A week on vacation can do wonders for your mind, body, and soul. I finally got back to the gym yesterday, and although a bit rusty, it felt great! We got right into it too, working on some new movements, and combinations. We started off with a jab, jab, straight, hook, straight, high catch counter, catch counter. We added to that a slip, rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, hook catch, hook, straight, lead uppercut, hook, straight, pull counter. We finished off with a left pivot double jab, making the whole combo look like this;
1-1-2-3-2-high catch counter-catch counter-slip-6-2-3-2-hook catch-3-2-5-3-2-pull counter-pivot left-1-1. This was a tough one for me and I has a hard time getting used to the timing on some of the punches, and I'm still tensing up a lot instead of just relaxing and letting things flow. Still, I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it by the end of class. We finished off with flutter kicks and plank positions, good day of boxing!
We started off jiu jitsu with our usual stretching, and got right into shoulder rolls, forward and backwards rolls, then started working more sweeps from half guard. First was from active guard, where you shrimp from guard to having one hook on a hip, with that knee across their stomach, and have the other foot on their other hip. In gi, grab across to the opposite side lapel with your top side hand, and grab a handful of gi on back of their upper arm with the other hand. In no gi, instead of grabbing the lapel, get an under hook, and grab the tricep with the other hand. Extend your knee on the stomach to push them away as you pull their arm towards you, stretching them out, and flare your foot on their hip out straight and then quickly sweep it into their leg while flipping them over with your other leg, pulling the lapel/under hook, and dragging their arm all at once. Extract your leg back to a lunge, lean forward with a C block, and end up in side control. The next sweep we worked was a scissor sweep, and I had a little more trouble with this one. From full guard, shrimp to half guard, and grab your same side under hook. From there, switch your half guard to the other leg, keeping your under hook, but instead of switching your outside leg to being completely underneath them, transition it to a butterfly hook, kick the outside/top side leg out wide, and simultaneously bring it in to their leg while lifting with your butterfly hook, lifting with your under hook, pulling towards you with your over hook on the other side, and you'll flip them over to their back, where you can extract your leg back to a lunge, get your C block and reclaim side control. Whew! Great first day back, I really missed you guys.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
MMA and me; day 130
So I was only able to make it to the kickboxing class yesterday, so I had to dial up the intensity a bit. We started with some conditioning drills, and then moved right into some movement drills. We had to mirror our partner's movement and when they showed an open mitt, we threw a jab. Next we did the same with a 1-2, then a jab- right knee combo, and finally a 1-2-left knee combo. On the knees, make sure to lean back, and bring your opposite side arm around in front of your face to prevent yourself from getting blasted with a counter. We finished with fifty partner sit ups, and I was done with class. I worked some free flow boxing with Coach Troy, and then grappled for about half an hour to finish my day.
So here's where I blatantly abuse my blog and ask for help from any of the readers who live in the Seattle area and don't mind a bit of manual labor. My wife and I are moving this Sunday, and could use an extra hand or two helping out. If you have a little time to spare, and enjoy being bribed with pizza, and beverages, drop me a line at nmilesread@gmail.com. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Well that does it for the rest of the week, I'm gone until Sunday on vacation. Have a great time without me!
So here's where I blatantly abuse my blog and ask for help from any of the readers who live in the Seattle area and don't mind a bit of manual labor. My wife and I are moving this Sunday, and could use an extra hand or two helping out. If you have a little time to spare, and enjoy being bribed with pizza, and beverages, drop me a line at nmilesread@gmail.com. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Well that does it for the rest of the week, I'm gone until Sunday on vacation. Have a great time without me!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
MMA and me; day 129
A day late, but here I am with nonetheless. Boxing was another day of the same set we ran on Tuesday, and I gotta say I really like it. Broken up into three stacks, the first was comprised of a counter, slip counter, catch 2, body catch, body catch, rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, straight. Second was a turn right, counter, roll 7, double catch, counter. Lastly, turn left, hook, hook, straight, catch 2. I still need to work on my turns, I'm not using my hips enough, and I'm leaning a little far forward, but I'm getting the basic motions down properly. We finished with a round of flutter kicks, over unders, and planks, and it was time for jiu jitsu.
We started off by rolling to our shoulders and hanging out there for five minutes. We were keeping our knees bent and over our heads, tiptoeing our feet around the mat, and stretching our necks out. If we needed to come out of the position, we brought our knees to the mat, and slid our head out. After this, we moved to forward and backward rolling drills, followed by shoulder rolls, making sure to be nice and deliberate with our rolls, not hurrying through them. next was a drill I can only describe as hugging your partner's side, and flipping back and forth over them sideways as they sit on all fours. The biggest thing is momentum, and not doing both legs at once when you're flipping back. With your partner on all fours, you under hook across their torso with both arms, and flip to their other side, so that your arms are now across their back, and you're upside down. To flip back, pop one of your legs as high up as you can, and throw your hips into it, and the rest of your body will follow.
