Class notes: boxing, boxing, boxing.

Gloves on straight away.

Footwork reminders which were to be put into practise straight away with the first drill and practised well all session.

Partner A throw the punches: jab, cross, jab and cross. Of course this was dependent on what pads (hands) partner B was holding up.  Moving around the room, partner B directed the footwork by moving, leading, encroaching in all directions whilst putting the hands up. I started off with Trist and we looked at each others' footwork and non punching hand. The non punching hand needs to be protecting but also pulling that side of the body back to increase the power in the punches.

A key learning point was range awareness. Be at the end of your punches and use full rotation on the right hand.

When I went with Martin my range was too short, I was making contact too close as he could throw a left hook over my right cross and it would land. I needed to become much more aware of the few centimetres difference in range. After a couple of partner changes I began to feel the range with more understanding.  It did feel most strange at first though. An analogy would be being aware of your own personal space in a conversation with another. There is a point where you feel too close. In my head this was the feeling I wanted when throwing punches but the opposite: feeling like I am too far away to make contact. Thankfully that awkward feeling was a truth gauge. Moving forward in learning I need be super aware of the range.

This video shows a concept of range. Watch how the smaller fighter plays the fights at his range. I know this is a typical Japanese mis-match bout but nonetheless just watch the range finding.

Next we did our jab/perve drill. This too enabled footwork and range practise. Less punches were thrown as people were now begin to gain a better feel for the range. Additions to this drill was the counter puncher could now add the left hook. This gave the attacker a chance to watch the punches and work on the hook cover (clasping the head, chin down). Martin did go on to show using a small and tight rotation towards the hook using a mum sau but I did not work on this.

The tale of theory samurai engage bed in the sword fight, holding position for 30 mins. I will endeavour to find this story and post it in full and the principles behind the apparent lack of action in said duel.

Standing grappling drills.

Rep ping the 4 hands on positions

Same side arm on shoulder = arm drag

Opposite side arm on shoulder = head and arm choke

Same side hand on hip = DWL

Opposite side arm on hip = double lap

2 new additions were:

Zombie standing (hand down by the sides): push the shoulder to turn them and apply the rear naked choke.

Here is UFC fighter Alan Belcher showing the correct form.

If they are too tall for you, push through on the lower back or hips to drop their level so you can secure the choke.

Here are a couple of vids to keep you going.



A little Saracen-esqe at the end.

Some old school footage when style fought styles. Oh how the sport of MMA has evolved.



Headlock defence: positive spine, arm over the top f his as you push his face away this will release his grip.

Wrist control dirty boxing:

Feeling the pressure when having various wrist controls we looked at feeling the different pressure and punching out of them.

Elbow control and pushing the upper arm control. This became a constant rolling flow drill.

Head and arm choke defence:
Answer the telephone then pull down on the shoulder. The bail out is sliding out and coming round for head and seat belt control.

DWL counter bail out:
If they link their hands then go straight for the arm drag.

Class notes: Basketball players and dwarves

3 drill:

Attacking off the first attack - punch under the chop forwards.

Punching distance for this attack: Aim for the chin and be closer to his potential attacks. Aim for the nose to have a higher degree of safety behind your punch. Sky the arm as it gives you more extension.

Groin elbow to nose attack from the backfist then move over for the lap and punch.

Ben forearm hammer of death instead of the backfist. This will give you the energy for the uppercut with the other hand.

If they defend high you can turn it into a standing arm bar; rev the wrist, pressure the tricep for standing control. Go for the wrist and fold his hand on to his shoulder blade for a single arm chicken wing.

3 drill sparring with all. I was useless with crap attacks and defending the whole time. Jamie said he did this with Ayyaz and he did not hold back and got stuck into J. J loves it!!

Footwork: the four analogies:

1: Each foot moves the same distance so at the end of the step you are balanced and powerful.

2: No tight rope walking. Have the feet hips width apart.

3: Be ready = go and don't delay.

4: Thumbs up = positive and engaged legs

Drilling footwork by pushing and piston punching the partner. Leading to looking for the head and arm trap. If this gets loose then apply the seat belt, 'wash' the face so the hand goes to the back of the neck for the head control. Look to knee from here.

