Mario Sperry Vale Tudo DVD I: Takedowns

Today I am going to review the first video in a series of six from Mario Sperry’s original Vale Tudo (MMA) series.  Though this series is pretty old at this point, it is one of the first places I learned some grappling technique and strategy from.  Mario Sperry is a legend from the grappling world and had a pretty solid MMA career as well (even though he was older).  He trained several MMA legends, including the Nogueira Brothers and Ricardo Arona.

This first video is actually the weakest in the series, not because it’s full of terrible information, it’s just dated at this point.  It’s focus is on securing the takedown.  While some of the strategies used in this video would never be used in today’s MMA world, it still has some good pointers and offers a few worthwhile techniques.  Again, this first video is the only one that doesn’t hold up that well over time, the rest of the series is better.

While some of it is dated, Mario Sperry does offer some great advice that will help anyone secure some takedowns.  Tips like putting your opponents back into a wall, cage, car, etc., so he can’t sprawl back, and using punches to set up your takedowns are still very worthwhile.  This video also ends with a segment on escaping from a standing guillotine (still one of my favorite escapes).

I wouldn’t recommend buying this video by itself, but as part of the series of six videos in the the Vale Tudo series, it’s okay to have.  I’d give this video 2 out of 5 stars.

Fedor: Undisputed King of MMA Review (Part 2)

If you have not read Part 1 of my book review, you may do so here: Fedor: Undisputed King of MMA Review (Part 1)

Picking up where we left off from the clinch, we now move to takedowns and throws.  These are different than wrestling based takedowns most wrestlers are used too.  Fedor is a master of Judo and Sambo.  He shows lots of throws in his book but he also mentions how to set them up with other throws or strikes.  When you combo some of these together it makes them that much harder to stop.  Another good thing about most of these takedowns is that you are left in an advantageous position.  You don’t have to follow someone down to the ground where you can be submitted.  These takedowns usually leave you standing over you opponent, free to reign down strikes.

Next we come to the ground game.  Fedor covers most of the main positions and how to escape them.  Like with the throws, he strings moves together, so if one fails you can immediately move to the next.  This method greatly increases your chance of success.  This is not a grappling only section, he will show you how to pass a guard using strikes to set up a guard pass.

I’ve read a lot of material on MMA, Jiu-jitsu and so on, and these moves are pretty simple yet very effective.  If someone would take the time to drill and perfect all of these techniques and never learned anything else, they would still be a very dangerous and well rounded fighter.  Something else interesting about many of these techniques are that they come from Sambo/Judo instead of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or wrestling, so many people may not be used to these particular variations.  You might be able to take people at your martial art gym by surprise with some of these.

I highly recommend this book.  You will learn all sorts of interesting variations of moves you have probably never seen, get some philosophy behind why he does things a certain way, and will learn how to string techniques together.  The only real thing missing from this book is some coverage of how Fedor actually trains.  There is no mention of how much he runs, lifts weights, spars, etc.  A conditioning section would have been nice but perhaps we will see some of that in the future.

Fedor: Undisputed King of MMA Review (Part 1)

Today I am going to review the book from the great Fedor Emelianenko.  I have to say, this book is fantastic.  For starters, it’s very well rounded.  From it you will learn a series of striking combinations, clinch techniques and ground fighting techniques.  Not only did Fedor dominate the hardest weight class in all of combat sports for a decade, but he remained humble while doing it.  That is why he is my favorite fighter of all time.

The techniques in this book aren’t overly complicated or fancy, but they work.  The book is broken down into three basic sections: Striking, Clinch, Ground Fighting.  Also, unlike with a lot of other fighter’s books, these are techniques Fedor actually uses.  Learning these techniques will actually allow you to fight with a style similar to how Fedor actually fights.

Striking:  The striking section has some very interesting and unorthodox techniques.  For instance, since most people are trained to lead with a Jab/Cross combo (and everyone is used to defending against it) Fedor uses a Cross/Left Hook intro many times to take his opponents off guard. He also uses hand traps (which are hardly ever used in MMA) to set up his opponents.  You can see this in action in several of his fights, including his extremely dominate performance against Tim Sylvia.  By clearing your opponents lead hand out of the way, it not only takes him off guard and misdirects his attention, but it opens him up for a strike.

The book starts out by showing single punches/kicks and all of their variations (there are multiple variations of even the jab for instance).  After learning the basic mechanics of each punch/kick, Fedor shows how to string them together into combinations.  Each punch sets up your opponent for another strike.  There is a lot of great material here.

