Why we created Bushido Fight Night : Melbourne MMA

Originally, we started out as a no headshots inter club competition at our gym. The no headshots format gave aspiring fighters an opportunity to test their skills. The inspiration came from the amateur Pancrase and KSBO competitions I competed in the UK over twenty years ago.

We ran eight of these tournaments, and the coaches and fighters involved gave great feedback about the professionalism and organization of the events. It was suggested that we do a full pro-am fight night and try to bring fighters on the card who had already been successful in our no-headshot events.

The event planning and organization for our first ever Bushido Fight Night took a lot of time and effort. The hardest part of putting together the card was contacting coaches and gyms since we were in the middle of a four-month lockdown. Several of the fighters on the card had participated in our amateur events and were familiar with the level of professionalism we would bring to the event.

Following months of preparation and one postponement, the show finally took place on Saturday 27th November, and it was a huge success in terms of organization, quality of fights, and attendance. All the teams and fighters involved provided us with great feedback.

The reason I decided to promote an MMA event was that I wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the sport. I’ve been involved in the sport of MMA for a very long time and have been on the other side of the cage as a fighter and coach. In September 2000, I had my first amateur fight and had been training in martial arts for seven years at the time. Throughout the years, I had many amateur and professional MMA fights and had my last professional fight 2009. In the years that followed, I became a full-time coach and have trained many successful fighters who have competed all around the world

I've seen many fighters, gyms, and MMA promotions come and go during that time. As a result, I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't, and I felt that my unique experience and perspective would be of great value when I run my promotion.

In addition, I wanted to portray a legitimate sport instead of glorifying violence for its own sake. Our changes included red or blue uniforms so amateur fighters could be distinguished from professionals. To prevent mismatches, we also make sure that the fighters who are matched on the show have the appropriate skill level and training. For all matched fighters, we provided discounted access to physiotherapy and diet and weight-cutting programs in order to ensure a level playing field. We wanted the fights to be evenly matched in order to give all fighters and teams a positive experience.

Last but not least, we wanted to emphasize the martial arts aspect of MMA. It should be about martial artists and combat sports athletes testing their skills and their training in the cage. There shouldn't just be wannabe tough guys trash talking and swinging for the fences and trying to impress their friends with how tough they are. The goal of Bushido Fight Night is to focus on skill, honor, and respect for the opponent while still putting on a great display of martial arts fighting.

Bushido Fight Night 2 is coming up on Sunday 13th

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MMA Striking Class Video

Karate Style Striking for MMA

Key Concepts:

1 - Side on Stance - Presents less of a target for Opponent.

2 - Distance - Bouncing in & out of range to land strikes. Not staying in the pocket.

3 - Single power strikes rather than combinations.

4 - Clearing obstructions - Opponent will have hands up so you need to clear them before you have a target to strike.

5 - Changing Stance - Stepping through on strikes to increase power or landing in a favorable angle.

Combinations

A - Left Hand Trap to Rt Cross / Right Elbow

B - Left Hook Kick (Ura Mawashi Geri) to clear hand - Rt Cross

C - Step through Rt Cross - Left Body Kick (Mawashi Geri) - Right Spinning Backfist (Uraken)

D - Right Body Kick (Mawashi Geri) then Right Cross while retracting kick

E - Right Front Kick (Mae Geri) - Step through to Southpaw - Rt Jab - L Rear Hook - L Head Kick (Jodan Mawashi Geri)

F - Rt Cross - bring feet together - L Head Kick (Jodan Mawashi Geri)

G - Rt Cross - L Hook (Pivoting to Left) - Rt Head Kick (Jodan Mawashi Geri)

H - Bounce in Jab - Cross - Bounce back - Left Head Kick (Jodan Mawashi Geri) or Left Side Kick (Yoko Geri)

I - Jab - Skipping Left Side Kick (Yoko Geri) - Rt Spin Back Kick (Ushiro Geri)

J - Side step Left vs. Rt Cross - Rt Side Kick (Yoko Geri) land in Southpaw - L Cross - Rt Hook - L Uppercut - L Knee (Hiza Geri)

 

InFocus Video Interview with Will Luu

Here's a recent interview that I did with Australias top fight photographer and one of my first MMA students William Luu as part of his InFocus series.

