The main card only has three fights tonight, but they're for free on Fox, and they're all pretty compelling fights. Without further ado, lets jump in
Demian Maia vs. Chris "All-American" Weidman
middleweight
Weidman is a late replacement for Michael Bisping (more on that later) and is coming in on eleven days notice. Already 3-0 in his burgeoning UFC career, a win over Maia would vault him into the upper tiers of the weight class, and perhaps put him a win or two away from being considered for title contention. Maia, who has one of the best jiu jitsu games of an MMA fighter in the world, has also started to develop superb stand-up, and is quickly becoming a well rounded man inside the octagon. Will the drain of reportedly cutting 32 pounds in eleven days be too much for Weidman to overcome? Can Maia prevent the Hofstra wrestling standout from taking him down and controlling him for three rounds? In a battle of two highly skilled grapplers, with solidly emerging stand-up, I think the advantage is in Maias court, and he wins in a highly exciting judges decision.
Maia via Unanimous Decision
Chael Sonnen vs. Michael "The Count" Bisping
middleweight
Originally slated to fight Mark Munoz, Sonnen got a new opponent when Munoz went down with an elbow injury, and Bisping stepped out of his bout with Maia, and into what is now being considered a new number one contender match. It's on short notice, but both men were already preparing to fight, just different opponents, so other than preparing a new game plan, both fighters will be ready to throw down. Sonnen has only one thing in mind, a rematch with Anderson Silva, and he is looking to use his high caliber wrestling and ground and pound to do so. Bisping wants to keep this fight standing, and utilize his reach and boxing, but seems confident that he can be effective at neutralizing the top side control of Sonnen, and exploit the Achilles heel that is his submission defense.As good as Bisping is, Sonnen will simply be too much for him to handle. The pressure will be constant, and the ground and pound will be relentless. Expect a finish late in the second, or early in the third, and then sit back and enjoy some fantastic mic work from Sonnen.
Sonnen via TKO, Rd. 2
Rashad "Suga" Evans vs. Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis
light heavyweight
Another fight with title implications, and a bout that had been scheduled for several months ago until Davis was sidelined with a knee injury, the main event looks to be very interesting. Evans has patiently been awaiting another shot at the 205 pound title currently held by former teammate Jon Jones, but injuries and other obstacles have plagued him for over a year now. Davis has been on a meteoric rise in the UFC, and though he's still very new to the sport (just over three years as a pro) he's been getting better and better in each venture into the octagon. Evans is an explosive athlete, and is adept at using his speed and agility to put opponents on the defensive, and either beat them up standing, or take them down for nasty ground and pound. Against Davis, he will want to be careful in going for the take downs, because of the Penn State alums wrestling acumen, and creative submission game. Davis may very well be able to thwart the take downs of Evans, and if he can stymie him in the stand up as well, he very well may be able to force Evans into making a mistake, and leave his chin exposed, or possibly grab a submission. Originally, I thought that Evans experience would just be too much, but I'm feeling a little froggy today, and seem to have convinced myself that Evans will not be able to overcome the stellar wrestling of Davis, and puts himself in trouble late in the second round, when Davis secures the submission win. Should be an interesting fight in any event, and I can't wait to see how it all goes down.
Davis via submission (guillotine) Rd. 2
Saturday, January 28, 2012
MMA and me; day 202
So I'm pretty tired, and most of what we worked on yesterday (Thursday) was stuff that we've worked on all week, but I will try and focus on some of the things that stood out to me that I need to sharpen up.
Kickboxing was all about focusing on leg kicks, and more importantly, bringing the leg up and around to really give yourself a chance to drive the leg down and dig the shin bone into the thigh. A big part of this is flexibility, but not just in the hamstring muscle, but in the hips. Having flexible hips is a big part of why a well executed leg kick is so devastating, because it allows you to bring the knee up and around, then turn it over and let gravity assist you in bringing the shin bone down, and then pushing off to finish the kick, while helping you return to your fighting stance. Another part of setting up leg kicks, is with punches, but not just throwing combos to the head and hope they raise their hands up, but instead going to both the head and the body, forcing them to defend and making them almost have to guess what is coming next, and then you drill a leg kick. You follow a few leg kicks up with a turned up head kick, and you can put someone on the mat with ease. This is another area where flexibility helps, because it makes all you rkicks look the same up to a point, and if your leg kick and head kick start out looking similar? Whoo! Anyways, Changing levels, keeping your opponent guessing, and STRETCH!!
In jiu jitsu we went over the key lock flow, and the leg lock flow. A few things I focused on where imploding with the body as you sink a submission, heavy grinding pressure during transitions, and specifically to leg locks, do not let go during scrambles, because you can put yourself inb a bad position if you don't get the finish, so you had better put that limb in sufficient jeopardy and make the guy tap, or you're going to have a bad time. The details of both of these flows were covered earlier in the week, but here are the breakdowns of the links in each one
Key Lock Flow
key lock/V-1/topside muscle lock/straight arm lock/bottom side arm lock/kimura/step over kimura/Diaz kimura
Leg Lock Flow
compression lock/toe hold/long heel hook/short heel hook/no arm heel hook (optional)/achilles lock/half crab/sit out half crab
Shout out to my teammates Walid and Jeremie who have fights tomorrow and they are about to put the pain on these guys. You been working like mad men, and we're all there to celebrate after, GTB!!!
