Diary / Training Notes

Boxing offers a powerful way to improve fitness, coordination, and confidence at any age. For my senior client, who has been training with me for over a year, boxing is not just a workout but a path to staying active and sharp in his 60s. Recently, during his fifth lesson of the current boxing course, I chose to focus on one of the most fundamental punches in boxing: the jab. No matter how experienced you are, refining the jab remains essential. This post shares the exercises

Training footwork is one of the most challenging aspects of martial arts, especially when teaching remotely. Footwork requires precise movement, timing, and spatial awareness, which can be difficult to convey through a screen. Recently, I worked with the head instructor of Drum Martial Arts and Fitness in Galway, Ireland, focusing on improving his footwork using boxing as a model. Boxing offers some of the most refined footwork techniques among combat sports, and the L-step i

On the 13th February 2026 my client from Cotswold Karate continued his Martial Arts Teacher Training course on isolating and integrating elbow strikes via Muay Thai.

Transitioning smoothly between striking ranges is a skill that separates good Muay Thai practitioners from great ones. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced fighter, understanding how to move between boxing, clinch, and kickboxing ranges can improve your effectiveness and adaptability in the ring. This guide breaks down practical ways to train these transitions, illustrated by a recent training session with a long-term client recovering from a back injury.

Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) demands mastery over multiple fighting ranges, each with its own techniques and strategies. In my client’s fifth lesson of his Mixed Martial Arts personal training course, we focused on breaking down these ranges into seven distinct sparring rounds. This approach allowed us to isolate and sharpen specific skills, building a solid foundation for effective MMA performance. After seven years of training together, his

Two wrestlers in gear practice grappling on a red mat. Text: "ON THE GROUND IN PERSONAL WRESTLING TRAINING," "CLUBBCHIMERA.COM/BLOG" in bold.

The last private lesson of Monday evening concluded my couple client's Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training course. This particular plan has focused on shoot-boxing, which covers the stand-up to clinch range of the sport. Tonight we took the inspiration from the Jeff Chan seminar one of the pair attended two weeks ago and saw to integrate it into outside fighting.

On Monday my senior client returned to resume his latest boxing course. One of the advantages of personal training is the flexibility offered for scheduling and rescheduling. He has had a layoff for about three weeks, but came back keen to train. Today we worked on footwork.

My client began the seventh hour his Kickboxing Personal Training class. In this lesson I introduced him to the spear knee strike. This is the final weapon of his Kickboxing arsenal, as permitted in such versions of the sport as Dutch and Japanese Kickboxing. With clinch being very limited in these sports, there is a lot of skill required to land good knee strikes from the outside range.

On a recent Friday morning, I worked with my regular client from Cotswold Karate School during the seventh hour of his 10-hour course. His focus is practical karate, where elbow strikes play a crucial role in bunkai, the application of kata techniques. My role as his coach is to integrate MMA and Muay Thai principles into his training. This cross-training approach helps him bring kata applications to life by adding more dynamic, live sparring elements. Today’s session centere

When a long-term client recently came to me with a back injury, it was clear that his usual Muay Thai training needed adjustment. After more than 11 years of working together, I knew the importance of adapting his sessions to keep him progressing without risking further injury. This experience reminded me how crucial a tailored approach is in Boxing Personal Training, especially when dealing with setbacks like injuries.

Hour four of my client Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training took our focus onto outfighting. Last week we recapped the Jeff Chan seminar material, which worked a lot at long range attack and defence. Therefore, it made sense to go through our cross-training and look at ways to isolate outfighting strategies

Wrestling personal training offers a unique chance to sharpen skills in a focused, one-on-one setting. During my recent session with a private client, we explored a range of Greco-Roman inspired techniques, culminating in a detailed look at the pinch-headlock. This move blends control and leverage, making it a valuable tool for wrestlers aiming to dominate standing positions and execute effective takedowns.

02.02.2026 Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training My couple clients completed the ninth hour of their current Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training course tonight we a re-cap on some of the material covered at last week's seminar with Jeff Chan. As one half of the couple had partnered me at the course, it was a good opportunity to work again with me and his regular partner on developing the pendulum kick and Jeff's evasive techniques. Mixed martial arts fighters practice techniq

Footwork is the foundation of effective boxing. Without solid footwork, even the best punches lose power and precision. When I started teaching the second lesson of a six-lesson morning remote online course with my client from Drum Kempo Martial Arts and Fitness in the Republic of Ireland, I focused entirely on footwork.

In hour three of my client's Mixed Martial Arts Personal Training course, we reviewed material from the former One Championship fighter and owner of MMA Shredded, Jeff Chan's seminar we attended on Monday.

My client is on the third hour of his first Wrestling Personal Training course with me. We do not teach a particular style or sport of Wrestling, but rather grapple loosely to various rule-sets. For example, during the first half of my client's course we are exploring much of the basic Greco-Roman Wrestling syllabus. This is train good positioning and knowledge of grips. This evening's class focused on the penetration step.

The first hour of my teacher client from Drum Kempo Martial Arts and Fitness's Remote Online Martial Arts Training course followed this mandate: give a footwork routine. This was a break from the usual teaching consultancy work I do with progressive teacher from the Republic of Ireland and why refreshing to just concentrate on helping him maintain his own training.

Saturday morning marked another productive session teaching my remote online Boxing course to Hinnerup Karate in Denmark. As I’ve shared before, Hinnerup enlisted my help to develop and integrate a Kickboxing program that complements their traditional Karate curriculum. This morning’s focus was on the fundamentals that often determine success in both boxing and kickboxing: footwork and head movement.

A video recorded and edited by my client showing the first round. 23.01.2026 Martial Arts Teacher Training My Cotswolds Karate teacher client returned for the sixth hour of his Martial Arts Teacher Training with me this morning. We went back through much of the material covered last week. These were the rounds covered. Check out the above video for the recording of our first round. Round 1 - Elbows to the body in the clinch. This is a great way to integrate elbow strikes, sh