppression.
To close even more, hook your arm around the opponent’s leg that is on the same side as your inner thigh on his neck. Most people perform the suppression square on to opponent. By turning to look down your leg that is over his neck it closes the suppression very quickly thus his chances of escape are dramatically reduced.
Whilst a converted admirer of the naming convention the next development of the suppression was most exciting both in terms of name and how it is applied. The development was called inner thigh and fist suppression. AKA the Ninja choke. It did, and now 24 hours on make me smile for the pure silliness that a move could be called the Ninja choke. How trained stealthy killa... This has been done to me a few times by more experienced people at the class and I never had the sight or sense to feel it. It crept up on me. Push the head to open the neck and insert the fist palm up. Aim to get the little finger just on the side of the windpipe and this should ensure the flat of the fist pressuring the arteries to stop blood to brain flow. It is a fast and painful way to close the submission. Lee expressed surprise at how infrequently this is seen in MMA. My own feelings are that people might not even know it. In 3 years of BJJ I never saw anyone use the fist in this way, gi or no gi. Now that I have been shown it, had it done to me and applied it in sparring it almost seems like one of the most obvious things to do.
• In addition to the inner thigh with shoulder suppression detail, Lee talked about setting it up by taking mind away by attacking other parts of the body. One example was attacking from bottom control with the inner forearm choke, they go to defend and you cheekily slide the leg over to begin their demise. To me these are grappling fakes and tonight was the first time that I understood what this meant. I knew such things existed as I fall for them all the time but could never spot them. Through drilling tonight then being more aware in sparring I managed to use and save myself from at least one submission as I knew I was being ‘faked’. Perhaps faked is an inappropriate term because if the set up attack is successful then a quicker end to the fight. For me the point of this part of the learning is that I can now play and discover what attacks will elicit what response in order to facilitate another attack rather than move 1, fails go to next move etc. Now it has become a game of chess and strategy more than a reactionary analogy of table tennis.
Sparring:
• Hold down and submit or get up and escape (with strikes). Managed to apply the inner thigh and fist suppression as well as chest trap from top position. Looked for the bicep compression from top control but Neil was way too smart to allow that to happen. Rolled with Lee as well. He reported that I did well defensively and used the head with improved effect. Still at times too tense. Softer, softer, softer.
Just posted a video of Marcelo Garcia on Facebook. he is my size -77kg and is a remarkable grappler. Several similes could be used to describe how he uses his body: Like a snake, a ball, a rucksack, a ghost and a wet blanket. Watch the linked video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY8JlJZBgCk
I know it is pure grappling and not MMA but his control and movement are phenomenal.
Several things made me shake my head in awe.
He makes the grappling look effortless against high level grapplers.
Like a snake in that he gives no space and punishes opponents for giving space.
When there is no space he creates it and captialises by sweeping and attacking.
Like a ball in that he seems compressed. Rarely do you see him long in the leg for more than a fraction of a second.
Like a rucksack as you are going to carry his weight and thus expend more energy.
Like a ghost because he seems to sweep with consummate ease and evades attacks with almost a contempt.
Like a wet blanket because he is always on you. All of him is on you.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Week 21: Striking plus strength and conditioning
Warm up: What stood out for me tonight were the 3 lots of 20 sprawls. Kept a good hard pace sprawling next to Ptas. Left hand is delicate after and dad and lad accident last weekend so was sprawling onto the knuckles instead of the palms.
Main class:
• Knee capture: Simply had to wrap the fingers around the knee of the opponent. I used it as an opportunity to work the shoot but also standing with short arms as if in a grappling match.
