Archive for August, 2012

When I fought, part of the preparation on fight day was to watch a movie, which was always a comedy, just to relax and get my head away from thinking too much. When I got to the venue I would find a table to lie under and just relax with my head on my gear bag. This was to create an imaginary barrier from the rest of the people of the room. I would not go out and watch any of the other fights and would very rarely, if at all, set foot in to the arena. At the time what I thought I was doing was getting my head in a good spaceby watching a funny movie and then having my on space in the changing room. However as it turns out what I was in fact doing was avoiding the fight.

What is meant by avoiding the fight is that you do things to ?pretend? that the fight is not happening. By watching a funny movie you are trying to tell yourself that nothing serious is coming up, which lets you believe that it is not fight day. One of the most respected trainers in the fight world gets some of his fighters to watch a violent movie on fight day so that they cannot avoid the fight.

All the lead up to the fight is another way to avoid the fight. I never liked any interviews, walking down to the ring as a fighter introduction, anything that could be considered hype. This was me thinking that I was getting my head in the zone and not worrying about all the ?puffery? but again I was avoiding the fight. By not going to the pre fight stuff I could postpone what would happen in the ring.

When I looked back and found out that I avoided the fight, it was very interesting for me as I always thought that I did ok with my fights. I won a lot more than I lost, I went in to every fight thinking that I would win. Yes I had nerves, like everyone else, but I never let them get the best of me and was proud of every minute that I spent in the ring. So when I actually figured out that I avoided the fight it made me think about myself differently. Now when going in to competition?s I sit in the arena and soak up the atmosphere and watch the other people and find it helps me prepare.

Now there are plenty of top fighters that do all sorts of mental preparation, such as meditation, listening to music and so on, you could say that they avoid the fight but I don?t think that it is. It is more than one thing that leads to someone avoiding the fight. People who avoid the fight do not want to face what they are in for until the last possible minute, and they hide behind this by calling it mental preparation. If you are fighting then as soon as you can accept what is going to happen the better you will be.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

Knowing when your opponent is suffering and going for the finish is a skill that a lot of the top fighters have. You have to be ruthless and single minded to achieve this.

This all starts with preparation, you have to know that you have prepared enough to know that when you are tired that your opponent is just as tired if not more so. Knowing this is a large part of the process. You have to be able to tell when they have become tentative with their attacks; this is usually indicated by them backing up constantly. Once you pick up one or more of these traits it?s time to go in for the kill.

If you are tired, especially in MMA, it is time to turn it up. Picking up the pace when you are tired may sound a little counter intuitive, but you must think of how it would feel on the receiving end. Think about being really tired; your legs are heavy, your arms feel like lead and someone does a double leg take down on you and now you are gassed and on your back. Those moments are the fight changers. You must believe that your fitness is good enough to know that when you are feeling it they are feeling it too, and then take advantage of the situation and put your opponent to the sword.

This also works when the person loses their venom in their attacks. This happens in two ways, if you are a counter fighter and you are picking them off each time they throw or if they are a counter fighter and you are over whelming them with your attack. If you are the counter fighter you know when you have got the better of them when they throw half-arsed shots and start defending before they have finished their punch in fear of the counter, or if they are backing away as they throw in terms of weight distribution. If you are against the counter fighter and you are backing them up and keeping then off balance with your attacks they will start to load up with their shots making them slower and leaving more openings. Both these situations should trigger a switch in your brain to go in for the kill and get the finish, or at the very least pick up the pace and make them suffer until they cannot handle it any more.

The final one is the most obvious, when your opponent is hurt or cut – they could be hurt with leg attacks, body shots or head shots – tthey know that they are hurt and you know that they are hurt. A hurt fighter is a dangerous fighter; they can become desperate and unpredictable. When a fighter has been injured with leg kicks they can?t load up on punches, they are in defence mode and will do everything they can to protect that leg. This means that all your attacks start with either a leg attack or a fake leg attack, this opens up all other areas to finish them with. A kick in an already sore leg will drop the hands and leave the head open. This theory works the same if they have been hurt to the body or head.

This mentality needs to start in training as it is not something that you switch on for fights, you don?t need to ?finish? people in sparring all the time but you have recognise when you can and then push and see what happens to their body language. They will almost give up, when they are tired and you put them in a bad spot they will go to survival mode for a few seconds until the energy runs out and when they see that you are still there they will not be happy.

When you sense that you have the upper hand you must start to press the action and make your opponent suffer and make them try something drastic , leaving an opening to finish them. Sensing when an opponent is hurt seems to be an innate ability, and some people just don?t seem to have it. Being a fighter without the killer instinct is a bit like a ballet dancer without flexibility, you should be able to see your opportunity and back yourself that you will make it work. Trust your training and be prepared to put it all on the line for the win, then if your opponent is not willing to go as far as you then you will get the win.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

There are two mindsets that you need to be a good fighter. They are different, but they work together. They are the will to win, and never giving up.

The will to win: Anyone who enters the ring or cage wants to win, that much is clear. You wouldn?t do all that training, and put yourself at risk of being hurt or injured if you didn?t. But the will to win is the absolute, burning NEED to win. This comes from deep down inside, and really kicks in when you can see the fight is near its end. If you land a punch and drop your opponent, or get a great takedown, that is your opportunity to finish. That is when the burning need kicks in, and you have to win, then and there.

Now, not everyone has the will to win. Anyone can finish a fight when they are fresh. Not everyone can do it when they are fatigued. How often have you seen someone get rocked in the cage, and you are screaming at them to finish the fight, but they step back and rest? Put yourself in their shoes. It?s deep in the final round, the fight is even, and you get a great takedown and end up in mount. You are exhausted. You can either hold mount and ride out the rest of the fight, or you can dig deep, lay down some ground and pound, and get the stoppage. That is the will to win.

Never giving up is something different. Once again, no one that enters a fight wants to lose, but never giving up is the mindset to keep going, no matter what. Once again, it comes from deep down inside, and it drives you to keep going, no matter how sore or tired you are.

Put yourself back in the fight mentioned previously. This time, you are the one under mount. You are exhausted, and your body is screaming at you for a rest. Once again, you can hold your opponent down to stop any ground and pound. You won the last 2 rounds right? Or, you can put everything you have into escaping. You may get out, or you may not. But you never stop.

These two mindsets are different. But to be a great fighter, you need both of them. You need to be able to finish the fight, and you need to be able to give everything you have till the very end. Because if you don?t, your opponent will.

Scott Lyons

MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/