With the remaining time left, we worked on a couple of half guard sweeps. First, if your opponent has a narrow base, get your under hook on the same side as the leg you have trapped in half guard, and post up on the opposite elbow. Start shrimping towards your under hook, until you can reach their far side foot with the arm that has the under hook. Get your ear to their bellybutton, and with your other hand, grab their knee. Lunge your top side leg out behind you, and in one motion, suck their knee and leg into you, while popping your shoulder into them. As they fall, sit up, post your outside arm behind their back, swim your other arm to post behind them as well, and swing your outside arm around to behind their head as you C-block with the other arm to finish in side control, making sure to lay them flat. The next sweep was for an opponent with a wide base. You still have the under hook and are posted up on the elbow, but this time, as you're shrimping around, you dive your posted arm under their legs, so it's under hooked on their far leg, while the other arm is still around their back, preferably grabbing a lateral muscle. Switch the position of your legs, so the top leg is over the opponent's leg in half guard, and pulling it straight out to the side. From here roll them across your body, twisting with your core, and when they're on their back, swim your arm out from between their legs, C-block their legs, and end in side control, remembering to lay them flat. Great classes Thursday!
We started off by rolling to our shoulders and hanging out there for five minutes. We were keeping our knees bent and over our heads, tiptoeing our feet around the mat, and stretching our necks out. If we needed to come out of the position, we brought our knees to the mat, and slid our head out. After this, we moved to forward and backward rolling drills, followed by shoulder rolls, making sure to be nice and deliberate with our rolls, not hurrying through them. next was a drill I can only describe as hugging your partner's side, and flipping back and forth over them sideways as they sit on all fours. The biggest thing is momentum, and not doing both legs at once when you're flipping back. With your partner on all fours, you under hook across their torso with both arms, and flip to their other side, so that your arms are now across their back, and you're upside down. To flip back, pop one of your legs as high up as you can, and throw your hips into it, and the rest of your body will follow.
With the remaining time left, we worked on a couple of half guard sweeps. First, if your opponent has a narrow base, get your under hook on the same side as the leg you have trapped in half guard, and post up on the opposite elbow. Start shrimping towards your under hook, until you can reach their far side foot with the arm that has the under hook. Get your ear to their bellybutton, and with your other hand, grab their knee. Lunge your top side leg out behind you, and in one motion, suck their knee and leg into you, while popping your shoulder into them. As they fall, sit up, post your outside arm behind their back, swim your other arm to post behind them as well, and swing your outside arm around to behind their head as you C-block with the other arm to finish in side control, making sure to lay them flat. The next sweep was for an opponent with a wide base. You still have the under hook and are posted up on the elbow, but this time, as you're shrimping around, you dive your posted arm under their legs, so it's under hooked on their far leg, while the other arm is still around their back, preferably grabbing a lateral muscle. Switch the position of your legs, so the top leg is over the opponent's leg in half guard, and pulling it straight out to the side. From here roll them across your body, twisting with your core, and when they're on their back, swim your arm out from between their legs, C-block their legs, and end in side control, remembering to lay them flat. Great classes Thursday!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
MMA and me; day 128
New concepts were covered in boxing yesterday, and some of them need more work than others for me. We started off with a counter, slip, catch 2, which is a straight catch, hook catch, and is the same as the last half of the catch 4. Next were two body catches followed by a rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, and finished the stack with a straight. We added to that a pivot right, counter, roll 7, which is seven punches starting and ending with a straight, alternating with jabs, a double catch of a straight and a hook, and finishing with a counter. To end the whole combo, we added a pivot left, hook, hook, straight, catch 2. The whole thing looked like this;
2-3-2-slip-2-3-2-catch 2-catch body outside-catch body inside-6-5-3-2-pivot right-2-3-2-roll 7-double catch-2-3-2-pivot left-3-3-2-catch 2, WHEW! We finished off with partner push up drills, and flutter kicks.
In jiu jitsu we warmed up with shrimping and reverse shrimping drills, getting to the point where you go through the shrimping motion making several small movements instead of one large one. We moved on to forward and backwards rolls, staying as small as possible, went over shoulder rolls, roll-re rolls, and some headstands. Snap arm bar drills came next, just going through the submission bit by bit and hitting all the points we've covered. Hook the near side arm, lean over to create pressure and give your leg a little space to swing around after you flick your leg side foot up to their head. Bring the head side leg all the way around and over their head to completely perpendicular, bring the heel in tight, pinch your knees together, and lean back while pulling the arm. We continued our work with the S-mount next, pulling your foot in tight to the head, and over hooking their far side arm with your leg side arm. Next, swim that arm underneath the far side arm and bring it in between your neck and head, trapping it with your shoulder, and digging your radial bone into their arm just above the elbow. From here you can Gable grip and suck it in, rear naked choke grip, lean back and extend your hips, all for the cutting arm bar. If their arm pops out when you lean back, their other arm is right there for another arm bar. Awesome stuff!
2-3-2-slip-2-3-2-catch 2-catch body outside-catch body inside-6-5-3-2-pivot right-2-3-2-roll 7-double catch-2-3-2-pivot left-3-3-2-catch 2, WHEW! We finished off with partner push up drills, and flutter kicks.