Grip breaks:

Grab the grabber:

1: Vain basketball player - same side grab going down - fingers through hair and folding the elbow over his forearm

2: Angry basketballer - flaps his arms - cross grab-grab the forearm

3: Angry dwarf - he's on minimum wage serving tables (defence = tan sau)

4: Vain dwarf - Grab the grabber. You had to be there to fully appreciate my poorly remembered words.

Nev v Nish double grab of death defence: Smash the thumbs or p'eng/hinge arms and step deeply with a shoulder barge

ALWAYS GO FOR THE GRAB WHEN GRABBED

THEM GRABBING YOU IS LIKE YOU GRABBING THEM AS YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!!

In fighting techniques

Here is the list of entry techniques, big thanks for Trist for putting the time in to put e-pen to e-paper

In Fight Techniques

1 a) Lap and punch, Lap and trap, punch
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, Lap and trap, punch

I seem to remember to really get a strong X trap the trick was to make the initial Lap before the trap down low to your partners hip and then the lap to trap up high almost trapping across their upper arm just below the shoulder.

2 a) Pak and punch, grab elbow with punch hand, hit to body, hit to face
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, grab elbow with punch hand, hit to body, hit to face

They key to getting a good position to take the elbow was allowing your initial punch to fold to Bong Sau (given that there is energy jamming your punch)

3 a) Pak and punch, Tan and punch, Tan hand grabs arm and traps, punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, Tan and punch, Tan hand grabs arm and traps, punch

The Tan is a straight Tan that invades the centre line (think early part of 1st form) it almost snakes to the outside of their defensive arm and then moves it as you dominate the centre.

4 a) Pak and punch, hit to body with Pak hand, Tan and punch, trap and punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, hit to body with Pak hand, Tan and punch, trap and punch

Similar straight Tan but from a different starting position as your throwing a body shot first, as the arms comes up to Tan it still comes outside and over their defensive arm (the one that blocked your preceding punch) forcing them to throw the other hand across to defend and allowing the trap.

5 a) Lap and punch, hammer fist to body
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, hammer fist to body

Tuck the arm that you Lap up to allow you to hammer fist to the solar plexus.

6 a) Inside gate Pak and chop, chop
b) Inside gate Pak and chop, Workman trap

Your initial chop is off your rear hand for both variations, Workman trap is established by throwing the arm you parked across the top of your other arm (the one that threw the chop).

7 a) Lap and punch, punch through centre
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, punch through centre

8 a) Lap and palm strike, push elbow and hit
b) Lap and chop, Lap and palm strike, push elbow and hit

Push the elbow across their body and hit over the top.

9 a) Pak and punch, Gwai Jarn
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, Gwai Jarn

Gwai Jarn - turn the wrist that you Pak over (wrist side up) and rotate your other elbow into the centre, switch the hand that's grabbing the wrist and sink your weight down onto their arms as you establish the position, hit with your free hand.

10 a) Pak and punch, inside gate Pak and chop
b) Lap and punch, Pak and chop

11 a) Pak and punch, punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, punch

The last punch relies on your partner not giving you proper resistance/energy on the arm you Pak.

12 a) Pak and punch, Inside gate Tan and punch, inside gate Pak and punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, Inside gate Tan and punch, inside gate Pak and punch

13 a) Lap and punch, hammer fist between arms
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, hammer fist between arms

We experimented with the hammer fist hitting both solar plexus and also groin, allowing for a follow up rising elbow

14 a) Immovable elbow, Garn and punch, cover and back fist
b) Immovable elbow, switch arms, Garn and punch, cover and back fist

From contact on the initial immovable elbow your rear hand covers their guard hand (think of sliding between the two hands that are guard to guard) and you can then throw your other hand around as an immovable elbow.

15 a) Lap and punch, Tok Sau and punch
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, Tok Sau and punch

Tok Sau - catching their arm just above the elbow with your thumb underneath and pushing the arm across their body.

