FREE MMA MASTERY: STRIKE COMBINATIONS PDF

Mark Hatmaker | 192 pages | 01 Jun 2011 | Tracks Publishing,U.S. | 9781935937227 | English | Chula Vista, CA, mma striking combos list | MMA Active

A great deal is happening at any given time in a mixed fight. Transitions between the sport's component arts—, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to name only three—take place in a split second. Fighters might execute dozens of different techniques in hundreds of individual moves in any given fight, and the commentators rarely have time to explain the mechanics or nuance behind each one. This piece examines 10 of the most common techniques that one might find in an MMA fight. It's not enough to know how to strike, wrestle or grapple; any fighter who has a hope of competing in one of MMA's major promotions has to MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations least know the basics of every art. Consider this a technical introduction. If you've ever wanted to know what a proper jab looks like, how a double-leg takedown works or why we see so many rear-naked chokes, this is the piece for you. I'll walk you through the individual techniques, provide pictures and helpful videos and regularly link to GIFs to illustrate the principles at play. A fight is much more than individual moves, of course. MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations output and pace, transitions from phase to phase, confidence, rhythm and a dozen other advanced concepts all matter. Each of those things, however, is built on the foundation of basic technical acumen. The jab is any striker's most useful and important tool. At its most basic, it is a straight punch with the lead hand. That description, however, falls far short of describing the full range of uses to which the jab can be put. It can be taught in a single lesson, but it takes a lifetime to MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations. A jab ranges from a probing shot that is little more than an extended arm to a battering ram that can break faces through repeated application. Measuring and setting the user's preferred distance, establishing a rhythm and timing, and setting up the following shots are all potential applications. It's the quickest strike that can be thrown and therefore has particular utility as a counter, as former UFC champion used it against and Yushin Okamior to disrupt the opponent's rhythm. It serves to cover the forward movement of aggressive fighters such as Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier by giving the opposition something to think about as they push their foes back. He threw it in a variety of ways, all of them effective. These weren't pitter-patter strikes, either: He shattered his opponent's orbital bone and pummeled him from safety for all five rounds. UFC bantamweight champion T. Dillashaw has become a budding master of the jab under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig. He uses it in a variety of ways, constantly probing with his lead hand, as he does here before firing a cross and head , and occasionally firing vicious jabs as counters or to disrupt his opponent's rhythm. If anything, the jab is even more useful than it is in boxing since fewer MMA fighters truly excel at applying it, which gives the experts a whole chunk of safe distance where their opponent has little to offer. In a sport where takedowns are a massive factor, the ability to keep your opponent outside of range to shoot is a major advantage. Despite the lack of skilled users in MMA, the jab is the most basic tool in any striker's arsenal, and it's the most essential. The overhand—a looping punch thrown from the rear hand that looks like a baseball pitch—isn't as common as the jab, but it's particularly characteristic of MMA as opposed to the other arts that include striking on the feet. Two reasons. First, MMA gloves are smaller, which makes it more difficult for a default high guard—tight elbows, hands covering the sides of the face—to block it. Second, overhands are best set up with level changes, where a fighter bends his or her knees and ducks down. Level changes are much more common in MMA, which includes takedowns, than they are in boxing. The MMA overhand was, for a long time, the target of derision from boxing purists. It's an ugly-looking strike even when executed perfectly, a windmilling swing that can land almost vertically as the user pulls his or her head off line. It stands in stark contrast to the boxing fan's adoration of a clean cross or a piercing jab. This was always a straw man, though: Plenty of boxers throw an overhand, particularly those from Cuba or Eastern Europe, and the punch's utility is undeniable. Yet the overhand remains more characteristic of MMA. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos won the title with the punch and dropped the iron-chinned Mark Hunt with a vicious overhand. No punch is more characteristic of MMA than the overhand. While symbolic of the undeniably cruder nature of MMA striking, it's prevalent in the sport for good reasons: It's a hard punch that suits the smaller gloves and broader tactical context. The round kick is native to practically every art that includes kicking, with some variations. In MMA, most fighters learn to throw it in a fashion that MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations derived from muay thai, and as such it should be landed with the lower part of the shin. The motion is straightforward: Step or pivot on the lead foot so that it's turned perpendicular to the target, thrust the hip so that it leads the kicking leg, and turn the hip over to get maximum force into the strike. A discerning observer might add a scrunching of the abdominal muscles and a chopping motion with the hand on the kicking side, but these motions aren't strictly necessary. Unlike a -style round kick, of which we see a few in MMA from fighters such as and many of the Russian fighters now entering the UFC, the muay thai-style kick has more of a whipping than a snapping motion. It's a powerful strike that's reminiscent of getting hit with a baseball bat. The round kick can be thrown to all three levels—low, middle and high. The low kick is the easiest to land, as it's thrown from