Progressive Technique and Conditioning (diary entry)

19.10.15   My client booked a one-off training session focusing on evolutionary combative methods and conditioning. We began with Western Boxing, working on basic footwork to promote coordination. Here my client learns the basics of moving whilst striking in different directions. He fed back to me the surprising aerobic and anaerobic demands of learning these skills, which reinforces my current belief that coordination training is good cardio. It also makes sense to cover it early in training. It is good time management to have warm-up exercises directly relating to the subject being studied and also to cover more complex movements earlier on in any training session.   A lot of sports conditioning coaches agree that it is best to prioritize exercises that place more demands on the nervous system earlier in a training regime. My staple rule for at least the past 10 years has been to start with technique-based training, getting to new material as earlier as possible without stinting on revision, keeping all repetitions short with shorter regular intervals before progressing onto complex conditioning exercises then simpler exercises and finishing on some relevant mobility exercises.   After the agility and coordination exercises using the cones, my client did some partner work. I wanted him to familiar with the targets he is aiming to hit early on and to also have an appreciation of the relevant defence. This was first explored using the short and long-range jab. He then trained this on the focus mitts and heavy bag. He was then taught jab/cross using the same procedure before being shown how this movement can be used to create jab/back leg round kick (both low and mid-level). The torqueing motion used to generate force in the cross is also applied with the rear leg kick. We then covered the jab high and low motion, which was shown to be similar to jab/double leg takedown combination. The client also learnt how to break-fall of the double leg takedown.   We moved onto tyre flips for the double take down, and floor press for straight punching and kneeling get-ups with the atlas stone to teach getting behind a movement. The session finished with a series of mobility exercises for the hips and back.