29.07.09 Russian Doll Concept & a Dissection of a Training Drill (diary entry)

Jul 30th, 2009 by Jamie Clubb

: Image via Wikipedia

Juniors

After a specific movement warm-up we revised proactive pad-work, going through all the ranges and then we went back over the footsweep drill with impromptu stand-up grappling sparring.

Rather than trying to stretch the principle we have been working on over the past three weeks, I decided to just focus on a neglected range: the ground. In self protection tactical terms I feel the general consensus is that the ground is the worst place to be. It should be avoided in the majority of instances for a variety of reasons already covered in several previous diary entries. However, it is avoided as a legitimate area to train at your peril. Furthermore, if you are interested in training mixed martial arts, a big part of CCMA attribute training, the ground is vital third of your fighting ranges.

I am not big on styles or stylism, in fact, the more I have cross-trained the more I have found it to be an obsolete idea. However, I am interested using concepts to focus on different areas of self protection and combat. What I have found works easiest for me and many other progressive martial arts thinkers is to look at concepts as a series of reverse Russian dolls. I say reverse because usually as you uncover the smaller dolls there is less detail – the opposite happens with this concept. What also happens is that the more detail you uncover the further away you get from straightforward self protection, which is in line with the CCMA objective that comprehensive self defence skills can and should be taught first and in a short amount of time.

Let me elaborate a bit on this view. Self protection can be divided up into three areas of conflict/fight management. There is the pre-fight, the in-fight and the post-fight. Within the in-fight there are three ranges, which correspond between self defence and MMA, stand-up, clinch and ground. We have focused on stand-up and clinch recently, so it is time for the ground. The basics of civilian ground self defence places a virtually non-negotiable objective of getting back to your feet and early training should consist of drills that do this. Iain Abernethy has a wealth of these that are definitely worth looking into. Today’s drill, however, focused on the guard which has a limited area yet I feel very relevant area importance in self defence. In the world of MMA and submission grappling the guard is vital. If you are going to be fighting from your back then the guard is a tactic fit for this purpose. Back to the Russian dolls idea and the variety of different guards contained within this range can be easily divided up using the Mo Teague series of concepts: long range, mid-range and close range. Today we looked at the long range, which works well with asymmetrical ground fighting i.e. when one person is standing and the other on the ground.

From long range I introduced the class to the hook guard, a type of open guard made famous by the Brazilian Jiu Jitsuka, Ricardo De La Riva Goded, and it often bears his surname. The guard is most commonly known in gi (jacketed grappling) competitions, but it continues to evolve outside this environment and is worth understanding when trying to keep a standing fighter at a distance. Within the realm of sport, particularly grappling-only sport, the hook guard has a good variety of transitions to other guards. It works off the premise of entangling one leg with your own, gripping the ankle and controlling the hip of the opposite side of your opponent. A simple takedown uses a push pull motion. I also taught them the guard to get to a position for a single leg takedown, which nicely connects with last week’s technique.

The class then did two forms of specific pressure testing for this new position. They did the Mo Teague “touch the head” game, where a person on their back tries to fend off a standing opponent whose objective is to touch the grounded player’s head. Then the class did some guard passing, restricted to the hook guard. The class finished with a couple of rounds of MMA sparring.

Discussion: We revised the tenets and then it was time for “school subject of the week”. As always, this is the part of the lesson where a student offers a school subject and sees if I can’t connect to martial arts training. This week it was sociology. Sociology, the study of people and society, plays a big part in self protection soft skills training. We study sociology on a micro level to understand human interaction, so we can predict behaviours in individuals that can lead to violence. On a macro level we can try to influence our local environment in the prevention of violent crime.

Seniors

We followed a similar formula to last week, where once again kicks were uncovered as a week area to training, although I have also earmarked groundwork for next week.

After the specific movement warm-up we looked at the proactive pad drills. I walked the students through the evolution of these drills. The drills are actually an amalgamation of several movement and focus-mitt drills, designed to bring the student closer to the realities of sparring and pressure-testing. The proactive drills are made up of the following drills:

Mirror movement drills

These are basic follow-the-leader drills. You mimic the movement of the coach, adjusting the height of your stance according, their footwork and so on. The coach prompts you to sprawl by touching both your thighs, as would happen if someone tried a double leg takedown or rugby tackle.

Flash-pad drills

You only strike targets when they appear. Rather than having combinations or techniques read off to them, the student simply reacts to what he sees. He is also trained to continually hit the target until it is covered and to alter his attacking tool as the target changes its position, which if you are being realistic it should do immediately after impact. Other points about flash-pad drills include varying the range of the target to prompt the student to proactively select the best tool for the job i.e. elbows for close range distance rather than hand strikes.

Physical feedback

The fastest way for anyone to learn something at its deepest level is through experience. Therefore physical feedback is the fastest way for a coach to explain to a student that they are unnecessarily exposing vulnerable areas when fighting. The added bonus is the coach starts looking for openings and bad habits in another fighter, which then helps improve his sparring and fighting skills. The coach is always checking his student’s defences, balance and reactions as well as prompting him with targets. Another benefit of feedback training is that it helps build confidence and realistic appreciation of a fight situation. When accept you are likely to be hit, you waste less time worrying and more time actually striking and defending efficiently.

Training through postures

The strength of high percentage techniques can be found through their use at different ranges. By training a person through different postures – standing, on their knees, seated and on their backs – you quickly begin to discover the best ways to adjust individual techniques. There is also the technique strengthening benefit derived from restrictive training, which is a component of this type of training. Also by training through postures you learn how to transition efficiently and safely.

Using full sparring kit

By replacing focus mitts for boxing gloves, like a savate boxer, you learn to strike smaller as well as more rounded targets and the coach can work more like a fighter. We have gone further had the student wear MMA gloves, which enables him to better incorporate open hand strikes and grappling applications.

For more footage on the proactive drills see my link in my previous diary entry or go to our YouTube account that can be found on our links page.

After the proactive movement drills we moved onto a round of MMA sparring and then went through the errors that were cropping up. Kicks and groundwork clearly needed attention. We focused on the former again and started more from an attitude perspective. Attitude is the most important soft skill it is what is meant by the CCMA tenet of respect. Without it everything else is pretty ineffective and that includes awareness! When I talk about attitude in the delivery of kicks I refer students to the manner a Thai boxer delivers his punches and kicks. There is an almost contemptuous feel about the relaxed manner they fight. By relaxing you get the maximum benefit of delivery fast and strong techniques. You cannot efficiently flow without relaxing. On from this we looked at the angling of most strikes. Once again, I provided links in last week’s entry to Steve Morris’s excellent discussion on this principle.