Archive for February, 2013

Lately people have been asking my why there are not more low singles in MMA. This has come from a number of different people, some surprising and some not. Therefore I would put my opinion down so I can direct people to it to answer the question.

I believe that the low single (ankle pick) is too dangerous for MMA. Right now there will be people saying no it isn?t and saying how effective it is in wrestling. If your name is John Smith, one the most technical wrestlers to ever compete, and who won 4 x world champions and 2 x Olympic golds, then the low single is easy. John Smith won almost every match from the low single, everyone knew what he was going to do and he still got it. He either got the low single or used it to set up other offense, he had counters for all the defences. However, all that aside, John Smith had great timing and speed (Youtube him). There is one thing he didn?t have to worry about, however, and that is striking.

If you go for a standard single or double leg and get sprawled on you are stuck underneath in a bad position and have just spent a lot of energy on a failed takedown. This is almost the same as a low single (if you miss it) but you are left on all fours with no connection to your opponent who is now standing over you, not a fun position at all.

So why is it better to be under a sprawl? That is because you have the connection with your opponent, that is you have hold of them. If you are in a bad position it is better to have hold of your opponent than not.

From memory I can remember of one low single in a big organisation and that was Randy Couture v James Toney and it worked. It worked as James Toney stood so tall, relative to a wrestler.  Randy knew that if he changed level that Toney would not have the skill set to deal with it. Randy was a great wrestler and only used it this one time, he didn?t use the low single in his fights against Chuck Liddell, who was a dangerous striker with a wrestling background. With Chucks wrestling background Randy did not want to take the chance of being caught on all fours with such a dangerous striker. The only other time I have seen them was Demien Maia v Anderson Silva, and that was just a terrible show – it wasn?t so much Maia going for low singles, but more a blind man trying to find his glasses in a shallow pool.

In short, the cost benefit ratio to the low single just isn?t worth the risk, especially since you have double and single legs on hand. With the double and singles the escapes from under the sprawl are the same in MMA and in wrestling so it makes more sense to go with the relatively safer option and not get left on all fours with no hold of your opponent.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

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

MMA can be considered the triathlon of martial arts as most people train three disciplines, Wrestling, BJJ and Striking, then they train to be able to put together in one seamless fashion.
However if you look at what a top triathlete does for training and match that to a MMA fighter you will notice that most MMA guys come up short. Now when comparing the training you do not look at the type of training and duration to compare, it is more about the amount of sessions in a week of each discipline.

Here is a training week for a triathlete

Monday: Today is a longer aerobic day, but the intensity doesn't generally leave me feeling wiped. I start with a four- to five-kilometer session in the 50-meter pool followed by a 45- to 60-minute aerobic run. After eating and possibly napping I head out for a three- or four-hour ride in the Boulder flats.

Tuesday: This day's main goal is some faster running on the track. I do some sessions that involve much faster running than I would ever see in an Ironman, but it helps my overall run economy. I also swim four to five kilometers afterwards, but it usually involves some easier sets. I end this day with strength training.

Wednesday: My favorite day: 5K in the pool with some harder efforts, followed by a five- or six-hour ride in the mountains. Lots of climbing and plenty of beautiful scenery.

Thursday: Lighter day. Normal swimming, easy two-hour ride and an easy 45- to 60-minute run.

Friday: I tend to do my longest swim and run of the week today: five to six kilometers in the pool with harder efforts and a two-hour run in the hills in the afternoon.

Saturday: Very, very little. The main purpose of today is to recover.

Sunday: A two-hour ride with 90 minutes of higher-intensity riding followed by a 30-minute tempo run off the bike. In the afternoon I may do an easy swim before doing it all over again on Monday.

How many MMA fighters could match that??
Now the moral of the story is that when triathletes want to improve an area they go and train that area with specialists. That is if they want to get their swimming better they go and train with swimmers. They do not go running with swimmers to improve their running, this may seem obvious but it doesn?t seem to be to MMA fighters.

There are a number of people I know that run with swimmers to get their running better, that is they practice their wrestling with BJJ guys. This is easier as you don?t have to go to another club or train with anyone new. Downside is that your wrestling will not really improve until you go and wrestle with wrestlers.

The amount of times I have seen a guy with a fight coming up grappling saying to the BJJ guys, lets start on the feet and the wrestle to submission, usually while wearing a gi as well. Takedowns in a gi are different as there are more things to grab and the distance is further away than no gi wrestling. What is the point of this? When you are at a BJJ session train BJJ, practice escaping from bad positions, practice control, practice anything and everything to do with BJJ. BJJ guys are best at BJJ so use their skills of BJJ. This obviously transfers to striking and wrestling. Taking down a striker is about as hard as punching a wrestler so don?t waste time ?running with swimmers?.

Use the specialists to improve your skills in their area, then it is up to your MMA coach to put the individual skills together. Do not rely on the your striking coach to work your takedown defence. Get them to train you just like anyone else then you can change it up for MMA, that is your concern not theirs.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

I was told about an article saying that ground and pound is destroying submissions, as people are more likely to punch a grounded opponent that go for the sub. I do not agree with this at all, as in the most basic terms to defend submissions you need to keep your arms in and to defend ground and pound you need your arms out. Therein lies the art of the ground game in MMA.

The ground game in MMA has different rules relative to BJJ. The main change is the strikes that you have to worry about. This means if you follow traditional BJJ technique in side control and try to get on your side, to look for under hooks and to stop your opponent putting all their weight on you, you could get in a bit of a pickle as you only have one arm to defend yourself, because you are lying on one of your arms. It doesn?t matter how good you are, trying to defend GnP with one arm is a losing battle. Another change is when I am rolling in BJJ I look for under hooks when I am on the bottom, where as in MMA (assuming my opponent is of equal ability) I am looking for over hooks. The reason for over hooks is to tie up their arms so they can?t hit me. Then when they try to get their arms free it opens up enough space to give an escape a good go.

So if the rules are not the same (that is, when you are on your back you are looking for over hooks and you are trying to stay flat until you have the space to make a good escape attempt) there must be good opportunity for submissions. In side control if you have top position with the far side under hook it opens up many submission possibilities.

For me I use people?s GnP defence to lock up their arms, so when I am punching to their head and they lift their hands to protect their face I look to step a leg over to trap the arms, then as they push my leg off it opens up crucifix and figure four, then if they defend them I go back to GnP and the process repeats ? affectionately called the Lockdown Lockup.

If you believe that GnP does stop people going for submissions the you are not watching a well rounded fighter. If you have limited ground skills then it is easier to hit someone than it is to submit someone. Anyone, no matter how much training they have had, can throw a punch at a grounded opponent. On the flip side there have been plenty of examples of highly skilled ground fighters (Wrestlers and BJJ) that have had trouble throwing ?convincing? strikes and they ended up just, more or less, laying on their opponent and eking out a mind numbing decision.

If you were up against a fantastic submission fighter you would be extremely worried about your limbs getting isolated, hence you would keep them close. Then if you were up against a lethal GnP expert you wouldn?t want any space between your head and their chest when you were on the ground. In both circumstances you would do whatever it takes to keep to the game plan and avoid their strength.

Now think if you were against the submission fighter and you are under side control so you keep your elbows in and arms against your chest, to defend to the submission, so he just stands up takes half a step back and throws some hard shots. Or against the GnP guy as you are trying to hold on to him he isolates and arm and starts attacking it. Someone who does both is a lot more of a concern than a one trick pony, GnP sets up submissions and vice versa. People who don?t agree train with the wrong people.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/