Issue 086

March 2012

Improve your all-around skills in one hit. Striking, wrestling and jiu-jitsu, work the entire fight spectrum for a blinding victory

Punchout drill  Origin: boxing

Start with uppercuts, left, then right, continuously. Without pause, turn those punches into hooks, left 

and right continuously – the pad man ‘catching’ each shot. Turn the hooks to straights and continue on throwing constant one-twos. Try 30 seconds of uppercuts, 30 seconds of hooks, then 30 seconds of straights for two sets, to make up a three-minute round. Once pad man and athlete are in sync and warm, step up the speed, power and duration of the drill.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

Punching endurance

Confidence in workrate

Knee ride drill  Origin: Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Start by pinning your ground bag in side control, slide up to knee ride, leg slightly bowed, transferring pressure through your knee. Slide across, switching quickly to the other side, hands posted on the bags ‘head’. Switch to 45 degrees, switch back, cross back to the start point, then 45 degrees on the starting side. Repeat, speeding up with each repetition.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

Fluidity

Speed

Balance on positional transition

Hip-heist drill  origin: Wrestling

Escaping the rear body lock

Balance

Speed

Eggbeater  origin: Brazilian jiu-jitsu

With knees out wide, and feet pointed in, alternately cycle each leg, as though winding in thread. Move the hips, not just the legs, so that you ought to feel the mat heat up beneath your lower back with the friction of the movement. Reverse direction and repeat.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

Guard retention

Hip mobility