the greatest distance and has a substantial margin for error. The middle kick is the most dangerous, since the user can easily be countered with punches. The high kick is the most difficult to MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations, since it's the slowest and gives the opponent plenty of time to react. Not only is he unbelievably fast, but he sets them up beautifully with punches. His MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations is incredible, and he places his shots in exactly the right spot as his opponent turns his MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations. UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, another talented kicker, destroyed 's lead leg with repeated shots. Former champion Anthony Pettis is a master of the body kick. MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations blasted Donald Cerrone's liver with a beautiful left kick and used a series of them to tenderize Benson Henderson's body in their second meeting before the armbar finish. When a kick lands cleanly to the head in MMA, it's generally because of a clever setup or gross negligence. Pettis flashed his hands before landing one on Joe Lauzon's dome. Dillashaw used the threat of his straight left to set up this head kick on Renan Barao. Wherever they're thrown, round are an essential part of any MMA fighter's arsenal. The clinch is one of the fundamental phases of MMA. It's unique in that it combines pieces of different combat sports into a diverse whole in a way that range striking, wrestling and grappling don't. There's MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations bit of boxing's short punches, a dash of wrestling's takedowns and MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations and a smidgen of judo's trips and throws, but knees from the double-collar tie—colloquially MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations as the "muay thai clinch"—reign supreme. The double-collar tie actually comes MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations MMA from both wrestling and muay thai. It's a simple enough grip, with the hands placed on the crown of the opponent's head, one over the other, and the forearms tightly pinned to the sides of the opponent's jaw. You should feel the squeeze in your chest as you pinch your forearms together. Properly executed, this gives the user full control over the opponent's movements: where the head goes, the body follows. With full control over the opponent's balance, posture and position, knees follow shortly thereafter. Once again, Silva provides the clearest example of mastery from his first fight with Franklin. The Spider mixes up the placement, throwing first to the body and then using the double-collar tie to pull Franklin down into a crushing knee to the face. did the same to Rampage Jackson. OnThisDay in SpiderAnderson started his reign. Knees from the double-collar tie can be effective in sequence, but they're also effective transitional strikes. grabbed a quick hold, stepped back to give his hips room and then fired two knees to finish Jake Shields. The double-collar tie has other applications, and knees can be used from MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations variety of positions, but this is a basic facet of any fighter's game. The double-leg takedown is an MMA staple. In its basic form, it's easy to teach and learn, and practically every fighter has some idea of how to shoot the double whether they regularly use it or not. The double has many variations, but in essence it consists of a level change, with the knee hitting the floor; a penetration step, MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations the user steps forward to get close to the opponent's hips; and then shooting the hands behind the MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations legs and either placing a hand behind each knee or clasping them together behind the thighs. From there, the user can MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations in a number of ways. One possibility, favored by Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader, involves placing the head in the stomach or sternum to off-balance the opponent directly backward. Alternatively, one can place the head on the outside of the MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations torso and use lateral head pressure to push the opponent off balance and finish the takedown, as St-Pierre does here to Dan Hardy. In modern MMA, however, it isn't enough to simply drop down for a double-leg and shoot in open space without a setup. Practically every fighter knows how to sprawl well enough to get away. Instead, we see fighters shooting double-legs as a counter to their opponents' movement, as MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations did in the last GIF, or with punches to distract their opponents. Bantamweight champion Demetrious Johnson, one of the finest double-leg practitioners in MMA, is a master of that. The double-leg is the most basic takedown. What changes are the setups and the skill level, but no fighter goes far without knowing the double inside and out. Trips are clinch takedowns. They come in two basic varieties, inside and outside, which refers to whether the user's foot is outside of the opponent's or inside. In MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations case, the mechanics involved are simple: The combination of pushing the upper body while taking away one of the legs necessary for balance dumps the opponent onto the floor. The sheer number of potential variations MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations is difficult to overstate. This is easier shown than described. This outside trip from Cormier is impressive, to be sure, but it's still an outside trip. turned a caught kick into an outside trip against Alan Belcher. Like double-legs, trips from the clinch are a basic part of every fighter's arsenal whether they use them or not. Every style that includes takedowns, from folkstyle wrestling to judo to sambo, has some variations on the inside and outside trip, and for good reason: They're basic and effective. We've looked at two different types of takedowns, double-legs