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We had a great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class today, well actually 2 classes, one beginner and one advanced.

In the morning I had the beginners work on some mount escapes and taught them how to avoid and defend the “cheap shot” type of punch that commonly happens in the street, at school, at the bar and many other places.

For the advanced class we focused on back control and how to properly choke your opponent when they are in a spot from which  they can easily defend the common collar chokes.

After the technique drilling we rolled for five 8 minute rounds alternating partners for each.

Man, I’ve been having so much fun rolling with the gi as much as I am. I really don’t think no-gi grappling compares to training with the gi. In no-gi training I find myself always doing the same set of movements and although they work well for me, it feels way too repetitive from time to time.

Gi grappling, on the other hand allows me to play so many different styles of jiu-jitsu; I use the spider guard, the x-guard, butterfly guard and several other styles of guard on the bottom and when it comes to passing the guard and submitting my opponent the options are almost endless.

A lot of fans watch the sport of  MMA fighting, where fighters do not wear the gi and come to the conclusion that wearing one is not an important part of training. I strongly disagree! It’s been my experience in Gi competitions and in training while wearing that traditional Japanese garment over many years that has honed my ground fighting skill set.

Also, an extremely high percentage of the ground fighters that have been successful in both MMA and submission wrestling –where fighters only wear short and a tshirt/rashguard– come from a traditional grappling background having done most of their training with their gis on.

Up next…An X-guard workshop tomorrow afternoon…with the gi.

I will be running a March Break Camp at Joslin’s MMA in Hamilton for children ages 6-14. Martial arts training, games, contests, bowling and movie trips and much more…

For more info CLICK HERE.

Deciding to compete in an upcoming event is one of the best ways to add variety and motivation to your training regiment. It will excite you to train more frequently, more intensely, and often more intelligently. There’s nothing more motivating than knowing that you will soon have a highly skilled martial artist trying to throw, sweep, lock, and choke you out while your friends and family watch and cheer from the sidelines. Obviously when competition day arrives you’ll want to be at your best.

As you prepare for tournament action you’ll build a strong momentum in training where your movements are executed much faster and with greater effectiveness than normal. At this point, training is  more fun than ever before due to the sharpness of your physical and technical weapons.

Another benefit to competing regularly is that your rate of growth as a mixed martial artist will skyrocket. It’s been said that the intense training one does to prepare for competition is worth three times that of normal training time. Whether you come home with a gold medal for your efforts, it doesn’t really matter – although I do admit it feel good to do so!— because you will be a better mixed martial artist due to the preparation and valuable experience the competition has given you. In some cases a loss at that competition will help you to improve even more because you will often sit back and analyze your approach and game plan to discover any weaknesses.

As a mixed martial artist I suggest you aim to compete in striking competition, grappling competitions and wrestling events whenever possible. Talk with your instructor to see if he/she feels you’re ready to take that step. I competed in over a hundred martial arts tournaments before fighting my first professional mixed martial arts fight. Now you don’t need to compete as much as I did before fighting pro but I’m very glad I had an extensive competitive background because it gave me extreme confidence in Mixed Martial Arts.

If you’re a little nervous to get out there and compete, go to a few events and check them out as a spectator. Sometimes it’s not what your had first conceived. I’ve had a few students that were sickly afraid of competing and after watching a few events they eventually jumped into one and over time become some of my most accomplished competitors.

Over the years I’ve met many great people, at tournaments and martial arts events, many of which I now consider personal friends. There is something special, that non-competitors will never experience, about battling it out on the mats, in the ring, or in the cage with another human being. Get out there and see for yourself!

=> For complete access to many other training articles and over 75 of my free MMA instructional videos …CLICK HERE.

Happy to get this site back up and running.

I had to make a few adjustments to it so if you find anything that seems to not be working properly (ie. training videos, pages etc.) please comment on this post to let me know.

I’m off to Newfoundland to teach a seminar. I’ll try to post from there throughout the weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Here are some of the highlights taken from a Boxing/Kickboxing private lesson I taught to my student Alon. Alon travels an hour each way every week to take a private lesson. Too busy, with a successful business of his own, to train more than once a week, this guy would be a machine if he could train full time.  In this lesson, we work on proper head movement, some low kick counters, and a few boxing combinations. There’s also a little speed bag work at the end for fun.

