Level 1 syllabus work:
Knee wrap takedown
Hand trip takedown
From the wrestling perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cupxfAoNhwA
And from the MMA perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5waObMhn9-E
Cycle between the 2
I sat out the above due to a right knee made from honey.
Side control arm manipulation.
Side control battle.
Inver back control submission; inner forearm and bicep suppression, forearm choke, elbow
Extension:
Hands only sparring
Hands v feet sparring
Knock down ground and pound with Darren. Amazing how quick fatigue starts to set in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTP1WQickPo
After the above drill on this video is some freeform ground fighting.
Conditioning drills interspersed between drills tonight were all done for as many reps as possible inside the 2 minutes.
Back support ups – back support into table
Boat to butterfly pulses – sitting leaning back, straight back with legs extended tat a 45 degree angle. Pull the knees to the chest then extend the legs straight again.
Superman pulses – lying on the front, knees off the floor and legs extended, arms out to the side and pulse up and down without touching the floor until the time is up.
For me this was my last session at Feltham Community College. Next week we move to the new facility. Exciting times ahead.
Showing posts with label mixed martial arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mixed martial arts. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Week 68: body swaying
Thankfully with a purpose and not in some drug induced metronome fashion. After a warm up from Milzy on a bloody cold night with got down to some clinch drills to increase body temperature in preparation for work to follow.
No grip clinch fighting.
Grip clinch fighting.
Fighting for the single leg. Seb was his usual relentless and effective. I got very tired very quick and managed bugger all. One day Seb, one day...
Fighting for the takedown from the clinch.
Main part of class was looking at using the body sway in striking range as a defensive manoeuvre to trigger an attack from it.
Sway (without moving the feet) out of the way of the head shot and use the returning body motion to attack with. The attacker uses any type of attack to the head.
This drill developed into the sway followed by:
3 hand strikes
Kick off the front leg then 3 strikes. Kick off the front leg as the weight is transferred to the rear leg as the sway happens meaning the leg can be lifted and used to strike with.
Movement now allowed but same idea: defend with body motion and minimal footwork then attack with a combination of up to 5 strikes using any of the 8 limbs.
Aggressive attack posture (always moving forward throwing constant attacks) v standard attack posture (lateral footwork and counter strikes). Did this for several long rounds which really taxed the stamina. Key points are stay relaxed in all motions be they defensive or attacking, control the breathing. First round I worked with Will and second round with Chris where the pressure and pace was more intense. This was the first time that I could move constantly forward and throw attacks. Chris was really good at moving and countering which meant visually my eyes kept squinting so it was good to get used to going forward and into a stream of punches
Ground and pound in bottom control: 2 very tough rounds with both fighters striking, constantly. No holding or submissions allowed.
The main. Class ended with a mad Milzy ab workout which was tremendous.
Post class I grappled with Mishel who is strong, has an excellent base and very aggressive. Then I grappled with Ptas which was nice and to and fro until something in the back of my right knee made a horrible loud pop. Thankfully not too much damage has been done. In addition it was nice to work with and old new face in Phil.
Tonight was a step forward for me to exercise some of the demons from last week. I needed to face some hardship tonight and gladly came out the other side feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Finally some exciting news on the future of promai was talked to us tonight by Lee. More to follow in a few weeks when the all gears are in motion.
PS. Thank you to all the training partners for their patience, guidance and pain
No grip clinch fighting.
Grip clinch fighting.
Fighting for the single leg. Seb was his usual relentless and effective. I got very tired very quick and managed bugger all. One day Seb, one day...
Fighting for the takedown from the clinch.
Main part of class was looking at using the body sway in striking range as a defensive manoeuvre to trigger an attack from it.
Sway (without moving the feet) out of the way of the head shot and use the returning body motion to attack with. The attacker uses any type of attack to the head.
This drill developed into the sway followed by:
3 hand strikes
Kick off the front leg then 3 strikes. Kick off the front leg as the weight is transferred to the rear leg as the sway happens meaning the leg can be lifted and used to strike with.
Movement now allowed but same idea: defend with body motion and minimal footwork then attack with a combination of up to 5 strikes using any of the 8 limbs.
Aggressive attack posture (always moving forward throwing constant attacks) v standard attack posture (lateral footwork and counter strikes). Did this for several long rounds which really taxed the stamina. Key points are stay relaxed in all motions be they defensive or attacking, control the breathing. First round I worked with Will and second round with Chris where the pressure and pace was more intense. This was the first time that I could move constantly forward and throw attacks. Chris was really good at moving and countering which meant visually my eyes kept squinting so it was good to get used to going forward and into a stream of punches
Ground and pound in bottom control: 2 very tough rounds with both fighters striking, constantly. No holding or submissions allowed.
The main. Class ended with a mad Milzy ab workout which was tremendous.
Post class I grappled with Mishel who is strong, has an excellent base and very aggressive. Then I grappled with Ptas which was nice and to and fro until something in the back of my right knee made a horrible loud pop. Thankfully not too much damage has been done. In addition it was nice to work with and old new face in Phil.
Tonight was a step forward for me to exercise some of the demons from last week. I needed to face some hardship tonight and gladly came out the other side feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Finally some exciting news on the future of promai was talked to us tonight by Lee. More to follow in a few weeks when the all gears are in motion.
