MMA Title Fight Preparation - MMA Melbourne

ANNIE THATCHER - Bantamweight MMA Champion

Our fighter Annie Thatcher recently won the Path to Hex amateur Bantamweight title under IMMAF Rules. Here is a log of Annies training over the last 5 weeks leading up to the fight.

Week 1 - 5 Weeks Out from Fight - Starting weight - 70kg.

Monday 17th June

Wrestling - Drilling Clinch Techniques against the Fence

MT - Drilling and Padwork

Tuesday 18th June

5 - 6 pm - Padwork & Technique Drills (4 x 3 Min Rds then Drilling Combos)

6pm - NOGI BJJ (NOGI class/ Rolling) - Side Control Techs

7.30pm - Technique Drilling (Drilling wall takedowns/technique plus defence then conditioning)

Wed 19th June

Wrestling - Drilling Clinch Techniques against the Fence

MT - Drilling and Padwork

Thurs 20th June

Lunch Time Session: 11-12 - Annie - Drilling low kick combos with one mit and kick shield with Feroz. - Three pad rounds with Phil,

5 - 6 pm - Padwork (4 Rds working on specific combos and movements) & Technique Drills (Clinch against the cage working on ‘Bump & Jump’)

6pm - NOGI BJJ (NOGI class/ Rolling) - Side Control Techs

7.15pm - S & C Class - Explosive Repeat Intervals

All main exercises performed with emphasis on explosive power

Main Exercise 1

• Landline press 10 reps each arm
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 2

• Slam ball throws against wall at chest height 10reps each arm
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 3

• Slam ball throws to floor 10 reps
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 4

• Standing squat jumps 10 reps
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Friday 21st June

6pm - MT Class (1 Hour)

Sat 22nd June

9am - MT Class - Tech and Padwork

10 am - MMA Class - Combo into Takedown Drills, Clinch drills & Wall Drills - Boxing w/ Takedowns Sparring.

11am - NOGI BJJ - Knee Tap Takedown & Side Control Submissions & 30 Min Rolling.

Sunday - Rest and Recovery;

Review of the Week

‘I think the week just gone was really great for technical work, laying ground work for game plans, striking technique and cage clinch.

I feel like I hardly did any sparring, I always get anxious about not sparring enough.

But it has been really good to work on things to implement into sparring.

I trained a lot last week but didn’t pull up too sore and didn’t feel too run down by Saturday which was good. Sometimes I get to Saturday and I’m like 😖😖😖

Week 2 - 4 Weeks Out from Fight - Weight - 68kg

Monday 24th June

Wrestling - Drilling & Sparring - Double Leg TD drilling plus 15 mins Wrestling Sparring

MT - Class - 6pm to 7.30pm

Tuesday 25th June

LunchTime - On Tuesday Phil had me and feroz working a hook as you step back and switch stance against an opponent coming forward and that has worked well in sparring.

5 - 6 pm - Padwork & Boxing with Takedown Sparring in Cage

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Mount Techs

7.30pm - Comp Team Class - Takedown Drills on Crash Mat then shark tank Grappling rounds.

Wed 26th June

Wrestling - Drilling & Sparring

MT Classes - 6pm - 8.15pm

Thurs 27th June

5 - 6 pm - 4 rds Padwork & Combo into Takedown Drill with Resistance on Takedowns.

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Mount Techs

7.15pm - S & C Class.

All main exercises performed with emphasis on explosive power

Main Exercise 1

• Landline press 10 reps each arm
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 2

• Slam ball throws against wall at chest height 10reps each arm
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 3

• Slam ball throws to floor 10 reps
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 4

• Standing squat jumps 10 reps
• Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 5 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*
• Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Friday 28th June

No training

Sat 29th June

9am - MT Class - Tech and Padwork

10 am - MMA Class - Drilling Combos into Takedowns plus Low Kick/Heel kick techniques. 2 Rounds Shootbox sparring.

11am - NOGI BJJ - Drilling Mount techs and rolling.

Sunday - Rest and Recovery;

Review of the Week

‘This week, my fitness felt pretty unreal. Wasn’t gassing at all in sparring or pad rounds. Even Quan’s S&C class I felt way better than last week. We will see how I go cutting back food this week.

Overall, I’m feeling super excited right now, just need to keep my diet in order to make weight. Other than that all of my skills are feeling sharp and I think the combos we are practicing work well with my style and abilities.’