• Hitting the rear side and countering with 1-2: This drill lasted for several rounds. Attacker had to attack the rear side of the opponent and the defenders job was to counter attack with a 1 – 2. It was a good chance to work diagonal footwork but also looking and seeing when would be an opportune time to counter strike. As I tend to fight right hand forward I tried to match and mirror my partner’s stance so it is not as far to attack. In addition I looked to work the rear leg round kick as my kicking is nowhere near as good as my ego believes it to be. So much so I have decided at home to 10,000 round kicks as part of my own training. For reasons ranging from bizarrely tight hips and legs in kicking yet supple in grappling? I can use my legs much more effectively in grappling than striking so I need to start having more balance in my game. Plus it feels like a good way to train the core outside of my functional core training. It gives me a tangible target and goal. After 2 sessions I am up to 500.
• Footwork for evasion no head movement: One partner attacks with anything and the defender needs to simply evade by using footwork and keeping a disciplined guard. Head movement was also prohibited. This drill felt very alive. I need to find a way to move my feet smarter as they tend to blister quite quickly working on the hard floor.
• 3 for 3, 2 for 2, 1 for 1: As it says on the tin. Each throws said amount of strikes and the idea is to limit the time between defending and attacking. Try to throw first attack as they finish their final attack. The last drill (1 for 1) was essentially fighting in the proverbial phone booth, Later on this session we needed to work tight. In future when doing this drill I will endeavour to be tight, fluid and relaxed in defence and attack.
• Straight lead arm: One of the logical idiosyncrasies of the Promai stance is the long lead arm. Primarily to define your own range and to be the boss of your own range. This drill was a chance to put the lead in the opponent’s face after a brief combo then throwing a shot behind the long lead
Strength and conditioning:
• Bag striking and shadow boxing rounds. For this and the following drill Lee emphasised being tight. Not in the muscular sense but in the motion and movement sense. Stay relaxed and heavy in the shots but explosive and dynamic. Was a real test of the gas tank but also the psychological armour. It is hard to keep going when you feel empty. In subsequent drills Lee talked about lasting longer than the opponent as the round last 5 minutes so it makes sense to be as strong as possible throughout each round until the final bell.
• Bag striking whilst being grappled Tenacity drill In the fog of war I managed to damage the middle finger of the left hand thus compounding its lack of use even more. 24 hours later it is fat and bent. Think I have compressed the cartilage in the middle joint. Clearly not as bad as Tom’s cracked nose care of Alan last lesson.
The last 2 drills were also a test of the spirit. I tried to set a good pace and keep going. Did start to flag near the end of the round but this for me is when the most progress happens. You grow more when in hardship. Therefore we should seek this zone to become more self aware.
• Sit up and double side fist.
• Lateral bag jumps, sprawl and attack the bag.
24 hours on I am surprised by how sore I am not. I expected to be battered as usual. Perhaps it is waiting for me in the morning. Good tough, testing and fun session. Shame the time passes so quick.
Main class:
• Knee capture: Simply had to wrap the fingers around the knee of the opponent. I used it as an opportunity to work the shoot but also standing with short arms as if in a grappling match.
• Hitting the rear side and countering with 1-2: This drill lasted for several rounds. Attacker had to attack the rear side of the opponent and the defenders job was to counter attack with a 1 – 2. It was a good chance to work diagonal footwork but also looking and seeing when would be an opportune time to counter strike. As I tend to fight right hand forward I tried to match and mirror my partner’s stance so it is not as far to attack. In addition I looked to work the rear leg round kick as my kicking is nowhere near as good as my ego believes it to be. So much so I have decided at home to 10,000 round kicks as part of my own training. For reasons ranging from bizarrely tight hips and legs in kicking yet supple in grappling? I can use my legs much more effectively in grappling than striking so I need to start having more balance in my game. Plus it feels like a good way to train the core outside of my functional core training. It gives me a tangible target and goal. After 2 sessions I am up to 500.
• Footwork for evasion no head movement: One partner attacks with anything and the defender needs to simply evade by using footwork and keeping a disciplined guard. Head movement was also prohibited. This drill felt very alive. I need to find a way to move my feet smarter as they tend to blister quite quickly working on the hard floor.