PS. Thank you to all the training partners for their patience, guidance and pain
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Week 63: MMA striking (away the fears)
The club website and thus calendar had been down for a week or two so I had no idea what was on the menu tonight until Craig turned up and sarcastically informed me that it was my favourite; stand up. Last week I talk about my fears and insecurities about the stand up and tonight was a real breakthrough for me.
Warm up on a chilly night from Milzy.
Drill 1 was 3 rounds of striking from bottom control, no submissions but submission set ups allowed. In top position I made it my duty to use the head as a third limb and felt this opened some opportunities to strike. Enjoyed the leather of Craig, Ivan and Ptas.
3 jabs and one kick, then with the kick as part of the final punch motion, Straight v circular striking techniques, free form striking rounds, strength and conditioning (matt punches from your back, matt spins, matt static holds - 3 rounds, extra grappling sparring with Ptas.
Edited highlights on the following link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTx4V5RfnI4
In the first sparring round I went with Craig who was characteristically aggressive and heavy handed and then at some point during this I had a realisation, a moment of clarity. That of it doesn't matter, whatever it is. I became more mentally relaxed and confident, less scared if you will. Not better at sparring but carrying less emotional baggage. So it only takes 63 lessons or roughly 140 hours of matt time to control the mental panic and woe. Before sparring with Mischel I got the usual dread as his techniques are circular, fast and accurate. Physically I was rubbish but mentally focused and calm therefore proud of my mental progress. I must also thank him for my limp and swollen quad for the knee he landed there. Been walking round school very street today with my limp. Rare for me to be injured on the meat of the muscle towards the inner part of the leg, normally the outside is banged up.
I have watched the video from last night several times already and am grateful to have the chance to see myself in action and give myself tips to improve. Tip one is the hands. The punches have to have more meaning in them, far to pitter patter and not enough depth. Good to see most others doing what i should be. Tip 2 get the kicks out, retract faster and tip 3 is more lateral movement in attack and defence. This is the beauty of video, you see things hat in the moment you are unaware off as it is you and him and nothing else matters. Cue Metallica circa 1992. Hopefully now that one obstacle has been overcome I can start to be more confident physically standing up. A real milestone for me tonight.
Postscript: this club is a team who nurture. Mishel commented after class at how every MMA club he has trained at it is always about the individual or, in my experience, the favourite students. No so at Promai. All are equal and there truly is no room, need or acceptance of ego. Long may it continue.
Warm up on a chilly night from Milzy.
Drill 1 was 3 rounds of striking from bottom control, no submissions but submission set ups allowed. In top position I made it my duty to use the head as a third limb and felt this opened some opportunities to strike. Enjoyed the leather of Craig, Ivan and Ptas.
3 jabs and one kick, then with the kick as part of the final punch motion, Straight v circular striking techniques, free form striking rounds, strength and conditioning (matt punches from your back, matt spins, matt static holds - 3 rounds, extra grappling sparring with Ptas.
Edited highlights on the following link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTx4V5RfnI4
In the first sparring round I went with Craig who was characteristically aggressive and heavy handed and then at some point during this I had a realisation, a moment of clarity. That of it doesn't matter, whatever it is. I became more mentally relaxed and confident, less scared if you will. Not better at sparring but carrying less emotional baggage. So it only takes 63 lessons or roughly 140 hours of matt time to control the mental panic and woe. Before sparring with Mischel I got the usual dread as his techniques are circular, fast and accurate. Physically I was rubbish but mentally focused and calm therefore proud of my mental progress. I must also thank him for my limp and swollen quad for the knee he landed there. Been walking round school very street today with my limp. Rare for me to be injured on the meat of the muscle towards the inner part of the leg, normally the outside is banged up.
I have watched the video from last night several times already and am grateful to have the chance to see myself in action and give myself tips to improve. Tip one is the hands. The punches have to have more meaning in them, far to pitter patter and not enough depth. Good to see most others doing what i should be. Tip 2 get the kicks out, retract faster and tip 3 is more lateral movement in attack and defence. This is the beauty of video, you see things hat in the moment you are unaware off as it is you and him and nothing else matters. Cue Metallica circa 1992. Hopefully now that one obstacle has been overcome I can start to be more confident physically standing up. A real milestone for me tonight.
Postscript: this club is a team who nurture. Mishel commented after class at how every MMA club he has trained at it is always about the individual or, in my experience, the favourite students. No so at Promai. All are equal and there truly is no room, need or acceptance of ego. Long may it continue.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Week 61: GSP's front leg
Warm up: standing grappling looking for the single leg capture. Nice chance to get the neck and head warmed up by using them as another control limb. Had several rounds and fun with Sami who exchanged more faster paced and level changing work.
With the GSP v Conduit fight this weekend the theme was more off curriculum and a focus on the high quality foundational skills of GSP.
Elbow extension: GSP's first loss was this against Matt Hughes. GSP was looking for a downward shoulder rotation from half guard, Hughes put pressure on the torso, slid his leg out and spun around the head into elbow extension. This was our first drill tonight. This is one of the things I absolutely love about MMA. Everything has a counter and nothing is 100% certain to work. If only other martial arts could embrace this philosophy and honesty then there would be a ton less bullshit in the world.