In jiu jitsu we warmed up with shrimping and reverse shrimping drills, getting to the point where you go through the shrimping motion making several small movements instead of one large one. We moved on to forward and backwards rolls, staying as small as possible, went over shoulder rolls, roll-re rolls, and some headstands. Snap arm bar drills came next, just going through the submission bit by bit and hitting all the points we've covered. Hook the near side arm, lean over to create pressure and give your leg a little space to swing around after you flick your leg side foot up to their head. Bring the head side leg all the way around and over their head to completely perpendicular, bring the heel in tight, pinch your knees together, and lean back while pulling the arm. We continued our work with the S-mount next, pulling your foot in tight to the head, and over hooking their far side arm with your leg side arm. Next, swim that arm underneath the far side arm and bring it in between your neck and head, trapping it with your shoulder, and digging your radial bone into their arm just above the elbow. From here you can Gable grip and suck it in, rear naked choke grip, lean back and extend your hips, all for the cutting arm bar. If their arm pops out when you lean back, their other arm is right there for another arm bar. Awesome stuff!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
MMA and me; day 127
Man, Muay Thai days in kickboxing really wear your neck out! We started with some light conditioning drills, with three sets of the following exercise; ten jumping knees with the right knee, left knee, both knees, ten more with the right while our partner held our left foot off the mat behind us, and ten more with the left in the same way. With a good sweat worked up, we started to work on Thai clinch drills. First we just worked on holding a clinch, while our partner defended by doing his best to look to the ceiling while bringing his hips in. After both sides went, we moved on to pummeling drills. From inside the clinch, you bring up your right hand, and pop their right elbow out just enough to give your left hand space to swim up and under their arm and around the head, in a punching motion to try and break their grip. From there bring your other arm up and under to reclaim a clinch of your own. We then worked on throwing knees from the clinch, with a push and pull motion. As you're controlling your opponent, push them away while straightening your right leg out behind you, then bring their head in towards you as you bring the knee up to their head or stomach. From the left it's the same, you just switch your stance as you push them away. You do not bring their head straight down as you pull. Instead, pull them off to the side of your knee for a more powerful strike. We then worked a drill incorporating all of these techniques. You held the clinch, threw a right knee, a left knee, and then your partner would pummel in, and do the same. We did this for a three minute round, and then finished with knee downs into a kick shield. With your partner holding the kick shield, you would throw ten knees from each side, then nine, then eight, etc, etc. Both of you did this all the way down to one, twice. WHEW!
In jiu jitsu, we focused on the key lock. From side control, use your chest to separate their grip, and isolate their far side arm on the mat by using a four finger grip with your head side arm, keeping your elbow in tight against their head. Reach under their elbow with your other hand, and grab your own wrist, sucking their elbow down as close to their hip as you can. From here, it's a simple matter of twisting your wrist while keeping theirs flat on the mat until they tap. If they happen to be quite flexible or just stubborn, allow them to straighten their arm out while maintaining your grip, and as soon as their thumb points towards the ceiling, making sure your arm is underneath just above the elbow, make the same motion you did for the key lock, and you've got a straight arm bar. Lastly, if they don't tap to this, and get their arm out and their hand down to their waist, switch your under hook, and grab their wrist with your leg side hand, and grab that wrist with your other hand. Sit out to a high judo position, and cross face them with your head side knee, putting all your weight on it and pulling up with your under hook for the kimura!
In jiu jitsu, we focused on the key lock. From side control, use your chest to separate their grip, and isolate their far side arm on the mat by using a four finger grip with your head side arm, keeping your elbow in tight against their head. Reach under their elbow with your other hand, and grab your own wrist, sucking their elbow down as close to their hip as you can. From here, it's a simple matter of twisting your wrist while keeping theirs flat on the mat until they tap. If they happen to be quite flexible or just stubborn, allow them to straighten their arm out while maintaining your grip, and as soon as their thumb points towards the ceiling, making sure your arm is underneath just above the elbow, make the same motion you did for the key lock, and you've got a straight arm bar. Lastly, if they don't tap to this, and get their arm out and their hand down to their waist, switch your under hook, and grab their wrist with your leg side hand, and grab that wrist with your other hand. Sit out to a high judo position, and cross face them with your head side knee, putting all your weight on it and pulling up with your under hook for the kimura!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
UFC 131
So tired, and it's the eleventh hour...AGAIN! Sigh, why do I do this to myself? Oh wait, because it's just the way I do things best. So here I sit with Ghiradelli chocolate and a mind spinning due to wiping out zombies in Dead Nation with my pal Chad (WOOT!) and all I got to say is I cannot wait for the fights!
Donald "Cowboy"Cerrone vs Vagner Rocha
lightweight
Cerrone is making his second UFC fight, but has been fighting under the Zuffa banner since 2007, when he began fighting in the now absorbed WEC. Rocha has only seven career fights, and though has only lost once, has less than half the experience Cerrone does.
Cerrone is a tall lanky fighter with solid stand up, and a mean ground game. Rocha will certainly want to get this fight to the ground where his solid bjj game can get him an edge. Cerrone will most certainly try to keep this standing, and utilize his reach advantage to keep Rocha at distance. Expect just this to happen, until Rocha gets frustrated and starts to get desperate, letting Cerrone exploit a small mistake and get a TKO early in the second round.
Cerrone via TKO, Rd. 2
Demian Maia vs. Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz
middleweight
Both fighters are comfortable on the ground, albeit in very different fashions. Munoz is a former NCAA national champion wrestler, and Maia is a highly decorated submission grappling champion, and one of the best bjj practitioners in mma today. In the stand up department, both men possess adequate, if not fantastic skill sets, with the power edge going to Munoz, and the precision/technical advantage landing on Maia's side.
Munoz definitely has the ability to end a fight early,and Maia has shown that he can be dropped if he gets careless. Since a brutal 22 second KO loss to Nate Marquardt however, Maia has shown much better discipline and patience. He also seems to have the better cardio than Munoz, providing he can push the pace and force Munoz to start winging the wild overhand rights he seems to like. Maia will drag the fight into the third round, where he'll pretty much be able to do what he wants since he will most likely be ahead on the judges scorecards by then. Maia takes an easy, but not dominant unanimous decision here.