Kickboxing was all about focusing on leg kicks, and more importantly, bringing the leg up and around to really give yourself a chance to drive the leg down and dig the shin bone into the thigh. A big part of this is flexibility, but not just in the hamstring muscle, but in the hips. Having flexible hips is a big part of why a well executed leg kick is so devastating, because it allows you to bring the knee up and around, then turn it over and let gravity assist you in bringing the shin bone down, and then pushing off to finish the kick, while helping you return to your fighting stance. Another part of setting up leg kicks, is with punches, but not just throwing combos to the head and hope they raise their hands up, but instead going to both the head and the body, forcing them to defend and making them almost have to guess what is coming next, and then you drill a leg kick. You follow a few leg kicks up with a turned up head kick, and you can put someone on the mat with ease. This is another area where flexibility helps, because it makes all you rkicks look the same up to a point, and if your leg kick and head kick start out looking similar? Whoo! Anyways, Changing levels, keeping your opponent guessing, and STRETCH!!
In jiu jitsu we went over the key lock flow, and the leg lock flow. A few things I focused on where imploding with the body as you sink a submission, heavy grinding pressure during transitions, and specifically to leg locks, do not let go during scrambles, because you can put yourself inb a bad position if you don't get the finish, so you had better put that limb in sufficient jeopardy and make the guy tap, or you're going to have a bad time. The details of both of these flows were covered earlier in the week, but here are the breakdowns of the links in each one
Key Lock Flow
key lock/V-1/topside muscle lock/straight arm lock/bottom side arm lock/kimura/step over kimura/Diaz kimura
Leg Lock Flow
compression lock/toe hold/long heel hook/short heel hook/no arm heel hook (optional)/achilles lock/half crab/sit out half crab
Shout out to my teammates Walid and Jeremie who have fights tomorrow and they are about to put the pain on these guys. You been working like mad men, and we're all there to celebrate after, GTB!!!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
MMA and me; day 201
In kickboxing, we began by warming up with a kicking drill, where we stepped off to the outside with our lead leg, and then leaned over that knee while bringing the other knee up and dragging it across the near hip of our opponent and down. We also either threw a straight right, or overhand right to help keep all the balance even. By keeping the boot on during this, you can prevent the leg from going too far, and it gives you a great point of leverage to push off of, which is how you finish a leg kick, and helps return yourself to your fighting stance. We next focused just on bringing the knee up and over while holding their opposite side shoulder, then bringing the leg back, then repeating. This helped get the overall motion of the kick ingrained into our muscle memory, making it more instinctive and fluid. next we added a lead leg front kick to help create distance, and then filling the distance by making a half moon motion with your lead leg after it comes back down, and then lowering the shoulders and turning into the leg kick. We did that for the final two rounds, and then moved on to Reagan's ab drills. They were....intense. I also found out that I cannot grab my feet when I arch backwards, and it made things somewhat uncomfortable. I need to do more work on the exercise ball. The things I gained the most from this, were the need to turn the knee up and over to dig the shin into the thigh, stepping out and turning your heel in force you to open your hips, which makes turning that knee up and over much easier, and I need to stretch more.
We once again covered the key lock flow we've been working on, and instead of covering it again, I'll just go over some of the finer points that really made a difference. Pressure is vital during the transitions. Don't raise up, get comfortable, and then start applying pressure. Instead, grind your way through the progressions, and make things very uncomfortable, so that by the time you are ready to apply the submission, they're already looking for a way out. With holds like key locks and kimuras, keeping the hand in as tight to the hand in tight against the body will nearly always result in an easier tap out, it limits the flexibility in the arm, and if you rotate the wrist away from the body as well, yeeouch!!! Anyways, I'm going to be placing more of an emphasis on the lock flow part of my game, and keeping people off balance, forcing them to constantly be defending what I throw at them. BJJ ROCKS!!
We once again covered the key lock flow we've been working on, and instead of covering it again, I'll just go over some of the finer points that really made a difference. Pressure is vital during the transitions. Don't raise up, get comfortable, and then start applying pressure. Instead, grind your way through the progressions, and make things very uncomfortable, so that by the time you are ready to apply the submission, they're already looking for a way out. With holds like key locks and kimuras, keeping the hand in as tight to the hand in tight against the body will nearly always result in an easier tap out, it limits the flexibility in the arm, and if you rotate the wrist away from the body as well, yeeouch!!! Anyways, I'm going to be placing more of an emphasis on the lock flow part of my game, and keeping people off balance, forcing them to constantly be defending what I throw at them. BJJ ROCKS!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
MMA and me; day 200
Wow! 200 days in the books, and here's where I stand after beginning this foray into getting in shape by trying my hand at mixed martial arts; lost nearly sixty pounds, and six inches off my waist. Been awarded a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, and competed in two grappling tournaments with a record of 2-2, and one second place finish. I can't wait to see where I'm at when I get to day 500! Thanks to everyone for their support and love and kicking me in the butt when I needed it.
I was only able to make it to jiu jitsu tonight, and with only one other student, we went back to working on lock flows. We covered what we did yesterday with the flow that was kicked off with the key lock, and after going over that a few times, we moved on to a leg lock flow. From a standing position, reach over then under one of their legs (for the purposes of clearly explaining, I'll go from the left leg, using your right arm) and pin it to your side, while simultaneously driving your opposite side knee in between their legs, and to the mat on that side of their body, while rolling to your hip on that side. Throwing your top side leg over, and with that foot, either keep the bottom of it flat and tight against their chest, or flush to the mat and tucked under their body. The reason for this is if you do not, you are leaving yourself wide open for a toe hold, and you really don't want to do that. Pinching your knees together, pull their top side knee in tight on your hip with your top side hand, then slide it up to the toes of the foot, and bring it up to 12:00, and push away from you until they tap, this is a compression lock. For a little extra oomph, flex your quad muscle on the leg your pushing their leg into, it makes it much more painful.
From the compression lock, scoot your hips away from them to create a little space, and bring your other hand around their top side leg, and over your own wrist, and then attempt to turn their toes into their behind for a toe hold. Make sure to keep your tops side foot against their chest, or under their body, or once again, you will get a toe hold slapped on you.