I used to train with one instructor who when asked, "What happens when the fight goes to the ground?" He simply and arrogantly replied with "I have not taught you right". Clearly implying that his anti grapple-wrestle-rugby tackle methods were bullet proof. Shame he never put them to the test. In addition I used to train in Croydon on Wednesday mornings in the mid 90s (life at uni affords such time freedoms) and the space we used was owned by a huge karate teacher. Over the years his girth began to match his height. I had a casual martial arts chat with him and asked about ground fighting and also confidently said that none of his fights have ever gone there. Now either this guy is a Jedi or never been under pressure. I used to be a massive boxing fan in the 90s and in all boxing matches there is some rudimentary type of stand up grappling to punch from a better position whilst tying up your opponents hands. I guess my mini rant is the baffling nature of traditional martial artists who do not want to look out of their comfort zones yet seem to know better without practical experience.
We then looked using the jab to get in and out with sound footwork. Keep the rear arm tight and the front arm long, relaxed and moving. Feet move first followed by a fast jab then back out again either backwards or angling. As the drill round progressed the added bonus of throwing 2 punches after their jab was used to make sure they were moving their feet and thus torso back to safety. I found this simplest of actions quite hard as my legs were a little slow in retreating. However I did find that angling better suited my body/brain rather than straight back. Practise, practise, practise... This drill was also a good opportunity to be a punch bag and get hit by seeing the punch and trying not to react away or close the eyes.
Double leg takedown using jab footwork. And looked at the 3 types depending on what energy the opponent gives us.
1: the turning and lifting wheel type.
2: the straight drive type by pulling his leg between your legs as we drive with the shoulder. (This is where we spent our time practising).
3: the sweeping type.
Our target as fighters is to be aware of the angle and pressure and disrupt the base of our opponent using these attacks. Indeed there is a myriad of other attacks at this range but I think the point tonight was about what can happen in terms of fundamentals from the front leg.
A quick drill Lee had us then do was a chaining of numbers 1 and 2 in blocks of four. It helped to practise keeping the head in the right position and have them continually off balance. I was working with Ptas who gave excellent feedback; my left hand kept creeping up to the hip from the knee.
Finally we looked at the spinning side kick from the initial jab footwork. Plant and turn the heel to face the opponent and side kick! Turn to far to short then you will miss.
Ended with a really big ground free form with Craig.
Driving home Craig and I had our usual post match press conference. I came to the realisation about my fears on the feet as opposed to the ground. I am scared of stand up as I can't predict what will happen to me when hit; falling down, too much of my body to protect. I prefer fighting on the ground, with heavy contact, to the stand up as I have no where to fall and the targets are usually less. Yet when I watch the video above and see Milzy and Sami or even anyone in the class they all seem nice and relaxed, move fluidly in attack and defence. This is my target; to transfer the confidence on the ground to stand up phase fighting. And this is why I love learning because it is hard, it is a process and a journey. I hope I never get to the destination because what will I do then?
With the GSP v Conduit fight this weekend the theme was more off curriculum and a focus on the high quality foundational skills of GSP.
Elbow extension: GSP's first loss was this against Matt Hughes. GSP was looking for a downward shoulder rotation from half guard, Hughes put pressure on the torso, slid his leg out and spun around the head into elbow extension. This was our first drill tonight. This is one of the things I absolutely love about MMA. Everything has a counter and nothing is 100% certain to work. If only other martial arts could embrace this philosophy and honesty then there would be a ton less bullshit in the world.
I used to train with one instructor who when asked, "What happens when the fight goes to the ground?" He simply and arrogantly replied with "I have not taught you right". Clearly implying that his anti grapple-wrestle-rugby tackle methods were bullet proof. Shame he never put them to the test. In addition I used to train in Croydon on Wednesday mornings in the mid 90s (life at uni affords such time freedoms) and the space we used was owned by a huge karate teacher. Over the years his girth began to match his height. I had a casual martial arts chat with him and asked about ground fighting and also confidently said that none of his fights have ever gone there. Now either this guy is a Jedi or never been under pressure. I used to be a massive boxing fan in the 90s and in all boxing matches there is some rudimentary type of stand up grappling to punch from a better position whilst tying up your opponents hands. I guess my mini rant is the baffling nature of traditional martial artists who do not want to look out of their comfort zones yet seem to know better without practical experience.
We then looked using the jab to get in and out with sound footwork. Keep the rear arm tight and the front arm long, relaxed and moving. Feet move first followed by a fast jab then back out again either backwards or angling. As the drill round progressed the added bonus of throwing 2 punches after their jab was used to make sure they were moving their feet and thus torso back to safety. I found this simplest of actions quite hard as my legs were a little slow in retreating. However I did find that angling better suited my body/brain rather than straight back. Practise, practise, practise... This drill was also a good opportunity to be a punch bag and get hit by seeing the punch and trying not to react away or close the eyes.
Double leg takedown using jab footwork. And looked at the 3 types depending on what energy the opponent gives us.
1: the turning and lifting wheel type.
2: the straight drive type by pulling his leg between your legs as we drive with the shoulder. (This is where we spent our time practising).
3: the sweeping type.
Our target as fighters is to be aware of the angle and pressure and disrupt the base of our opponent using these attacks. Indeed there is a myriad of other attacks at this range but I think the point tonight was about what can happen in terms of fundamentals from the front leg.
A quick drill Lee had us then do was a chaining of numbers 1 and 2 in blocks of four. It helped to practise keeping the head in the right position and have them continually off balance. I was working with Ptas who gave excellent feedback; my left hand kept creeping up to the hip from the knee.
Finally we looked at the spinning side kick from the initial jab footwork. Plant and turn the heel to face the opponent and side kick! Turn to far to short then you will miss.
Ended with a really big ground free form with Craig.