InFocus Interview

Annie Thatcher wins Amateur MMA World title in Singapore

Last week Annie Thatcher won the GAMMA amateur MMA world title in Singapore. Annie had two great fights in one day first defeating an opponent from Belarus by TKO and then after a few hours rest stepped up to defeat her Canadian opponent by TKO in the final.

This was an especially impressive achievement because Annie had her first MMA bout only 18 months ago. She is now 6 fights for 6 wins in amateur mma and has also had 3 wins in boxing and Muay Thai. Annie has trained almost every day since she first stepped foot in the gym and she has shown tremendous improvement.

Annie is a great example of the kind of work ethic and dedication that we look for in our athletes. 

Looking forward to see what the next year will bring for Annie’s fight career.

Check out our MMA Classes at DKMMA & BJJ Melbourne:

www.dkmma.com.au

Advice for MMA Fighters - MMA Melbourne

Be Consistent - Forget about 'Fight Camps'.

Train consistently at the same classes and sessions every week. Don't train hard for a few months and then drop-off for weeks at a time. Early in your career, you need to be ready to fight all the time, often at short notice. If you arent staying ready you'll miss out on good opportunities which could be the difference between reaching your goals or going nowhere. If you keep taking time off then needing to do intense training camps, it will cause injuries, lack of technical improvement and you won't reach your full potential. 

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.

Train Smart but be prepared to Train through Injuries.

Avoid unsafe training environments. These are usually found in tough-guy gyms where every session is 100% sparring with nobody actually learning anything or improving. If you have an experienced coach and a good team they will be able to supervise and plan your training and workload in such a way that you don't get injured. However, the reality is that MMA is a tough contact sport. You will pick up bumps, bruises and minor injuries along away the way no matter how careful you are. If you need to take three weeks off training every time you have a sore elbow you will never reach the top.

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.

Don't give up your Day Job. 

Do not try to become a full-time fighter until you have a winning record in a major MMA organisation. You will need money for training fees, competition fees and other expenses. You should be prepared to fight for free for at least the first few years of your fight career so you will need an additional income to support yourself. Beware of fight offers with promises of attractive fight purses early in your career. Chances are you are being set up to lose against a more experienced local fighter.

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.

Find legitimate Coaches and a Team you can trust and stick to their advice.

Find experienced and trustworthy coaches, follow their advice and stick with them. Lots of experts will appear out of the woodwork and start offering advice once you achieve some success, but be careful who you listen to and take advice from. Beware of people offering to help out for free, usually, there is still going to be a price to pay, As a coach you are more likely to want to help and focus on the fighters who have been with you form the beginning and who feel part of the team rather than outsiders,

Forget about building your Social Media Profile. 

The amount of time and effort that people spend on this will be much better spent on working on developing your fighting skills. Let your fight results speak for themselves and then the opportunities and sponsorships will follow. There's no point building your social media following and then getting a chance to fight on a big event like the UFC if you actually aren't yet ready for it because you haven't put the time and effort into your training. 

Forget about lucrative Sponsorship Deals.

MMA is a relatively inexpensive sport compared to some others, the only expense is gym fees, occasional competition fees, training equipment which usually lasts a long time and some supplements. Being a sponsored athlete is usually good for the fighters ego but in general its not usually beneficial or necessary to their long term career. 

Get Experience.

Jumping into professional level fights too soon without adequate amateur experience is a recipe for disaster. Get as much experience as you can especially early in your career, Amateur fights are necessary to develop and build up your skills and experience. It's important not to fight above your level too soon as a bad loss may be very demoralizing and affect your future training and performance in fights. Fix the holes in your game before you reach the bigger stages. An MMA fighter needs to be skilled in the areas of striking, takedowns and groundwork and be able to combine them.

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

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The Importance of Amateur MMA - MMA Melbourne

The Importance of Amateur MMA - MMA Melbourne

One of the biggest problems I see with aspiring fighters is that they are in too much of a rush to fight Pro. If you intend to have a successful long term fight career it is essential to gain as much experience as possible as an amateur. Generally, you will only get one shot at a contract with a major promotion such as the UFC so it's important that you are close to being the finished product when you get there rather than hoping you'll improve once you get there.

