Sunday, 30 August 2020
Kaizen - Constant daily improvement
Thursday, 27 August 2020
Interview with MMA Coach Ian Bone
Heres a short video Interview I did with my good friend Coach Ian Bone. Ian is a multiple time Australian MMA champion, BJJ Brown belt and is now heavily involved in the Japanese Karate / MMA hybrid style of KUDO.
https://www.facebook.com/coachbonecourage/videos/2614198028830557
Tuesday, 11 August 2020
MMA Striking Class Video
Thursday, 28 November 2019
Advice for MMA Fighters - MMA Melbourne
As a coach, one of the worst things a fighter can do is to train hard in the lead up to a fight and then quit training straight afterwards. This is even worse when the fighters teammates also have upcoming fights to prepare for. It is very unlikely the coach will be prepared to put the same effort into training the fighter in the future if he knows they lack commitment. Another side of this is to not chop and change your training every couple of weeks, stick with what has been getting you results and gradually increase the volume and intensity of your training.
At the elite levels of any sport, every player is playing injured all the time. Get used to it, strap up your injured knee, elbow or foot and keep going. Select different exercises or techniques that won't exacerbate the injury but avoid taking time off at all costs. If training consistently to achieve your goals is important to you you will find a way to make it happen, if it's not important you will find an excuse.
The amount of extra training you'll get done by not working will usually end up not being worth it. Most gyms and martial arts schools do most of their training outside of work hours. Even if you quit your job in order to train full time most of your training partners will be at work.
Focusing on only one area at the expense of other skills will leave holes in your game which will be easily exploited by more experienced future opponents. Competing in other combat sports such as BJJ or amateur Kickboxing is a good safe way to gain valuable experience and develop your skills so that you are more well rounded and more of a threat when you fight in MMA.
Check out our MMA Classes at DKMMA Melbourne
Monday, 30 September 2019
My 5 Most Popular Blog Articles
Here are my 5 most popular articles since I began writing my MMA coaching blog in 2012.
Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Deliberate Practice
Monday, 4 February 2019
The Four Stages of Learning Martial Arts
Tuesday, 29 January 2019
BJJ Seminar at 360 Martial Arts in Ulverstone, Tasmania
Grip Breaks: Kumi Kata (From Right Hand Grip)
- Right hand Fingertips to ear and pull back right Elbow
- Both hands grip Right sleeve - Pull Down or Pull away and Lean Back
- Shake - Pull down Collar grip with Left Hand
- Get Grip and Prevent Grip
- Flow from One Grip to the Next
- Collar - Sleeve - Belt - Leg - Two on One
Fireman's Throw / Kata Guruma:
- 2 on 1 Grip - Pressure Down on Shoulder - Action/Reaction
- Pull with Left Hand - Drop Penetration Step Right Knee
- Right hand to Sky - Ribs on your Neck
- Sink/Sit on your Heels - So he doesnt have too far to fall
- Lower your left shoulder to the mat - let opponent do a forward roll over you
- Non competitive - Just flowing between grips - Partners gives correct energy
- Hips (Feet on Hips) - Hooks (Feet hooked behind knees) - Elbows (Spider Guard)
- Wrap leg from Outside to Inside of Arm
- Block Tricep with your Instep - Lock your Elbow to your Hip
- Test the Connection - Partner walks backwards and pulls you.
SASA Sweep - Yukinori Sasa (Paraestra Gym Tokyo):
- Bring Right Foot from Left Hip to Right Hip - Shin across belt
- Right Hand goes inside his left Knee
- Bring his Right Shoulder to the mat with your Left Knee & Lift with right hand
- Finish in Knee on Belly Position
To Oma Plata:
- If they don't move forward after removing foot from hip
- Right hand to outside of Right Knee - Rotate under stomach
- Stretch both legs - Knees tight to force shoulder to Mat
To Triangle:
- Right Leg over Left Shoulder
- Grip right elbow with both hands
- Pull Right elbow in - Stretch left leg through
- Inside of left knee on right shoulder to angle off to your right.
Guard Passing Drills:
- Slap-Head : Passer
- Slap-Head : Both
- One Arm Bandit
- No Arm Bandit
- Blind Bandit
Monday, 21 January 2019
My MMA Journey - Part 3
After my win in Italy at the end of 2003 I was keen to get back in and have another go as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there weren't as many opportunities to fight or MMA events taking place at that stage. I kept myself busy by competing in BJJ, KSBO amatuer MMA events and also some Jiu Jitsu Kumite events which were mixture of semi contact karate and grappling. I was also pretty busy at this time with work and exams, but as soon as my exams were over I made a big push to get matched up for as many MMA matches as I could get.
I had four pro MMA fights in four months from June to September 2004. I won three of those and the fourth was given as a draw however it was one of my most dominant ever fights. I took my opponent down and punched and elbowed him from guard for three straight rounds. In between these fights I also competed in regularly in BJJ and grappling events.
I found all my own matches by contacting promoters and offering to fight anyone they had at a similar weights. Then a group of us would head off on a road trip on Saturday to the other side of the country. Weigh in, have a fight then drive home later that night. Looking back now that probably wasn't the best way to manage a Fight career but I wanted to keep improving and to me that meant testing myself and staying active. I had to fight whoever was offered and keep working to get better between every fight.
Throughout all these fights and during the training camps I was suffering from instability in my knee. I could still and compete but it would pop out every now and again (including during one of my fights) and I needed to keep it heavily taped up when I fought. At the end of 2004 I was booked in to get ACL reconstruction surgery and this put my fight career temporarily on hold.
In Feb 2005 I had a full ACL reconstruction. This can usually take a long time to recover from but I wanted to make sure I was fight ready as soon as possible after the surgery. The first two weeks I was off work stuck at home wearing a huge knee brace and using crutches, as soon as I could walk again I got back to light weight training and also did rehab physio sessions once a week. About a month after the surgery I got back to boxing, however focusing more on punching and not so much footwork. During this time I did most of my boxing training at the Fitzroy Lodge gym in south London.
I also had more exams around May of this year so once my exams were done I wanted to return to full training. Approximately five months after my knee surgery I was ready to get back to grappling training and was able to compete in a grappling tournament again a few weeks later.
Around this time I also got offered a shot to fight on a new MMA promotion which would take place in London in October. I was very keen to get back in and fight to make up for my lost time. In the months leading up to this fight I also went on two training trips, firstly to Amsterdam where I got to train with many legends of Dutch Kickboxing including Ernesto Hoost, and then a few months later I traveled to Brazil where I trained at Brazilian Top Team, which was the leading MMA team in the world at that time.
My first fight back after surgery was against Ciro Gallo in York Hall, Bethnal green. I dropped him with a punch right at the start of the round then got a Judo style Turtle rolling armbar. I was happy with the result of this fight as I had been out of full training and fighting for so long. However as always when I felt a fight was too easy I also had a slight feeling of disappointment that it wasn't enough of a challenge and that I had wasted several months of training and preparation but hadn't really tested myself. However I was never really the type of fighter to pick and choose my opponents or even to bother finding out much about them before i stepped into the ring. I just fought whoever was in front of me. I didn't look as MMA fighting as a career or even a sport. I just looked on it as a realistic way of testing my martial arts skills. If you get attacked on the street you don't get to pick and choose who you get attacked by, you don't ask for someone who is closer to your weight or has a similar record and you certainly don't ask your attacker to come back on another day because you've got a cold or sore elbow.
46 Rounds of Sparring for my 46th Birthday
To celebrate my 46th birthday, I rolled 46 rounds of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with my incredible students—all for a good cause! 💪🎉 Each studen...

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