This week at Dynamic MMA--Week of Jan 30-Feb 3

Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. -Sir Issac Newton-

Time is something that cannot be replaced. Time away from training is time that can never be had again. All too often I see combat athletes make the decision to train hard a few weeks out from a competition. It seems good that they are putting in the "extra" effort to perform well at the upcoming event. However, the truth of the matter is that elite athletes are always putting in the "extra" effort and are always prepared. This type of work ethic and self discipline is what separates champions from contenders.

Imagine if you trained every day as if you had a competition the following weekend. Imagine if you trained every day as if you had a rank exam the following week. Why does your training time matter more in those situations? It shouldn't. You should constantly seek to improve whether you are competing or not. All of us get lazy from time to time. We get tired. We get distracted by other things going on in our lives.  Just remember, the time away from training is time we can never get back and imagine where you will be if you remain consistent with your training.

In the founding days of martial arts, they trained as if their lives depended on it. We are training in combative arts. Nowadays, we too should still train as if our lives depended on it. 


Train smart


-Sensei Larry Keith-

Kodokan Judo

Monday-Thursday

Variations of Seoi-nage


Tuesday-Friday

Submissions from Kami-shiho-gatame

Mixed Martial Arts

Monday-Thursday

Transitions from combat phase 1 to phase 2 and to phase 3. Bring your gloves and shin pads.


Tuesday-Friday

Transitions from combat phase 3 to phase 1. Bring your MMA gloves.

Jiu-jitsu

Monday-Thursday

Butterfly guard sweeps. Some you may have not seen before.


Tuesday-Friday

Attacks from the high guard position.

Muay Thai

Wednesday


Clinch fighting drills




  

This week at Dynamic MMA--January 23-27

Kodokan Judo

Monday-Tuesday

Ashi-Waza--We will be working foot sweeps and leg reaps. In these types of attacks, timing is crucial. If your timing is off, the technique will fail. If your timing is accurate, the technique will seem effortless. Learning the timing of these throws will make your other throws more powerful.

Thursday-Friday

Harai--We will be using harai in combination with other hip techniques. This is a great way to insure that your throw attempt will result in downing your opponent.

Mixed Martial Arts

Monday-Tuesday

Over/Under clinch--We will be performing several throws/takedowns from this clinch position. This is a very common position in grappling and MMA. Learn to use it well.

Thursday-Friday

Muay Thai takedowns--We will be working Muay Thai cross body sweeps from various angles. This is a great way to get your opponent down and break their spirit a bit.

Jiu-jitsu

Monday-Tuesday

Guard passes--We will work variations of smash pass and knee through pass. It's great how these things work in combinations so well.

Thursday-Friday

1/2 guard passes--We will be working on some slightly different passing strategies as well as a couple sneaky submissions from inside your opponent's half guard.

Muay Thai

Wednesday

Clinch pummelling with knee and elbow attacks. Whew!...close range combat is awesome!

This week at Dynamic MMA--January 16-20

First of all, thank you to everyone that attended and/or helped out with the kids' goal setting seminar on Saturday. We had 17 very disciplined kids that did a great job paying attention, listening to direction, and performing the techniques.

This week--

Kodokan Judo

Monday-Tuesday--

Guard passing drills--
The guard is often used as a stalling tactic in Judo competition. If you learn to efficiently pass the guard you can move into a pinning position or perhaps a submission. 

Thursday-Friday--

Unorthodox gripping--
We will be doing a series of attacks from what the Russians call "Georgian Grip". This grip is a very handy tool to be educated on

Mixed Martial Arts

Monday-Tuesday--

RWT--Russian Wrestling Techniques
We are returning to the Russian 2-on-1 arm tie. This time we are working some counter attacks.

Thursday-Friday--

Triangle guard--
Most of our intermediate and advanced MMA students are using the triangle high guard effectively. Now we will introduce a variety of submission options from this diverse position. 

Jiu-jitsu

Monday-Tuesday--

Side guard/Monkey guard--
We will be exploring several sweeps and subs from this guard.

Thursday-Friday--

A considerable amount of time will be spent reviewing previous weeks techniques. We will have several new members trying out the class. Our experienced members should attend to help out and work some finer details in the fundamentals. 

Muay Thai

Wednesday--

Clinch fighting--
working ways to tie up the opponents arms for elbow and knee strikes.



 

basics, details, and muscle memory

In contest or combat, the fight can begin and/or end in an instant. However, in that instant many things are happening such as off balancing, fitting in to position, angles, momentum, structure, leverage, acceleration, deceleration, deflection, accurate impact…the list goes on and on. All of these things develop through practice…correctly detailed practice.

The Japanese term “MUSHIN” (no mind) is referring to the principle of using muscle memory rather than having to think about the technique before performing it. The more you practice a technique, the better the neural pathways will perform. This enables you to do the technique under stress as more of a reflex action rather than having to waste precious moments thinking it through. That moment you spend thinking about it could be the moment your opponent defeats you.  