If you look at the most dominant UFC champions of the modern era you will see that they were all championship level by the time they made their UFC debut. If any fighter has serious flaws or holes in their game they will quickly be exposed and will have their contract cancelled then its back to fighting the next batch of UFC hopefuls as a gatekeeper on the local shows.

I encourage all my fighters to gain experience in amateur MMA, amateur boxing, kickboxing, muay Thai, compete in BJJ and grappling events. The time and money you spend on these smaller competitions will pay off in the long term because you will have a more well-rounded skill set.

MMA is a young sport which is changing and evolving all the time. In the past, it was possible for fighters with limited experience to walk straight into the UFC and do well but I believe we are at the end of that era. If you look closely at the previous champions you'll see that they actually had 100's of matches in other combat sports such as wrestling or BJJ before ever stepping into the cage.

Professional boxing is the biggest and most established combat sport. It is unheard of for any Boxer who wishes to become successful to fight professionally without first having an extensive amateur career. Floyd Mayweather fought over 90 amateur matches before turning pro, Muhammed Ali fought over 100 matches including winning an Olympic Gold medal and Roy Jones Jr fought over 130 amateur bouts before turning pro.

If you want to be a successful professional MMA fighter make sure you get as much experience as possible as an amateur first.

Our next Bushido Contenders Novice MMA Event is coming up on Saturday 9th July & our next Bushido Fight Night takes place at Thornbury Theatre on Saturday 30th July. Details for all events can be found at our official Bushido Website here:

www.acsabushido.com

Check out our MMA Classes at DKMMA & BJJ Melbourne:

www.DKMMA.com.au

Bushido Amateur MMA - MMA Melbourne

We are running our first ever amateur MMA event on Saturday 9th November. There will be no head strikes allowed (standing or on the ground) and will be round-robin format so everyone will get a few matches on the day.

This format will be a good first step for beginners who are looking to eventually compete in MMA but also just for martial artists of various backgrounds to try it out and test their skills under a compromised rule-set.

I believe that no head strikes is the best rule set for beginners to try out MMA. It's a great way for aspiring fighters to gain valuable match experience without the unnecessary risk of injury. I personally competed in many of thees types of matches in the UK in the early 2000s alongside future UFC stars such as Michael Bisping.

Here is the link to register:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bushido-amateur-mma-competition-tickets-72835722607

Bushido Amateur MMA Rules:

Time Limits:Matches will be fought over 2 x 3 Minute Rounds

LegalTechniques:Punches, Kicks & Knee Strikes to the Upper Body
Kicks and Knee Strikes to the Legs
Punches to Body and Kicks to Legs are allowed when Opponent is in the downed position.
All throws and Takedowns
All Arm-locks and Shoulder Locks
Chokes and Strangles Excluding Neck Cranks
Leglocks Excluding Heel Hooks

Illegal Techniques:Instant Disqualification:
No strikes of any kind permitted to the head.
No Slamming of opponent either as a result of a takedown or to escape a submission.
No Neck Cranks or Heel Hooks.
No Standing Submissions.
A fighter will receive Warning: Two warnings leads to Disqualification
No Grabbing Opponents clothing or Shin-guards, gloves or Knee-pads.
No running out of the competition area.

Safety Equipment:Eight Ounce MMA Sparring Gloves
MMA Shin Guards
MMA Knee Pads
Mouth Guard
MMA or Muay Thai Shorts

Competition Area:The competition area will be 6 x 6 meters with an outer safety Perimeter of 2 Meter.

Referee Decision:The referee can stop the match and award victory if:
One fighter has taken too many unanswered strikes from any position.
One fighter is in a locked-in submission but is refusing to tap and is risking injury.

Ways to Win:Submission via Tap Out due to Choke, Arm-lock, Shoulder Lock or Leg Lock.
Submission via Tap Out due to Strikes.
Technical Knockout due to strikes either in Standing or Grounded position.
Referee Stoppage
Judges Decision
Disqualification

SCORING TECHNIQUES: In the event of a Judge's decision the match will be scored based on the following criteria:
Effective Striking - Strikes that have an immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to end the match.
Effective Grappling - Takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that have an immediate or cumulative impact to end the match.
A successful takedown is not just a changing of position, but an attack from the use of the takedown.
Submission attempts taking considerable effort to escape are given greater weight than those that are easily defended and escaped without effort.
Impactful throws and takedowns are weighted more heavily than athletes who are tripped or bundled to the mat.