Maia via Unanimous Decision
Jon Olav "The Viking" Einemo vs. Dave "Pee-Wee" Herman
heavyweight
Normally I'd be all over rooting for a Norwegian nicknamed "The Viking" who has a black belt in bjj. In this case, however, Einemo is a man who hasn't competed in MMA in over four years, and is facing a much younger, less rusty fighter in Herman who, despite the silly nickname, is a hungry up and comer who has fought his entire 22 fight career in the time since Einemo last fought. Herman is very well rounded, and though may be giving up 25-30 pounds to the Norwegian, he has better stand up, and will use his speed advantage to batter Einemo at every opportunity. This fight doesn't have much chance of making it out of the first round, and Herman will have his hand raised after a violent KO, announcing his arrival to the rest of the heavyweights in the UFC.
Herman via KO, Rd. 1
Kenny "Ken-Flo" Florian vs. Diego "The Gun" Nunes
featherweight
Florian makes his 145 pound debut, and marks the first time in UFC history a fighter will have competed in four separate weight classes. Perhaps looking to make a run at the title, he will have to get by one of the champion Jose Aldo's training partners in Nunes. After a somewhat surprising upset of former champ Mike Thomas Brown, Nunes looks to prove he might deserve a title shot of his own if he can upset Florian. "Ken-Flo" will enjoy a reach advantage, and though his striking is not as flashy as Nunes', it is much cleaner, and precise. Florian doesn't make any unnecessary movements, and has some of the most lethal elbows and knees from inside the clinch or guard in all of MMA. Nunes will either have to try and pick his shots with kicks at distance, or get Florian to the ground and try to work his submission game. Unfortunately, Florian is not bad at bjj himself, and Nunes may be hard pressed to get much more than hit in the face for his troubles. Florian will simply be too big, and to experienced for Nunes, and is going to have his hand raised after three rounds of picking "The Gun" apart on the feet, and stuffing take downs.
Florian via Unanimous Decision
HEAVYWEIGHT #1 CONTENDER MATCH
Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos vs. Shane "The Engineer"
When Brock Lesnar had to step away from this fight due to illness, Carwin jumped at the opportunity to get right back into title contention. Dos Santos had already won the chance to fight for the heavyweight strap by laying a one sided beating on Roy Nelson, but when champ Cain Velasquez went down with a shoulder injury, Dos Santos was unwilling to sit inactive for a year, and took the fight with Lesnar. While Dos Santos is to be commended for wanting to continue to fight, it may come back to bite him in the keister. In Lesnar he had a fighter who he could have most likely pressured with his outstanding boxing, until he made a mistake. Carwin has a much sturdier chin, and far more refined stand up. That's not to say that Carwin will want to stand and bang with Dos Santos, because that's most likely a recipe for an early mat nap. Instead, it means Carwin will be more able to withstand an early barrage or he will keep himself out of harms way long enough to set up his game plan and execute it.
For Carwin to win, he will need to avoid standing exchanges with Dos Santos and try to get the fight to the mat for some ground and pound, maybe by pressuring "Cigano" up against the fence and work short strikes much like he did against Frank Mir. For Dos Santos, he'll want to stay standing at all costs, and keep his distance with his jab, looking to counter the slower man in Carwin, and work his suspect cardio. If this fight makes it out of the first round, it seems to be Dos Santos' to lose, but with the sheer mass of Carwin pushing the issue, I see "The Engineer" bull rushing Dos Santos early, and pummeling him senseless midway through the first round, and getting his shot at Velasquez later this year.
Carwin via TKO, Rd. 1
Donald "Cowboy"Cerrone vs Vagner Rocha
lightweight
Cerrone is making his second UFC fight, but has been fighting under the Zuffa banner since 2007, when he began fighting in the now absorbed WEC. Rocha has only seven career fights, and though has only lost once, has less than half the experience Cerrone does.
Cerrone is a tall lanky fighter with solid stand up, and a mean ground game. Rocha will certainly want to get this fight to the ground where his solid bjj game can get him an edge. Cerrone will most certainly try to keep this standing, and utilize his reach advantage to keep Rocha at distance. Expect just this to happen, until Rocha gets frustrated and starts to get desperate, letting Cerrone exploit a small mistake and get a TKO early in the second round.
Cerrone via TKO, Rd. 2
Demian Maia vs. Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz
middleweight
Both fighters are comfortable on the ground, albeit in very different fashions. Munoz is a former NCAA national champion wrestler, and Maia is a highly decorated submission grappling champion, and one of the best bjj practitioners in mma today. In the stand up department, both men possess adequate, if not fantastic skill sets, with the power edge going to Munoz, and the precision/technical advantage landing on Maia's side.
Munoz definitely has the ability to end a fight early,and Maia has shown that he can be dropped if he gets careless. Since a brutal 22 second KO loss to Nate Marquardt however, Maia has shown much better discipline and patience. He also seems to have the better cardio than Munoz, providing he can push the pace and force Munoz to start winging the wild overhand rights he seems to like. Maia will drag the fight into the third round, where he'll pretty much be able to do what he wants since he will most likely be ahead on the judges scorecards by then. Maia takes an easy, but not dominant unanimous decision here.
