The next type of head movement that we will look at is the bob. We have a couple different ways of avoiding straight punches but the hooks, overhand and big power right cross can be avoided by circling your head under the punch. The three elements to doing a proper bob are: 1. First, move the head away from the punch. 2. Drop with the knees and circle under the punch. 3. Come back up tucked and plant the foot for the counter punch or kick.
Of all the different types of head movement slipping is the fastest and works very well to avoid straight, fast punches. It also aids in adding momentum to your lateral movements Slipping left and right will not help if your opponent is throwing looping punches like hooks or over hands and also they are no good for countering with power because you don't build up any torque. They are, however, fundamental to the jab game and keeping the head moving as you change angles. The elements to the slip are: 1. "Slip with the hip" shoot your hip out to the left to move you head right and vice-versa. 2. When countering allow your opponent to come to you by a slight pause, then slip and counter. 3. Stay forward of your hips with your head.
This is going to be a short blog post this week, but I would like to go over some of the things from last week end. I'll go over the tournament as well as touch upon the UFC and what transpired. Next week will be more technique on wrestling and mma but for now enjoy.
First I would like to congratulate everyone who competed at the tournament. Morgan led the way with a gold and silver in bjj and freestyle grappling respectively, while Brett brought home a bronze medal. Our only female competitor Elyssa had a very strong outing in the striking, unfortunately the division was different then she thought it would be and therefore she didn't get to truly show of her power. Rounding out the list of competitors from Raptors was Oliver, Bryce and Reed who all had an amazing showing at the tournament. Be sure to check some pictures from the tournament on facebook.
Now before we get into the obvious fight from UFC 104 lets talk about some of the other fights. For me the best fight of the night was the Cain Velasquez fight. The best part his fight wasn't his wrestling or the TKO, it was his cardio and willingness to outwork his opponent. You can't always be bigger, stronger or more technical than your opponent but you can be in shape and have good cardio. This trait is most common in the lighter divisions (Lightweight, feather/Bantamweight) but to see it in a heavyweight is truly something to appreciate. Guys like Diego Sanchez, BJ Penn, and Clay Guida have made careers out of overwhelming their opponents and for Cain to bring that work ethic to the big boys will make for some interesting matchups. The other fight/technique I need to acknowledge is from Gleison Tibau. The standing back mount to flying armbar transition was a thing of beauty (watch for it at 2:15 of the 2nd round). Also his takedowns weren't that bad either.
Now for Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Personally I thought Shogun won that fight, he was aggresive, controling and more effective than Machida. Unfortunately the judges didn't see it the same way I (and most) did. For anybody interested in the numbers behind that fight I recommend checking out Fightmetric.com.
Now as far as gameplan goes Shougun's was damn near perfect. Machida likes to wait and counter by moving straight back and then lunging in with a counter puch. What Shogun did really well was not to give Machida a chance to lunge in with a counter, He chased Machida right up against the cage with a high guard incase machide punched. Once Machida hit the cage He was no longer in the right posture to counter back and was instead forced to cicle laterally of the cage. Shogun would then capitalize when Machida could no longer move backwards by kicking him hard to the legs and body. After awhile Machida was visibly bothered by this, having to repeadetly switch stances and being slowed considerably as Shogun landed more and more kicks. The key to this strategy though was a combination of a really good, high guard from Shogun (e.i. hands up) and working the body and legs. Too many fighters head hunt for the knockout instead of attacking the body and legs. If you hurt their body and legs you take away their foundation, and without a good foundation your opponent can't do good technique, inturn making it easier to beat them the longer it goes.
The rematch will be an interesting fight because Machida is a smart fighter and won't be quick to make the same mistake twice, and with him fixing pontentially his only weakness in his otherwise near perfect style will Shogun beable to find a new hole or will he try the same strategy. I personally have a hard time seeing Shogun beating Machida the second time but I didn't expect him do what he did either so we can't count him out. Now that I've gone on a little longer than I wanted to try and remeber to always take something away from a UFC event and always try and learn more. Until next time, train hard.
