Fight to the Feet Continues to Develop (diary entry)

07.03.18   Tonight we made more progress with our transitional series of lessons. This area of training is planned to be at the core of the upcoming Vagabond Warriors seminar. We warmed up with dynamic stretching and mobility exercises before getting straight into postures. Here we moved through the postures with strict form. Then we isolated each one to perform specific exercises:   • Posture one (closed guard position and fighting from the back): Bridging (upa), snaking/shrimping on the spot, and leg-triangle and arm-bar hip-ups • Posture two (butterfly/mid-guard position, fighting from a seated position): Sit-ups with punching combinations • Posture three (combat base, fighting from a half-kneeling position): explosive split squats with punching combinations and knee-pins (knee-on-stomach) • Posture four (stand-up fighting stance): stand-up combinations   Then performed some deck squats to ensure that improvements were being made with the best exercise that drives this type of ground-to-standing movement. This was followed by a basic self-defence ground-defence tactic.   Next we ran through all the various combinations that have been covered in isolation throughout this course. Grappling Transition 1 – posture one “leg-triangle” to posture two “set up for hook-guard” to posture three “single leg takedown” to posture four “take the back and takedown/suplex”. Grappling Transition 2 – posture one “arm-bar” to posture two “pull butterfly guard to take the back” to posture three “entry for single leg takedown” to posture four “single leg takedown to stand up” Striking Transition 1 – building up the four-punch combination (jab/cross/hook/cross) through all postures Striking Transition 2 – building up a the two punch/round kick combination alternatively (jab/rear round kick and jab/cross/lead round kick) through the postures   No drills are set in stone. Indeed, these have been developed with this client to build a stronger sense of awareness and coordination when fighting through various postures. With mobility and transitioning being the point of these exercises, it was noted that certain postures overlapped. New drills will develop and some drills will be disregarded. I have noticed that when my client spars he is getting a stronger understanding how fighting his way into better positions and taking advantage of certain positions. Next lesson my objective will be to get through the above drills at a more fluid pace and to go back to blending strikes with grappling whilst transitioning.   This training will be the subject of the upcoming seminar to be held in the Oxfordshire region. Watch this space for updates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SeE3UKt74Y