As you fall back to your hip, reach your elbow out and around their heel, and grasp your hands together for a heel hook. Slide your arm down until your radial bone is against the base of their heel, for a short heel hook, just to add another option. Be very careful with these, as the slightest increase of pressure in the wrong way can completely tear someones knee apart.
From the heel hook, scoot your hips back out to create space once again, and swim your hand under their Achilles tendon, digging your radial bone into the area where the tendon meets the bone, keeping your palm flat against your chest. Scoot your hips back in tight to bring your behind up against theirs, and pinch your knees tightly together, and then while propping yourself up on your other elbow, rotate away from your other arm on the point of that elbow, as if you were attempting to look at something behind and above you, until the rotation and pressure forces a tap, from the Achilles lock, or straight ankle lock.
Lastly, kick your top side foot out until it is facing away from their head, and bring your bottom side leg behind you, until you are also facing away from them, and lean back on the Achilles hold, arching your back and extending your hips, until they tap to the half crab. From this position, kick both legs forward, release the Achilles hold, and reach under their knee with both legs and again, lean back while arching your hips. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on their quad muscle, and though at first it doesn't hurt that bad, if you really lean on it, it feels terrible!
Another amazing class, and I am really starting to understand, and apply the concept of lock flow. Chain after chain, always keeping them on the defensive. I LOVE IT! Here's to another 200 days!
I was only able to make it to jiu jitsu tonight, and with only one other student, we went back to working on lock flows. We covered what we did yesterday with the flow that was kicked off with the key lock, and after going over that a few times, we moved on to a leg lock flow. From a standing position, reach over then under one of their legs (for the purposes of clearly explaining, I'll go from the left leg, using your right arm) and pin it to your side, while simultaneously driving your opposite side knee in between their legs, and to the mat on that side of their body, while rolling to your hip on that side. Throwing your top side leg over, and with that foot, either keep the bottom of it flat and tight against their chest, or flush to the mat and tucked under their body. The reason for this is if you do not, you are leaving yourself wide open for a toe hold, and you really don't want to do that. Pinching your knees together, pull their top side knee in tight on your hip with your top side hand, then slide it up to the toes of the foot, and bring it up to 12:00, and push away from you until they tap, this is a compression lock. For a little extra oomph, flex your quad muscle on the leg your pushing their leg into, it makes it much more painful.
From the compression lock, scoot your hips away from them to create a little space, and bring your other hand around their top side leg, and over your own wrist, and then attempt to turn their toes into their behind for a toe hold. Make sure to keep your tops side foot against their chest, or under their body, or once again, you will get a toe hold slapped on you.
As you fall back to your hip, reach your elbow out and around their heel, and grasp your hands together for a heel hook. Slide your arm down until your radial bone is against the base of their heel, for a short heel hook, just to add another option. Be very careful with these, as the slightest increase of pressure in the wrong way can completely tear someones knee apart.
From the heel hook, scoot your hips back out to create space once again, and swim your hand under their Achilles tendon, digging your radial bone into the area where the tendon meets the bone, keeping your palm flat against your chest. Scoot your hips back in tight to bring your behind up against theirs, and pinch your knees tightly together, and then while propping yourself up on your other elbow, rotate away from your other arm on the point of that elbow, as if you were attempting to look at something behind and above you, until the rotation and pressure forces a tap, from the Achilles lock, or straight ankle lock.
Lastly, kick your top side foot out until it is facing away from their head, and bring your bottom side leg behind you, until you are also facing away from them, and lean back on the Achilles hold, arching your back and extending your hips, until they tap to the half crab. From this position, kick both legs forward, release the Achilles hold, and reach under their knee with both legs and again, lean back while arching your hips. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on their quad muscle, and though at first it doesn't hurt that bad, if you really lean on it, it feels terrible!
Another amazing class, and I am really starting to understand, and apply the concept of lock flow. Chain after chain, always keeping them on the defensive. I LOVE IT! Here's to another 200 days!
Monday, January 23, 2012
MMA and me; day 197/198/199
So I only made it in to the gym after Monday, twice. All we did was bump drills, and a little grappling. The snow and ice really kept people indoors, but not us brave few! Anyways, I focused on keeping my hands up, turning the knee over on the leg kicks, and staying relaxed. I found I did much better when I calmed down and kept things cool and easy.
Tonight, we started out with some stretching drills to loosen up our legs and hips, then moved right into drilling more leg kicks. First we just warmed up with back and forth leg kicks, and then got into kicks to the body, which travel at a different trajectory then kicks to the legs. Leg kicks have more of an arc to them, coming up and over to drill down into the thigh, and kicks to the body are more upward directed, coming up into the midsection with the shin. Also, we added a little hop at the end of the body kicks, just to keep things relaxed, and add a little snap to finish the kick with. Next we added a punch combo to the mix by starting off with a 2-3-step off-low 10. Coming in with the straight, then turning hard on the hook lets you step off to the left with your lead foot, then pivot on that foot to open your hips, and then bring the rear knee up and over to dig the shin into their thigh. Lastly, we worked on a kick checking and returning drill. Your partner throws a low 10, which you check, then respond by throwing a low 10, which they in turn follow up with a low 9 to the leg they just threw the 10 with. We finished off by putting it all together in some light touch sparring, and moved on to jiu jitsu.
The theme of jiu jitsu tonight was lock flow. Chaining submissions together, flowing from one to the next seamlessly to keep your opponent off balance and constantly on the defensive until you can achieve a tap. The example Coach used that we were most familiar with, was the arm bar/triangle/omoplata sequence. The one we worked on tonight, and I'll do my best to be precise, but some of them I had trouble with, was starting from side control, with a key lock. From the key lock it went to a V-1/muscle lock/arm bar/muscle lock/kimura/step over kimura/Diaz kimura.
With the key lock, you are in cross body side control with your head side, or top side hand on their far arm, and your leg side, or bottom side hand under their far arm grasping your other wrist. You want to pull their arm in tight to their body, getting their elbow down by the hip, and motorcycle gripping their arm away from you as you lift your bottom side elbow up until they tap.