Maia via Unanimous Decision
Jon Olav "The Viking" Einemo vs. Dave "Pee-Wee" Herman
heavyweight
Normally I'd be all over rooting for a Norwegian nicknamed "The Viking" who has a black belt in bjj. In this case, however, Einemo is a man who hasn't competed in MMA in over four years, and is facing a much younger, less rusty fighter in Herman who, despite the silly nickname, is a hungry up and comer who has fought his entire 22 fight career in the time since Einemo last fought. Herman is very well rounded, and though may be giving up 25-30 pounds to the Norwegian, he has better stand up, and will use his speed advantage to batter Einemo at every opportunity. This fight doesn't have much chance of making it out of the first round, and Herman will have his hand raised after a violent KO, announcing his arrival to the rest of the heavyweights in the UFC.
Herman via KO, Rd. 1
Kenny "Ken-Flo" Florian vs. Diego "The Gun" Nunes
featherweight
Florian makes his 145 pound debut, and marks the first time in UFC history a fighter will have competed in four separate weight classes. Perhaps looking to make a run at the title, he will have to get by one of the champion Jose Aldo's training partners in Nunes. After a somewhat surprising upset of former champ Mike Thomas Brown, Nunes looks to prove he might deserve a title shot of his own if he can upset Florian. "Ken-Flo" will enjoy a reach advantage, and though his striking is not as flashy as Nunes', it is much cleaner, and precise. Florian doesn't make any unnecessary movements, and has some of the most lethal elbows and knees from inside the clinch or guard in all of MMA. Nunes will either have to try and pick his shots with kicks at distance, or get Florian to the ground and try to work his submission game. Unfortunately, Florian is not bad at bjj himself, and Nunes may be hard pressed to get much more than hit in the face for his troubles. Florian will simply be too big, and to experienced for Nunes, and is going to have his hand raised after three rounds of picking "The Gun" apart on the feet, and stuffing take downs.
Florian via Unanimous Decision
HEAVYWEIGHT #1 CONTENDER MATCH
Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos vs. Shane "The Engineer"
When Brock Lesnar had to step away from this fight due to illness, Carwin jumped at the opportunity to get right back into title contention. Dos Santos had already won the chance to fight for the heavyweight strap by laying a one sided beating on Roy Nelson, but when champ Cain Velasquez went down with a shoulder injury, Dos Santos was unwilling to sit inactive for a year, and took the fight with Lesnar. While Dos Santos is to be commended for wanting to continue to fight, it may come back to bite him in the keister. In Lesnar he had a fighter who he could have most likely pressured with his outstanding boxing, until he made a mistake. Carwin has a much sturdier chin, and far more refined stand up. That's not to say that Carwin will want to stand and bang with Dos Santos, because that's most likely a recipe for an early mat nap. Instead, it means Carwin will be more able to withstand an early barrage or he will keep himself out of harms way long enough to set up his game plan and execute it.
For Carwin to win, he will need to avoid standing exchanges with Dos Santos and try to get the fight to the mat for some ground and pound, maybe by pressuring "Cigano" up against the fence and work short strikes much like he did against Frank Mir. For Dos Santos, he'll want to stay standing at all costs, and keep his distance with his jab, looking to counter the slower man in Carwin, and work his suspect cardio. If this fight makes it out of the first round, it seems to be Dos Santos' to lose, but with the sheer mass of Carwin pushing the issue, I see "The Engineer" bull rushing Dos Santos early, and pummeling him senseless midway through the first round, and getting his shot at Velasquez later this year.
Carwin via TKO, Rd. 1
Friday, June 10, 2011
MMA and me; day 126
Another day of drilling a tough combo in boxing, and I loved it! I went back and forth between helping a couple of new guys get comfortable with the jab and the straight, while focusing on the basics like keeping your hands up, chin down, and simple footwork, and also drilling the combo. We switched it up a bit, but not too much. We started with the straight, hook, straight, into the roll counter, catch counter, body catch, body catch, rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, straight. To that we added the jab slip stop, straight slip stop, roll straight hook, roll, hook straight. Capped off with the catch 4, this is what it looks like;
2-3-2-roll-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-slip stop 1-slip stop 2-roll-2-3-roll-3-2-catch 4 series. We ended with flutter kicks, over unders, and planks. A great day of drills, and welcome to the new guys Mike and Harley! Thanks to Coach Troy for your help, I'm slowly getting better at keeping my chin down, and that 5-3 portion of the combo feels way smoother now.
Jiu jitsu was really fun. After our stretching and warm up drills, we went back into working from the S-mount. We repped the arm bar drill several times, and I keep finding out new things about the troubles I'm having with arm bars. From the mount, you lock your arms up and push down on one of their elbows, which brings up their other elbow allowing you to C-block it across their chest, and hold it in place with your weight. As you slide your knee on that side up just past their head, and straighten out your other leg, you get to S-mount, sitting heavy on your hamstring on their chest. From here, turn towards their head and smoothly turn back while simultaneously under hooking their near arm with your top side arm, and reaching under their near leg with your other arm, and sliding off their chest so you're sitting on the mat. As you lean back to finish the arm bar, if they fight it, sit up and pull your hand out from under their leg, bring it up and push it under their far arm, making sure to stay bunched up, and roll to your other side. At this point it's a matter of arching your back and extending your hips to break the grip and get the tap.