16 a) Inside gate Pak, chop forward, Lap and backfist, Lap and palm strike
b) Inside gate Pak, chop forward, roll over backfist, wait and trap, punch

The chop is thrown with the same arm you inside gate Pak with, 16a is the three attacks from the three drill gaining entry with an inside gate.

17 a) Lap and punch, piston punch
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, piston punch

18 a) Pak and head grab, strong lat pull and punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and head grab, strong lat pull and punch

19 a) Pak and punch, roll over backfist, push head away, sweep and punch
b) Lap and punch, Pak and punch, roll over backfist, push head away then release and elbow

20 a) Lap and punch, second Lap resisted, fold to elbow
b) Lap and punch, Lap and punch, third Lap resisted, fold to elbow

Class notes: Elbow range

Really technical session last night, no video to back me up so will simply list the different aspects of what we did.

Entry techniques demo: Last week this was something Trsit was working on and so he ran through with Martin what he remembered.

Entry techniques.

1a: lap and punch, trap and punch
1b: lap and punch, lap and punch, trap and punch
2a: pak and punch, kau sau and punch
2b: lap and punch, pak and punch, kau sau and punch
3a: pak and punch, tan and punch, trap and punch
3b: lap and punch, pak and punch, tan and punch, trap and punch
4a: pak and punch, body shot, tan and punch, trap and punch
4b: lap and punch, pak and punch, body shot, tan and punch, trap and punch
5a: lap and punch, lift hands, gut hammerfist
5b: lap and punch, lap and punch, lift hands, gut hammerfist
6a: inside gate lap and chop, chop to neck
6b: inside gate lap and chop, arm x-trap and punch
7a: lap and punch, hit through centre
7b: lap and punch, lap and punch, hit through centre

Now these are the only ones that I wrote down from a class we did in 2010. Mart and Trist went all the way up to 15 so not sure if they followed the above a b pattern or simply went through 15. It might be a good idea to catalogue them again at some point to simply catalogue them. I wonder if these are things we can apply out of the 3 drill or sparring?

3 drill: hit through the centre of the chop to the throat with a palm up horizontal fist. Martin remarked that he had been doing the 3 drill for 20 years and still new techniques are being discovered.

Martin spent time talking us through the following details of elbow use: mechanics,
distancing,
range,
thumb position when clasping,
‘jabbing’,

Thai clinch defence counter: outside of the arm for a long arm lap control

Arm drag pull away: cup the elbow and tricep to control the escape to give you wrist control.

Punching targets and tools: the jaw line, the vertical and the horizontal fist

Punching the head when being aggressively held at the shoulder – coming over and under the arm and fist orientation.

Encroachment drill: basic stance and range, pushing arm mechanics, punch target. Their possible counter to the push into cover and counter.

Elbow control: crook of the elbow, thumb and fingers manipulation. Counters: crushing the hand by leading with the elbow, popping the elbow out to escape,

Finding the lap creatively in the standing grapple

Pak pass to lap

Discussion on sparring

Found this podcast recently (Hiyaa Podcast) and it is both entertaining and educational. Educational in the sense that experienced stylists from different arts talk about their methods and pasts. I like it as I love learning about all the martial arts.

Anyway, on the podcast linked below, there was an interesting chat about sparring. Such as what is it and how to incrementally develop it rather than just throwing gloves o and going at it. Part of the discussion within resonated in me because I used to think gloves on, gum shield in and see what happens.

http://www.hiyaapodcast.com/episode-9-interview-john-wang/

When doing MMA we did lots of drills and then freeform. Freeform being using whatever you want. It did feel developmental rather than being thrown in the deep end. This is something that Martin has touched on several times that sparring intensity needs to be built up and not something that we just do. Having done lots of sparring in my martial arts career and in all the ranges of the spectrum, I can see the value in all variants. Doing the far end only will give you headaches and a speech impediment but not to do it will also leave a vacuum in your knowledge and experience of yourself. For many years I thought about how I would react and cope under pain, stress, exhaustion, fear and panic. I have found that different levels of sparring give you clearer and calmer eyes. I have also found that pain is a great teacher as well.