Driving home Craig and I had our usual post match press conference. I came to the realisation about my fears on the feet as opposed to the ground. I am scared of stand up as I can't predict what will happen to me when hit; falling down, too much of my body to protect. I prefer fighting on the ground, with heavy contact, to the stand up as I have no where to fall and the targets are usually less. Yet when I watch the video above and see Milzy and Sami or even anyone in the class they all seem nice and relaxed, move fluidly in attack and defence. This is my target; to transfer the confidence on the ground to stand up phase fighting. And this is why I love learning because it is hard, it is a process and a journey. I hope I never get to the destination because what will I do then?
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Week 59: the last 10 seconds
Charlie has a fight coming up so the focus has changed slightly as he is more experienced in the fight game. The session tonight was looking at the last 10 seconds of the round with an eye to entertain the crowd and to try do something high risk in terms of success percentage rate. So tonight we look at lower leg submissions.
Ankle extension:
Starting from an open bottom control position, he has one foot one your hip so this is ankle you are going to attack. Wrap the forearm under the calf as you step up to have both feet close to his hips and as you sit your hips go close to your heels. As you lie back squeeze the knees together and allow the forearm to slide down his leg. You should feel the bridge of his foot against your lat or top of the shoulder. Make sure that forearm bone (radius) is nice and tight and the bottom of the calf muscle. Look behind and over yourself to complete the ankle extension.
We then looked at a defence to this and that is as soon as they start to lie back you need to relax the leg, shoot the foot behind him and sit up by pulling on his neck for anchorage. Maintaining the neck control you can pass to the side or either with a crushing knee on belly control.
Calf compression from side control:
Naturally they should have the cross leg defensive position to prevent your attempts to move to top control and then want to slide the knee into your centre to begin escaping from side control. This is the bait. Allow their knee to come inside, as it does insert your forearm around and behind the knee. An overhook rather than an underhook, a tight one. Now for the tough part. Step over and insert your foot between his legs and close to his hips. It is hard because it require swift dexterity. It also means his leg is tightly wrapped. From here use the forearm bone on the outside of his calf for the pain. 2 days later I still have a 50p coin sized bruise on my calf where Neil successfully closed off his submission attempts.
This is a high risk move because it is a pain only submission as not much will break or tear.
Scissor takedown into ankle extension:
From the standing clinch look to perform a hip throw. If he does not defend then complete the throw. However if he defends by straightening his posture attempt the entertaining. From the hip throw your backside should be against his thigh. Drop to the floor and scissor him down, top leg attacking high and front and the lower leg low and behind. Do not let your lower leg hit the floor. From here you can clasp his leg with your knees and perform the ankle extension as outlined earlier on.
Lots of free form rounds starting standing then to the ground if it went there. I worked with Neil, Edgar, Ptas, Ivan and Angel. Angel gave me the dead leg I still have. A rather juicy knee being the bearer of good news.
Ended the session with a few rounds of grappling with Ptas.
Ankle extension:
Starting from an open bottom control position, he has one foot one your hip so this is ankle you are going to attack. Wrap the forearm under the calf as you step up to have both feet close to his hips and as you sit your hips go close to your heels. As you lie back squeeze the knees together and allow the forearm to slide down his leg. You should feel the bridge of his foot against your lat or top of the shoulder. Make sure that forearm bone (radius) is nice and tight and the bottom of the calf muscle. Look behind and over yourself to complete the ankle extension.
We then looked at a defence to this and that is as soon as they start to lie back you need to relax the leg, shoot the foot behind him and sit up by pulling on his neck for anchorage. Maintaining the neck control you can pass to the side or either with a crushing knee on belly control.
Calf compression from side control:
Naturally they should have the cross leg defensive position to prevent your attempts to move to top control and then want to slide the knee into your centre to begin escaping from side control. This is the bait. Allow their knee to come inside, as it does insert your forearm around and behind the knee. An overhook rather than an underhook, a tight one. Now for the tough part. Step over and insert your foot between his legs and close to his hips. It is hard because it require swift dexterity. It also means his leg is tightly wrapped. From here use the forearm bone on the outside of his calf for the pain. 2 days later I still have a 50p coin sized bruise on my calf where Neil successfully closed off his submission attempts.
This is a high risk move because it is a pain only submission as not much will break or tear.
Scissor takedown into ankle extension:
From the standing clinch look to perform a hip throw. If he does not defend then complete the throw. However if he defends by straightening his posture attempt the entertaining. From the hip throw your backside should be against his thigh. Drop to the floor and scissor him down, top leg attacking high and front and the lower leg low and behind. Do not let your lower leg hit the floor. From here you can clasp his leg with your knees and perform the ankle extension as outlined earlier on.
Lots of free form rounds starting standing then to the ground if it went there. I worked with Neil, Edgar, Ptas, Ivan and Angel. Angel gave me the dead leg I still have. A rather juicy knee being the bearer of good news.
Ended the session with a few rounds of grappling with Ptas.
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Week 52: Long range striking defence and attack
Tonight saw the end of my first year training at Pro Mai MMA. Gone quick and as this blog show, much has been covered and learnt.
Started off with the Greco-Roman standing clinch drill. Following this we moved into any takedowns from clinch then striking in the clinch. I was a bit naughty in that I was using my head and posture to clinch meaning my arms were free to strike. I noticed that this allowed for more attacks putting my partner on the defence more. I got the idea from Randy's dirty boxing against the fence. Use positive posture to control coupled with a high tempo work rate.
Long range striking: Round kicks to the thigh.