From there, they may try to bring their arm up near their head to defend the key lock. If so, move your bottom side hand on to their wrist, and slip your top side hand around and under their neck, while shrugging your shoulders and getting your weight on their chest, then simultaneously pulling their arm and head away from each other for the tap. This is called a V-1.
Next is what I will call the top muscle lock. If they pull out of the V-1, drop your bottom side elbow to the mat and swim your wrist into the crook of their elbow, while grabbing their wrist with your top side hand and wrapping it around your bottom side arms wrist. Make a fist with your bottom side hand, and keeping it in tight, swim your top side arm along their arm to grab your other elbow. From here, their elbow should be pointing straight out at a perpendicular angle, and all you have to do is shrug your shoulders, and collapse inward. Rotating the fist that you made with the bottom side hand will grind your carpal and radial bones into their wrist and muscle until they tap.
Next is the arm bar, where you pull their arm straight out from their body, while sinking your bottom side arm all the way under the arm, until it is resting in the crook of your elbow, grabbing the opposite biceps, and grasping their forearm with your top side hand. Their elbow should be just in front of your elbow pit, and then you slide your top hand up to their wrist, and make sure their thumb is pointing up, then lift your elbow slightly, and push down on their wrist for the tap.
The bottom side muscle lock is next, and you extract your bottom side arm out to grab their wrist with it, then drop the top side arm as far under the arm as you can, and wrap their arm around the wrist, almost trying to pin it under their own body. From there, make a fist with the top side arm, and swim your bottom side arm along their arm to grab your elbow, and just like before, shrug your shoulders and collapse inward for the tap.
Next in the flow is the kimura, which you transition to by sliding your top side hand to grab their wrist, and with your bottom side hand, grab your own wrist, pulling their hand in tight to their body. Keeping it in tight to their body, raise your top side arm slightly for the tap, or scoot your hips out a bit, and step over their head to raise their back off the mat so you can really crank the kimura. Lastly, you can circle around their head on your knees to the far side of their neck, and post up your outside leg as they get propped up onto their side, and try to bring their arm all the way behind them for what Coach called the "Diaz" kimura, nasty stuff.
So lock flow, it's awesome, and I am going to be drilling this stuff like crazy!
Tonight, we started out with some stretching drills to loosen up our legs and hips, then moved right into drilling more leg kicks. First we just warmed up with back and forth leg kicks, and then got into kicks to the body, which travel at a different trajectory then kicks to the legs. Leg kicks have more of an arc to them, coming up and over to drill down into the thigh, and kicks to the body are more upward directed, coming up into the midsection with the shin. Also, we added a little hop at the end of the body kicks, just to keep things relaxed, and add a little snap to finish the kick with. Next we added a punch combo to the mix by starting off with a 2-3-step off-low 10. Coming in with the straight, then turning hard on the hook lets you step off to the left with your lead foot, then pivot on that foot to open your hips, and then bring the rear knee up and over to dig the shin into their thigh. Lastly, we worked on a kick checking and returning drill. Your partner throws a low 10, which you check, then respond by throwing a low 10, which they in turn follow up with a low 9 to the leg they just threw the 10 with. We finished off by putting it all together in some light touch sparring, and moved on to jiu jitsu.
The theme of jiu jitsu tonight was lock flow. Chaining submissions together, flowing from one to the next seamlessly to keep your opponent off balance and constantly on the defensive until you can achieve a tap. The example Coach used that we were most familiar with, was the arm bar/triangle/omoplata sequence. The one we worked on tonight, and I'll do my best to be precise, but some of them I had trouble with, was starting from side control, with a key lock. From the key lock it went to a V-1/muscle lock/arm bar/muscle lock/kimura/step over kimura/Diaz kimura.
With the key lock, you are in cross body side control with your head side, or top side hand on their far arm, and your leg side, or bottom side hand under their far arm grasping your other wrist. You want to pull their arm in tight to their body, getting their elbow down by the hip, and motorcycle gripping their arm away from you as you lift your bottom side elbow up until they tap.
From there, they may try to bring their arm up near their head to defend the key lock. If so, move your bottom side hand on to their wrist, and slip your top side hand around and under their neck, while shrugging your shoulders and getting your weight on their chest, then simultaneously pulling their arm and head away from each other for the tap. This is called a V-1.
Next is what I will call the top muscle lock. If they pull out of the V-1, drop your bottom side elbow to the mat and swim your wrist into the crook of their elbow, while grabbing their wrist with your top side hand and wrapping it around your bottom side arms wrist. Make a fist with your bottom side hand, and keeping it in tight, swim your top side arm along their arm to grab your other elbow. From here, their elbow should be pointing straight out at a perpendicular angle, and all you have to do is shrug your shoulders, and collapse inward. Rotating the fist that you made with the bottom side hand will grind your carpal and radial bones into their wrist and muscle until they tap.
Next is the arm bar, where you pull their arm straight out from their body, while sinking your bottom side arm all the way under the arm, until it is resting in the crook of your elbow, grabbing the opposite biceps, and grasping their forearm with your top side hand. Their elbow should be just in front of your elbow pit, and then you slide your top hand up to their wrist, and make sure their thumb is pointing up, then lift your elbow slightly, and push down on their wrist for the tap.
The bottom side muscle lock is next, and you extract your bottom side arm out to grab their wrist with it, then drop the top side arm as far under the arm as you can, and wrap their arm around the wrist, almost trying to pin it under their own body. From there, make a fist with the top side arm, and swim your bottom side arm along their arm to grab your elbow, and just like before, shrug your shoulders and collapse inward for the tap.