Week 3 - 3 Weeks Out from Fight - Weight - 67kg

Monday 1st July

Wrestling - Drilling (Single Leg Takedown - 4 Finishes) & Wall Wrestling Sparring

MT - Boxing Drilling, Padwork & Sparring with Boxing Team.

Tuesday 2nd July

5 - 6 pm - Padwork (3 x 3min Rds) & Sparring ( 4 x 4 Min Rds 1 min rest. Fresh opponents each minute)

6pm - NOGI BJJ (with MMA Gloves) - Back Control Techs and Back Control Sparring.

7.30pm - Comp Team Class: Takedown Drilling, Wall Wrestling and Winner stays on Grappling Sparring.

Wed 3rd July

Wrestling - 30 mins Cage Wrestling.

MT - Drilling and Padwork

Thurs 4th July

5 - 6 pm - Padwork (3 x 3 min Rds): Sparring (4 x 3 min rds vs Bobby) : Resistance Band DL Td (3 sets x 10), 30 seconds of power G & P on Bag after each set.

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Drilling Back Control Techs & 45 Mins rolling.

7.15pm - S & C Class:

Explosive Repeat Intervals:All main exercises performed with emphasis on explosive power aiming to maintain output with each set

Main Exercise 1

Landline press 10 reps each arm

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 2

Vertical medicine ball throw laying on physio ball 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 3

Battle rope bilateral whips 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 4

Standing squat jumps 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Friday 5th July

5pm - Gi Sparring in BJJ Class

6pm - MT Class

Sat 6th July

10 am - MMA Class 5 x 5 min Rds x Sparring against 5 sparring partners. 1 min each and each partner working on a different objective. Then mma drilling.

11am - Muay thai training with fight team.

Sunday - Rest and Recovery;

Review of the Week:

This week, went a bit too hard with S&C at the start of the week, felt like I struggled during Tuesday sparring because my legs were sore. But surprisingly still felt fit by the end of Tuesday night fight team sesh. Striking sparring felt really good all week, practicing my posting and cross hook cross combo.Wednesday night on the pads I was WRECKED but technique still looked pretty good in video.

Felt even better again this in Quans S&C class, tried to make the active rest rounds a little more intense to push myself. Saturday sparring felt unreal, was picking up on people game plans and implementing my own. A few times I worked the jab, right knee, cross, left kick combo that we do on pads and it landed well. Even after the big mma sparring session I felt good, joined in on Muay Thai sparring too with Phil and the guys. Stuck to a good diet this weekend at mum and dads but we don’t have a scale here so I can’t weigh myself. But weight should be on track I’d say.

Week 4 - 2 Weeks Out from Fight

Monday 8th July

No Training

Tuesday 9th July

5 - 6 pm - 4 x 5 Min Rounds of MMA sparring. New partner each minute.

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Turtle position techniques and sparring.

7.30pm - Comp Team Class: Guillotine Escape sparring, Turtle Position Sparring, Side Control sparring, Wall TD Sparring.

Wed 10th July

Wrestling - Wall TD Sparring

MT - Drilling and Padwork

6 RDs of Hard Padwork focusing on specific combos and power.

Thurs 11th July

5 - 6 pm - 5 x 3 min Rds Sparring vs different opponent each min.

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Turtle Position techniques and sparring.

7.15pm - S & C Class Explosive Repeat Intervals

All main exercises performed with emphasis on explosive power aiming to maintain output with each set.

Main Exercise 1

Landline press 10 reps each arm

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 2

Vertical medicine ball throw laying on physio ball 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 3

Ball slams to floor 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Main Exercise 4

Standing squat jumps 10 reps

Followed by 1 minute of steady state rope skipping level 8 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)*

Repeat 5 times with no break in between.

1 minute rest (focusing on recovery breathing technique)

Friday 12th July

Morning Weight = 65kg

5 pm - BJJ Class - Gi - Turtle Position Techniques & Sparring

Sat 13th July

9am - MT Class - Tech drilling and 4 rds Padwork

10 am - MMA Class - 5 x 6 Min Rds Sparring - New opponents each minute.

Sunday - Rest and Recovery;

Review of the Week

This week was great, lots of sparring which was great. (Exhausting) but great. I feel my rounds got better every time.

My fitness it constantly getting better, I’m not worried about 5x 3 minute rounds at all.

My weight is very much on track and I’m 100% injury and illness free (touch wood)

My Saturday rounds were full on, but I made it through and finished strong and that will definitely be harder than what the fight will be.

