Continuing the Build (diary entry)

21.10.14 This was the second lesson for this particular Triple C client, which was kindly hosted at another client’s private gym. The gym contains pretty much all an avid combat conditioning enthusiast could want and we made use of some the equipment to illustrate certain areas. My new client is already far more confident than when he started and immediately began with some technique work. The session started with some footwork. We then did a series of line exercises, moving forwards working jabs and jab/crosses. Then I introduced straight knees to engage the lower body more. Having a background in horse-riding I noted my client’s good posture and balance, and had him continue his knee strikes whilst stepping up onto a tractor tyre. Training then went onto the Thai focus mitts. Here we built up a four punch combination and also applied the knee strikes. This was followed with some top groundwork on a Swiss ball. Grounding everything down to basics, we began with a very simple pinning exercise emphasizing pushing the hips down, using core strength to push and pull, and maintaining a good balance throughout. This helps simulate some resistance from underneath. I then had him progress to knee-pins and various transitioning exercises between the two pins. We then looked at an application for passing guard that included the frog jump and the knee pin. Going back to the hand strikes, I went through some supplementary exercises that work along the same force vectors. These exercises consisted of single arm presses and rows, torso rotations, resistance band pushes and pulls, and forward and lying down slam balls slams. The session finished with some higher intensity work on the focus mitts, using a jab/cross/sprawl/knee combination, and some standing PNF stretching.