and trips, but what about the skills necessary to avoid being taken down? That's where the handy sprawl, the basic counter to a double-leg and sometimes a single-leg, comes into play. There are multiple variations, but essentially a sprawl involves dropping one's hips back out of range of the opponent's hands as he reaches forward to complete the takedown. As the opponent attempts MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations drive forward to reach the hips, the hips pull back out of reach and the sprawler drives his or MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations weight down to prevent the forward drive. MMA in 10 Moves: A Technical Introduction | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights Out of Stock. Sign in to rate or review. Barcode Illustrates how top mixed martial-arts fighters effectively use strike combinations, in a guide to essential tactics that includes coverage of footwork, recommendations for merging defensive and offensive moves and tips for overcoming range- related challenges. Covering the essential tactic and art of striking with a series of blows, this guide illustrates how today's best mixed martial arts fighters have discovered the devastating effect of "punches in bunches" or strike combinations a mix that includes fists, kicks, elbows and knees. The power of 3s The importance of MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations in multiples of three is emphasized with an explanation of how to stage strikes in order to maximize load and release, counter striking, creating angles and straight striking. Also included is the MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations role of footwork, how to merge defensive and offensive moves, and how to overcome the various challenges MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations by range. The best of the best in more than 1, images This reference takes the most efficient combinations culled from elite competition metrics from more than bouts and presents them in stair-stepped drill sets, which enable fighters to utilize the same striking approaches advocated by the best coaches and competitors in the business. Hatmaker founded Extreme Self Protection ESPa research body that compiles, analyzes and teaches the most effective Western combat methods known. Library Subject 2 Hand-to-hand fighting; Training. Library Subject 3 Wrestling; Training. Book Preview Click the Google Preview button to view an excerpt from the book. More by Mark Hatmaker. Toggle navigation Raru. Edit Cart Checkout Close. Recipient Name. Recipient Email. From Name. From Email. Send Email. MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations : Mark Hatmaker :

For the uninitiated, GAP is the fundamentally sound mechanical position that the body assumes when it is expected to perform optimally across a variety of stressors. These stressors can be a sudden vertical jump, a quick explosive lift, a preparation to move to either direction laterally, a transition to back- pedaling, et cetera. The key to GAP is that it is a preparation for variety — a start point for options if you will. That is, the sprinter knows which direction the body must move, the batter knows the approximate plane he must swing into, the fighter setting up the spin kick knows where and how she must set the hips to facilitate the smooth pirouette. Still, even with TSP there are, usually, only minor adjustments from GAP, and this close adherence is for good reason. GAP wisely adheres to an equal distribution of weight so that MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations in any cardinal direction can be smoothly transitioned into. Too much weight over any given foot slows the transition into that direction. GAP's equal distribution of weight not only optimizes mobility, it increases access to power. Full body commitment is already realized by having both feet underneath the hips. GAP allows for quick power access to any given side by this same equal distribution of weight. There is a tendency in some combat disciplines to pay a lot of attention to stance as if it were an isolated element. That is, "OK, here is our stance, got it? Looks good. Now, here is some other stuff to learn. After all, what good is a stance if it no longer supports your offense or defense as soon as you take your first step? Fights happen on the move. MMA is not some Karate Kid crane stance adolescent fantasy. With every step you take, with every punch you throw, with every MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations you stuff, MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations every move you make, in an ideal world, you should be analyzing it for GAP and making adjustments whenever and wherever possible to adhere as closely as you can manage to perfection. Always be asking questions about GAP in your training. Are you falling into your punches rather than stepping into them? Is your lateral movement overloaded when you move? A leg kick or a Lyoto Machida-style foot will bring that foolishness to the mat. Any deviation from GAP acts either as a situation to be countered or information about your intentions. Stance is MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations athletic start point that travels with you wherever you go. Stance is every step you take. Stance is every punch you throw. Let's get to it. You won't necessarily raise the heels off the mat, but you don't want to be a flat-footed fighter. Flat feet are slow feet. The Boxing Plus stance is a little more forward facing than a standard boxing stance, MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations we don't want to be so square that we invite unobstructed front kicks. This leg coiling will supply us with mobility speed and preload our punches for power. A common error perhaps as common as drifting the hands low is creating an inverted V, where the forearms move apart toward the elbows. This invites shots to the liver. Think holding a phone hands-free, pinched between your lead shoulder and chin. It will not rest directly on it. Simply tuck it toward the chest an inch or two. We labored footwork to death in Boxing Mastery. Here we will educate a stripped down Boxing Plus footwork