Next in the flow is the kimura, which you transition to by sliding your top side hand to grab their wrist, and with your bottom side hand, grab your own wrist, pulling their hand in tight to their body. Keeping it in tight to their body, raise your top side arm slightly for the tap, or scoot your hips out a bit, and step over their head to raise their back off the mat so you can really crank the kimura. Lastly, you can circle around their head on your knees to the far side of their neck, and post up your outside leg as they get propped up onto their side, and try to bring their arm all the way behind them for what Coach called the "Diaz" kimura, nasty stuff.
So lock flow, it's awesome, and I am going to be drilling this stuff like crazy!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
MMA and me; day 196
So I made it to the gym yesterday, braving the wintry conditions outside. Despite the weather, there were a decent amount of people in the gym, and we worked on our wrestling. First we warmed up on the exercise balls, and got our cores stretched out, and then we moved on to working our shots. First from our knees, going for single shots, then doubling up on them, and then transitioning to standing up. We worked on the shot from standing next, making sure to change levels and get low on the way in. We then drilled shooting off throwing a combo by tossing out a 1-2 or something along those lines, turning on the lead foot to cut an angle, and then driving in for the shot, swinging the rear leg around and behind your opponent, and finishing in a standing position. You end up in a southpaw stance, but the cool thing about that is that you don't have to switch back to orthodox, because as soon as you pop up, your opponent will start circling to their right, and as you do the same, you naturally end up in your normal fight stance. Next, we partnered up, and drilled several different take downs. The double leg with an outside trip, where you get both arms around their thighs and swing your rear leg around to trip them over and then pop out to side control, the outside single (a couple variations on this one) where you get your head on the inside and put your ear on their stomach, and either slide your outside knee to the ground, tripping them over, or cup their inside heel with your left hand and stand up then switch your left hand to an under hook of the leg and from there you have a myriad of options; tree top (lift it up high), waist lock with your right arm, kick their other leg out from under them, or you can even combine these approaches. Lastly, we worked running the pipe. Instead of grabbing an outside single, switch your stance, and grab the lead leg tight with your arms, and pinch it between your thighs, with your ear on their belly button, there should be no space anywhere. Take several quick steps backwards, and then pivot on your left foot, whipping your right leg around behind you, and drive your head into their stomach, flinging them to the ground, but don't follow them there. Instead, cup their left heel with your right hand, bring your left hand over the top to cup the top of their left knee, then bring your left knee around in a crescent to post on their stomach, still blocking the top of their knee with your left hand, and then rain down hammer fists with your right to finish it. My wrestling needs to get better, and the things that are important to remember are pivoting hard on that lead leg to create an angle before you shoot for the take down, pass their legs when you take them to the ground, and don't follow them down when running the pipe, but go for the finish from the top instead. Great class yesterday, and I can't wait for tonight!
Friday, January 13, 2012
UFC 142
Blah. Cruddy mood, I'm knocking this out in as cursory a fashion as possible. Some good fights, so lets see if I can do it in one sentence per fight!
Erick "Indio" Silva vs Carlo "Neo" Prater
welterweight
Prater is a late injury replacement, Silva is legit, Prater get's KO'd in the first.
Silva via KO, Rd. 1
Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim
lightweight
Two explosive, athletic fighters who look to bang on the feet and will slug it out in the Fight of the Night, with Barboza getting the nod after three tough rounds.
Barboza via Split Decision
Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
middleweight
Palhares is as frightening as the come at 185, and Massenzio cannot prevent the submission wizardry as he taps to some kind of choke or lock in the first.
Palhares via submission (knee bar) Rd. 1
Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort vs. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson
middleweight
Johnson missed weight by eleven pounds, and if he doesn't stay under 205 tomorrow, the fight is off, but in any event, missing weight all these times will bite him karmically and Belfort will smash his head in for the disrespect.
Belfort via TKO, Rd. 2
Jose "Scarface" Aldo vs. Chad "Money" Mendes
featherweight
Mendes is a beastly wrestler, but unless he has learned to check a leg kick, he is in for a long night, and Aldo will pick him apart on his way to a third or fourth round TKO.
Aldo via TKO, Rd. 4
Erick "Indio" Silva vs Carlo "Neo" Prater
welterweight
Prater is a late injury replacement, Silva is legit, Prater get's KO'd in the first.
Silva via KO, Rd. 1
Edson Barboza vs Terry Etim
lightweight
Two explosive, athletic fighters who look to bang on the feet and will slug it out in the Fight of the Night, with Barboza getting the nod after three tough rounds.
Barboza via Split Decision
Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
middleweight
Palhares is as frightening as the come at 185, and Massenzio cannot prevent the submission wizardry as he taps to some kind of choke or lock in the first.
Palhares via submission (knee bar) Rd. 1
Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort vs. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson
middleweight
Johnson missed weight by eleven pounds, and if he doesn't stay under 205 tomorrow, the fight is off, but in any event, missing weight all these times will bite him karmically and Belfort will smash his head in for the disrespect.
Belfort via TKO, Rd. 2
Jose "Scarface" Aldo vs. Chad "Money" Mendes
featherweight
Mendes is a beastly wrestler, but unless he has learned to check a leg kick, he is in for a long night, and Aldo will pick him apart on his way to a third or fourth round TKO.
Aldo via TKO, Rd. 4
Thursday, January 12, 2012
MMA and me; day 195
Getting close to the big two-oh-oh, and still pluggin along with a slightly less sore leg. In boxing, we worked on parrying jabs, and then firing back with a jab of our own. First we just practiced the parry. Keeping your hands high, when the jab comes towards your face simply open your rear hand to catch and with a very small motion, pop the jab downward. The strength in the punch is at its end, so if you knock it off the axis it's being thrown at, it will lose it's potency. Next, we added a jab, jab onto the parry. After the parry, immediately throw the first jab, then as you bring it back, bring step around with your back leg then lunge forward with the second jab, putting a little more sting on it. Make sure to step off and create a new angle, but don't step too far and lose the window of opportunity that the first jab opened for you. To add onto the combo again, this time we tacked on a straight, hook, straight after the second jab. After the first jab, there is a brief pause to step off and create the angle for the second jab to be effective. After that, you immediately follow with the straight, hook, straight, then roll out to avoid any counter punches. We finished with five minutes of touch sparring, and it was on to more grappling!
