STRATEGY, TIPS & TRICKS

YOU MUST AGREE TO THE LIABILITY WAIVER TO VIEW THIS AREA.  TRAIN AT YOUR OWN RISK!

TRAIN SMART ~ FIGHT SMART

The following are just random thoughts on strategy, tips & tricks.  I will organize better when I get time.  Some of them you will not understand until I get a video filmed and attached to it.  Keep checking back.  Thanks, Coach David

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”  Aristotle

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”  Bruce Lee

 “A champion is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

Conditioning is the cornerstone of fighting.  If you can’t breathe, you can’t fight!!!

“Fights are won in the gym, not in the ring.”

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat.”

“Those that teach what they know, learn twice”

–“REAL BASICS”
Focus on the jab and the power cross (OCP) and the jab with the power uppercut (Junior).  (these could win a fight all by themselves) Keep good angled 1 block when throwing the punch!  You have to get the jab, power jab (PJ), OCP, and Junior and feints down pat before ever-moving on to anything else.

–“K.I.S.S. STRIKING STRATEGY”
(Up & Down, Side to Side Head Movement and JAB, “PJ”,  “OC”, “OCP” “JUNIOR” and “PISTON”),

–“Range”
Either be all the way in or all the way out.  Do NOT hang out where you can get hit, unless you are baiting your opponent for a “Play”.

–“Drive By Striking”
Strike your opponent while you are moving past them and out of trouble.  There are times to stay in the pocket, and times to just get in a strike and move out-of-the-way.

–Tip:  Drill:  Try and get behind your opponent or training partner through holds, grabs, pushing, hands in face, footwork, etc…  They cannot hit you when you are behind them, but you can strike when they try to turn.  Of course, you will not always get behind them, but even getting on their side is a definite advantage.  Move away from their power hand.

–Philosophy:  Hit, but don’t get hit!

–Philosophy:  There are only 3 ways to lose;  Lazy, Tired or Stupid

–Tricks:  Feints & Fakes:  You should constantly use feints and fakes to freeze and confuse your opponent.  If you never fake a shot or fake a kick or strike then your opponent will always be ready.  Use a lot of fakes & feints to set up big strikes and Plays!

–Tip:  In, Out, & Around Footwork:  Constantly move in to strike, back out and around your opponent.

–Tip:  Try setting up your back foot in what I would call a “starters block” like a sprinter.  Instead of having your back foot at a 90 degree angle like a boxer, set up like you are going to sprint at your opponent.  You will be surprised at how fast you can cover the distance to get in a quick or powerful strike.

–Tip:  Target Gastrocnemius (calf).  Get to your opponent’s side (GSP, angles) and Thai Kick at a downward angle into the calf.  By the o. having their foot planted this should create additional force into the kick.

–Strategy:  When you’re on the inside, kick at the legs (see “Punt Kick” in advanced basics).  Try and unbalance your opponent while you are covering and striking.

–Strategy:  Use kicks that are less risky.  Round houses to the left side of o’s body (non-liver side), rarely ends up in a KO, but often ends up in you getting taken down.  Focus on lower leg kicks “Punt Kick”, liver kicks “Bas”, and target based quick kicks “SS”.   You will also become less fatigued throwing low kicks.  Try and do some super power leg kicks, really try to break a bone by opening the hip, leaning and kicking through the target.  Inside leg kicks are better.

–TIp:  Check the opponents kick before he throws it.  A good fighter can see that their opponent is going to throw a kick.  Kick their knee to keep the opponent from kicking.  This is also a great psych out to your opponent.

–Tip:  Check an inside leg kick by angling your shin down.

–Strategy:  When you have your opponent in turtle or on their back with you in side control, knee to the floating ribs to injure the liver or spleen (not the stomach, it does nothing).  Drive your knee deep into the opponents body so you will squish their organs like squishing a water balloon.  DRIVE THROUGH the target!!!

–Strategy:  When you have your opponents back in over under control make sure your bottom arm hand is over the top hand so that you can move to a choke when O. strips your top hand off.

–Trick:  Hold joints and crown of head to control o. instead of the muscle.

–Trick:  Wet Dog escape:  When you are in your opponent’s closed guard and they are holding your head down, you will shake your head back and forth (like a wet dog) while pulling out.

–Tip:  Use your head as another limb when grappling.

–Pain Trick: Grappling:   Pull up the forehead or chin or ridge hand under philtrum/septum to pick head up to finish a choke.

