MMA and me; day 82

So three long hours in the gym yesterday really kicked my hiney. First, in MMA, we worked on armbar drills, rotating across the small of the back, and getting armbars on each side. The key is to swing your leg to the side you're spinning to as close to the mat and as far out as possible so you can make the rotation as easy as possible. Once you get all the way over to the side, bring the other leg across their face, get your boot on, pinch your knees around the arm, and arch your hips.

Next we worked on avoiding a big punch while you have your opponent in your guard, and transitioning into an armbar. As they throw a big punch, slip it to the outside, and throw up the same arm (they throw a right, you grab with your right) across their triceps and grab hold. Then get up on your hip of the same side you're grabbing their arm with, push their face away with your other hand, while throwing your topside leg over their head. From here, it's a simple armbar, then it was time for kickboxing.

Kick boxing was a lot of working punch and kick combos with no pads, and no set combos. We started just throwing whatever we wanted, not too hard, and on defense, recognizing what was being thrown, and defending properly. We then worked on a few combos that ended in leg kicks, and just eating the kicks in the thigh. First was a 1-2-3-10, where you really don't have to step out too far for the 10 because your body is coiled in that direction from throwing the 3. Next was a rear leg teep, to a run up 10. The hardest part about this is keeping your weight back when you throw the teep, and then switching your legs to throw the 10 properly. Lastly we worked on getting your opponent off guard, by ending a combo differently. First you throw a 1-2-switch high 9. After too many of those, your opponent will start to bring up his hands, and then you toss a 1-2-switch run up low 10, and chop into his lead leg. Ouch! We finished with leg raises, flutter kicks, and plank positions. Then it was time for grappling.

Normally, I'd go into great detail about what we did in grappling, but I'm feeling a bit tired and lazy, and it's really easy to explain without putting in any work. If you read this blog regularly, go back and read the grappling class breakdown for day 79, it was exactly the same. Not that there's anything wrong with it. I got to go with a different partner, and it really helped me appreciate how different people respond to different moves. That being said, I'm tired, and I'm doing this all over tomorrow. The blog I mean...... and SPARRING!