MMA pages

When in doubt write it out. (or type it)

Breaking it down helps us learn.

For years and years my BJJ and other various MMA coaches I’ve trained under have told me that I should write notes after class and break down the techniques I’ve been taught during the class. Being the lazy sloth that I am, I have rarely done it and although I can spend hours on the couch  or driving or wherever, going through Jits techniques or Muay thai combos in my head, I’ve never really had the discipline to write things down. Then a funny and unexpected thing happened. I started this website. Wierd things started to happen. I began to become more concious of my game and I’ve noticed great improvements for the first time in a long time which I attribute to literally taking notes. What really drove it home for me was last nights BJJ class.

Breaking things down on paper can really boost your MMA training.

Let me back track a bit. Towards the end of last year, I was training like a maniac four times a week but when December arrived the gym closed and I was forced to take a breather. I took three weeks off and when I arrived back on the third of January, I actually felt well rested and in fact I actually felt really fit. Maybe I was even a bit over trained at the end of the year and the break helped me recover. I had two nights of about two hours each of training and felt great. I was really amped to be back. Then calamity struck. I got this wierd condition where I literally woke up one morning and I was so dizzy that I was walking into walls. I felt like I was drunk and after seeing 3 different specialists, I was diagnosed with a condition called BPPV. Basically, we’ve all got these little calcium crystals in our inner ears that tell our brains which way is which. Some of my crystals had come loose and gone roaming around my ear canals like little escaped convicts. This situation meant I couldn’t drive, let alone train. I was literally stuck at home for nearly a month going nuts with boredom. (On the upside, I managed to get some really great UFC viewing time in).

Training without training.

During this little patch of aggravation, I watched UFC 142 and decided to write an article about the way Rousimar Palhares set up his famous heel hook. I don’t normally battle that much to break a technique down but I honestly found it really difficult to put it on paper so to speak. (Obviously I type it. I don’t actually use paper forthe  website but you know what I mean). I wrote out the steps he took and re-watched the video and then retyped and this went on and on until the Gracie’s did their awesome video which allowed me to finally complete and publish the Palhares heel hook post. The whole process made me a little crazy but I was glad it was done so I could start something new.

The awesome feeling of concious note taking leading to faster, more precise responses when rolling.

Last night I finally felt well enough to go back to my Jiu Jitsu class. I can’t balance well enough to do any striking yet but at least I was confident I could grab onto someone and hope, when it came to grappling. I felt like jelly (Jello) going into class. I’ve been off for weeks and I’ve been scoffing ice cream and cake and all sorts of other junk. Not the way I like to go into a gym where people are going to try choke me out. We got down to business and started to roll from standing. I shot in for a double leg against a guy I know is stronger than me and would you know it, I lost my balance and fell on my ass. Normally, I would pull guard or try switch to get out but my brain just went on to autopilot and I inserted a butterfly hook. Off balanced my opponent, swung my other leg over a secured his leg so tight that I got the kneebar before I even had time to change my grip for the heel hook. I’ve never been a huge fan of leg locks for various reasons but I think I’ve changed my opinion of them now that I’m feeling so confident. Now obviously this could have been dumb luck and it’s not like I’ve just learned these techniques today but the really great thing is that I’ve never used that particular sequence of techniques to get the submission before and for me that’s really exciting because obviously Jiu Jitsu involves sequentially stringing moves together in less time than you can conciously think about them.

Write it down

Do your MMA training homework.

My conclusion is that a lot of Jiu Jitsu and by extension, a whole lot of MMA is actually not physical so much as it is mental and if you properly understand the way your techniques link together, you can accomplish far more than by just training alone. Obviously, note taking is not the only way to gain understanding and I wouldn’t subsititute sparring and drilling for writing things down but I do believe that taking notes and breaking things down on paper is a fantastic way to really get the fundamental aspects of an MMA technique ingrained into your consiousness. It sounds a lot like homework and it actually is but you wouldn’t need to write an essay. You just need too grab a note pad or if you’re lazy like me, grab your blackberry or i Phone or whatever other piece of technology you always have on you and just write a quick memo and then expand on it until you’ve done a detailed breakdown. Later on you can go back and revise but even if you don’t. Just the process of having to think consiously and actually write things down as if someone else was going to read it will really help to ingrain the move in your brain. That way when you are sparring or drilling techniques in class. You’re not just feeling your way and taking each action your training partner does as it comes. (Although it’s great to do that too). You’re actually giving yourself a huge advantage because your brain has actually been there before, even if your body has not. Small things like this can make a big difference too your MMA game.

(Cartoon source:Bill Browning via serc.carleton.edu )

(Pencil image: jc rsc Scotland)