Six Techniques (diary entry)

06.01.15 A New Year return to training for client who has also taken up squash to help aid his overall conditioning for working in extreme environments. Once again, I am happy to see that he has kept up the exercises I have advised and this was immediately reflected in his performance. This automatically leads me to become tougher on technique. As the motivational DJ, Steve Maroboli once said, “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.” The client gets his step up and, as with every new step, you risk balance and it requires additional effort. Training began with the dreaded agility cones, soon to be universally hated by all my clients. These little tributes to the traffic control, have been responsible for more sweating, heart pounding, lung punishing and leg blasting than just about anything else contained in the veritable torture chamber that has become the regular CCMA “gym”. My client did various stand-up agility routines, performing, forwards, backwards and lateral footwork exercises. The agility cones encourage regular fast-twitch muscle activation, accuracy, constant pressure, rapid short intervals of intensive cardiovascular performance and a lot of mental stimulation through coordination. They are the perfect base for warming up most combat athletes. We then took six individual techniques and trained them in isolation and combination. In broad terms, these techniques are the straight punch (jab and cross), the hook, the uppercut, the front push kick, the “Thai” round kick and the straight knee. There are plenty of other ways to group these actions – for example I often describe the uppercut and the hook as variations of the same circular hand strike – but today I was interested in training three specific movements: straight (jab/cross/front kick), round to the side (hook/round kick) and up (uppercut/straight knee). It could be argued that the straight knee is really a truncated version of the front kick, but it has a distinctive upward motion and is directed up and under targets in this way. The process began with flash pad movement exercises. We worked each technique individually and from various different angles/levels as well as in conjunction with likely defensive/counter-offensive tactics. This type of isolation training allows for great depth in technique refinement. They were then added into small combinations to analyse transitioning. The next stage was to train the right force vectors via a series of specific strength exercises. To work straight punching we performed the incline single arm dumbbell press followed by the single arm standing bent over row. To work the hook we covered torso rotations with an odd-ended barbell. This really recruits the oblique muscles and promotes awareness of the whole rotational mechanics required for the hooking action. It also largely cuts out arm movement. A common criticism for performing exercises of this nature is that too much force is applied to the limbs when correct execution of strikes requires that the limbs be whip-like and relaxed until the final snap of impact. I would argue, if performed correctly and with the right level of resistance, the striker will be forced to engage the right muscle groups that drive the limbs when performing the technique. Uppercuts were then performed using dumbbells. I have seen different versions of this exercise, where the weights are swung upwards and the “punches” are not fully extended. I don’t feel you get the maximum benefit from the exercise doing it in this fashion. I prefer for the weights to be pressed, using the supinated grip to full extension over the head as you pivot on the pressing side of the body.  Front kicks were taught with a dumbbell weight squat. This doesn’t so much overload the actual kicking motion, but the engagement of the whole body prior to kicking. Round kicks were trained using a resistance band and the straight knee was performed using two resistance bands, one for the ankle and the other to pull down. All six techniques were then isolated and taken onto the kick shield for full power development and confirmation. Unlike the earlier pad-work, each of these techniques was thrown as single shots. The client relaxed in-between techniques to ensure maximum power upon delivery. The session was then finished with some PNF stretching and balance-work.