Though this post covers how to train for MMA, it is applicable to all combat sports and to a degree for self-defense. So please keep that in mind as you read the rest.

Before we get into that part, take a look at this video. It features Pat Barry and Coach Greg Nelson, who’s style of teaching I like a lot. Coach Nelson starts talking at 7min40:

Before I get started on the meat of this post, here’s how it came about:

In my Sanshou class, I have a bunch of new students. They’ve only been learning the basic curriculum so far, which includes basic punches, kicks, knee strikes, throws and take downs. The other part they’re learning about is how to train. My lesson plan is such that they learn specific ways of training with their partners so they get the most out of it. This is something they’ll need later on, when they join the more advanced students in class and it’s expected of them to know those things. One of those concepts is knowing the difference between training and fighting.

When you start out, this is usually the most difficult part to understand and watch out for. Simply because you lack the framework to distinguish between both of these. But if you mess things up on that front, you learn the wrong things at the wrong time, resulting in errors that cost you later on. And then you have to re-learn all the basics, which is way harder than learning them the first time. So I pay particular attention to certain errors my students make at that stage of their training. One of these errors is going off-script. Here’s what that means: [Read more…]

I watched the BJ Penn vs Nick Diaz fight this weekend and just wanted to point something out:

Take another look at the One Step Sparring Drill, Frankenstein post I just did. One of the goals in the drill is to put the defender under a lot of pressure, all the time. The format here uses traditional techniques but you’re not limited to that. You can do the exact same drill wearing gloves and shinguards with the MMA or muay Thai rules as parameters. Then you get to practice the things I mentioned in that post but in the context of competitive combat sports.

The drill prepares you for just what BJ Penn encountered against Nick Diaz: an opponent who kept on coming forward, who never eased up on him and regardless of how hard BJ tried; he couldn’t stop him. KJust like the Frankenstein monster in the movies…

I’ll see if I can make a video of what this looks like in my class so you get an idea of what it looks like. But I just wanted to point that out in the mean time.

 

BTW, props to BJ for sticking with it. He had a real tough fight on his hands and didn’t quit when he took a beating. All his skill aside, you gotta give the man credit for having heart like that.

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