Following the trend of jiu jitsu classes this week, we continued to focus on pressure, and not relieving that pressure when transitioning to different positions. Since we've covered everything we did in class today this week, I'll focus on the few submissions we did cover tonight. First was the Howdy from S pass out of mount. From the mount, if and when your opponent pushes on your hips to try and get your off of them, throw one of your legs over their face, catching and pushing the arm on that side across their chest, then pinning it down with your chest, and ending in side control. From here, slide your top side arm under their head, and grab your other biceps and either place that arms hand on their forehead, or on the outside of your head. Sprawl your legs out behind you, and drive into them to push their shoulder blades flat on the mat, while shrugging your shoulders and squeezing until they tap. We also worked a Howdy from the north south position, where your chest is on their chest, and head is pointed towards their feet. With your elbows in their arm pits, walk your legs around to either side and bring the arm that is opposite the side you're walking towards over their face to trap their arm, much like you did in the S pass from mount, then go through the same checklist for finishing the howdy. Lastly we worked on a triangle/neck crank from high judo. In high judo, you sit cross body with your ribs on the bottom of their rib cage, body facing their head, top side leg posted out at a perpendicular angle, while the bottom side leg is parallel to their body up tight with your knee near their head. Make sure to break any type of grip they have between their hands to separate them, and without moving your body, swing your outside leg over their head and slide your leg under the back of their neck into the crook of the other leg for a figure four/triangle lock. If their arm is in, great, but if not, it's still fine. The arm in allows you to finish with a triangle choke, but you can still tap them with a neck crank if they have no arms in. For both, simply pinch your knees together, and drive your hips into their body, flattening them out and forcing them to tap. Man am I tired! Early bed time tonight for sure. Great day, I LOVE MY GYM!!!
Following the trend of jiu jitsu classes this week, we continued to focus on pressure, and not relieving that pressure when transitioning to different positions. Since we've covered everything we did in class today this week, I'll focus on the few submissions we did cover tonight. First was the Howdy from S pass out of mount. From the mount, if and when your opponent pushes on your hips to try and get your off of them, throw one of your legs over their face, catching and pushing the arm on that side across their chest, then pinning it down with your chest, and ending in side control. From here, slide your top side arm under their head, and grab your other biceps and either place that arms hand on their forehead, or on the outside of your head. Sprawl your legs out behind you, and drive into them to push their shoulder blades flat on the mat, while shrugging your shoulders and squeezing until they tap. We also worked a Howdy from the north south position, where your chest is on their chest, and head is pointed towards their feet. With your elbows in their arm pits, walk your legs around to either side and bring the arm that is opposite the side you're walking towards over their face to trap their arm, much like you did in the S pass from mount, then go through the same checklist for finishing the howdy. Lastly we worked on a triangle/neck crank from high judo. In high judo, you sit cross body with your ribs on the bottom of their rib cage, body facing their head, top side leg posted out at a perpendicular angle, while the bottom side leg is parallel to their body up tight with your knee near their head. Make sure to break any type of grip they have between their hands to separate them, and without moving your body, swing your outside leg over their head and slide your leg under the back of their neck into the crook of the other leg for a figure four/triangle lock. If their arm is in, great, but if not, it's still fine. The arm in allows you to finish with a triangle choke, but you can still tap them with a neck crank if they have no arms in. For both, simply pinch your knees together, and drive your hips into their body, flattening them out and forcing them to tap. Man am I tired! Early bed time tonight for sure. Great day, I LOVE MY GYM!!!
MMA and me; day 194
Hmmm, a full body mellow soreness, or a highly concentrated degree of soreness in one body part? I think the full body mellow is what I prefer, but after last night, it's definitely not what I got going on. These are the perils of bump drills in kickboxing class! We started out with jumping rope, and then moved onto what I will call the front to back/side to side/diving plank drills. With two partners holding a jump rope at ankle height, we jumped our feet over it ten times front to back, then side to side, then dropped down to a push up position and launched over it head first, then slid under to the starting side ten times. Each partner did three sets, and then we moved on to putting our gloves and shin pads on and began the pain..... First was a low straight, dropping your hips to hit the abdomen, then raising up with a hook, and then stepping out and turning the shoulders to land a low leg kick. What I focused on the most was really turning my shoulder over to the outside and opening my hips before bringing the outside leg up and around to drive it into the lead thigh. It's also important to step out and lean over the lead leg to keep your head out of the way of a counter punch. Next was a nice 1-2-3 combo to kick things off (jab-straight-hook) followed by a straight knee to the body. As they double over from the knee, you then step out and deliver a thudding 10 (leg kick). When throwing the knee, focus on extending the hips and throw your hands down to really push the knee forward for maximum impact. We moved on to an interesting combo, where you paw your lead hand out to gauge distance and then slide in with a rear hand body shot, bring your hand back up to your head, and immediately whip another body shot with your lead hand, and as soon as it lands, finish by stepping out to deliver the low 10. As far as when you throw the body shots, it is all about gauging the distance, and when you decide to go, go hard. Make sure to bring the hands up after each punch to protect your head, and as with all of our combos, don't just stand there after you finish, turn off and work towards creating a new angle. We finished off with some light touch sparring, which I'm glad was light, because my lead leg felt about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Then, it was time for jiu jitsu!