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The Four Stages of Learning Martial Arts

This is a very useful concept that doesn't just apply to learning martial arts but to learning any skill.

There are four stages of learning.

Stage 1 - Unconscious incompetence  

This is where you are screwing everything up but you don't yet realize you are screwing it up. For example, Dropping your hands when you punch, trying to bench press your way out of mount.

Often students will stay in this phase much longer than is necessary because of either

A - They are not being given feedback (either verbal feedback - 'Keep your hands up' or Physical Feedback - Getting your teeth knocked out because you didn't have your hands up).

or

B - They are having some success even though they are using terrible technique. For example, Your training partner taps to a submission even though it was incorrectly applied.

Stage 2 - Conscious Incompetence

This is where you start to learn and develop. Its at this stage that you start to be critical of your own technique and begin to figure out exactly what you are doing wrong and what you need to do to improve.

Examples include - 'Why am I getting kicked in the leg so much? Why can I not escape mount position? Maybe I'll pay more attention the next time coach shows us that technique'

Stage 3 - Conscious Competence 

At this stage, you know exactly how to perform the techniques properly and when to do them. You can figure out what you need to do and what to work on. However, you realize that there is also the possibility to lapse back into bad habits if you lose concentration.

Stage 4 - Unconscious Competence

This is the final stage of mastering any skill and this is a common trait with all great champions. They perform the skill perfectly without having to think about it.

Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.

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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.

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My MMA Journey - Part 2

After losing my pro MMA debut I was in two minds about about continuing in MMA or just focusing on the safer option of competing in BJJ and Grappling.

I continued training hard and also around the same time became very interested in the mental and psychological side of fighting, how to control my nerves and adrenaline before a fight or a match, visualising what I'm going to do and how I'm going to feel and also avoiding the dangerous feeling of 'I just want to get this over with'. I spent a lot of time researching and reading about sports psychology and mental preparation and tried out everything I learned in local grappling tournaments.

Towards the end of 2003 I got another opportunity to fight in MMA. This time the fight would take place in Italy. About a month before this fight I had started a new job at an advertising company right in the centre of London and was also in the early stages of studying for my chartered accountancy qualification, this meant I was very limited on time so I had to fly to Italy on the morning of the event, fight in the evening and then fly home the next morning. Also, as previously mentioned MMA was an unknown sport back then, I couldn't really tell my employers I was going to overseas for a no rules fight at the weekend so I just said it was a martial arts event.

The fight in Italy was pretty tough. I had no idea who I would be fighting until I got into the ring. There was no weigh in and my opponent seemed to have a considerable weight advantage over me. I could tell i was in better condition though and I could see that he was getting tired halfway through the first round so it was just a matter of hanging in there, not getting hurt and waiting for my opportunity. By the start of the second round I could tell that he was done so I got my takedown and won by armlock.

This fight was a great experience because I overcame adversity. I always preferred the fights where I was losing at the beginning and manage to come back and overcome the opponent rather than fights where I had everything my own way.

One of the biggest lessons that I learned from my fighting career is the importance of having a coach, and particularly a coach who is experienced, who cares and is invested in you. Throughout all of my MMA career I had good friends and training partners who would help corner me but I never had a coach who had actually fought and could tell me exactly what to do. Advice such as how to train, how to prepare for a fight, which fights to accept and which to turn down. I pretty much did all of this on my own but in the long term I feel it was beneficial because I've been able to pass on the lessons I've learned to my students and fighters since then.

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CSW Training Trip

I just got back from the annual CSW Coaches Conference hosted by MMA coaching legend Erik Paulson at his gym in California. It was a great experience and I learnt so much from  so many high level Martial Artists.

The first day we got there we trained in the regular evening classes which consisted of one session of Nogi Catch-wrestling/ CSW, followed by an hour of GI BJJ and then another hour and a half of MMA training afterwards.