• 3 for 3, 2 for 2, 1 for 1: As it says on the tin. Each throws said amount of strikes and the idea is to limit the time between defending and attacking. Try to throw first attack as they finish their final attack. The last drill (1 for 1) was essentially fighting in the proverbial phone booth, Later on this session we needed to work tight. In future when doing this drill I will endeavour to be tight, fluid and relaxed in defence and attack.
• Straight lead arm: One of the logical idiosyncrasies of the Promai stance is the long lead arm. Primarily to define your own range and to be the boss of your own range. This drill was a chance to put the lead in the opponent’s face after a brief combo then throwing a shot behind the long lead
Strength and conditioning:
• Bag striking and shadow boxing rounds. For this and the following drill Lee emphasised being tight. Not in the muscular sense but in the motion and movement sense. Stay relaxed and heavy in the shots but explosive and dynamic. Was a real test of the gas tank but also the psychological armour. It is hard to keep going when you feel empty. In subsequent drills Lee talked about lasting longer than the opponent as the round last 5 minutes so it makes sense to be as strong as possible throughout each round until the final bell.
• Bag striking whilst being grappled Tenacity drill In the fog of war I managed to damage the middle finger of the left hand thus compounding its lack of use even more. 24 hours later it is fat and bent. Think I have compressed the cartilage in the middle joint. Clearly not as bad as Tom’s cracked nose care of Alan last lesson.
The last 2 drills were also a test of the spirit. I tried to set a good pace and keep going. Did start to flag near the end of the round but this for me is when the most progress happens. You grow more when in hardship. Therefore we should seek this zone to become more self aware.
• Sit up and double side fist.
• Lateral bag jumps, sprawl and attack the bag.
24 hours on I am surprised by how sore I am not. I expected to be battered as usual. Perhaps it is waiting for me in the morning. Good tough, testing and fun session. Shame the time passes so quick.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Week 20: striking drills from stand up
Tonight was my pal Craig's first session so I spent most of the night working with him. Started with working the numbers in a one for one pattern: 1-1-2, 1-1-2 pause 2, 1-1-2-2-3.
Free form striking but each taking it in turns to look for the clinch by using one of the 3 primary methods - head movement and coming inside, forearm checks or wrapping the lead arm and swimming for an undertook.
Rounds of free form but with hands only moving in specific number strike patterns. Working from 3 to 2 to 1 but throwing attacks as soon as they finish their final attack combination. Nice drill for keeping the defence sharp, keeping the pace high and forcing movement.
The next progression from this was to toe to toe sparring with the focus on breaking their rhythms but maintaining your own tight defence and attack.
Groundwork: drilling the sweep from bottom control. Similar the first oneida Renzo Gracie's book. Control a forearm and pin the hand to the floor, same side leg pinned across his back, reach over and clasp the tricep of the arm on the floor. Post up onto your hand and hip up for the sweep into top control.
Ended with some ground free form sparring with Craig. Being a gymnast he has great balance and strength coupled with great determination. Top session as always
Free form striking but each taking it in turns to look for the clinch by using one of the 3 primary methods - head movement and coming inside, forearm checks or wrapping the lead arm and swimming for an undertook.
Rounds of free form but with hands only moving in specific number strike patterns. Working from 3 to 2 to 1 but throwing attacks as soon as they finish their final attack combination. Nice drill for keeping the defence sharp, keeping the pace high and forcing movement.
The next progression from this was to toe to toe sparring with the focus on breaking their rhythms but maintaining your own tight defence and attack.
Groundwork: drilling the sweep from bottom control. Similar the first oneida Renzo Gracie's book. Control a forearm and pin the hand to the floor, same side leg pinned across his back, reach over and clasp the tricep of the arm on the floor. Post up onto your hand and hip up for the sweep into top control.
Ended with some ground free form sparring with Craig. Being a gymnast he has great balance and strength coupled with great determination. Top session as always
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