Strangely I have found a great big difference in myself in heavy sparring. Striking only sparring is still my nemesis yet grappling only sparring and grappling sparring with strikes sparring I love and am very comfortable with!

In closing, Martin is guiding us along our own paths to enable us to shape the martial art to us, not us to it and sparring, in which ever form it takes, is a significant part of our journey.
Enjoy the podcast.

Catch wrestling principles

Here are some of the principles in catch wrestling. Learning these is as important as learning the techniques themselves...

Basic Principles

- always keep your elbows in

- control your opponents hips

- control your opponents head

- control your opponets breathing

- keep your center of gravity lower than his is possible

- minimize space when in a superior position

- create space when in a inferior position

- always think ahead, have a plan for every scenario

- have an emergency plan for failed 'hook' attempts

- make life miserable for the bottom guy (poke, scratch, elbow, knee, punch etc.)

- make the bottom guy carry all your weight

- think before you act

- attack and control your opponent at angles, not straight on

- know your own body

and finally,
- know that your fight is won in the gym and not in the ring (which means train hard!

Street fight to music

Found this video way back near the start of the blog. Very fun for the new guys that have not seen it:

Words of wisdom from the greatest sword fighter that ever lived

Dokkōdō – The Way to Go Forth Alone

  This was a set of precepts written by Miyamoto Musashi the week before he died.  It was a guideline for having a stringent, honest, and simple life. I have studied  Musashi on and off for a while, and have only just come across this. It is always good to be to be surprised in research.

  Every martial artist should read this. You can pick and choose what you like about them. I don’t agree with all of them, but there is wisdom in there.

1. Accept everything the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself, and deep of the world
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or lore.
11. In all things have no preference.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of food.
14. Do not hold onto possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary belief.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice weapons beyond what is useful.\
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either good or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the Gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body, but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the way.

- Miyamoto Musashi

Class notes: fighting under soft spot lights

No notes from the class just videos.

Catch wrestling videos and notes from Trist

Trist has been doing some extra research and here are his tremendous insights as of late:



This whole video is really interesting to watch although a lot of its not relevant to what we are training. At 7.00mins in Billy starts talking about arm positioning for double wrist locks and arm bars, this then progresses to a few face crank positions, a standing double wrist lock takedown (bring on the mats!) and then at 8:30 he demonstrates the elbow/lever position (this is what I was focusing on transitioning to after establishing the lock and seem to work really well with both Ron and yourself)



Strangely the early part of this vid shows something not a million miles from what Ayyaz was talking about last night but Billy is immediately establishing his own wrist control, also an interesting break from two hands on one arm. The arm drag variations are around 2:00mins, the first is the variation we train and the other two seem more wrestling specific but still interesting from a grappling standpoint.



1:05mins in Billy shows an interesting idea for grapple sparring as a nice way to go for double wrist lock



This is on the ground but check out Billy at 2:05 onwards reminds me of Martin demonstrating good position.

Trist, thanks for all your insights, these videos are fantastic and help to keep us all learning

Learning from the stories and experiences of others.

I am a big fan of podcasts and my most recent discovery is that of Graplearts radio hosted by Stephan Kesting.

The latest 2 I recommend are the Tony Blauer interview and the Erik Paulson interview.

Blauer gives his interesting opinions about such aspects as coaching and fitness, of particular interest to me was when he talked in length about how competition fighting and sparring can prepare you better for the street.  This was also echoed in an interview with Burton Richardson who is a very well established JKD trainer out of Hawaii.

I found his honesty fascinating about how all his years of training did not work in the competitive environment. It was as if he had a false sense of what he could do because it had never been tested. Please listen as it is a fascinating interview.

Skipping back to the Blauer interview, he also talked a lot about fear and the two acronyms he uses to help understand it. Check it out.

Finally is the Erik Paulson interview. He is just an encyclopaedia of information and worth a listen, he created CSW, Combat Submission Wrestling. Again, listen to the path he took, the influences on his systems and the path he is now on.