We worked a sequence of drills building on the last to develop sound technique and ultimately creativity:
Checking round kicks;
If they continue to check then attack the rear standing leg;
Use footwork to evade out of range as well as to step into the kick. Both mean you don't get hit where the kick is at it's most effective and powerful;
Attacking with the rear hand when the kick comes in;
Faking the low kick (use the eyes to look down too) as you throw the rear hand to the head. Found this very hard as worked hard over the past year to keep my eyes up!!;
One body action with 2 attacks; the rear punch to the head and the round kick. Need to move the head out to the side for better delivery of technique.
Striking free form sparring rounds.
So here ends my first year at Pro Mai. Looking forward to the future learning with a supreme bunch of training partners under the quality observation and tutelage of fine teachers.
Started off with the Greco-Roman standing clinch drill. Following this we moved into any takedowns from clinch then striking in the clinch. I was a bit naughty in that I was using my head and posture to clinch meaning my arms were free to strike. I noticed that this allowed for more attacks putting my partner on the defence more. I got the idea from Randy's dirty boxing against the fence. Use positive posture to control coupled with a high tempo work rate.
Long range striking: Round kicks to the thigh.
We worked a sequence of drills building on the last to develop sound technique and ultimately creativity:
Checking round kicks;
If they continue to check then attack the rear standing leg;
Use footwork to evade out of range as well as to step into the kick. Both mean you don't get hit where the kick is at it's most effective and powerful;
Attacking with the rear hand when the kick comes in;
Faking the low kick (use the eyes to look down too) as you throw the rear hand to the head. Found this very hard as worked hard over the past year to keep my eyes up!!;
One body action with 2 attacks; the rear punch to the head and the round kick. Need to move the head out to the side for better delivery of technique.
Striking free form sparring rounds.
So here ends my first year at Pro Mai. Looking forward to the future learning with a supreme bunch of training partners under the quality observation and tutelage of fine teachers.
Friday, 3 August 2012
Week 48: The hardest one yet
Clinching and striking:
Looking to obtain the body lock whilst swimming for clinch control and striking both defending and attacking. I had the pain of working with Milzy first who set a relentless pace with very accurate attacks. I tried to focus on keeping the neck strong and the eyes fixed on the centre of his head.
The drill evolved into hunting for the single leg capture too. I looked a few times but practised staying strong, fluid and employing as wide variety of attacks as possible in the clinch.
Gaining the clinch from striking range:
The attacker used striking to prevent the other person looking for the clinch. The standing grappler was not allowed to use striking but still needed to maintain a solid defense yet aggressive as needing to enter to get the clinch and then body lock.
Grappling and striking:
1. Hold down and prevent other from getting up.
2. 3 people on the mat (Me, Milzy and Charlie) assumed the positions (mounted, side control and turtle) and we were fighting to recover from the positions we found ourselves. When recovered a fresh body jumps in and it all started again. Then when all had been on the mat against each 3 of us, we swapped roles. Each of the 3 in the middle fought everyone in all 3 positions. Draining yet excellent training in terms of gas preservation and knowing when to explode out of a position. Smarter use of the body’s resources.
Training ended with freeform grappling. As I was so knackered at the end I was happy to watch the post training stand up sparring involving Charlie, Milzy, Simon, Angel and Lee.
I learned many new things tonight in how to set a pace, how to use my head better in the clinch, to be creative in my striking on the ground. Angel pounded my thighs with some excellent elbows, 24 hours later the legs still ache. Sami sunk in a very nasty Japanese neck tie to the point that I saw stars at the point of tapping, sweet grappling. It was truly exhausting tonight and truly enjoyable.
Looking to obtain the body lock whilst swimming for clinch control and striking both defending and attacking. I had the pain of working with Milzy first who set a relentless pace with very accurate attacks. I tried to focus on keeping the neck strong and the eyes fixed on the centre of his head.
The drill evolved into hunting for the single leg capture too. I looked a few times but practised staying strong, fluid and employing as wide variety of attacks as possible in the clinch.
Gaining the clinch from striking range:
The attacker used striking to prevent the other person looking for the clinch. The standing grappler was not allowed to use striking but still needed to maintain a solid defense yet aggressive as needing to enter to get the clinch and then body lock.
Grappling and striking:
1. Hold down and prevent other from getting up.
2. 3 people on the mat (Me, Milzy and Charlie) assumed the positions (mounted, side control and turtle) and we were fighting to recover from the positions we found ourselves. When recovered a fresh body jumps in and it all started again. Then when all had been on the mat against each 3 of us, we swapped roles. Each of the 3 in the middle fought everyone in all 3 positions. Draining yet excellent training in terms of gas preservation and knowing when to explode out of a position. Smarter use of the body’s resources.
Training ended with freeform grappling. As I was so knackered at the end I was happy to watch the post training stand up sparring involving Charlie, Milzy, Simon, Angel and Lee.
I learned many new things tonight in how to set a pace, how to use my head better in the clinch, to be creative in my striking on the ground. Angel pounded my thighs with some excellent elbows, 24 hours later the legs still ache. Sami sunk in a very nasty Japanese neck tie to the point that I saw stars at the point of tapping, sweet grappling. It was truly exhausting tonight and truly enjoyable.
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Week 47: clinch attacks, body shots and leg kicks
Attacking from shoulder control. As he pummels under throw the elbow. Also throw the punch by giving a little more distance.
Neck control and using knees to thighs then the chest when he moves the legs.
