Loftearmen's MMA Log

Training
121

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
This was pretty interesting. I’ll have to start trying to implement some of these techniques, especially moving 45 degrees before throwing a jab and slipping afterward.

sugarboxing.com/the-science-of-mike-tyson-and-elements-of-peek-a-boo-part-ii/#C1[/quote]

How tall are you again?[/quote]

I am 6’ even. I was just shy of 6’2" but powerlifting smashed me down about an inch and a half over the years (srs). I’m hoping to get some of that height back since I’m not lifting as frequently anymore.
[/quote]

OK.

At your height, you can probably get away with using some peek-a-boo style things, but keep in mind that it’s a very specific way of fighting that’s made for short guys going against taller guys.

It’s a very active, swarming style that depends on footwork, head movement, and angles, and if you’re not fast with it, you tend to get beat up cause you’re so square and come-forward-ish (think early Iron Mike versus late Iron Mike. One moved a lot, the other didn’t).

Now jabbing and moving on angles is ALWAYS a good idea, but make sure that you’re doing it at the right time. He moved a lot before he jabbed because he HAD to - he was a short guy going against taller fighters with much longer reach. Now if you’re not fighting someone taller than you, moving in before you jab could stifle your own power, which is no bueno.

Now, if you’re doing muay Thai, what with it’s more squared off stance, you might be able some facets of the peek-a-boo more, and I’d say go for it. Just be aware of its strengths and weaknesses - it’s very much a total style, and very hard to emulate.

I like it, but you need to be conditioned as fuck to do it, also.

122

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
This was pretty interesting. I’ll have to start trying to implement some of these techniques, especially moving 45 degrees before throwing a jab and slipping afterward.

sugarboxing.com/the-science-of-mike-tyson-and-elements-of-peek-a-boo-part-ii/#C1[/quote]

How tall are you again?[/quote]

I am 6’ even. I was just shy of 6’2" but powerlifting smashed me down about an inch and a half over the years (srs). I’m hoping to get some of that height back since I’m not lifting as frequently anymore.
[/quote]

OK.

At your height, you can probably get away with using some peek-a-boo style things, but keep in mind that it’s a very specific way of fighting that’s made for short guys going against taller guys.

It’s a very active, swarming style that depends on footwork, head movement, and angles, and if you’re not fast with it, you tend to get beat up cause you’re so square and come-forward-ish (think early Iron Mike versus late Iron Mike. One moved a lot, the other didn’t).

Now jabbing and moving on angles is ALWAYS a good idea, but make sure that you’re doing it at the right time. He moved a lot before he jabbed because he HAD to - he was a short guy going against taller fighters with much longer reach. Now if you’re not fighting someone taller than you, moving in before you jab could stifle your own power, which is no bueno.

Now, if you’re doing muay Thai, what with it’s more squared off stance, you might be able some facets of the peek-a-boo more, and I’d say go for it. Just be aware of its strengths and weaknesses - it’s very much a total style, and very hard to emulate.

I like it, but you need to be conditioned as fuck to do it, also.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice.

I think that I will probably be going against taller, longer limbed guys pretty regularly because there are a lot of really tall guys in the super-heavies. I guess it couldn’t hurt to learn some of the different techniques of the style, keep what works for me and ditch what doesn’t.

I think that I have a lot to learn from boxing. In karate they spend all their time training punches, kicks and blocks but they don’t strategize or teach you how to get inside to land strikes at all. So I have somewhat decent punches and kicks but no skills on how to use them against someone who is capable of defending themselves with any competency. That’s why I’ve been doing a lot of reading about boxing since boxers seem to have positioning and strategy down to a science.

123

Well, I am definitely still too sick to go to class. I would infect everyone there. After a bunch of dayquil I was able to hit the bag for half an hour in my garage. I have been practicing my slipping and rolling quite a bit. I am still slow with it but I think that my boxing skills are coming along. My movement was definitely better and my hands felt a bit faster. I still find myself throwing crappy looking hooks when I am “getting into it” though. I think it is because the bag is too far away by the time I have already hit it once or twice so I am reaching out too far.

124

I know you’re working mostly on your conditioning on the bag, but I’d encourage you to be more conscious of technique and particularly range. Particular things, in no particular order:

  1. That lazy right hook would almost certainly get you knocked out against a rangy guy at your weight class. Be really careful with it. The right hook is a great punch done well, but you must always be thinking about how you can make the path of the punch as efficient as possible. That is of course true with all punches, but particularly so with the right hook, because it travels such a long way.