–Pain Trick:  “What time is it grip” (Search BJJ Manifesto by Rob Kahn and Matt Aroyo) to force opponent to react so you can move into a better position or submission.

–Pain Trick:  press into philtrum (under nose) and pull up through nose with hand/fingers to cause pain to get an escape or force a submission.

–Pain Trick:  Ridge hand strike to Philtrum. Will cause pain and eye watering.  Can be used to finish an arm bar.

–Tip:  “Boxing Jab”
Stand in a boxers stance to extend your jabs reach.  Be careful against Muay Thai fighters!

–Strategy:  Be unorthodox (Hard to figure out).  This is what will separate out the World Champions from the Great Fighters.  With everyone currently practicing a combination of grappling, boxing, Muay Thai, and wrestling, the only thing that separates the fighters of today is strength & conditioning.  So be different!  Add something to your game that is truly unique.  Your opponents will not have practiced against your uniqueness.

–Strategy:  Only throw at targets.  Quit wasting energy by just punching meat.  Aim at a target like you would aim at a bullseye on a dartboard!:  Chin, back of ear, side of neck (vagus & phrenic), solar plexus, liver, floating ribs, leg nerves (sciatic & femoral).

–Tricks.  Ex.  GSP, GSP then Jab, Jab, Bang.  Or trick Americana, while in side control trick like you’re going to put your leg over o’s head then arm triangle.

–Strategy:  Clinch Defense:  Both arms come up the middle and push o’s chin or arms while running forward.

–Strategy:  Get in, do your damage and get out.  Do not linger.  Let the KO happen.  Do not force it.

–Strategy:  Use your hands to move your opponent around.  Keep  them off-balance.  Push the head & face.  Pull their arm, move their shoulders.

–Strategy:  Constant head movement.  Up, down, side to side.

–Strategy:  Constant footwork.  In, out, around.  Drill:  Try to get to the back of your drill partner any way you can.

–Strategy:  Grappling strategy:   Double wrist grab or ankle grab.  When in doubt, grab something!  This makes your opponent defend and takes away the majority of submissions.

–Tip:  Throw a 2, hand comes half way back and really move into another 2.

–Tip:  Throw a 1, bring hand half way back and really move into another 1.

–Tip:  Cage Work:  When o is trapped against cage (standing) and covering up, throw liver and solar plexus shots.  Body, Body, Head.  I always see guys only trying to punch the head in this situation when the body is wide open.

–Strategy:  Put your body weight into the strikes and kicks.  Set up BIG strikes and go for it.

–Strategy:  Sometimes you just need to stand your ground, form a solid base, wait for an attack and counter.

–Tip:  Side Kick or Foot Jab just above o’s knee.

–Strategy:  When a southpaw (and you’re orthodox) throws a back leg round house to body, come in (move forward) with an overhand right to chin.

–Philosophy:  I don’t think that a pure striker can defeat a grappler.  So you have to know grappling to be able to win a stand up fight.

–Tip:  Kicking:  turn foot out to open hips for more power.  Kick through the target.  Lean to gain power.  (Bas Rutten Style)

–Tip:  Unique Strike:  I think that the heel palm strike is an underutilized strike.  It is an easy strike to drive through a target.  It can also be used as a short-range strike to the brow of the eye, the chin, or temple.

–Strategy:  Move into a roundhouse to take away its power.  “First Move”.

–Strategy:  Jab as soon as you see your opponent setting up a strike “First Move”.  Be First!  It will throw your opponent off if you hit them every time they are ready to throw a strike.  A good fighter can anticipate a strike coming.

–Tip:  Watch for opponent to flare out elbow or bite down on mouth guard.  This will let you know that they are about to do something.  Move out-of-the-way or move forward to cut off the strike and land one of your own.  This is very important to help psych out your opponent.

–Tip:  When in the clinch RUN FORWARD and  into o. while pushing o’s elbows up and off of head.  When they try to knee you they will be off-balance with you Running Forward so you can break their clinch.

–Philosophy:  You need to be unique and dynamic.  There needs to be something different about your skills.  When everyone is learning the same things throughout the world for MMA (BJJ, Muay Thai, Wrestling & Boxing) then the only difference is strength & conditioning.  Come with something different!

–Philosophy:  You have to be a great ground guy in order to be a good striker and you have to be an excellent ground fighter in able to be a great striker.  A great ground guy will force their opponent’s to stand up with them, but a bad ground guy, but a great striker will get taken down and will not be able to use his striking.  Basically work your ground game and you will become a better striker.  Weird huh?