A lot of people are concerned about there weight, but probably none more so than fighters. As fighters we are under a lot of pressure to be bigger, stronger, and faster than our opponents. We cut weight to be at the top of the weight class. The more you cut the bigger and stronger you will be, theoretically. If done wrong though, all that size and strength won't help you if you're not at 100% on the day of competition. We are going to look at some ways to make the cut easier as well as how to stay at 100% for fight day.
Let me first make something really clear, cutting weight is not the same as losing weight. You are simply removing the water from you're system to help drop a couple of pounds. As soon as you reingest water you put the weight right back on. As I cover the weight cutting process remember that these are the tips that work for me, some people drop the water easy while others have a hard time with it.
The water cutting process generally starts a week out from when you have to weigh in. During that time I will increase my water intake to about 4 - 6 litres of water a day, more if I'm working out hard. Now what this does is trick my body. Most people are dehydrated in their day to day lives. Their bodies retain water out of fear that more water isn't coming for a while. By drinking extra water, or what I like to call super hydrating, our body is forced to get rid of the water instead of retaining it to make room for the more that is coming. Another thing you need to do is cut out salt as it makes you retain water, therefore making it harder to lose it. We keep this up for the whole week.
The night before weigh in I take my last drink of water as well as my last meal. The day of the weigh in is when I start the hard work. Basically you need to sweat. Simple. By super hydrating the week leading up to our bodies will give up the water easy, but we don't replace it. Our bodies won't have enough time to readjust to retaining water therefore it will be easier to dehydrate ourselves and drop more weight. Some people like to give themselves two days to cut weight if they have a lot to lose. Say you had to drop 12 pounds to make your weight class, you could cut 7 pounds the first day and drink back 1 pound of water throughout the day and the next day you drop 6 more, effectively dropping 12 pounds. If you do this make sure to eat dry foods throughout the first day, no fruits, vegetables or anything else with lots of water in it. For any serious weight cutting I recommend picking up a sauna suit.
Now that the weight is dropped many people think they are done, but the most important part to being 100% is how you replenish. Make sure you gradually introduce the water back to your system. Pedialyte is a really good drink to replenish with as it has electrolytes and other stuff you lost during the sweating period. If you drink to quick you will cramp up and feel really bad. By this point you're probably thinking with your stomach instead of your head, but we have to make sure we eat properly at this point. That means go back to your routine leading up to this weigh in. Don't go get greasy nachos right after weigh in as this will be a shock to your system and not make you feel very good. The other really important thing is a good nights rest as you body needs to recover.
Now remember that this is just to cut water weight. To control your weight you need to eat properly. As far how much you should cut, that all depends on you. If you've never cut weight before then I recommend a practice cut to learn what is feasible for you. Now as the tournament is this weekend here is a highlight of Genki Sudo, one of the best/most entertaining grapplers and MMA fighters ever.
Hi, this will be the first tip in this series and there will be many more to come. I hope these are informative and help with your training. One of the most important things that I or any other martial arts teacher can impart on students of all levels is, to KEEP YOUR HANDS UP! Most fighters and fans have heard of the "Button", which is the area of the jaw that, when hit, seems to shut the fighters lights out. While may not be an actual button, it seems to be just as effective for the purpose of finishing a fight early. We see fighters such as Liddel and Wanderlei, two of the toughest s.o.b.s to enter the Octagon, drop that hand and the opponent capitalize with accuracy and timing and "BOOM OUT GO THE LIGHTS!. You hear folks talk about a "glass jaw" but in reality, anyone who gets hit with the correct leverage and the power that any trained fighter would posess is suseptible to this fate. In a self defense situation the same rule goes - we must always protect the pumpkin! I always say to my students that there are 2 ways that I never want them to lose a fight; 1. Never gas out for lack of training and 2. KEEP YOU HANDS UP! And remember; Stay loose, like Drunkin' Man Kung-Fu baby! Coach Toby