  2. Hands man, they belong up by your face. You drop them almost immediately. It is a very bad habit, that really will get you hurt. As a shorter fighter for your weightclass (probably), your defense needs to be spot on, because you’re going to have to weather the storm before you get anywhere near the other guy. This means a nice high guard. Better a lower punch output than a loose guard. I understand that with those little MMA gloves, you can’t take as many punches on the guard as in boxing, but still, if they are where they should be, they obscure the target and increase your opponent’s thinking time. Good defense introduces uncertainty and blocks your opponents punches before he has had a chance to throw them.

  3. Related - Where your head goes, your hands go. You’re leaving them behind when you roll and slip. This is creating some massive gaps that an opponent would exploit. By doing this, you’re also leaving your hands in positions that don’t let you throw them through effective paths, leading to the crappy hook you were talking about, as well as loose jabs an rights too.

  4. You get squared up quite a lot eg. c.25s in. Again, focus on movement and solid hand positioning rather than punch output. You’ll most likely spend a lot of time on your arse if you keep getting squared up like that, because a rangy guy only needs to put you a crisp one-two on the button, and you’ll go down, even if you’re not hurt. Obviously in MMA, that could be a particular problem, when some sweaty bloke jumps crotch first in your face to ‘finish you off’.

Basically, in my opinion, less punches, more quality movement, more focus on solid defensive positioning.

There is a lot of good stuff that you’re doing, but the habits above will get you hurt if you don’t get out of them. Shame you’re on the other side of the world, I’d like to coach you.

125

I really appreciate the critique Londonboxer. After reading your suggestions I went back and rewatched the video and could clearly see what you were talking about. From a conditioning standpoint, squaring off and beating the hell out of the bag with a barrage of punches is effective but not at the expense of developing bad habits.

I filmed that after doing 30 min of bag work straight so my conditioning is rapidly improving, as is my hand speed I thought, but there were about 20 times where someone could have stiffed me straight in the face during that 45 sec video. I will focus on keeping my hands up high and moving my guard with my head when I slip. I also think it would help me if I always preceded combos with a slip, slip, roll, jab, right, sidestep, slip, slip, strike, etc… kind of tempo. I need to learn how to move and evade strikes more than I need to learn how to dish them out. I wish I was closer to you! I would love to have a good coach and I am a big fan of English brown ales :wink:

126

This may be a little off topic but a lifter who I was working with online just added 110lbs to his powerlifting total (squat, bench, deadlift) in 3 months. I am pretty proud to have helped this guy out so much. In time, I am sure I can help some fighters get stronger as well.

127

Heavy Bag
C25K Week 1 Day 3

I followed Londonboxer’s advice and really focused on keeping my gloves up, chin down and utilizing a lot of defensive maneuvering. If I don’t keep my gloves in contact with my face, I forget about them and let my hands drop. So, I just need to keep them pressed against my cheeks. This queue forces me to keep my hands over my face when I slip and roll as well.

My slipping, rolling, side to side footwork and quarter turns need a lot of work still but at least I covered keeping my guard up.

Overhead Press…superset…Deadlift
45x15-225x15
95x10-315x10
135x8-405x8
185x5-495x5
185x5

I felt weak… really weak… which usually means I need to rest a little so I took it easy. Next week I will do block pulls instead of deadlifts so I don’t feel so run down. I have also been taking really short breaks between sets to develop some muscular endurance and conditioning. In powerlifting, it is normal to take up to 10 minutes between heavy sets but lately I have been taking about 1 min which turns lifting into cardio.

Not a bad session overall. I did it in the middle of the night because I couldn’t sleep.

128

No problem mate, hope it helps you. I knew you were a man of taste from your first post. The fact that you like ale only confirms it.

129

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
No problem mate, hope it helps you. I knew you were a man of taste from your first post. The fact that you like ale only confirms it. [/quote]
I’m also a big fan of Scottish whisky. Does England have a whisky distilling tradition as well? I’ve never heard of any English whiskies over here.

This morning’s training:

Heavy Bag
C25K Week 2 Day 1

The sidewalks were icy this morning so I just hit the bag instead of going for a run. I still managed to slip and fall in my garage because the cement is so slick. It feels really strange not having a really high output of strikes. I’m basically dancing with the bag for the most part and pretending like it’s trying to hit me. I’ll get it swinging well and try to move from one side to the other as it swings, dropping a strike or two as I pass and then getting back out of range. I’ve also been trying to develop the ability to get in, throw a short combo and get out quickly.