Similar yet different striking concepts and principles

Been wandering YouTube and found these videos from this Russian style of martial arts

I like the following video because:

- He shows the shoulder roll
- He uses lots of torso rotation to develop power in his strikes
- He is very balanced at the end of his shots
- Relaxed heavy hands
- Looks messy in parts
- Striking a variety of body parts

On the downside I would like to see this in a more alive scenario where there is non compliance



This next video, at the start whilst the gloves are on, show some nice fast light contact practise. Later on it delves more into his idea of body use in the street/ self defence arena.

Class notes: pummel master class

3 drill: did about 45 mins of rolling. Trying to get different things to work such as the head and arm, hitting through the centre, double lap, short pak and kau sau. Working with Ayyaz I got lots of time to defend his hits through the centre and it was all about using the feet to keep out of range of his long arms.

3 drill 100k stance for 30 seconds - not to be lifted, thrown or off balanced. This is what our stance should be. Not in conversation stance but knees flexed, positive spine, shoulders forward of the hips. We pressure tested the two stances by resting our forearms on our partner's fighting wedge. They applied the forward pressure and we either lost balance (conversation stance) or absorbed it out through the arse and into the ground (combat stance).

Fighting out of the pummel: this was the focus from which all of our learning came out of tonight using our 5 primary grappling based attacks

1: arm drag

2: double lap

3: DWL

4: head and arm choke

5: long arm head control

the arm drag, swing back, counter punch and finishing punch:



Finding the double lap in the pummel is something I need to work on as I found it quite messy to find. Perhaps that is the point. It is not supposed to be clean and pretty all the time.

Regarding the elbow hits think about pointing the finger and this will give you the direction of the energy in the strike. You want your energy to go straight into him which means the forearm needs to be more parallel with your chest rather than the forearm folded in. It is almost as if the upper arm lifts and you are not you really hitting with the elbow, more like stopping their forward motion from the double lap with your elbow. Martin talked about his former teacher engaging in a challenge match with a Mantis teacher. The match ended swiftly with a double lap and elbow causing a rapid KO. I have looked online and found, obviously, no video evidence. There is however some videos of him training, teaching and applying wing chun. Here are a few to give you an idea of the man in question.



And here he is teaching from his knees! It has the embed code disabled hence the web address.

http://youtu.be/nkAAUscKQvI

And here is our training video of the double lap and elbow.



DWL: details: get his hand away from you and him, whilst being in control, to stop the hand clasping. Create the space for the arm and then you step in to meet his wrist and not pulling it in to your chest. This will keep his arm away from him. 

Clasp over the elbow or on the tricep with your armpit not on the forearm. You will not have the leverage if you are too low on his arm.

To do the empty chicken wing shoulder control make sure when you transition from the DWL to the ECWSC that you close the gap between your side and his. I did this with the Saracen leader and he commented on how much more effective it was when this gap was closed.

Head and arm snatch into choke: Martin reminded us of the need to close the gaps and ensure everything was in the right place. Primarily the deltoid need to reach right through and under his jaw line. I was working with the Saracen Leader and several things happened in slow motion. I put the technique on and within half a second I let go. Saracen stumbles, I thought he was taking the piss by doing a comedy stumble. As he stumbled he banged his head then proceeded straight body and hit the back of his head on the floor a few times. He appeared to be fitting. I know you must leave people alone and put them in the recovery position afterwards. Luckily this lasted for a few seconds before he jumped up feeling a little queasy. I felt really bad that this happened but SL was super cool about it all. It also made me realise that if everything is in the correct place that this choke is fast and can put someone to sleep after you have let go. 

In real MMA action:



In a grappling match:



Long arm head control. Elbow up and elbow down. Martin spent some time going through this and perhaps I am over thinking it or simply crap at it at the moment. Found it really hard to get on. Along with the double lap more time on this is needed.



And how it should be done properly:



Rotational power, pulling the other hand or leg or waist back to give power to the striking tool.

YouTube commenting as a learning tool

Try to watch the videos in YT as you can then comment on them. Make sure you comment on where you notice you applying stuff we have learned. Maybe as I have - time, name, technique.

Just a thought.

