Ever wonder why it's like to be a mixed martial arts fighter. Ever wonder what they do to prepare for a fight and what they do for preparation leading up the fight? This week Stephan answers some viewer questions as well as tries to outline the toll if takes to be a top level MMA fighter like Denis Kang.

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Fitness and Conditioning Q&A

Recently we've been talking a lot about conditioning for grappling, and I've received a significant number of questions on this topic. I am still collecting and collating these questions, so if you have a burning question about fitness and conditioning for grappling then please ask away (keeping in mind that I simply can't design your entire workout program for you!). I will try to answer a selection of your questions in below.

What Makes A Good Training Partner?

I've just added a new article on how to become that great training partner that everyone wants to work with (and show all their secret techniques to). This article was written by Jason Scully from Grapplersguide.com.

Check out the article at:

www.grapplearts.com/BJJ_Training_Partners.html

Never To Guillotined Again (Video)

OK, I have to admit that I'm exaggerating with the whole "never get guillotined again" title, but it's almost true. If you incorporate principle that I'm about to share with into your grappling two thins will happen: 1) you'll tap out to many, many fewer guillotine chokes, and 2) you'll really increase how often you manage to finish your opponent's with the same choke.

I was very happy when I managed to formalize this principle in my own mind. Both for my own learning process and for teaching others in person or via DVDs I really like to emphasize principles over technique. It's much simpler to memorize one principle and use it in 10 different situations than it is to memorize ten different techniques.

So go watch (and rate) my Youtube video on body positioning for the guillotine choke. As a special bonus I've included a section on the 'Von Flue' guillotine recounter, which is always an unwelcome surprise for your sparring partners!

And if you think that the Von Flue choke is unrealistic I encourage you to watch Jason Von Flue pull it off on The Ultimate Fighter TV show:

When people are learning the Von Flue choke they often find that their opponent can bridge them over and they end up on the bottom. If you're getting rolled into a bad position when trying this choke then check that your legs are perpendicular (i.e. at 90 degrees) to your opponent. If his head is pointing to 12 o'clock, then your legs should either be to 3 or 9 o'clock. The closer your legs get to his head the easier it is for him to bridge you over.

(The Von Flue choke is discussed halfway through the first video referenced here:
www.grapplearts.com/2008/08/never-get-guillotined-again.htm)

Also keep in mind that some grapplers just have very explosive bridging power. If I was unsure about my base and going against one of these bridging dynamos I might choose NOT switch my legs, and simply use shoulder pressure. It's the same choke, just relying less on body weight, more on arm strength, and a bit slower than the inverted-leg-switching Von Flue choke I showed in aforementioned blog entry.

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The Pre-Competition Workout

Middleweight MMA fighter Denis Kang is a friend of mine. We started BJJ with Marcus Soares at approximately the same time, and I watched as he became more and more serious about becoming a great MMA fighter. His progression from young punk to Abu Dhabi level grappler and top 10 middleweight MMA fighter still fills me with both awe and pride.

I remember him defeating Pancrase legend Minoru Suzuki early in his career, and that win catapulting him to international recognition. In his next fight he fought Kei Yamamiya to a standstill for the first brutal 10 minutes, but then lost the decision when he started the final round dead from exhaustion.

After that fight I remember him getting serious about patching the weak areas in his game. He found high level boxing and wrestling coaches to augment his considerable BJJ skills. He did sports psychology work. He also started training with his first conditioning coach.

The net result of all these changes was that his game absolutely exploded. He started being able to impose his will on his opponents (and his training partners) for the entire fight, going undefeated for 23 fights at one point!

Last week Denis recently successfully defended his Korean Spirit MC title by knocking out his challenger at 1:31 of the first round. Circuit conditioning was a big part of his preparation for this fight. I've recently posted about his workouts with George St. Pierre's conditioning coach Jonathan Chaimberg.

There was so much good feedback about that circuit that I'm going to post another video of Denis, this time of his last conditioning session before winding down and getting ready for that long, long flight to Asia. As you'll be able to see, this workout places a heavy emphasis on sports-specific movements like sprawls, pulling and explosive pushing.

A competitor's last hard workout before a big event is very important. It needs to be hard enough to maintain or improve conditioning, but not so physically devastating that the competitor can't recover from it in time to compete (or, even worse, ends up injured). Multiple sets of the circuit below would destroy a lesser- conditioned athlete, but with Denis it was apparently the perfect workout to bring his skills and conditioning to a razor's edge.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

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