Tonight I’m going to BJJ class.

130

No English whiskey, all the good stuff comes from Scotland or Ireland anyway - ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it’.

Don’t crack the concrete.

131

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
No English whiskey, all the good stuff comes from Scotland or Ireland anyway - ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it’.

Don’t crack the concrete.[/quote]

Hahahah still a limey, but at least he’s an honest one.

:wink:

132

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
This may be a little off topic but a lifter who I was working with online just added 110lbs to his powerlifting total (squat, bench, deadlift) in 3 months. I am pretty proud to have helped this guy out so much. In time, I am sure I can help some fighters get stronger as well. [/quote]

You should be. That’s awesome man.

133

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
No English whiskey, all the good stuff comes from Scotland or Ireland anyway - ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it’.

Don’t crack the concrete.[/quote]

This had me wondering why an entire country would go without distilling whisky. It almost seems impossible lol. Especially considering how you brits like to drink; so, I did some research on it.

Apparently, there used to be several distilleries in England but they all shut down for one reason for another and eventually there weren’t any at all. In 2003 distilleries started popping up all over and their whiskies are just now done aging and becoming available to the public.

Now that I know it exists I’ll have to try some. Most of them are described as heavily peated and made from maris otter or golden promise barley mash (same barleys used for Scotch Wee-Heavy Ales) so I imagine that they will be something akin to a single malt highland scotch.

134

[quote]Loftearmen wrote:

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
No English whiskey, all the good stuff comes from Scotland or Ireland anyway - ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it’.

Don’t crack the concrete.[/quote]

This had me wondering why an entire country would go without distilling whisky. It almost seems impossible lol. Especially considering how you brits like to drink; so, I did some research on it.

Apparently, there used to be several distilleries in England but they all shut down for one reason for another and eventually there weren’t any at all. In 2003 distilleries started popping up all over and their whiskies are just now done aging and becoming available to the public.

Now that I know it exists I’ll have to try some. Most of them are described as heavily peated and made from maris otter or golden promise barley mash (same barleys used for Scotch Wee-Heavy Ales) so I imagine that they will be something akin to a single malt highland scotch.

https://www.englishwhisky.co.uk/online-shop[/quote]

Well I’ll be damned. Now I need to try it. I had no idea it was a thing. I suspect it won’t have the quality of its more traditional counter parts, but I hope I’m proved wrong. Anything to put those smart talking Irish fellas back in their boxes.

135

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:

Well I’ll be damned. Now I need to try it. I had no idea it was a thing. I suspect it won’t have the quality of its more traditional counter parts, but I hope I’m proved wrong. Anything to put those smart talking Irish fellas back in their boxes. [/quote]

Probably tastes like bear urine.

136

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:

Well I’ll be damned. Now I need to try it. I had no idea it was a thing. I suspect it won’t have the quality of its more traditional counter parts, but I hope I’m proved wrong. Anything to put those smart talking Irish fellas back in their boxes. [/quote]

Probably tastes like bear urine.[/quote]

Meh, I think America owns the most urine-like beverage: Budweiser.

137

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:

Well I’ll be damned. Now I need to try it. I had no idea it was a thing. I suspect it won’t have the quality of its more traditional counter parts, but I hope I’m proved wrong. Anything to put those smart talking Irish fellas back in their boxes. [/quote]

Probably tastes like bear urine.[/quote]

Yep, this was the first thing that went through my mind.

138

BJJ class went pretty well. We went over arm bars from the guard and guillotine chokes standing and from the guard. I did the second half of class in a t shirt and realized that the gi is really a hindrance. They are loose and the fabric is really tough so it’s easy to get tangled up in it. When you have big arms it makes it even worse because you’re having to slide your big ass arm into a tiny little space while it’s all tangled up in boat sale canvas-type fabric. Once I got the gi off everything went really smoothly.

139

Muay Thai class tonight:

Shadow boxing
Stepping/striking drills
Thai pad drills
Sit Ups/Push Ups

Nice class. I kicked a guy straight in the elbow during thai pad drills because he flinched when he saw my kick coming. I’ll be shadow boxing and hitting the heavy bag in the morning instead of running though. It’s bruised and sore as hell.

140

AM: Heavy Bag work. It felt like crap. I was tired and sluggish as hell.

PM:
Bench Press
Work up to 335x3x3

Squat
Work up to 495x3x3

Lifting went really well. All of my lifts were really fast but, since my recovery ability is being tested at the moment, I decided to not go heavier.