Advanced techniques are awesome to watch. They are also very fun to practice and can be much more challenging to learn than the basics. However, we must always keep in mind that the advanced techniques will not work without including the use of basic fundamentals.

Even for instructors it is more fun to teach advanced techniques rather than basic positions and repetitions of basic technique. We sometimes feed off of the “wow factor"a bit too much. Some instructors are even a little selfish in that they want to work advanced techniques to get in their own practice time.  This is unfair to the beginner that is not yet ready to apply and/or defend advanced techniques. 

On the other hand, when teaching/reviewing the basics, we instructors enjoy watching the light bulbs flash on over the students’ heads when they suddenly understand the technique or a part of it they were missing. This is the most rewarding part of being an instructor.

Martial arts is a scientific application of body mechanics. We must constantly remind ourselves that when learning a combative system, it must be approached as a system that is progressive in nature. A student must learn proper use of angles, structure, leverage, posture, and distance before learning how to do a flying triangle choke. We must develop the neural pathways to operate efficiently on the basics first.   

At our dojo, we do certain things at every practice session. We do ukemi and uchi-komi. We run through the basic ground control positions. We do it so much that it has now become part of our regular warm-ups.  We also do many drills, drills, drills. It’s easy to get bored with repetition. In that boredom, it can also become easy to get sloppy with technique.

Make sure this doesn’t happen to you. If you feel bored with a technique, remind yourself that with each proper repetition, you are building stronger neural pathways. Take a scientific approach by searching for more details to help make the technique work better for you and under different levels of stress. That challenge of overcoming the boredom or repetition is the “perseverance” part of becoming a high quality martial artist. No one becomes a black belt or champion without perseverance.

This week at Dynamic MMA: January 9-13

Kodokan Judo

Monday and Tuesday

Ashi-Waza (Leg techniques)

We will be working a variety of throws using sweeps, reaps, and trips. Using these techniques in combination will also aid your other techniques.


Thursday and Friday

Attacking the turtle position with strangle/turnover combinations. 

Mixed Martial Arts

Monday and Tuesday

This week we continue with our wrestling series. The Russian 2 on 1 arm tie. We will be using this clinch position to set up a variety of takedowns. 

Thursday and Friday

We have had several requests lately to review some 1/2 guard lockdown techniques. We will go over some sweeps and subs from this controlling position. 

Jiu-jitsu

Monday and Tuesday

Maintaining the mounted position, taking the back from mounted position, and returning to mount from back control. This series is commonly overlooked in practice. What seems simple can become quite a challenge vs a squirmy opponent. Practice of fundamentals only serves to solidify our advanced techniques. 


Thursday and Friday

Arm lock transitions. Moving from bent to straight and back to bent again.

Muay Thai

Wednesday

Several combination drills designed to sharpen things up a bit.

This week at Dynamic MMA: January 2-6

Congratulations to both Ryan Cunningham and Jessee Filan for achieving Kodokan Judo rank of Shodan! Both of them trained hard and performed very well for the exam. 

The 4 black belt rank examiners were myself, Olga Keith, Duane Alexenko, and Gerald Lewis. Also observing the exam were 6 of our brown belt members. Everyone agreed that Ryan and Jessee had very outstanding performance of technique and great knowledge of the art. They are a great example of how dedication, perseverance, can lead you to great achievements. 

Dynamic MMA now has 6 black belt Judo instructors. It is looking like we will have more black belt candidates by summer 2012. Exciting!


I hope everyone had a great New Year weekend. Now it's time to get back to work, get back in shape from the holidays, and time to sharpen up those skills.

Kodokan Judo

Tuesday and Friday


We will be working cross sleeve grip throws. This grip limits your opponents ability to attack and presents a long list of combination attacks for you. In Judo competition you are only allowed to hold a cross grip for 3-5 seconds. However, in BJJ there are no time limitations on how long you can hold a cross grip. 


Thursday


Fusegi (escapes)

One of the things that I feel separates our dojo from many other Judo schools is that we practice proper pin escapes. Osaekomi (pins) are based on proper use of body mechanics. Escapes in turn also make use of these mechanics. 


The Judo principle "maximum efficiency with minimal effort" is exemplified in Judo groundwork. If you are applying proper technique, you should have to use far less energy than your opponent. 


Structure and leverage will defeat strength. "Give me a place to stand and with a lever I shall move the earth" --Archimedes--

Mixed Martial Arts

Tuesday and Friday

Standing wrestling--Using the head snap to set up entries into clinch and throw positions. 

Thursday

We will be going over the T-sweep to set up Omo-plata and triangle chokes. Great combination attacks like these change scrambling into transition opportunities. 

Jiu-jitsu

Tuesday and Friday

Drills to develop mounted positional control. Having great control from this position frustrates your opponent and helps you to secure your submission easier.

Thursday

Arm lock transitions--being able to move from one arm lock to another smoothly is key to finishing. 

Muay Thai

Wednesday

Be prepared to work up a good sweat. We will work punch combination drills as well as kick combination drills.