Week 5 - Fight Week:

Monday 15th July

MT - Drilling and Padwork

Tuesday 16th July

6pm - NOGI BJJ - Technique drilling

7pm - Final Fight simulation Sparring - Warm up in changing room, padwork etc, Walk to cage with entrance music, 3 rounds sparring vs Bryan.

Wednesday 17th July

Padwork and drilling.

Thurs 18th July

Padwork and drilling.

Friday 19th July

Weight Cutting.

Sat 20th July - Weigh In and Fight Day

Weighed in at 10am at 61.1kg

Result -Win by decision / Path to Hex Bantamweight Champion.

https://www.facebook.com/pathtohex/videos/459748567905041/

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How to be a good BJJ training partner - BJJ Melbourne

How to be a good BJJ training partner

Pay attention when the instructor is teaching techniques or explaining drills. If you're training partner has to reteach what the instructor has shown it is a waste of time.

If you don't understand the technique or need to see it again ask the instructor. This is much more efficient than going off to practice a technique you don't understand and there will probably be other students who also need to see it again.

When you go back with your partner to practice the technique try to do as many repetitions as possible while maintaining good form. Even if you know the technique do as many reps as possible rather than just doing it halfheartedly while having a chat.

Stick to the techniques being taught. Your instructor has chosen to teach these specific techniques in this particular way as he feels this is what will benefit your long term development in Jiujitsu. His choice of what to teach is based on extensive experience. Save your own variations of techniques for open mat and sparring.

Don't 'over-coach' your training partner when drilling. This is usually counterproductive as it will get the student in the habit of not paying attention when the instructor is teaching. Also quite often students teaching other students results in being taught poor or badly understood technique.

Don't try to win in sparring. Work at a controlled pace rather than trying to overpower your training partner. Focus on trying to use the techniques that you have learnt in class rather than seeing it as a strength contest.

If you're paired up with a lower level student don't try to smash them but also don't spend the entire round re-explaining all the concepts and techniques of Jiujitsu. The best and most productive use of the round is to just spar at an acceptable pace allowing them to attempt techniques and letting them get a feel for what Jiujitsu sparring is all about.

Try to roll with a variety of sparring partners in each class. Don't just stick to the same four or five people. A greater variety of sparring partners will give you a better variety of techniques and styles to work against.

Avoid short cuts. There are techniques in Jiujitsu that will allow you to get quick wins in sparring against fellow beginners students however these techniques will not work against anyone who's been training for more than a few months. Think long term and focus on the high percentage techniques that are difficult to pull off now but with consistent practice will be your A game when you're a blue belt or purple belt.

Treat all your training partners with respect. Your training partners are one of the most important elements in how much you will improve. If you treat them well they will want to help you to improve.

Check out our BJJ Classes at ACSA BJJ - Thornbury, Melbourne:

https://acsamelbourne.com.au/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-classes/

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My BJJ Class Grading Requirements - BJJ Melbourne

Over the past two years, I've been working on specific grading criteria for each belt level in my BJJ classes. Previously we had always just based grading around how students were performing during sparring in class or competition success. This had also always been the case at the schools where I'd trained over the years. 

Over the years I noticed some problems with this system. Firstly, students who were more athletic could get away with doing very well in training and competition for the first few years but never developed the correct technique so would often quit once they reached the higher belts. Secondly, the lack of structure and criteria of exactly what you need to know and be able to do at each belt level often lead students to lose interest and motivation.

This is the current Promotion Criteria that I use for Promotion from White to Blue Belt and Blue to Purple Belt. Students are tested on these techniques on Grading Day and are also tested in rounds of sparring including Positional Sparring and Line ups where they have to roll with fresh opponents one after another for a set period of time.

The Grading requirements are still a work in progress and I have been adding and removing some techniques at each Stripe and Belt Level since I began.

White Belt to Blue Belt Grading Requirements broken down by Stripe:

Blue Belt to Purple Belt Grading Requirements broken down by Stripe:

Check out our BJJ Classes at ACSA BJJ:

https://acsamelbourne.com.au/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-classes/

http://bjjmelbourne.com.au/

Deliberate Practice

Over my years of training and coaching martial arts I've seen many training partners and students come and go. Some students improve a lot and others don't seem to make any progress. In martial arts and particularly BJJ there is a culture of 'Just train bro' just keep turning up to class and eventually you'll get the hang of it. In my experience this is not the case, turning up to class and going through the motions is not enough to guarantee improvement and this lack of improvement will lead to loss motivation and quitting.

The key to improvement is Deliberate Practice. This is the opposite to just turning up to class and mindlessly hitting pads or doing arm-locks. It means concentrating and being focused on what you are doing with the specific intention of improving your performance.