We also worked on going from a high judo, to a switched stance where all you do is switch your leg placement, but make sure to keep your hips really heavy. It feels a lot like a hybrid between high judo and side control. From here, much like the previous drill, you briefly twist away, then smoothly bring your top side leg over their head, getting your heel right in the crook between their shoulder and neck, and swimming your top side arm under their near arm as you bring it around. From here, if you're wearing a gi, you can grab your lapel with the arm trapping theirs, and twist your body so you're belly down, extending your topside leg slightly with pops their head off the ground. At this point all you need to do is make sure their thumb is pointed to the ceiling, arch your back, and extend the leg under their head. This will most likely elicit a tap, but if not, you can figure four their head and work a nasty neck crank, it does not feel good! Thank you Coach Wise for your patience and faith in me. I truly appreciate it.
2-3-2-roll-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-slip stop 1-slip stop 2-roll-2-3-roll-3-2-catch 4 series. We ended with flutter kicks, over unders, and planks. A great day of drills, and welcome to the new guys Mike and Harley! Thanks to Coach Troy for your help, I'm slowly getting better at keeping my chin down, and that 5-3 portion of the combo feels way smoother now.
Jiu jitsu was really fun. After our stretching and warm up drills, we went back into working from the S-mount. We repped the arm bar drill several times, and I keep finding out new things about the troubles I'm having with arm bars. From the mount, you lock your arms up and push down on one of their elbows, which brings up their other elbow allowing you to C-block it across their chest, and hold it in place with your weight. As you slide your knee on that side up just past their head, and straighten out your other leg, you get to S-mount, sitting heavy on your hamstring on their chest. From here, turn towards their head and smoothly turn back while simultaneously under hooking their near arm with your top side arm, and reaching under their near leg with your other arm, and sliding off their chest so you're sitting on the mat. As you lean back to finish the arm bar, if they fight it, sit up and pull your hand out from under their leg, bring it up and push it under their far arm, making sure to stay bunched up, and roll to your other side. At this point it's a matter of arching your back and extending your hips to break the grip and get the tap.
We also worked on going from a high judo, to a switched stance where all you do is switch your leg placement, but make sure to keep your hips really heavy. It feels a lot like a hybrid between high judo and side control. From here, much like the previous drill, you briefly twist away, then smoothly bring your top side leg over their head, getting your heel right in the crook between their shoulder and neck, and swimming your top side arm under their near arm as you bring it around. From here, if you're wearing a gi, you can grab your lapel with the arm trapping theirs, and twist your body so you're belly down, extending your topside leg slightly with pops their head off the ground. At this point all you need to do is make sure their thumb is pointed to the ceiling, arch your back, and extend the leg under their head. This will most likely elicit a tap, but if not, you can figure four their head and work a nasty neck crank, it does not feel good! Thank you Coach Wise for your patience and faith in me. I truly appreciate it.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
MMA and me; day 125
Kickboxing with Vern! It was my first full day with him, and the guy knows his mma. We worked the low 10 all class yesterday. First focusing on back and forth bump drills alternating between the outside 10 and the inside 10. When throwing the 10, make sure you're stepping across far enough to turn your leg out and connect with your shin to their thigh, then pushing off and returning to your stance. Next we worked a jab to low 10 combo, where you step in to throw the jab, then step off and lean into the 10. One of the main reasons to lean over the 10 is to avoid getting counter punched in the face, a point driven home by having our partner throw a straight right down the pipe after we threw our jab. If we weren't leaning over, we'd get punched in the face. Lastly we worked on throwing a jab, and throwing a 10 that would get checked. To properly check a low 10, you bring your lead leg up and out, keep it firm so it doesn't get swept out from underneath you, and slightly pop your hips forward. This should make shin on shin contact, and is much preferable to getting kicked in the thigh. We finished by doing 100 skip 10s, and then two minutes of partner leg throwdowns. On to jiu jitsu.
We worked knee bars yesterday, two different entries and a defense. Both entries were from half guard, with the first having you sweep your outside leg over their body to a crouching position, and bringing your other knee up so you're sitting on your opponents hips. Bringing your other knee up raises their legs up, so you under hook it with one of your arms, and use the other arm to straighten their leg by running it up their calf to the achilles and trapping it next to your head. Start to arch your hips, and roll to your side, which is what ever side they let you roll, it will happen. From there stay bunched up, pinching their thigh with your knees, and your feet on their bottom, and arch your back and extend your hips until they tap. The other entry is slightly different, where you spin the opposite direction and temporarily give up your back, but if you immediately under hook the leg, and pinch the thigh, they wont be able to do much to defend. Unless they do the defense we learned. If you're being knee barred, and the attacker is on their side, try to turn your knee up and away from them, giving yourself a chance to sit up. From here, over hook their leg that is nearest to you and kick away their other leg. As soon as you have gotten your knee clear of their hips, turn to your stomach, and push your other foot on their behind and shove yourself clear, knee bar avoided!