Class notes: be aware of your wrist

30 mins of 3 drill with a look at

- defending wide on the chop forward so they to practise the inside gate lap and hit

- the roll over backfist

Pummeling

- lots of rolling the technique, low arms, turn with the long arm



- DWL hunting



- arm drag being tighter and smaller and turning on a dime



Wrist awareness: Do not let them have it. Be aware so when you feel the rev or twist going on, get it back to a strong centre. Same for the arms and shoulders. Pull the shoulder back into its socket.

DWL counter - the hand grip into arm drag



Defence against double underhooks

Compress their elbows in and this should lever to loosen the underhook attempt. This will work best before they close the grip so be aware of their hands. Once the grip is closed you are likely to be going for a painful ride.



Thai clinch counter counter - going for the elbow not the wrist. We discovered that Jack has arms that it does not work on meaning no move is 100%. The point I believe is to see if it does then move to something else if it does not. One position is not worth fighting and battling for.




Grapple sparring

Team MMA, from where else but Poland!

This is some crazy and bold 'sport'

Class notes: Ayyaz takes control part 2

3 drill: went over and drilled material from last week focusing on:

- Hit through centre and a method to counter it and keeping the range. This was having an alive feel for range with your elbow and sort of jamming his attacks.

- Hit to groin then lifting elbow off the backfist.

- Double lap, also off the backfist. For this I was working with Jack and his double lap was very believable and strong. Really good to see the young lad making so much progress.

Arm drag x 4 drilling: with speed for 2m30 seconds then swapping over. We did this for 3 rounds and the sweat really started to flow. The four types of arm drags were detailed in the class notes from last week. Again this was about drilling, making the motions tighter and smaller. When fatigue sets in there is no space for big motions as they will be countered withe ease.



Jab and jab counter

Jab and jab right cross counter Spent a lot of time drilling the motions. I am really glad I used a video tonight as I can see what I was doing well and what I need to work on. Already having watched this video I have given myself 3 aspects to improve next week:

1: More lateral head movement on the jab defence.

2: Chin down at the end of the jab.

3: Correct alignemnt on the right cross. i seem to be turning and leaning too much and not delivering down the powerline.



Thai clinch defence counter: the head and arm or the long armed folding head control.



Flow wrestling This was a really nice part of the class where it was essentially free grappling sparring but done a pace with the focus on feel, hunting for the DWL, staying relaxed, staying tight and in a constant state of movement.

Thought for the day

Class notes: fighting from the clinch

The standing grappling part of the class was a refresher and then some from the learning of last week.

Arm drag from fixed positions:

Right hand on same side shoulder: arm drag

Right hand on opposite side shoulder: head and arm choke

Right hand on same side hip: DWL

Right hand on opposite side hip: Double lap

As well as working the variants with the left arm, mixing it up, incorporating fast twitch speed and reaction. Ensure the motions are tight and small. With speed comes erratic movement patterns so we tried to train to our perfect ideal of tight and small.

4 variants of the arm drag from the inside and outside wrist control (with punch down the centre)

Arm drag to back shoulder and hip control:

When done to you this feels most unpleasant, firstly because you are spinning around with your head below heart height, secondly, they are not applying much force and so are riding your attempts to escape. Below are the 4 variants of the arm drag entry to get to their back and hip.

lap right and punch left starting position: arm drag - pull the hook, shoulder drives through their shoulder to where they are not, just in front of their foot. Break the footwork rule of feet together, ride the bull, torque the wrist.

- buh the arm, and slip the left hand to hook the upper arm for the AD and reach around and grab the hip with the right.

- roll over and pull the elbow back if the pressure is going across the centre

- pressure being pressed into you and he is not letting you have the arm, go over for the DWL

- same side arm drag

10 minutes of 3 drill practise. Trying to look for arm drags.

Off the backfist, hit to the balls, same arm rising elbow to the jaw followed by a hook or elbow with the other hand.

Uppercut from wrist control and punch to his centre. He blocks the punch. Keep the pressure on with the punch and lean the shoulder slightly into him. Turn the hip and the shoulder for the uppercut (hand on his wrist) and go back to wrist control. It looks like a rotation of the spine, nothing is extended. Tight small movements are the key. Continue to hit off until you get the chance to uppercut under his forearm. From here your hand will appear trapped between his arm and his chest. However, this is the perfect set up for the DWL.