Here are some of the basic requirements of Deliberate Practice :

A - Goals.

Having a clear 'stretch' goal of what you are working towards - Its important that this goal is something that will be quite difficult for you to achieve because this will force you grow and improve. Eg. Win all my matches by submission at my next BJJ tournament. Its also a good idea to have 'mini-goals' for each practice session Eg. Today I want to use that Combination/ Technique / Guard Pass at least 5 times in Sparring.

B - Concentration and Effort.

Full Concentration and Effort: When you are training in the gym, you are fully concentrating on what you are doing and giving it your full effort. If you are having a chat with your training partner while hitting pads don't expect to see great results.

C - Feedback.

Immediate and Informative Feedback: This could be from either a coach or from a training partner or alternatively you can just figure out how to give yourself feedback. Eg. I tried that arm-lock but my sparring partner got out of it and passed my guard - therefore what did I do wrong and what do I need to fix before next time.

D - Repetition.

Repetition with Reflection and Refinement. Lots of Repetition but not Mindless Repetition. You need repetitions with Reflection ('did I do that properly or did I screw it up?') and Refinement ('This time I'll make sure I keep my elbow close to my hip')

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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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BJJ Seminar at 360 Martial Arts in Ulverstone, Tasmania

Last week I taught a BJJ Seminar at 360 Martial Arts and Fitness in Ulverstone Tasmania while visiting the area for a family holiday. I have attended many seminars over the last 25 years and have had mixed experiences. Some have been great and have changed the direction of my martial arts training and coaching and others have been terrible. In some cases its clear that the instructor has not given any thought to what or how he is going to teach and is only there to collect a paycheck. I've always wanted to make sure that when I'm asked to teach that I have a great session planned and that every single person who attends will get something out of it and will improve their martial arts ability in some way. I always plan my seminar step by step and then hand out notes on what has been covered at the end of the session. 

Here is what I taught last week:

Takedown & Open Guard Seminar - Denis Kelly MMA Coaching

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

Grip Surfing Drill:

• 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

Open Guard Grip Surfing Drill:

• Non competitive - Just flowing between grips - Partners gives correct energy
• Hips (Feet on Hips) - Hooks (Feet hooked behind knees) - Elbows (Spider Guard)

Lasso 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

I received a lot of great feedback about the session and could see that many of the participants were picking up the techniques and concepts really well. Really looking forward to getting back there to run another session in the near future.

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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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Seminars coming up at Australian Combat Sports Academy in February

We have two great seminars coming up soon:


On Thursday 7th February we  have Alex Volkanovski and Frank Hickman for an MMA Wrestling Seminar.

Top 10 UFC Featherweight Alex "The Great" Volkanovski is riding a 17 fight win streak with an undefeated 6-0 record in the UFC. Alex recently defeated top 5 UFC featherweight, Chad Mendes in Las Vegas at UFC 232.

Frank Hickman is the head wrestling coach at Tiger Muay Thai and has worked with some of the worlds best MMA Fighters.

A Division 1 wrestler from Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania and a 3x Division 1 National Qualifier Frank is a grappling machine with 20 years of wrestling knowledge of the famed Hickman Bros.

This seminar is being organised by CMBT Nutrition.

CMBT is the first sports nutrition brand dedicated to the Combat sports community. To find out more check out cmbt.com.au/seminar

To book for this seminar follow the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/cmbt-wrestling-seminars-tickets-54227315360?fbclid=IwAR2CGq-sthXfxvKnLKlDcBvBJGMS0B7dwJ0PrY0sZS7wqxOyVitjYRyRTYk

The following night on Friday 8th February we have a seminar with Mendes Brothers Jiujitsu Black Belts Justin 'Juggs' Dee and Jason Powell.

Justin JUGGS Dee

18yrs training jiu jitsu

1st Degree Black Belt under Mendes Bros/ATOS Jiu Jitsu 

Founder and Head Instructor at Full Metal Jiu Jitsu

Jason Powell

8yrs training jiu jitsu

Black Belt under Justin JUGGS Dee & Mendes Bros/ATOS Jiu Jitsu 

Assistant Instructor at Full Metal Jiu Jitsu

Multiple time QLD Jiu Jitsu Champion

Multiple time QLD No-Gi Jiu Jitsu Champion 

NSW Jiu Jitsu Champion

ADCC Pro Jiu Jitsu Silver Medalist (NSW)

This seminar will run from 6pm until 8pm and the cost is $60 per person.