Body shot from long range sparring. Looking to develop the timing and vision to find this attack.
Striking on the ground with big gloves. Limits the gripping potential so forces you to work positional striking.
Round kick then front kick drill. Only allowed to defend with footwork. Round kicks attacking the upper legs and front kicks at the torso.
Ended with conditioning: 10 count press ups, seal press ups, press up wrestling finishing with lying banana holds.
Neck control and using knees to thighs then the chest when he moves the legs.
Body shot from long range sparring. Looking to develop the timing and vision to find this attack.
Striking on the ground with big gloves. Limits the gripping potential so forces you to work positional striking.
Round kick then front kick drill. Only allowed to defend with footwork. Round kicks attacking the upper legs and front kicks at the torso.
Ended with conditioning: 10 count press ups, seal press ups, press up wrestling finishing with lying banana holds.
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Week 46: leg locks
No Lee tonight so Pete took the class.
Despite the soaring temperatures outside we started with the no grip grappling drill.
Leg lock from the open guard position. Start is if going to pass with shin over their thigh and make sure that the foot is placed deep under their thigh. When you look to pass with the shin it will be much deeper and have an opening of the hips preventing him from escaping easily to another position. Instead of passing hold the high leg and sit back as you come under his leg with yours. You are essentially clasping his leg between yours. Now that you have his leg clasped you can begin to work on the lower part of his leg for the submission. We looked at 2:
Achilles compression: With his toes under your armpit insert your inner forearm bone against his tendon to apply pressure.
Heel hook: this is a much more devastating submission due to the potential long term injury the leg can suffer. With his toes under your armpit roll towards them lifting the far side shoulder off the floor. This will allow you to sink his heel into the elbow crease of your arm. He is now seconds away from a 2 month limp.
Free form grappling
Free form with Seb and came away with a left black eye lid.
Despite the soaring temperatures outside we started with the no grip grappling drill.
Leg lock from the open guard position. Start is if going to pass with shin over their thigh and make sure that the foot is placed deep under their thigh. When you look to pass with the shin it will be much deeper and have an opening of the hips preventing him from escaping easily to another position. Instead of passing hold the high leg and sit back as you come under his leg with yours. You are essentially clasping his leg between yours. Now that you have his leg clasped you can begin to work on the lower part of his leg for the submission. We looked at 2:
Achilles compression: With his toes under your armpit insert your inner forearm bone against his tendon to apply pressure.
Heel hook: this is a much more devastating submission due to the potential long term injury the leg can suffer. With his toes under your armpit roll towards them lifting the far side shoulder off the floor. This will allow you to sink his heel into the elbow crease of your arm. He is now seconds away from a 2 month limp.
Free form grappling
Free form with Seb and came away with a left black eye lid.
Monday, 18 June 2012
Week 42: inverted side control
No grip grappling warm up: great fun grappling this way as I found ways to use my legs and the back of my wrists to enable control without the use of the inner parts of the hands.
Main technical part of the class:
Inverted side control:
Key points: leg side leg sweeps under own hips, weight on his chest, tight bicep grip and elbow clamp, no gap between you and his armpit so he can't escape, hips off the floor and weight driving into his chest.
Knee extension: he goes to hook a leg in escaping from the inverted side control so dive for the foot and pull it into to the side of your neck. Feet on his arse, knees clamped together, one hand control his foot as the other wraps the lower leg to your chest. Extend and arch backwards with tight tight control for the sub.
Forearm with shoulder suppression: Let him escape by trying to push the face. As his arm straightens push past it and throw the head to the floor as you get your hips to the floor quickly too. Palm to palm grip and drive down with the shoulder hopefully closing the sub off.
I need much more time with both of these as I found them quite difficult to pull off swiftly and cleanly.
Reversal sweep: Keep him moving and disrupt his base, feel for the gap and roll him over (timing not strength).
Free form grappling with Neil and Milzy. Milzy was hell on earth and spent the eternity escaping and trying to prevent his numerous submissions. Thankfully he was kind and commented on my defensive grappling and improvements in addition to saying nice things about me as a teacher!!! Seriously hard work grappling him. Control and positional awareness is excellent as is his variety of attacks. In addition when he caught me in upward and downward shoulder rotation he knew how much pressure to apply to let me attempt to escape before finishing. Appreciated the consideration of his training partner's welfare.
Strength and conditioning: Range of press ups, v ups, more press ups ending with good old fashioned static mat holds.
Bizarre injury of the session is some pleasant purpling of my right big toe nail.
Main technical part of the class:
Inverted side control:
Key points: leg side leg sweeps under own hips, weight on his chest, tight bicep grip and elbow clamp, no gap between you and his armpit so he can't escape, hips off the floor and weight driving into his chest.
Knee extension: he goes to hook a leg in escaping from the inverted side control so dive for the foot and pull it into to the side of your neck. Feet on his arse, knees clamped together, one hand control his foot as the other wraps the lower leg to your chest. Extend and arch backwards with tight tight control for the sub.
Forearm with shoulder suppression: Let him escape by trying to push the face. As his arm straightens push past it and throw the head to the floor as you get your hips to the floor quickly too. Palm to palm grip and drive down with the shoulder hopefully closing the sub off.
I need much more time with both of these as I found them quite difficult to pull off swiftly and cleanly.
Reversal sweep: Keep him moving and disrupt his base, feel for the gap and roll him over (timing not strength).