We worked knee bars yesterday, two different entries and a defense. Both entries were from half guard, with the first having you sweep your outside leg over their body to a crouching position, and bringing your other knee up so you're sitting on your opponents hips. Bringing your other knee up raises their legs up, so you under hook it with one of your arms, and use the other arm to straighten their leg by running it up their calf to the achilles and trapping it next to your head. Start to arch your hips, and roll to your side, which is what ever side they let you roll, it will happen. From there stay bunched up, pinching their thigh with your knees, and your feet on their bottom, and arch your back and extend your hips until they tap. The other entry is slightly different, where you spin the opposite direction and temporarily give up your back, but if you immediately under hook the leg, and pinch the thigh, they wont be able to do much to defend. Unless they do the defense we learned. If you're being knee barred, and the attacker is on their side, try to turn your knee up and away from them, giving yourself a chance to sit up. From here, over hook their leg that is nearest to you and kick away their other leg. As soon as you have gotten your knee clear of their hips, turn to your stomach, and push your other foot on their behind and shove yourself clear, knee bar avoided!
MMA and me; day 124
An awesome day of boxing and a whole new set of combos to cover so let's go! We started with the straight-hook-straight that we use for our counter shots, and went into a roll, followed by a counter, then a roll counter. Next we added the slip stops we worked on last week, but in the opposite order. After the previous counter, we slipped a jab while throwing a stopping jab of our own, then slipped a straight and threw a stopping straight, followed by a roll counter, rear body hook catch, lead body hook catch. The following stack added a roll, straight hook, roll, hook straight, then the catch four series. All in all, the combo looked like this;
2-3-2-roll-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2- slip/stop 1- slip/stop 2-roll-2-3-2-catch body 4-
catch body 3-6-2-3-2-roll-2-3-roll-3-2-catch-2-3-2-body 3 catch-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2-high 2 catch-2-3-2.
WHEW! That's a total of 34 punches! To say we were sweaty would be an understatement. Now it was time for jiu jitsu.
We went back to working the S-mount and the arm bar, but with some new flows. From S-mount, under hook the far arm with your opposite side arm, and use your free arm to post on the mat, and ratchet your hips across their body to secure the far side arm bar, if they push your leg off of their face, reach under their head with your arm on that side and lift them up, while taking their back, getting a seat bet grip. From there go for an arm bar on the other side, and from the arm bar you can go back to taking their back, or slide back to S-mount. Always make sure you are maintaining constant pressure, and not letting them get space to maneuver. This flow was awesome, and between both classes I felt like I'm really starting to get a lot of the basic concepts down. Big thanks to Coach Troy and Coach Wise for helping me out, and for turning a cruddy day into an awesome one. Thanks to everyone else out there who helped cheer me up, you are all amazing!
2-3-2-roll-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2- slip/stop 1- slip/stop 2-roll-2-3-2-catch body 4-
catch body 3-6-2-3-2-roll-2-3-roll-3-2-catch-2-3-2-body 3 catch-2-3-2-catch-2-3-2-high 2 catch-2-3-2.
WHEW! That's a total of 34 punches! To say we were sweaty would be an understatement. Now it was time for jiu jitsu.
We went back to working the S-mount and the arm bar, but with some new flows. From S-mount, under hook the far arm with your opposite side arm, and use your free arm to post on the mat, and ratchet your hips across their body to secure the far side arm bar, if they push your leg off of their face, reach under their head with your arm on that side and lift them up, while taking their back, getting a seat bet grip. From there go for an arm bar on the other side, and from the arm bar you can go back to taking their back, or slide back to S-mount. Always make sure you are maintaining constant pressure, and not letting them get space to maneuver. This flow was awesome, and between both classes I felt like I'm really starting to get a lot of the basic concepts down. Big thanks to Coach Troy and Coach Wise for helping me out, and for turning a cruddy day into an awesome one. Thanks to everyone else out there who helped cheer me up, you are all amazing!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
MMA and me; day 123
So I just realized that I spaced and forgot to blog for last Thursday, luckily, we covered the exact same combo that we did on Thursday, so check day 122, and you'll be good to go! Same for grappling, so if you missed either Tuesday or Thursday, there you go. Sorry so lame, but had a very interesting weekend, and not much time to get stuff written down but all is well, and now I'm raring to go.
So yesterday, I wasn't able to make it to kickboxing, but I did come in to grapple, and it was the first time I got to participate with Riley teaching a grappling class. We covered the D'Arce, which is a modified choke, where you defend a take down, and slip an arm under their neck, and through their arm pit. From here, grab your opposite bicep, and bring that same side's hand up to the shoulder blade. At this point it's all about controlling their body with your legs, arching your hips, and constricting your grip until they tap or pass out. We learned an entry from guard, where you apply the choke after attempting either a guillotine, or a kimura, which if not for my stumpy arms I would have had more success with. From either of those submission attempts, you just snake the arm further through until you get to a point where you can grab the bicep and lock up the choke. The nice thing about this entry is that you already have their torso controlled, and once your arms are locked, they're done for. Lastly, we worked a more high level entry from a leg ride, or having their back with a single hook. You feint like you're trying to get the other hook in, and cross face with the arm on the same side as your single hook. From here, bring the other arm towards you, and sneak it under their neck, as you pull the cross face off and drop to your hip and snag your bicep with the arm under their neck, and sink in the D'Arce! Very technical, and I had a hard time with it, but Riley made it look super easy. Afterwards we rolled for a while, and then I went home and passed out, Cheers!