After learning to strike from a distance we see how to strike from the clinch.  By being in close and controlling your opponents head and body, you can lead him into your punches, elbows and knees.  Fedor has been very successful in the clinch position during his fights, so learning a few of these combos would be beneficial for any martial artist.

In Part 2 we will cover Throws from the Clinch and Ground Work.

Street Jiu-Jitsu vs. Sport Jiu-Jitsu

They make a lot of great points. This video is definitely worth a watch. This is probably one of the reasons a professional fighter like Frank Mir tends to get pounded out whenever someone on top of him punches him. It's like he doesn't know how to react to it or deal with it and he comes from a sport Jiu-Jitsu background.

Lyoto Machida's Signature Moves

Pretty cool video.  Machida is one of my favorite fighters.  I'm going to be doing a breakdown between Machida and Bader before their fight.

 

Focus Mitts

If you are looking for an excellent cardiovascular workout that also builds some power and skill (and you have a partner), look into getting a pair of focus mitts.  These mitts are designed like gloves but with a striking pad on the front of them.

How to use focus mitts

If you don't have any martial arts training you can still use focus mitts to workout (just learn how to punch correctly first).  Just start simply.  Throw single punches like a jab, cross, hook or uppercut.  Once you master these you can start putting them together in combos.  Mitts are an excellent tool for getting into shape and will get you very tired, very quickly.  You don't have to try to kill the mitts when your strike, just be accurate and give them a little pop.

To punch correctly and not hurt your wrists, hold your arm straight out in front of you.  Turn your fist slightly to the outside so that your first 2 knuckles will be what make contact with the pad.  You want there to be a straight line running up your arm from your first 2 knuckle through your forearm.  This allows the impact to travel straight through your body.  If your wrist isn't straight the impact will cause your wrist to bend one way or the other. 

Tabata training for MMA

If you haven't read my blog about the Tabata method, read this first:
http://www.shaolindo.blogspot.com/2012/06/arc-bobs-against-god.html

For MMA you can work Ground & Pound on a heavy bag laying flat on the ground.  Move around to different positions and use the same 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off method as before.  You can do up to 4 rounds of this.  You might want to sit in different positions in order to work your strikes from various situations you could be in during an MMA match or self-defense situation.

An example of a round would look like this:

1. Guard position 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
2. Half-Guard position 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
3. Side Control 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
4. Scarfhold 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
5. Mount position 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
6. Guard position 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
7. Half-Guard position 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest
8. Side Control 20 seconds, 10 seconds of rest

End of round 1, take 1 minute break then start round 2.

Training like this can also help you if you have a chance to flurry on an opponent who has been dropped in order to end the match in devastating fashion.  

The Power of Front Kicks, Part 1

I'm a big fan of mixed martial arts, and with the exception of a handful of fighters, almost no one uses kicks very effectively.  Just watch some fights from Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, or Lyoto Machida and you will see the advantage of being able to kick and keep distance when all your opponent can do is punch.  Covering the wide range of kicks would be a huge task so I am going to focus solely on front kicks in this post.

Front kicks can be used both defensively and offensively.

For defensive purposes you will want to utilize the front push kick seen commonly in Muay Thai fights.  The vast majority of people in MMA or on the street will come straight forward and only attack using punches.  This is perfect for implementing the front push kick.  You simply want to lift your knee straight up and push him away with your lead foot (use the entire surface of your foot and push using your hips).  This will not only stop him dead in his tracks (keeping him out of punching range) but will frustrate him because he can never get close to you.  If you are a ground fighter you can use this kick to knock your foe into a wall, car, cage. etc. so you can close the distance and tie him up, to work for the takedown. 

The rear front kick is an offensive weapon.  It is thrown by lifting your heel back to your butt and thrusting the ball of your foot out like a cannonball.  This kick can be used to not only knock your opponent's wind out, but drop him as well.  He won't be able to take to many of these types of kicks and stay on his feet. 
Both of these kicks can be used to set up other techniques.

I would recommend watching some of those fighters I mention at the beginning to see how they set a kick up and if they used it in a combination.  If you are more flexible you can even use the front kick to the face to KO your opponent (generally done with your rear foot).  To see that in action watch Anderson Silva's fight with Vitor Belfort or Lyoto Machida's fight with Randy Couture.  It's always good to have more techniques in your arsenal, especially one most people can't defend and keeps you at a safe distance from their punches.  Both versions of the front kick do just that.