Boxing sparring drills:

A Jab and B jab counter

A jab and B jab, left hook counter

A jab and B jab, left hook, left uppercut counter

A jab and B jab counter. Initial jab attacker has to shoot in for the clinch or wrist control then go again.

Fighting from the clinch: start with equal position wrist control and look to strike and control. Several rounds of this led to lots and lots of sweat. This aspect of training, sparring, is my favourite part of training at this moment of time.

Thought for the day

Clean and lean living

After being inspired by my wife who has given up sugar,

http://givingupthewhitestuff.blogspot.co.uk

I decided to buy the following book on Martin's recommendation.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-Lean-Diet-Bestselling-Achieving/dp/0857831704

At the start of this year I drastically reduced my gluetan and 'white' food instake. Stuff like bread, pasta and rice. I have switched to brown rice and pasta.

For all of my adult life I have been addicted to food. Luckily, on the outside it never has shown too much as I have always been very active. But I can't see what it is doing inside. After turning 40 last year I decided to take more conscious control of my life and my body. This is my pension and if it does not work, all the money in the world will be no good to me. Hopefully I have another 40 summers of life left in me and I want to enjoy that time in good health and sound mind.

Apart from our weekly session at the army hall, my physical training entirely consists of yoga. I am keeping a blog of that and have cheekily borrowed and been inspired by Martin's idea of Kaizen - continuous improvement. After 40 laps of the sun I am finally and truly starting to take control of my life and choices in terms of diet, exercise, mindset and work.

Here is my yoga blog link. I am essentially trying to et to 500 hours. One day I would like to teach this stuff but I need to get good before that is even a consideration.

http://yogakaizen.blogspot.co.uk

In addition to the above I have started to make my own granola. Actually it is delicious. I am now looking at yoghurt makers to see if I can make it cleaner than my particular favourite, Yeo Valley. My own demons, usually the grazing greedy types, emerge after 9pm so if anyone has any ideas how to conquer this one, please let me know. I can eat pretty clean all day until then

Perhaps the ultimate question is how can I be effective at fighting someone else if I get beat by a dietry demon every day?

The Japanese master who's named after the double wrist lock

Thought for the day

Fedor Emelianenko

This post has been inspired by the last peice of learning from our most recent class: the Fedor entry from out of striking range.

For many Fedor is the best heavyweight in MMA's young history. Whilst we never fortunate to see him fight in West apart from a few flings at the end of his powers, the internet can reveal the man behind the legend.

I enjoy watching Fedor for many reasons:

He was never physically imposing in height, mean mug ability or physique. His skills and movement were fantastic. His mastery of Sombo was second to none. He had a never say die attitude. He threw hands (and soccer kicks) with violent intent yet he seemed to be one of the most humble fighters ever. This might because he was a Russian making his trade in Japan where their thrill for MMA was the freak show type fights. Just watch how many 'specimens' he was up against. His resilience was a plenty. Watch the slam by Kevin Randleman that almost sent him through the Earth's crust. He still won that fight.

A killer on the feet, tremendous takedowns and slight ground work. He even pulls of a wrenching DWL finish.



This is Sombo; essentially MMA with a gi jacket. He fight just as he does in MMA - powerful and crisp stand up to set up the takedown into ground domination.

Thought for the day

Class notes: a maximum of 2 moves

3 drill warm up: It still amazes me how 4 humans feel so different when doing this. The type of energy, the direction and the little nuances each person has. It was a chance to both warm up and revise the material from last week.

Heavy back fist from the elbow pulling back. Don't flick and roll or snap it over. Should have depth, length and forward pressure.

Change pressure: pull the lap and send the fist to his face, you should move him to enable your bastard change (the undefendable chop/right cross).

His centreline and punch pressure

Lap directions: vary it for different relations and gaps in his defence.

Forward pressure: all attacks and defences

Hunting for the revved wrist in the 3 drill: This was a new addition to the drill where instead of applying the lap to the wrist or forearm, you hunt for the base of the hand and apply more torque to the arm. This will better enable the DWL entry.

