This Saturday I'm training with a friend of mine--he's a wrestling coach for a High School and is entering an MMA comp in a couple months. He's a monster on the ground, but wants drills to practice closing the distance vs a striker. He's invited me and some of my bodies to throw strikes at him. What are some good drills for him? Some of my ideas: 1. All he can do is take downs, all I can do is punch 2. All he can do is take downs, all I can do are kicks 3. Pummeling with him defending knees and elbows 4. He practices covering up, moving into punches (palms on his head, elbows come up to block strikes like Rhino Guard) toward take down My advice to him is that he shouldn't even stand up and strike, just focus on defense and take downs, then ground and pound. Any more ideas/ better ideas... thanks!
How did your friend get on? TBH if he is serious about competing in MMA he should join an MMA gym. Fighting with mainly wrestling will only get him so far. He will eventually have to develop a solid stand up game. Hope he does well. Regards, Dave.
Erik Paulson does a really good DVD on takedown entries against punching, and Randy Couture does one on closing the distance to clinch. If all else fails, theres this piece of advice form Jens Pulver: "bite down on your mouthpiece, keep your chin down, cover up and get in there."
Morra, One area where grapplers often have trouble is with their "eyes." Basically they don't need to use their "eyes" a whole lot in grappling, so their eyes (mind) aren't conditioned to know what to look for in combat. A lot end up looking right at punches and as a result get punched right in the face as well as end up "squaring up". Imagine a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi... road kill. A suggestion is a drill of two-on-one. Pad up enough that you can take a few good hits, but start the drill at about half speed/intensity. The goal is to learn, not kill each other (that can come in the ring...:evil:, just kidding). Basically, have two people take turns coming at your friend with strikes and grabs, staggered a few seconds apart each time. Your friend can wrestle but because he only has a few seconds before the next guy, he should mostly strike and use his wrestling experience to help defend himself. Instead of looking at punches, your friend will have to see the whole body of each opponent and use his peripheral vision more effectively. Train his "eyes" for combat. There are many other ways to do this, this is just one example of a drill.
Yes, train his eyes. Have him look at the shoulders and hips for punches and kicks. They will usually move first before the punch or kick.