Thursday was the first day of the CSW coaches conference and the event kicked off with a seminar from Coach Rigan Machado. This was probably one of the busiest seminars I've ever attended including around twenty BJJ black belts on the mat. This seminar focused on a lot of interesting submission set ups from side control and north south position.

The afternoon seminar was taught by Coach Rick Young. I'd always wanted to train with since reading his Articles and interviews in martial arts magazines back in the early 90's. This seminar focused on Judo Newaza style submission attacks from Turtle position including several armlock entries and the Judo Sangaku Jime Turtle Triangle attack. There was some really great details and instruction on this position and lots of pointers that will make a huge difference to my training.

That evening we also took part in the CSW Nogi grappling classes and the BJJ Gi classes.

Fridays sessions were taught by Coaches Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson. These guys are in my opinion the two best and most knowledgeable MMA coaches in the world and have between them trained many of the most successful fighters in the history of the sport. It was great to be able to learn directly from them about all the details of their system and training methods. One of the things that impressed me most was that even though they are two of the leading experts in the sport they were constantly on the the mat learning from all the other coaches and instructors while taking notes and asking questions.

On Saturday we got in early to take part in the Boxing class which was taught by coach Freddie Jin. This was a very interesting and technical session which covered a lot of the intricacies of the close range Mexican style power punching. After that was the Muay Thai / MMA Striking seminar taught by Coach Greg Nelson and Coach Ben Jones. Ben is the coach of the CSW Pro Fight Team and has been a great source of advice for me in the past with regards to training fighters and creating the right kind of culture for a fight team. This session was a great blend of the traditional Muay Thai style of striking with the cutting edge MMA style.

The afternoon seminar was taught by Savate Instructor Nicolas Saignac and covered lots of great footwork and movement drills. Coach Erik Paulson has always been a big exponent of blending the various striking styles of Muay Thai, Boxing and Savate into his own unique blend known as STX kickboxing. The last session on Saturday was another GI Jiu-jitsu session where all the visiting black belts taught one technique to the group. This was a great opportunity to learn from so many different instructors and I showed everyone my variation of the Back Control Straight Jacket position. 

Sunday was the last official day of the training camp and was kicked off with a very interesting session with old school Jeet Kune Do instructor Sifu Tim Tackett. Coach Erik Paulson and the entire CSW organisation have a strong connection to JKD with Erik being an original student of Guro Dan Inosanto so it was great get this exposure to some authentic JKD which has been so influential in the development of modern day MMA.

Sunday afternoon was a wrestling session focusing on takedown set ups and combinations taught by Coach Fergus Mc Taggart.  This session covered lots of great details on the double leg takedown and lateral drop takedowns and we got a really good insight into the coaching and teaching methods used to produce top level wrestlers. Then we finished off Sunday afternoon with some more Catch wrestling submission techniques taught by Coach Erik which flowed on from the takedowns.

Monday was my last day in California but we still made it into the Gym on Monday morning where my training partner Phil took part in the Pro Fight Team Training run by Coach Ben while I helped out play the role of Uke for Coach Erik in a photo shoot and technique demo for JiuJitsu Magazine.

It was a very busy five days but I learned so much in terms of techniques, training methods and experience that I will be able to implement with my team and students over the next twelve months. 

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Tough on your Team.

Popularity Versus Performance

One of the great lessons we learned from sports coaching expert Wayne Goldsmith earlier this year was that 'popularity is the enemy of performance'. 

Popularity is easy; performance requires honesty. If you want your teammates to perform at their best you need to be honest with them even if this will make you less popular. You need to be tougher on your team than their opponents will be.

This does'nt mean trying to knock them out or cranking on arm locks in every sparring session. That would actually be counterproductive, it will not allow them to improve and may lead to injuries, which could derail their progress. 

Being Honest with your Team-Mates

If you care about your teammate’s progress and success then you need to be honest with them about their training. If your training partner is on a losing streak and you don’t want to see them get knocked out in their next fight you need to be honest with them and tell them that training two hours a week then going for a run on Saturday isn’t going to get the job done.