Defend the centre on the outside so he can lap and punch and then go for the arm drag.

4 variants of the arm drag from the inside and outside wrist control (with punch down the centre)

Arm drag to back shoulder and hip control:

When done to you this feels most unpleasant, firstly because you are spinning around with your head below heart height, secondly, they are not applying much force and so are riding your attempts to escape. Below are the 4 variants of the arm drag entry to get to their back and hip.

lap right and punch left starting position: arm drag - pull the hook, shoulder drives through their shoulder to where they are not, just in front of their foot. Break the footwork rule of feet together, ride the bull, torque the wrist.

- buh the arm, and slip the left hand to hook the upper arm for the AD and reach around and grab the hip with the right.

- roll over and pull the elbow back if the pressure is going across the centre

- pressure being pressed into you and he is not letting you have the arm, go over for the DWL

- same side arm drag

These can be applied on the inside and the outside of the arm from the initial position as well as left and right handed.

Arm drag to arm shear head control - extended arm, if they stand then go into the shoulder clinch with the underhook. You remain in a dominant position throughout.

Uppercut from wrist control and punch to his centre. He blocks the punch. Keep the pressure on with the punch and lean the shoulder slightly into him. Turn the hip and the shoulder for the uppercut (hand on his wrist) and go back to wrist control. It looks like a rotation of the spine, nothing is extended. Tight small movements are the key. Continue to hit off until you get the chance to uppercut under his forearm. From here your hand will appear trapped between his arm and his chest. However, this is the perfect set up for the DWL>

DWL out of MT clinch defence.

Boxing drills:
jab and jab counter
jab and jab, left hook counter
jab and jab, right cross counter
the Fedor entry - long range entry with the overhand right to get wrist control against a good striker who is making your day miserable

This is a great way to help you close the gap in a relatively safe fashion. Strikers seeing the big overhand right will want to defend, block or cover up. You are not trying to land, just trick their eyes and brain into that. The split second they cover them you are on them like a drunk on a kebab.

Thought for the day

Thought for the day

Thought for the Day

Class notes: 3 drill master class

Tonight was 2 hours dedicated to the 3 drill.  

Below is most of the key points from the class with some extra notes. For this post there will be less because I feel this should enable greater memory recall...

Heavy back fist from the elbow pulling back. Don't flick and roll or snap it over. Should have depth, length and forward pressure.

Change pressure: pull the lap and send the fist to his face, you should move him to enable your bastard change (the undefendable chop/right cross).

 His centreline and punch pressure 

 Lap directions: vary it for different relations and gaps in his defence.

 Forward pressure: all attacks and defences.

 Line of 4: in the chop forward, (attack1), make sure all 4 hands are on the same plane. Aimed to to promote smart hand positioning in attack and defence.

False interpretation of the centre line: moving off his centre, for example hitting through his centre when you have turned or stepped offline. 

Universal principle doesn't apply when there is no forward pressure from opponent: UP is controlling that space in front of your chest where the hand folds back with in a 6-8 inch zone.

This image here shows the distance of the universal principle, when it applies to pressure coming forward. Imagine the thumb is on your solar plexus and the little finger is extending away on your centreline. That is the distance you want to own.

Hit through the centre x2 pressure on and off: from the backfist.

Uppercut out of backfist

Action reaction: for the hit through - 45 down then 45 up (kiss the gun). the forearm still needs to be uprightish as the elbow has rolled under his forearm. Then action reaction for the lap. Thirdly then go for lap and have hit through the centre!! Amazing stuff;

Arm drag: Lift the arm, don't fight the forward pressure. nbsp;

 Double wrist wrist lock: getting the grip on the hand and the wrist.  

 Grabbing under and on the hand = greater rev effect.nbsp;

 

Arm drag to 3 quarter control: pull hook and push shoulder with your shoulder, when they freak, hook upercut, reapply pressure, if head raises, elbow

Fantastic session tonight. Whilst I love the sparring and grind of the standing grapple I also love the technical science behind this system.