Free form grappling with Neil and Milzy. Milzy was hell on earth and spent the eternity escaping and trying to prevent his numerous submissions. Thankfully he was kind and commented on my defensive grappling and improvements in addition to saying nice things about me as a teacher!!! Seriously hard work grappling him. Control and positional awareness is excellent as is his variety of attacks. In addition when he caught me in upward and downward shoulder rotation he knew how much pressure to apply to let me attempt to escape before finishing. Appreciated the consideration of his training partner's welfare.
Strength and conditioning: Range of press ups, v ups, more press ups ending with good old fashioned static mat holds.
Bizarre injury of the session is some pleasant purpling of my right big toe nail.
Week 41: striking
Bulldogs warm up. Lots of fun despite the high risk of toe nail tearing potential of our mats!!
Side control battle: pass the leg over or bottom player secure a leg
Ground offence and defence
• correct defensive posture and positioning: 2 points of contact – the hip and elbow same side of the body, soles of feet together knees splayed.
• round kick attack: grab the heel and straighten the leg to attack with round kick.
• downward heel kick: an axe kick to those who know this name. The kick that made Andy Hug famous in K-1 in the 90’s.
• knee to the hamstring.
• escape from single grab: turn the foot towards the thumb and the grip will break.
• escape from double grab on one leg: turn the foot to the outside of his forearm to apply pressure to his grip.
Free form striking rounds.
Fast hands on the lead hand: throwing 3 fast punches off one hand then the other with the aim of making each set faster, more relaxed and simply better than the last set.
Fast hand combo: body – body – head and same starting with other hand. Maintain the rhythm until an error and start again.
Phone box sparring: Toe to toe with Craig. This was a mix of covering and opening to get used to strikes coming into the face.
Side control battle: pass the leg over or bottom player secure a leg
Ground offence and defence
• correct defensive posture and positioning: 2 points of contact – the hip and elbow same side of the body, soles of feet together knees splayed.
• round kick attack: grab the heel and straighten the leg to attack with round kick.
• downward heel kick: an axe kick to those who know this name. The kick that made Andy Hug famous in K-1 in the 90’s.
• knee to the hamstring.
• escape from single grab: turn the foot towards the thumb and the grip will break.
• escape from double grab on one leg: turn the foot to the outside of his forearm to apply pressure to his grip.
Free form striking rounds.
Fast hands on the lead hand: throwing 3 fast punches off one hand then the other with the aim of making each set faster, more relaxed and simply better than the last set.
Fast hand combo: body – body – head and same starting with other hand. Maintain the rhythm until an error and start again.
Phone box sparring: Toe to toe with Craig. This was a mix of covering and opening to get used to strikes coming into the face.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Week 36: grappling and conditioning
Guard pass: Sitting back and sticking knee in the centre of his hips will open his guard.
Triangle from mount: sitting in a nice a high mount offering attack to the head. He should cover up this giving you the chance to gain wrist control, push it to his chest as you step over put the shin behind his neck. Fall to the side side as you close the triangle.
Knee bar from guard: As he stands to stack your guard, underhook an ankle and move your hips to allow taking him down by manipulating with your legs. As he goes down wrap his leg for the knee extension. Get the hips against his knee to act as the most powerful fulcrum.
Calf suppression from guard: Could be my new most favourite sub. From open guard, keep his mind active with your hands as your lower shin looks to 'rest' on the back of his knee. When the time is right swim under his arms, take your head towards the foot you are going for, this will help to give you more power and leverage in the compression. Put that foot back with your lower shin compressing nicely against his calf. A sweet, sweet submission.
Guillotine baiting inside guard to jumping pass into head and arm triangle. Does what it says on the tin. I was hoping for another 30 minutes to deepen the learning and understanding of these techniques. For some reason they seem still caught in my visual memory so will take the opportunity to get visualising them before bed tonight.
Free form striking round, free form clinch round, free form grappling round.
Heavy bag conditioning striking from mount, guard and clinch. 30 second rounds.
Mirror striking shadow boxing with specifics inserted: body shots, head shots, knees and elbows, sprawls, push ups, double knee whilst maintaining. Very tough towards the end as the floor became very greasy from sweaty feet and the mirrors became redundant from condensation. Great pace a nd variety to this drill.
Mat static hold rounds and talk of mental over physical strength. Lee reminded us that the body is stronger and has more stamina than the mind thinks. He used the analogy of £1000 on the floor to go for 10 more seconds. A pleasing sound was that of mats dropping to the floor before mine did, which it didn't and that most of those are bigger and stronger than me. Interestingly, my limited vision gave a me a view of Crag and Ptas both who remained strong through the mat lift also. It is the time of the smaller man!!!
Video link for the guillotine bait: http://www.mma121.com/videos/mma-submission-tip-guillotine-to-arm-triangle-choke/
Triangle from mount: sitting in a nice a high mount offering attack to the head. He should cover up this giving you the chance to gain wrist control, push it to his chest as you step over put the shin behind his neck. Fall to the side side as you close the triangle.
Knee bar from guard: As he stands to stack your guard, underhook an ankle and move your hips to allow taking him down by manipulating with your legs. As he goes down wrap his leg for the knee extension. Get the hips against his knee to act as the most powerful fulcrum.
Calf suppression from guard: Could be my new most favourite sub. From open guard, keep his mind active with your hands as your lower shin looks to 'rest' on the back of his knee. When the time is right swim under his arms, take your head towards the foot you are going for, this will help to give you more power and leverage in the compression. Put that foot back with your lower shin compressing nicely against his calf. A sweet, sweet submission.