We began with our stretching drills and shrimping drills, focusing more on forward shrimping. Making sure to keep our heads in front of our hips, and staying very low while rolling from hip to hip and adding a little hop to cruise forward. After several minutes of this, we went into what we have worked on for the past couple days, which was maintaining pressure during transitions from the top. It's one thing to ride on top of someone with all your weight, and it's another thing to implode into them and crush your weight on top of them. Coach likens it to the difference between standing on a scale, and kneeling on a scale with a towel wrapped underneath it, pulling your weight into it. The second one will be a much higher number on the scale, and translates into more a uncomfortable bottom man. KEEP PRESSURE AT ALL TIMES!! We knocked out our arm bar/triangle/omoplata drill next, making sure to get up on the shoulders and extending the hips for the arm bar, spinning to the opposite side with the trapped arm for the triangle, and covering the back while staying in tight with the hip to trap their arm. We finished with fifteen minutes of jiu jitsu grappling, and by that, I mean staying in tight, balled up, working to pass through pressure and patience instead of explosive moves. A really good class, especially for me, because I NEED to work on my pressure, but it's getting better, slowly but surely.
We began with our stretching drills and shrimping drills, focusing more on forward shrimping. Making sure to keep our heads in front of our hips, and staying very low while rolling from hip to hip and adding a little hop to cruise forward. After several minutes of this, we went into what we have worked on for the past couple days, which was maintaining pressure during transitions from the top. It's one thing to ride on top of someone with all your weight, and it's another thing to implode into them and crush your weight on top of them. Coach likens it to the difference between standing on a scale, and kneeling on a scale with a towel wrapped underneath it, pulling your weight into it. The second one will be a much higher number on the scale, and translates into more a uncomfortable bottom man. KEEP PRESSURE AT ALL TIMES!! We knocked out our arm bar/triangle/omoplata drill next, making sure to get up on the shoulders and extending the hips for the arm bar, spinning to the opposite side with the trapped arm for the triangle, and covering the back while staying in tight with the hip to trap their arm. We finished with fifteen minutes of jiu jitsu grappling, and by that, I mean staying in tight, balled up, working to pass through pressure and patience instead of explosive moves. A really good class, especially for me, because I NEED to work on my pressure, but it's getting better, slowly but surely.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
MMA and me; day 193
After one day back in the gym after two weeks off, I am a walking ball of sore. Everything hurts, but I just don't care. We worked kickboxing in stand up today, and I'm sure the trend of soreness will extend into tomorrow. First we did skippies, but instead of doing them up against the pad wall, we partnered up and did them into a kick shield. Without hanging too rough on the neck, we threw knees continuously for three minutes, then switched, then repeated it all over again. Next, we put on our shin guards, and moved on to bump drills with counters. So when throwing a leg kick, the usual reaction is to counter with the other leg after your opponent brings their leg back to resume their stance. The drawback to this, is that it is expected, and very easy to counter, or check. Instead, if you return the counter kick with the same side leg that was attacked, you target the leg that is likely to have all the weight resting on it, and can really inflict some damage. We did two rounds of this, with each partner getting a chance to be the initiator. We then did a round of kicking to the midsection and instead of holding a pad, we used our hands with boxing gloves placed over our hip bone on the outside to catch the kick. The motion of the kick to the body is different, as the motion is upward into the ribcage, instead of downward, digging into the thigh muscle. We finished off with a five minute round of touch sparring, just like yesterday, except with punches and kicks. Class ended with two two minute rounds of knee push ups, and like Coach said, anyone who calls them girl push ups to imply ease needs to get kicked in the junk. They are TOUGH!!! Great class, and then we moved on to jiu jitsu.
Like yesterday, we warmed up before getting into the meat of class. Some stretching, and work on the balance ball got a light sweat going, before we brought out the grappling dummies. We worked the same transitions we did as yesterday, again keeping the focus on pressure. We added a few new positions to the chain, knee ride, chest knee ride with a body shot, buck mount, double knee ride, back spin from chest mount to side control, among the few I'm sure are escaping me at the moment. We next worked on passing guard techniques, including the cartwheel pass of half guard. Getting earthquake braces on either side, on the near side by the head, and the hip on the far side, driving your head to the mat on the far side, From here, go up into a head stand and whatever way their legs move, fall away from them, even if you have to fall into a bridge on the other side of the body. You can flip your hips faster then they can reclaim guard, and BAM, you're in side control. Another way to pass, is to switch your hand placement, putting your near side hand by their hip and on the opposite side, and your far side hand up by the head, on the opposite side, which allows you to cartwheel from your knees over and around their head to land in either north/south, or far side control. Lastly, we revisited the lunge pass. Key points here, are strong posture, a firm grip on the Gi jacket with one hand, and the other firmly on the stomach, right above the....well let's say junk (or hands on hips in no-gi) keeping a rounded back, and extending your hips to prevent from being broken down. Wait for an opportunity to drive a knee into their backside, and lunge your other leg far out behind you, straight back, and when it is as far back as you can get it, while maintaining your pressure, turn towards the lunged back leg until their guard pops open, and as soon as that happens simultaneously swim the arm opposite your lunged leg into the gap in their legs you've created to under hook that leg, and over hook their other leg with your other arm. It shouldn't be too much of a straight up and down over/under hook. It should be your hands off axis of the elbows as much as possible, and you need to be driving the shoulder of the over hook into their stomach, which is made easier by posting up on your feet and popping your behind high up in the air. From here, drive your head to the mat on the side of your under hook, and wait for your chance to pass. Either headstand pass, or if they try to drive you over, curly away from them and pass the leg to end up in side control. The key to all of this is pressure, pressure, pressure. Great classes!!
