Mixed Martial Arts Training Thread (Not UFC etc...)

[ben5575]

Takes time.

I was sparring again on Friday night. Working with the beginners, working on a couple of things with the regular guys.

Got the shout to step in with my instructor. Everything straight out the window. All composure gone, overwhelmed by feints, switches and his feckin close range kicks to the body and head from inside punching distance. How he can switch stance under the pretence of couple straights, land outside of my leg to create enough range to flick a straight or crescent kick to the liver and or solar plexus I'll never know. Not matter how many times he did it

The result is me stood there wide eyed and balled up waiting for the next kick not having a clue what to do. Tried closing the range, clinching and got lucky with a couple of knees and uppercut when he tried to switch his position, but of course that just led to him starting to try. 3 minutes with him is harder than the other 42 minutes with everybody else out together.

Long way to go!

[Tony Angelino]

What sort of shin guards do you lads wear? Looking at some for MMA sparring and might even have a go at Sambo for a change. Given my recent form for breaking my little toes on the club mats I am now wearing wrestling shoes, don’t think I am going to be able to wear both so might have to tape the toes up, assume sparring in the shoes isn’t particularly good form.

Don’t know whether to go for the cheaper sock type pads or spend a bite more on the thai pads – have had the cheaper (sports direct type) thai ones before and they aren’t worth the hassle.

[ben5575]

No I'm afraid shoes will be out of the window for stand up sparring.

The slip on foam things are next to useless protection wise, certainly for your toes and you're more likely to annoy your partner when your 'soft kicks' hurt more than his, leading him to kick you back harder which is never a good idea. They also rip when your partner accidentally stands on them.

As always the devil is in the detail/you get what you pay for:

Traditional Thai shin guard from say Sandee tend to be quite flat and you kind of bend them round your leg when you put them on. The result is that they tend to flare a little around the back and can come lose. See here:

https://www.sandeeboxing.com/sandee-sport-velcro-b...

The next is a more formed/contoured guard that reinforces the main impact area on the front of the shin. Great in theory, but if you're human, the likelihood of you landing or more usually blocking/checking perfectly every time in the heat of battle is remote. As such you end up being kicked on the outside of your shin, with the thicker bit actually deflecting the blow on to your bone. Unless you're a hero, this hurts. See Boon as an example:

https://www.boonsport.com/products/spbk-shin-guard...

I am now on my third set of Venom Elites. Reinforced padding at the front, but wider than the Boon and there is also additional padding to the sides to deal with the above issues. They are also reinforced on the foot. They stay in position well which is generally important, but more specifically for the gap between the shin and the foot. You'll learn quickly after catching a few elbows to this area, that this is a really important piece of protection.

https://euro.venum.com/en/venum-elite-standup-shin...

[BRR]

I always go with the Thai style shin pads, the sock ones are almost useless. I don't have a preferred brand, typically buy some whatever respected brand has some in the sale section online when i need some, think I've got punchtown at the minute but have previously had Venum, Hyabusa, Top King etc, Top King were probably the best but not a lot in it really. Only problem with wearing thai style pads is that if you're MMA sparring it can be difficult to pass half guard etc

[Tony Angelino]

Thanks lads, I'll give it some thought - happy to pay £60-80 for them if the quality and fit work. I'll go to Toprank Sport as it's fairly local.

I've been on eBay over the weekend and purchased some gloves to replace my starter 'bargain basement' pairs:

Twins Boxing gloves with handwraps, brand new without tages £65 Euros
Fairtex MMA gloves (FGV17) "worn twice" £28

Obviously need to be wary of the boxing gloves being genuine - have asked the question and the feedback and seller checks out so far.

[MC Bodge]

Getting my grips is improving and I didn't hang on so stiffly at the latest session.

I'm getting a few throws in on lower belts now, although technique isn't quite as flowing as I'd like.

Groundwork is good fun. Opponents "turtling up" on the ground, though. Grrrr.

[Tony Angelino]

MC Bodge said:

Getting my grips is improving and I didn't hang on so stiffly at the latest session.

I'm getting a few throws in on lower belts now, although technique isn't quite as flowing as I'd like.

Groundwork is good fun. Opponents "turtling up" on the ground, though. Grrrr.

Been working from this position lately, favorite is to come 'north south' and then go under and grab the chin - try extend his opposite arm forward past his head and fish for your own hand under his armpit, switch your hips and roll for a super tight choke/crank hybrid. You have to put pressure through him though to keep him from sitting through and be wary of holding on if you feel him trying to roll - it's a variation of the d'arce and I don't know if it has an actual name.

Catch has loads of options for attacking the turtle, you'll have loads more options if you play for leg locks at your club/discipline.

[MC Bodge]

Tony Angelino said:

Been working from this position lately, favorite is to come 'north south' and then go under and grab the chin - try extend his opposite arm forward past his head and fish for your own hand under his armpit, switch your hips and roll for a super tight choke/crank hybrid. You have to put pressure through him though to keep him from sitting through and be wary of holding on if you feel him trying to roll - it's a variation of the d'arce and I don't know if it has an actual name.

Catch has loads of options for attacking the turtle, you'll have loads more options if you play for leg locks at your club/discipline.

Cheers. Judo is a little more restrictive. Once I've become a bit more competent at Judo I'm tempted to give no gi / wrestling another go.

[MC Bodge]

Turtle attacks are improving. I'm getting quicker and better at maintaining the pressure.... On fellow middleweights at least.

My stand up randori has improved massively in the past few weeks. Something seems to have clicked I to place.

Now I need to work on avoiding/escaping guard during newaza from the BJJ crossover chaps who come to Judo....

Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 1st February 16:06

[Halb]

THis popped up on my yt feed and I found it interesting.

7 Years of BJJ and I Got Smashed by a Wrestler on his 1st Week
Chewjitsu Published on 5 Dec 2018
8mins
https://youtu.be/hweJtSBr44k

[MC Bodge]

Halb said:

THis popped up on my yt feed and I found it interesting.

7 Years of BJJ and I Got Smashed by a Wrestler on his 1st Week
Chewjitsu Published on 5 Dec 2018
8mins
https://youtu.be/hweJtSBr44k

Yes, interesting.

I suppose that many people get into the routine of "playing the game" in the same style with the same people.


I know I surprised some (not skilled people) with my unorthodox novice enthusiasm on the ground when I tried submission wrestling a few years ago and when I started Judo. Not standing up!

[MC Bodge]

Standing randori has improved further. I'm still having to put in a lot of physical effort to compensate for skill, grip fighting plays to my strengths a bit, but is hard. I'm beginning to anticipate my opponents more and (often clumsily) making more effective sweep and throw attempts and even trying combinations.
I've even managed an Uchi mata...of sorts, last week.

I am struggling to get my hips close enough to better opponents, though.

I rolled with some lower skilled people at my latest class, having been up against some very capable peoole recently. I managed to turn over a couple of turtles and pull off a some better pins and submissions with more control than previously.

Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 4th February 19:44

[Ayahuasca]

Hello all. I am two years or so into combat Hapkido, combination of various MAs that has a bit of everything. I do two hours a day, never know what it will be about - could be kicks, boxing, just conditioning, sparring, throws, take downs, rolling, joint manipulations and locks.

Anyone else follow Shane Fazen’s ‘fight tips’ on YouTube? He has some good stuff.

[BRR]

Ayahuasca said:

Hello all. I am two years or so into combat Hapkido, combination of various MAs that has a bit of everything. I do two hours a day, never know what it will be about - could be kicks, boxing, just conditioning, sparring, throws, take downs, rolling, joint manipulations and locks.

Anyone else follow Shane Fazen’s ‘fight tips’ on YouTube? He has some good stuff.

Not heard of Hapkido or Shane Fazen (I'm not from a TMA background) though with the techniques listed it sounds like MMA? I'll check out some of the vids

good to hear everyone is continually improving, in pure Newaza and even BJJ the turtle position can be quite an effective way of stopping yourself getting choked or caught in an arm bar, in MMA it's just a recipe for getting filled in so not a position i ever play much

Interesting comments about the wrestlers, I had a real tough time a few weeks back with a young lad off the British wrestling team who had done very little sub grappling or MMA but his wrestling fundamentals and control really stopped me from doing much

[Pete102]

BRR said:

Not heard of Hapkido or Shane Fazen (I'm not from a TMA background) though with the techniques listed it sounds like MMA? I'll check out some of the vids

good to hear everyone is continually improving, in pure Newaza and even BJJ the turtle position can be quite an effective way of stopping yourself getting choked or caught in an arm bar, in MMA it's just a recipe for getting filled in so not a position i ever play much

Interesting comments about the wrestlers, I had a real tough time a few weeks back with a young lad off the British wrestling team who had done very little sub grappling or MMA but his wrestling fundamentals and control really stopped me from doing much

I train with a lad from eastern Europe who spent 10 years wrestling prior to making a change to BJJ. He's an absolute nightmare to roll against to the point I find myself having to utilise non-traditional wrestling positions such as half guard etc.

[MC Bodge]

Pete102 said:

I train with a lad from eastern Europe who spent 10 years wrestling prior to making a change to BJJ. He's an absolute nightmare to roll against to the point I find myself having to utilise non-traditional wrestling positions such as half guard etc.

I've encountered a few eastern European and Central Asian lads. Grappling of various sorts seems much more prominent in their home countries than in the UK.

[ben5575]

Ayahuasca said:

Anyone else follow Shane Fazen’s ‘fight tips’ on YouTube? He has some good stuff.

All about the sidekick I enjoy his stuff, great technique but gets shown up a little when he's with others.

Damien Trainor (no really) is definitely worth a follow/watch. Ex MT world champ and as small chap he's had to perfect his technique to compensate. Beautiful technician, explosive and a great teacher. His use of longer combos is more similar in style to what we practice at our place than perhaps more traditional MT.

All about the transitions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSndCwEsBL8

[MC Bodge]

I appear to have strained the ligaments in my shoulder (AC joint) . Grrrr.

I don't know at which point in the session I did it, but it hurt afterwards. I didn't take any obviously hard falls, but there was a lot of randori going on against a range of people. Who says that 40-something men don't bounce?

I'll need to give it a week or two off, I reckon...

[Tony Angelino]

Did some K1 style sparring tonight after an MMA class, really enjoyed it.

My main trouble was my only real previous stand up experience is karate kumite points fighting so more or less light tough. No problem, other than the rules we used to play only kicks to score were above waist height so a nice side on stance was the order of the day - what happened when K1 sparring was that my hugely prominent front leg got absolutely kicked to fk by my opponents.

Frustrating thing was that I worked out my problem fairly quickly but didn't bother changing and took plenty more blows......

Kind of ties in with the previous points about having to adapt under different rule sets / disciplines etc.

[ben5575]

MC Bodge said:

I appear to have strained the ligaments in my shoulder (AC joint) . Grrrr.

I've done both of mine (40+). Hopefully it's only a strain, otherwise it's 9 months out plus steroid injections despite you not thinking it will be.

It's aggravated by being on your back or sat and placing your elbows/hand(s) behind you to support yourself. Basically, any pushing/supporting motion where your elbows are behind your back. Good luck!