Clubb Chimera Martial Arts : CCMA

Low kicking from a grappling position

We revised the kickboxing combinations re-started last week to better coordinate hand strikes and kicks. I also added on the fourth of this series, which is jab/cross/hook/lead leg kick. As a general rule CCMA does not work heavily on combination work. From a short term self defence perspective (see this week’s article “What Should be and What is”) combinations do not work well with Hick’s Law. You need simple well tuned high percentage techniques, the fewer the better in a stressful situation. Nevertheless, outside of frontline self defence training we have our attribute training, where certain drills and combinations are learnt to order to better research and explore combat sports. Experience from training within these disciplines – rather than specific drills or combinations – are then brought back to the minimalist self defence line to better refine the limited skill-set.

After going through all four combinations on the focus mitts, the class took a break from striking and had a few rounds of submission grappling. This is also great attribute training.

Worst subject: The new theme at the end of the class is to say your least favourite subject whereby I will do my best to make a link to martial arts training. Today the subject was maths. Maths is the language of science, which has an approach and method for better understanding and testing various martial arts techniques.

Seniors

After some basic movement drills both standing and on the ground, the class revised the high percentage technique warm-up drill up to the chokes. This brought us up to the final technique: transitional round kicks.

In a very Indonesian/Malaysian way we started looking at kicks from a ground position. However, our reasoning for this may be a little different from our cousins in Southeast Asia. It is thought that the ground position is taught first in these traditional martial arts due to environmental reasons, such as the dense jungle areas where the fighting often took place, making erect fighting postures difficult. We look at kicks on the ground first as it is a very effective and immediate tool for asymmetrical ground fighting.

This is less so in MMA now, where as the Pride competitions no longer exist and more bouts are orientated towards UFC rules, kicking a downed person in the head is often prohibited. Today the mixed martial artist’s strategy, from an asymmetrical ground fighting perspective, is to either try to sweep a person from an open guard position or, if you are the standing fighting, to pass guard or persuade your opponent to stand.

However, in fighting outside of sport, kicking a downed person or kicking from a downed position is a very common tactic. A shoed or booted person is likely to use their footwear to its full advantage in these situations. Therefore, a very early tactic I have drilled since the formation of CCMA’s grading syllabus is the defence from the ground with the objective of the downed person to get their feet on their attacker’s feet and to kick until the person can back to a standing position.

As putting your hands on the ground to get back to your feet is hardwired into most people’s minds from a very early age this can be problematic. Here is an example of this mistake being brutally exposed in the first UFC fight in history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9aaS2ipAQ4

It is important to drill covering the head, kicking from the ground and getting back to your feet with less hand to ground contact as possible. The first drill works this turning and protecting motion first through a series of reps using a standing training partner – who starts off standing by the downed person’s head – as a reference point. No pressure is applied here as we are trying to over-ride some basic natural responses that are actually a hindrance in a street-fighter.

The next stage introduces some pressure, where the coach (formerly the target), strikes exposed areas with one focus mitt and provides a target with the other. This trains the downed person to defend and to have a positive reference point.

The third stage introduces more pressure and checks the vulnerable stage at the end of the drill. Here the coach repeats the focus role with more force and kicks now. Plus another coach, in sparring kit, immediately attacks the downed person as he gets back to his feet. This drill is not to train defence against multiple fighters, rather to check the balance and to keep the downed person fighting as he gets back to his feet. One constant I have found, and this is especially true with the contingency end of physical skills (of which ground fighting is the furthest end of contingency), is to attack the attack. Proactive uninterrupted forward pressure is required to meet and exceed an attack.

If our main area of concern was self defence ground fighting then the next stage would be to introduce multiple situations and weapons. We were not covering this. So, we brought the kicks back to a standing position and also more into attribute training. Here we worked on blending hands with kicking.

The lesson was finished with some kickboxing sparring and then the transitional kicking drill, which is now incorporated into the full warm-up drill.