LEARN SOME OF THESE TECHNIQUES! Register for my Fight crew HERE.. and you’ll gain access to over 75 of my FREE MMA instructional videos.

Once you apply the basic kimura from the bottom of the 1/2 guard position an opponent may rush to pass your guard. Use this follow-up to flip him over while you move to the top position.

Warning - The technique and information contained within this video below should only be practiced under the supervision of a qualified instructor. By choosing the practice any of the techniques demonstrated in the videos below, you accept full responsibility for any injury or damage resulting from the execution or practice of the techniques presented within this video.

==> 1/2 Guard Kimura Flip Sweep (Give it a few seconds to play)

=> For complete access to over 75 of my free MMA instructional videos and other great stuff…CLICK HERE.

Every so often we watch a fight that is exciting from start to finish. A match where a fighter or both fighters  pull off some really cool, crisp and effective attacks and counters. I love those fights. The match between Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida, that took place a while ago is one of the first that pops into my mind.

Then there are other matches where many attacks seems slow, ineffective and telegraphed. It’s during those matches that I’m thankful, as a spectator, that it is only scheduled for three rounds if that is the case.

What’s makes a match boring to me?

I think it’s when two ground fighting specialist tries to strike it out on the feet. I find it hard to watch punching exchanges that consist of two fighters throwing wild punches, with elbows flared, body squared while moving in wrong directions. Even worse is when punches do land squarely on the intended target, which is always the head, they rarely cause a knockout because of improper body mechanics.

I imagine the opposite situation would be equally as boring to me although we don’t see it as often. That is if two highly skilled strikers with limited ground skill, flopping around on the ground missing submission opportunities or not taking advantage of a key position from which they could have ended the fight.

That being said there are some exceptions where a ground specialist or wrestler may have enough power and athleticism to score some knockouts and be exciting to watch regardless of the fact that they lack technical expertise in striking.  That is however fairly rare and seems to only be possible when there opponents possesse weak or average striking ability themselves.

In the future, I hope more fighters continue to play to their strengths and not feel like they have to prove that they can do it all when they step in the cage.

What do think think makes fights boring?

Another important MMA Training Tip in terms of your mindset…

Don’t Be The Bragger

What happens in training doesn’t matter, it’s only training! Keep that sentence in mind and you will not become the type of student that team mates despise. I’m talking about the guy that brags to others about who he’s tapped out, knocked down or dominated during a practice. They also seem to take training sessions as serious as competition. This type of student has things all wrong.

One should take training as what the name is defined as; Intended for use during an introductory, learning, or transitional period. In other words training is the time when a student should introduce new techniques to their game, test out new strategies and work to transition their mma games to something greater.

Could an advanced mixed martial artist get tapped out by or get dropped due to a strike from a less experience opponent when trying out these new, less developed skills and strategies? Of course they could, but that is the risk they must take to improve their skill set. Training is the time to try things new and when someone brags about training results as is it were a real competition or fight that pisses people off.

Do not be that guy! Also be sure to put anyone who brags about their training accomplishments in their place –in a very nice way—for their own benefit and the benefit of the team.

Check out these related articles

MMA Training Tip – Mindset #1 (The I Already Know That Type)

MMA Training Tip – Mindset #2 (The Rough Guy)

MMA Training Tip – Mindset #3 (The Lazy Guy)

=> For complete access to over 75 of my free MMA instructional videos and other great stuff…CLICK HERE.

Here are my UFC 109 predicitons, who are you picking?

Randy Couture  vs. Mark Coleman = Randy Couture by decision
-Nate Marquardt  vs. Chael Sonnen = Nate Marquardt by submission
-Demian Maia  vs. Dan Miller = Demian Maia by submission
-Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg = Matt Serra by Decision
-Paulo Thiago  vs. Mike Swick = Mike Swick by TKO

Early Friday morning I’m heading out to St John’s, Newfoundland to teach a 2 day seminar at Bushido MMA. Great people, great training facility and great city…I’m looking forward to it all.

I’ll try to post some updates and maybe even some pictures and video of my time there.

Have a great weekend everyone!