Wayne’s point was that most people would not be honest. They don't want to offend their training partner so instead they just say ‘good job bro’, give them a high five and tell them we'll get them next time. 

The Reality 

The reality is that your next opponent doesn't care whether you are a nice person and doesn't worry about offending you. He is going to be brutally honest with you over the course of three five-minute rounds and will highlight the areas of your training where you took shortcuts

Popularity is easy; Performance requires honesty. The more you care about each other the harder you will be on each other.

Tough Coaching

The same is also true when it comes to coaching. Most fighters early in their career are open to advice and constructive criticism. They want to be told where they are going wrong and what they need to improve on. They realise that there will be a huge price to pay if they don't fix up the holes in their game. The job of the coach is to identify these holes and fix them before they can be exploited by a future opponent.

Coaches Versus 'Yes-Men'

If the fighter follows the advice of the coach he will usually experience initial success early on in his career. But this is when something interesting starts to happen. Often the fighters early success will cause him to develop an overblown ego, he decides he no longer needs to be told what he's doing wrong and instead surrounds himself with people who will constantly feed his ego by telling him what he's doing right and how great he is.

This is always a recipe for disaster. The new 'coach' will either not be knowledgeable and experienced enough to highlight the mistakes of the fighter or will just refuse to criticise him for fear of losing his meal ticket. Either way, it will lead to fighter going on a downward spiral of worse and worse results.

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.”

― Tom Landry

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Fight Training Mistakes

Here are some of the things that I see aspiring fighters do which I think are very detrimental to their long term fight career success.

What is your Goal and What will it take to get there?

Not having a clear goal of what you want to achieve leads to unrealistic expectations of what it will take to get you there. If your goal is to win a local level amateur fight you will probably get away with training a few evenings a week however if you want to be an international level fighter you need to be in the gym for several hours every day, week after week, year after year even when you don’t feel like it or are running low on motivation.

What Stage are you at in your Fight Career?

Not having an accurate idea about what stage in your career or fighter development you are are at. This leads to not doing what you need to get to the next level. If you are already a UFC champion, you can probably get away with just honing you existing skills and doing training camps to make sure you ‘peak’ for your title defenses. Top level champions have already spent twenty plus years learning and perfecting the skills of Jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking. If you are not yet at that level, you need to be working every day to build those skills.

How much Training are you really doing?

Not being honest with yourself about how much training you are actually doing. For example, some fighters are in the gym for three hours but they are actually training for 45 minutes’ total. They waste a lot of time chatting and training halfheartedly while chatting to their mates. Its OK to have fun and be sociable but its worth remembering that while you’re chatting and having fun your opponent might be already into his third hour of serious training and that will make a huge difference to the outcome of the fight.

Are you doing the Right kind of training or Just doing what you Enjoy?

Doing a lot of the wrong kind of training. Wasting too much time on the type of training you enjoy rather than on what you actually need to do to win fights. A big example I see of this is fighters doing fancy tricks in pad work routines which look good but which ultimately won’t help them to win fights. You need to identify the weaknesses in you game and spend your time working on fixing those holes. This is obviously not as much fun as doing the stuff you enjoy but its what you need to do to avoid losing fights.

Are your Training Partners helping you to become a better fighter?

Training with the wrong people. Training with seriously motivated people who want to train hard and work consistently to keep getting better is tough but its what you need to do to improve. If you waste time training with lazy, unfocused and unmotivated training partners it will rub off on you and you will eventually end up like them.

Are you Actually getting any better?

Staying in ‘maintenance level’ rather than focusing on continual daily improvement. Some fighters get to a certain level and the are not prepared to keeping putting in the same amount of work that will get them to the next level. You should try to improve your skills by 1% every day rather than being happy to stay where you are.

Are you actually sticking with the program or chopping and changing every few weeks?

Fighters can sometimes be easily influenced and will often adopt any new fad or training method to get short term results rather than thinking long term. Probably the biggest mistake I see with fighters is that they change their training routine and preparation in spite of overwhelming evidence that what they had been doing is working and getting them good results. Once you have a small amount of success in any field there will always be ‘experts’ who will appear to suddenly tell you what you should be doing better. If its not broke don’t fix it. Stick to what has been getting you the results.

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