14.08.16 Today’s second private class was a two hour session focused on combat conditioning with a special request for work on kicking. The format was roughly divided into three sections: muscle memory drills for MMA, technical training for Muay Thai kicks and high intensity interval training. Muscle Memory Drills for MMA A feature of my coaching programmes is to prioritise actual martial arts techniques over most exercises. Although I have been a long-time opponent of just mimicking martial arts shapes with weights without much thought given to force vectors, I still hold onto the belief that performing shadow fighting and footwork is a more productive warm-up than jogging and jumping jacks. It is important that martial arts have a good foundation in basic conditioning. An able-bodied martial artist should have a good regular working knowledge and ability to perform strict form bodyweight exercises such as press-ups, pull-ups and squats. They should know how to skip. They should be performing deadlifts, squats, overhead or bench presses, loaded carries and cleans for strength. They should be building sprints into their fitness programme. All of this can help a student grow an appreciation for the muscle groups involved and underpin everything they do. However, actual technical work must take priority and there are plenty of ways one can warm up into this specifically – reinforcing good muscle memory work - without getting all silly with dumbbells and Swiss balls. We began with some simple mirror footwork. We did both a generic stand-up version for boxing and Muay Thai and a more clinch-based version with a lower stance for grappling. The former brought in some light target practice and the latter covered sprawls and sit-throughs. Then we progressed onto drilling arm-drags and arm-drags into low line takedowns. Going to the ground we performed a simple game of “touch the head”, which involves one person holding long guard whilst the other tried to pass their hips to touch their head. Next we did some butterfly guard elevations for mid-guard work. This section was finished by drilling arm-bars and triangle chokes for a series of repetitions from closed guard. Technical Training for Muay Thai Kicks Moving onto Thai focus mitts we looked at getting the form correct for Thai teeps and round kicks. Both were worked off the front and rear legs. Detail was placed on working from the high/narrow Thai stance with the feet pointing directly at the target before and after execution of the kick. We also looked at the using punches to dictate the pace of kicks and how the action/reaction mechanics work to set-up and generate force into kicks. We broke all this down with static training on individual kicks then as part of a combination and finally integrating footwork, movement and feedback. High Intensity Interval Training It makes sense to keep technical work as close to the beginning of a training session as possible and then tapering the complexity down as you increase intensity. Your cognitive process will reduce as you tire and your heart rate increases. Therefore, the end of the session should be reserved for simple exercises that require low skill maintenance. We performed a tabata followed by HIIT sprints. The tabata consisted of Sledge hammer swings Step-ups Kettle bell snatches off both arms Round kicks off both legs Straight punching Hooks The HIIT sprints were performed on a hill. Four sprints were performed for 10 seconds each with three second intervals. This part of the exercise was sandwiched between jogging, backward running, footwork and dynamic movement exercises prior to sprinting and gentle jogging uphill to warm-down. The session marked my client’s fourth anniversary in training the CCMA methods. I am happy to see all-round improvements in conditioning and technique. He has come a long way. Photograph by Charlotte Von Bulow Quirk for "Mordred's Victory and Other Martial Mutterings"
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