Like yesterday, we warmed up before getting into the meat of class. Some stretching, and work on the balance ball got a light sweat going, before we brought out the grappling dummies. We worked the same transitions we did as yesterday, again keeping the focus on pressure. We added a few new positions to the chain, knee ride, chest knee ride with a body shot, buck mount, double knee ride, back spin from chest mount to side control, among the few I'm sure are escaping me at the moment. We next worked on passing guard techniques, including the cartwheel pass of half guard. Getting earthquake braces on either side, on the near side by the head, and the hip on the far side, driving your head to the mat on the far side, From here, go up into a head stand and whatever way their legs move, fall away from them, even if you have to fall into a bridge on the other side of the body. You can flip your hips faster then they can reclaim guard, and BAM, you're in side control. Another way to pass, is to switch your hand placement, putting your near side hand by their hip and on the opposite side, and your far side hand up by the head, on the opposite side, which allows you to cartwheel from your knees over and around their head to land in either north/south, or far side control. Lastly, we revisited the lunge pass. Key points here, are strong posture, a firm grip on the Gi jacket with one hand, and the other firmly on the stomach, right above the....well let's say junk (or hands on hips in no-gi) keeping a rounded back, and extending your hips to prevent from being broken down. Wait for an opportunity to drive a knee into their backside, and lunge your other leg far out behind you, straight back, and when it is as far back as you can get it, while maintaining your pressure, turn towards the lunged back leg until their guard pops open, and as soon as that happens simultaneously swim the arm opposite your lunged leg into the gap in their legs you've created to under hook that leg, and over hook their other leg with your other arm. It shouldn't be too much of a straight up and down over/under hook. It should be your hands off axis of the elbows as much as possible, and you need to be driving the shoulder of the over hook into their stomach, which is made easier by posting up on your feet and popping your behind high up in the air. From here, drive your head to the mat on the side of your under hook, and wait for your chance to pass. Either headstand pass, or if they try to drive you over, curly away from them and pass the leg to end up in side control. The key to all of this is pressure, pressure, pressure. Great classes!!
Monday, January 9, 2012
MMA and me; day 192
Two weeks away from the gym felt like a lifetime! I hopped right back into two classes, starting with a great warm up at the end of the previous class. After getting a nice sweat going, we hopped right into boxing. First, we did punch ups. Three rounds, three minutes apiece. We focused on keeping a low stance, hands high, and punching up. Also, it's very important to keep a wide, but not too wide stance, while also tucking your chin. We next moved on to combos and foot work. This was where I need a lot of improvement by the way. First was a simple jab-straight-roll out. You have to keep your distance, and utilize your step and reach to land the jab, turn your shoulders for the straight, then roll out and move. Your rear foot shouldn't move, and you absolutely need to keep your hands up. Next we added a stiff jab onto the previous combo after the roll. It's important to remember to step hard and really make the jab sting, before sliding back and out of the pocket. Next was the always popular jab-straight-hook. Fairly simple in premise, but very difficult to perfect. We also had a roll under a right hand thrown after we had thrown the hook, threw another hook, then rolled back in the opposite direction, turned around to the side, and threw a straight, aiming for their ear. We finished off with several rounds of touch sparring, which I liked quite a bit, as it allows me to focus on technique, make adjustments when necessary, and I don't get pummeled. After the touch sparring, Reagan put us through some killer ab work outs, and then it was on to jiu jitsu.
Jiu jitsu was a very mellow class, focusing on technique, and fluidity. First, we got our shadow grapple on, for quite a while. Forward shrimping, backward shrimping, shoulder rolls from knees and from butts, roll and re rolls, front and back rolls, technical rises, back falls, spinning on hips, shots for take downs, and on and on. We then worked very diligently on our forward shrimping, making it much more explosive, and scooting across the mats with frightening quickness. Lastly, we worked on transitions, and maintaining pressure during those transitions from top control. We started in side control, moved to high judo, making sure to get a far side under hook and posting the outside leg on its foot with the boot on, and keeping the other leg straight up next to the head, with the toes pointing at the ceiling. From there we moved to head mount, then to side control on the other side, side control, low judo, and from there we achieved the mount by swinging the outside leg over their legs, and digging the heel into the side of them, and pulling yourself into mount. From there, keeping your weight on the chest, press down on the chest with your hands, and swing your legs forward, then dropping your butt back down. From here, you can swing one of your legs over their face for an S pass, and if their arms are straight up (which they likely will be), you can push their arm across their neck, and drop down for a howdy, a variation of an arm triangle choke. The main focus here, was maintaining pressure on your opponent at all times during these transitions. You can wear someone out like this, and make submitting them that much easier. I was exhausted at the end of class, but I got some goals I am going to reach, and it starts today. Happy New Year everyone!
Jiu jitsu was a very mellow class, focusing on technique, and fluidity. First, we got our shadow grapple on, for quite a while. Forward shrimping, backward shrimping, shoulder rolls from knees and from butts, roll and re rolls, front and back rolls, technical rises, back falls, spinning on hips, shots for take downs, and on and on. We then worked very diligently on our forward shrimping, making it much more explosive, and scooting across the mats with frightening quickness. Lastly, we worked on transitions, and maintaining pressure during those transitions from top control. We started in side control, moved to high judo, making sure to get a far side under hook and posting the outside leg on its foot with the boot on, and keeping the other leg straight up next to the head, with the toes pointing at the ceiling. From there we moved to head mount, then to side control on the other side, side control, low judo, and from there we achieved the mount by swinging the outside leg over their legs, and digging the heel into the side of them, and pulling yourself into mount. From there, keeping your weight on the chest, press down on the chest with your hands, and swing your legs forward, then dropping your butt back down. From here, you can swing one of your legs over their face for an S pass, and if their arms are straight up (which they likely will be), you can push their arm across their neck, and drop down for a howdy, a variation of an arm triangle choke. The main focus here, was maintaining pressure on your opponent at all times during these transitions. You can wear someone out like this, and make submitting them that much easier. I was exhausted at the end of class, but I got some goals I am going to reach, and it starts today. Happy New Year everyone!
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