So yesterday, I wasn't able to make it to kickboxing, but I did come in to grapple, and it was the first time I got to participate with Riley teaching a grappling class. We covered the D'Arce, which is a modified choke, where you defend a take down, and slip an arm under their neck, and through their arm pit. From here, grab your opposite bicep, and bring that same side's hand up to the shoulder blade. At this point it's all about controlling their body with your legs, arching your hips, and constricting your grip until they tap or pass out. We learned an entry from guard, where you apply the choke after attempting either a guillotine, or a kimura, which if not for my stumpy arms I would have had more success with. From either of those submission attempts, you just snake the arm further through until you get to a point where you can grab the bicep and lock up the choke. The nice thing about this entry is that you already have their torso controlled, and once your arms are locked, they're done for. Lastly, we worked a more high level entry from a leg ride, or having their back with a single hook. You feint like you're trying to get the other hook in, and cross face with the arm on the same side as your single hook. From here, bring the other arm towards you, and sneak it under their neck, as you pull the cross face off and drop to your hip and snag your bicep with the arm under their neck, and sink in the D'Arce! Very technical, and I had a hard time with it, but Riley made it look super easy. Afterwards we rolled for a while, and then I went home and passed out, Cheers!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
MMA and me; day 122
Okay, we covered a lot in boxing on Tuesday, so I'll just jump right into it. We started off with a jab parry, straight catch, hook catch, straight, roll, straight, hook, straight, catch counter, slip step counter. The slip step counter is new, and is something that is going to take me a bit to get used to. You slip the punch, but you also step off to the side, forcing your opponent to alter their angle, then hit them with the counter. To that we added a body catch, body catch, rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, high low counter, and finished with a catch four. So all together, the 28 punch combo looked like this; parry-catch 2-catch 3-2-3-2-catch counter-slip step counter-body catch-body catch-6-2-3-2-high low counter-catch 4. After this, we went to work on the body, literally. First, with the same partner, we lined up on the wall, and with hands on our heads took shots to the body from our partner for three minutes, then switched and got to be the punchers. We then did two rounds of what I will call medicine ball ab catches. With your partner standing about five feet away, you chest pass the medicine ball directly to his stomach, which he has to let hit his abs and then catch with his hands. Then he does it to you, and back and forth for three minutes. We did this for two rounds. We then finished up with a round of flutter kicks, and know, Coach Troy is not a dick. Absorbing body shots is no fun, and these drills help with strengthening them, but also helps control the breathing, which is one of the most important things when it comes to taking shots to the abdomen. Thanks for a great class Coach!
Jiu jitsu we worked on our stretching, shoulder rolls, turtle back rocking, compass drills, headstand to bridge drills, and finished with S mount snap arm bars. From the mount, lock both arms and push down on one of the bottom mans elbows, it will pull their other arm across their chest a bit, and using your hand on the same side, push that arm across all the way, and hold it in place with your chest. From here, slide the knee on that same side up past the head, just a bit, and straighten out the other leg so your hamstring is resting across their abdomen. From this position, under hook their arm you have trapped with your arm you have nearest to their head, and reach your other arm as far across the body as you can. Whip your head side lag around and over their head, letting your butt fall off their chest to the mat, but keeping their arm trapped and locked elbow pit deep. With your other arm, loosely under hook their near side leg for stability and if they start to try and get out, sit up, switch under hooks, and lean out towards the head ripping their hands apart, and finishing the arm bar. Fun stuff!
Jiu jitsu we worked on our stretching, shoulder rolls, turtle back rocking, compass drills, headstand to bridge drills, and finished with S mount snap arm bars. From the mount, lock both arms and push down on one of the bottom mans elbows, it will pull their other arm across their chest a bit, and using your hand on the same side, push that arm across all the way, and hold it in place with your chest. From here, slide the knee on that same side up past the head, just a bit, and straighten out the other leg so your hamstring is resting across their abdomen. From this position, under hook their arm you have trapped with your arm you have nearest to their head, and reach your other arm as far across the body as you can. Whip your head side lag around and over their head, letting your butt fall off their chest to the mat, but keeping their arm trapped and locked elbow pit deep. With your other arm, loosely under hook their near side leg for stability and if they start to try and get out, sit up, switch under hooks, and lean out towards the head ripping their hands apart, and finishing the arm bar. Fun stuff!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
MMA and me; day 121
We began the day with a round of front push kick to mid 9, followed by a rear push kick to mid 10. Next we worked a step off jab to a straight, to a body hook, ending with a low leg kick As you step off line to throw the jab, you're corking yourself for the straight, which in turn helps set up the off angle body hook. As you finish the body shot, your leg is already to the outside and you just need to turn your hips over to finish with the leg kick. Next we drilled a jab-straight-step around hook-straight-lead leg body kick. After the 1-2, you step to the outside and drag the 3 across the body as you turn out to fire the 2 at their head, and finish with the mid 9, making sure to lean to the outside. We finished with partner ab drills, and it was on to jiu jitsu.
We covered Achilles locks for half of class, and then grappled. The main tenants to Achilles locks are keeping your radial bone of your wrist pinned against their Achilles, making sure you keep their knee bent, and covering their top leg with yours. Also, keep your hand as close to your chest as you can, and roll your shoulder back to help the pressure tight. Sorry this was kinda sparse, been a busy week, and I had to wait a day to get this down. Yesterday's stuff will be up later today.
We covered Achilles locks for half of class, and then grappled. The main tenants to Achilles locks are keeping your radial bone of your wrist pinned against their Achilles, making sure you keep their knee bent, and covering their top leg with yours. Also, keep your hand as close to your chest as you can, and roll your shoulder back to help the pressure tight. Sorry this was kinda sparse, been a busy week, and I had to wait a day to get this down. Yesterday's stuff will be up later today.
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