approach in our focus pad drills, but there are a few broad concepts to keep in mind in all Boxing Plus movement. Forget bouncing, shuffling, staying MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations on the toes and shoe-shining with your footwork. Such light, high-base work will work against you in MMA. We need you solid, but solid does not mean stiff and immobile. Far from it. OK, the next little MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations of footwork advice may be the most important advice in this book — so pay attention. Read MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations twice, or once a week, whatever MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations takes to sink this lesson in. The best boxers of the "sweet science" variety as opposed to the slugger breed are noted for their nimble footwork MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations maneuver themselves into firing position and then to glide out of harm's way. As a matter of fact, the "sweet" in "sweet science" refers to "sweet" movement. That is, the apparent ability to dance, glide, shift, bob, weave, duck and pivot out of danger with apparent ease. A sweet fighter or a sugary fighter has got smooth, efficient footwork. Boxing has approximately 14 distinct footwork maneuvers that the sweetest of fighters have under their belts. The fewer of these steps a boxer knows and utilizes, the less sweet he or she may be. Of these 14 steps, about half of them call for an upright posture that won't work for MMA. This is good news for the MMA fighter as that means we have halved the skill set allowing us to get to mastery MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations less time. Don't fall into the trap of thinking more is better and that if you go ahead and train all 14 you'll have an advantage. Maybe, maybe not. The approximate half of the 14 steps we will ignore are movements that evolved in MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations sport that never had to worry about the leg kick or the takedown or a clinch that was used for anything more than tying up or to rest. We have culled the herd for good reason. The lightness of MMA gloves has equalized the power in both hands to some degree mainly by raising the power of the lead hand and doing nothing to minimize the rear hand. But this equalization of power in no way overturns the laws of physics. The rear hand and rear leg have a greater distance to travel. Rear shots come with more wind up and muscular torque than lead punches. When fighting an opponent who fights with the left side forward, you would be wise to emphasize moving to your right. When fighting an opponent who fights with the right side forward, flip this advice and move to your left. As in grappling, move toward your opponent's back whenever and wherever possible. These two warriors are tough as they come, willing to bang like nobody's business as they do in this bout. Go ahead and queue it up if you don't mind. Before you view it, here's what I want you to keep your eyes on. Sanchez moves away from Mr. Melendez's power side approximately once of his own accord. As the fight moves into its final round, freeze frame any shot where you have only the right side of Diego's face showing. It'll look good, like he's not even been in a fight. Next, freeze-frame the left MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations. What does that open maw of a cut tell you? That puffed cheek? It tells you that either Melendez is slick as can be with that rear hand and he's no slouchor that Diego has been walking into the power side all night long. It's the latter. I find this tragic because Diego is undeniably an excellent fighter with grit to spare, but only once in this bout does he take steps literally, steps to minimize the damage being done. What's all the more tragic is that his celebrated corner MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations not mention the obvious. By all means, watch the corner talk and tell me if you hear one bit of advice about this most basic bit of boxing knowledge — walk away from the power. Melendez wins this fight and rightfully so, but the outcome may have been different if someone in Diego's corner had simply told him to circle right. This subheading should be about as obvious a piece of advice as you're ever going to hear, but the longer you play this game, the more you'll realize it is not adhered to as MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations as you would think. Some of the best boxing trainers know that a good fighter is built from the feet up. No matter how loud the bang is on the pad, if the feet are awry, you've got a fighter that can be exploited. The Boxing Plus stance is not quite as relaxed as it looks. In an effort to keep your weight distribution as close to perfect GAP as possible, let's approach our stance and movement in the following manner. Of course, not being in our socks on a MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations floor there will be no movement. But feel the tension — that's what I want you to feel through every stance iteration and every step you take. This may seem like a small tip, but if you follow this scrupulously, particularly in your focus mitt drills, this is a game changer for speed, balance and power. Let's get down to the primary tools in the Boxing Plus arsenal and how to throw them with malicious intent. Make sure you use GAP — feet underneath throughout to optimize performance. Don't extend the arm. The legs and hips really are doing the job here. The shoulder aim is just slightly exaggerated to compensate for firing from the rear side. The mechanics for firing to the body are the same as firing to the head with one big difference. Use a bend of the knees not a bend at the waist or you'll eat a knee to take your punch into a horizontal plane with your target. And don't MMA Mastery: Strike Combinations downhill standing tall and punching in a downward trajectory. Punching downhill leaves your jaw completely exposed. With all elbows we strike with the tip to cut, not to slam the forearm into the target. Elbows are not a power tool although they do have power. They are precision cutting tools.