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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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My MMA Journey - Part 1

I began my martial arts training with Traditional karate in Ireland way back in 1993, my first introduction to grappling came in 1998 when I began training at the Pancrase London club under my first MMA coach Fred Rado, I had already been training in Traditional Japanese Jiujitsu for about a year at my University club but Pancrase was my first experience of real MMA style grappling. London Pancrase based out of Paragon Kickboxing Gym in east London was probably one of the first MMA clubs in the UK and many of the top MMA fighters of that era trained with him.

I had my first amateur MMA match in late 2000. I had already been training in martial arts for over 7 years at that point. MMA was a virtually unknown sport back then especially in the UK, there was no UFC on TV, no Ultimate Fighter tryouts and there was probably only five MMA events per year being held all across Europe.

I never planned to make a career out of fighting but just like everyone else competing during this time I wanted an opportunity to put my training to the test. I had been training in Karate, Kickboxing and some grappling so it seemed the obvious choice to test myself and see if my skills and training would hold up under pressure. It's like learning swimming for years but then never getting in the water to see if you'll sink or swim.

Unfortunately for me I received a huge cut over my eye from an accidental head-butt about one minute into my first match and it was declared a no-contest.

I competed in many more amateur MMA matches over the next two years. These events had different rulesets but usually involved a mixture of striking and grappling and usually no striking to the head. I fought on events including Amateur Pancrase, KSBO and Combat Sports Trials. These events were all feeder events for bigger professional shows. I eventually won either gold or silver in my divisions at all three of these tournaments over the years.

In Mid 2002 the UFC held there first ever event in London (the first UFC to take place outside of the USA, Brazil or Japan). I was lucky enough to train alongside several of the fighters who were making their debuts on this card which saw an explosion in the popularity of MMA in the UK. Not long after that I travelled to train at Next Generation MMA in California for three months.

While training in the USA I pretty much gave up any ambitions to fight professionally. Firstly because I realised that the level in the top countries (USA, Brazil, Japan & Russia) was so far ahead of everywhere else in those days that fighters from other countries didn't really stand a chance. The situation has changed completely since then and now there is much more of an even playing field with fighters from all countries (Australia, Ireland, Poland) having won UFC titles. This is due in a big part I believe to fight coaches such as myself training in these MMA powerhouse countries and bringing back what we've learned to our students and training partners.

Another reason that I didn't want to be a professional fighter is that I didn't want to commit to that lifestyle for the next ten years in the hope that I might eventually get good enough to make it to the UFC or another big event. A career as an aspiring professional fighter was just too uncertain. Sleeping on bunk beds in the gym for three months alongside eight other sweaty training partners from different parts of the world was enough to convince me that I wanted to get back to a normal life as soon as my training trip was over.

In the UK I got back into my normal routine of working during the day to pay the bills and then training in the evening. Around this time I saw a new TV show which was following the careers of some of the early UK fighters on the Cage Rage events. Having had a decent amount of success on amateur MMA, BJJ and Grappling events, I decided that I should step up and test my skills in a pro MMA event.

I was very confident going into my first MMA fight and I remember that this was the only fight that I've ever been confident about. My opponent was quite a bit heavier than me and was an experienced kick-boxer, I was sure though that my grappling would be much better and that once we got to the ground I would be able to arm-lock or choke him. Unfortunately for me the rules of this event meant there was a thirty second time limit on the ground and and my opponent was able to hold on and get back to his feet every time I took him down. He caught me with some big punches right from the beginning and I pretty much didn't remember any of the fight after the first ten seconds. Finally I got knocked out cold in the second round.

This fight was an important learning experience for me as a fighter and a coach. Often before fights fighters will ask me about feeling nervous and the truth is that you should feel nervous because you're about to go out and do something very risky and dangerous. You might get knocked out, slammed on your head or get your arm broken.

When I hear a coach in the changing room telling his fighter not to be nervous (just go in and have fun in there bro). This shows me that the coach doesn't know what he's talking about because he's never been there himself. Nervousness is good, it helps you prepare for the danger you are about to face. If you aren't nervous then it means you don't understand the risks of what you are about to do when you step into the cage and you would be better off going home and coming back when you are ready.

Part 2 coming soon.

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John Danaher Seminar Team Nemesis

Very excited to announce that one of the most highly regarded coaches in  the world of BJJ and MMA is coming to our gym to teach a seminar on Monday 12th November.

Get your tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/john-danaher-seminar-tickets-51780323341

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