Guillotine baiting inside guard to jumping pass into head and arm triangle. Does what it says on the tin. I was hoping for another 30 minutes to deepen the learning and understanding of these techniques. For some reason they seem still caught in my visual memory so will take the opportunity to get visualising them before bed tonight.
Free form striking round, free form clinch round, free form grappling round.
Heavy bag conditioning striking from mount, guard and clinch. 30 second rounds.
Mirror striking shadow boxing with specifics inserted: body shots, head shots, knees and elbows, sprawls, push ups, double knee whilst maintaining. Very tough towards the end as the floor became very greasy from sweaty feet and the mirrors became redundant from condensation. Great pace a nd variety to this drill.
Mat static hold rounds and talk of mental over physical strength. Lee reminded us that the body is stronger and has more stamina than the mind thinks. He used the analogy of £1000 on the floor to go for 10 more seconds. A pleasing sound was that of mats dropping to the floor before mine did, which it didn't and that most of those are bigger and stronger than me. Interestingly, my limited vision gave a me a view of Crag and Ptas both who remained strong through the mat lift also. It is the time of the smaller man!!!
Video link for the guillotine bait: http://www.mma121.com/videos/mma-submission-tip-guillotine-to-arm-triangle-choke/
Friday, 16 March 2012
Week 29: syllabus work
Footwork round kick drill: shin pads on and round kicking delight to our partners legs. No checking, blocking just evasive footwork combined with eyes up and tidy attack position hands. This started the night off nicely in terms of pain. I must have feet made of paper as even with swanky grappling socks on the balls of both feet became soft and felt as if containing small pockets of fluid. Gladly when I removed my socks at the end of the session there was no fluid neither clear nor red meeting my eyes.
I really enjoy this drill from the limited nature of it. I enjoy practising the opportunity to keep my eyes as as they tend to wander to the areas I am attacking. In addition pain is a great teacher and unless you want your legs smashed to bits you tend to move them quick quickly.
Free form stand up sparring
Lee then talked about strategy in the ring at the start of a fight. We looked at working on both intensity and relaxation opening rounds. We began with no engagement. Just getting our partners hopefully moving backwards from the wide range and frequency of our implied attacks and they to us. This progressed into starting in a similar fashion but when first contact was made it changed into free form sparring whilst maintaining same relaxation and intensity.
Chest spins with hooks in: keeping pressure just between their shoulder blades as spinning and thus transitioning from top to side to centre back control. Hands kept off the floor until in centre back control. Lee gave a great time to enable swifter and more secure control. By sitting up the hooks slide in easier than with the chest down. It does need to be swift as pressure needs to be applied to the back
Side back control ankle pick and hook in: this position was then tamed about Lee as a very advantageous position, in many ways more so than centre back control. From here with back pressure applied control the far side arm and pick up his far side ankle, nice and high. Step over whilst keeping hold you momentarily trap your own arm. Strip it out as the hook makes contact.
Side back control arm extension roll: a tricky sweep and submission needing a lot of commitment. Essentially you roll under his chest pulling him on top of you as you pass your leg over his head and he lands in a very deep arm extension. A tricky sub to pull of successfully but one that is most fun to practise.
Free form grappling with Ptas. Excuses time. He did a very good job tonight. Tight control and vicious submissions. Clearly I have spent too much time want to play as opposed to develop and learn. It is time that I worked to more advantageous positions than playing off my back. Whilst I enjoy it I am not developing. In addition I am spending too much time defending. Perhaps this means more time needs to be practising sweeping and reversing positions?
I really enjoy this drill from the limited nature of it. I enjoy practising the opportunity to keep my eyes as as they tend to wander to the areas I am attacking. In addition pain is a great teacher and unless you want your legs smashed to bits you tend to move them quick quickly.
Free form stand up sparring
Lee then talked about strategy in the ring at the start of a fight. We looked at working on both intensity and relaxation opening rounds. We began with no engagement. Just getting our partners hopefully moving backwards from the wide range and frequency of our implied attacks and they to us. This progressed into starting in a similar fashion but when first contact was made it changed into free form sparring whilst maintaining same relaxation and intensity.
Chest spins with hooks in: keeping pressure just between their shoulder blades as spinning and thus transitioning from top to side to centre back control. Hands kept off the floor until in centre back control. Lee gave a great time to enable swifter and more secure control. By sitting up the hooks slide in easier than with the chest down. It does need to be swift as pressure needs to be applied to the back
Side back control ankle pick and hook in: this position was then tamed about Lee as a very advantageous position, in many ways more so than centre back control. From here with back pressure applied control the far side arm and pick up his far side ankle, nice and high. Step over whilst keeping hold you momentarily trap your own arm. Strip it out as the hook makes contact.
Side back control arm extension roll: a tricky sweep and submission needing a lot of commitment. Essentially you roll under his chest pulling him on top of you as you pass your leg over his head and he lands in a very deep arm extension. A tricky sub to pull of successfully but one that is most fun to practise.
Free form grappling with Ptas. Excuses time. He did a very good job tonight. Tight control and vicious submissions. Clearly I have spent too much time want to play as opposed to develop and learn. It is time that I worked to more advantageous positions than playing off my back. Whilst I enjoy it I am not developing. In addition I am spending too much time defending. Perhaps this means more time needs to be practising sweeping and reversing positions?
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
A mix or mixed martial arts?
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Week 17: Fun and games
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?
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?
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.
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