Clubb Chimera Martial Arts : CCMA

Juniors

After the build up to the grading, the aftermath lesson is traditionally a more laid back affair. That was the plan, but it didn’t turn out that way. It was a very hot day with the sun streaming through the windows, which made anything twice as difficult. If everyone had brought their trainers I would have taken the lesson outside. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case, but it didn’t diminish spirits. It was an opportunity for the youngsters to turn into the discomfort. So long the health issues are taken into consideration and everyone is kept hydrated there is no reason why a rewarding session cannot take place. For the record, I believe training in the summer is psychologically harder than training in the winter. The cold gives you an incentive to keep moving and although can be tough for at least the first 10 minutes, it doesn’t drain you or inspire lethargy like the heat does. For this reason the activities were far more activity based and less technical.

The class began with Strategy One versus Strategy Two awareness and escape game. This was one of the best games I have seen played at CCMA. A type of strategy is developing within the confines of the game, which shows what can happen when even the most liberal of pressure tests is done too often. I had to place a new restriction to keep the emphasis on escape: a student is allowed to pre-empt, but only actively engage with a strategy two aggressor if they are already attacking another strategy one victim. In other words you cannot just Judas punch a guy in a head guard. In self defence terms that would be like spotting a potential predator and ambushing him, this is not the point of civilian self defence. However, on the whole, the game produced very positive results. Many of the students kept in groups and were quick anticipate cornering manoeuvres. When caught many fought hard to stay on their feet and to keep striking until their attacker or attackers let go. They also used the cry for help tactic at the same time. The Strategy Two players were also very good and were realistic in the way they picked their targets.

Escape manoeuvres were covered again in a classic Peter Consterdine Training Day activity. Changing from the full-on nature of the S1 vs. S2 game, this is a no contact exercise where one person tries to corner another in a game of chase. Spaces are limited to encourage agility, explosiveness, quick thinking and fast footwork.

We then moved onto a more specific S1 vs. S2 drill this time emphasizing the use of S2. I got this one from Iain Abernethy years ago. One person feeds stand-up techniques, usually a flurry of straight punches, whilst the other covers and clinches. There are three lines of attack when you go in to clinch: high, middle and low. To keep the drill alive, I had the feeder deciding when to block off each line of attack, forcing the S2 clincher to improvise.

From a self defence perspective this tactic is a support method used when counter-striking is not immediately accessible and emphasis changes to controlling the striker for damage limitation. To give you an idea of the sliding scale we work on at present: The ideal is to avoid the situation; failing that you use dissuasion, negotiation or other soft skills to avoid physical conflict. If the situation dictates a physical response then you should aim to pre-empt and continue to strike until you can escape. If you find yourself on the receiving end of strikes, you cover in order to limit damage, smash into your attacker’s striking tools and overcome their striking with your own. If striking is too severe to reply in kind then it has to be controlled in some way before you can begin striking; this is where the cover, clinch and strike comes in.

From an MMA perspective, grappling is an option rather on equal footing with striking. You may opt for grappling when you feel this is a weaker range of your opponent’s compared to striking or a range you are particularly comfortable with. As the sport has evolved the cover has become more and more common in MMA matches. It was first popularized by grapplers who used it in the fashion we drilled today.

The lesson ended with a couple of rounds of MMA sparring. After this I returned back to the school subject/martial art connection challenge. We have had physics and history, which were very easy to respond to. Then there was modern language, which still had some direct relevance to the soft skills of combat arts and also the training methods. Ballet was a rather leftfield choice that I made indirect connections via martial artists who also practiced ballet to help their training. This week, however, I got the hardest one yet: textiles. The only connection I could find on the spot was the various clothing different martial artists use, and the science of better cutting and designing training equipment has helped improve the practice of different arts. This was definitely the hardest topic so far!

Seniors

This time I separated in-fighting into two ranges rather than three. The three ranges are usually stand-up, clinch and ground. I just went for stand-up and ground with the clinch spread between the two. This was trained first through the warm-up by practicing movements from the various different positions: 45 degree footwork with punches, knees and kicks, seated movement and snaking.

Next we carried this over into three minute rounds of proactive feeding and striking. This method of training continues to improve. It brings the student closer to sparring or pressure testing than conventional pad drills by combining several different methods: flash pads, use of boxing gloves to present smaller targets and feedback, and mirroring positions. The problem is that it is quite hard to stop this training from deteriorating into outright sparring, especially as both coach and student gets more energized or tired. However, with more practice it is developing into that crucial bridge, which helps develop confidence and more relevant techniques. We divided this into three rounds. The first round worked on stand-up into takedowns. The second round focused on the ground. The second round was a five minute round combining everything. This then went straight into sparring. Being a hot day this section of the lesson was particular taxing.

We then resumed the two-on-one coaching methods used to keep elbows in and guards high and increase retraction speed with hand strikes. Classic mistake to look out for include dropping hands in a downward loop or arc when retrieving the straight strike from the target. This happens on the way in with many hooks. The class finished with some groundwork, working off the mistakes exposed in the sparring. A common mistake made with groundfighting, in MMA/submission grappling terms anyway, is forgetting the old position before submission rule. All too often we sacrifice our balance and posture when going after a submission hold. The position must be properly consolidated, the area that is to be submitted is to be isolated before the submission should even be attempted.