After a long hiatus from CMD class due to my trip in Japan and Albert my trainer going off to US for 2 weeks as well, it was great to get back into the action. Owen and Roderick were still having exams and Riri...the bastard FORGOT! So it was just me and Albert for Monday and Wednesday.
Albert started out the precursors to CM2 and introduced the concept of counter-punching.
First of all a bit about CM2. CM2 is moving from the rim-shot range and closing the distance with the opponent which puts you in the range of counter-punches.
What is counter-punching?
Here is my own understanding of it (and the usual disclaimers in that it may be entirely wrong). Whenever someone punches, there is always a slight (or large) opening, the most vulnerable points being
- When the person is about to throw a punch
- When the person is recovering from his punch
Counter-punching can be devastating, it can utilize the opponent's forward motion to strengthen your blow but perhaps more importantly it breaks the flow of an opponent's attack. There's nothing quite like beginning a combination only to be interrupted prematurely with a hit in the face. It frustrates the opponent as you are preventing him from carrying out his plan of attack and over time, this accumulates to become a substantial mental effect.
The Counter Punches I learnt
The first one was a very quick punch after a block, dodge and while the opponent is pulling his hand back. Albert demonstrated this to me when I threw him a slightly sloppy jab (not intentionally) which resulted in a lightning fast smack in the face which left me wondering 'What the heck happened?'.
The second one was rather awkward where you back off slightly to get out of range of the punch and then recoil back to land a punch in straight away. I am having a hard time visualizing how this will work effectively against a good punch.
The third one is where you punch as he punches and try to land a quick combo in the moment your counter punch connects. At first I thought this was something like punching when he was punching, but if you think of it logically it's more of trying to punch him before he even starts punching fully which I believe is what Phil Wright from Revolution Gym was trying to tell me over Twitter :P.
Progress
I am quite happy with my progress. I still am not absolutely free flow, but I start to try to have a plan and I think perhaps the most important milestone was I stopped closing my eyes while being under heavy attack and still able to think more or less with a level head as to how to react.
I have confidence in my CM1 and my stamina has improved a little where I can last a few 3 minute rounds. My calves no longer hurt and I can move around without thinking too much about it.
Sparring sessions like this really remind you how far you have come from the first time you stepped in and is extremely rewarding.
Stamina is still a problem where I have problems maintaining burst but it was no where as bad when I would be busted within the 1st minute of a round to the point I could barely move anything. Perhaps also something to do with pacing as well.
My first 'injury' from CMD
As we stepped up the sparring, Albert managed to land a middle strengthed jab to across my cheek which resulted in my innerlips grazing on my teeth which lead to a little bleeding. He was of course very apologetic and actually it's a bit of a wonder that this had not happened a lot earlier considering how we have been sparring for a while now!
In a way I was also happy in that Albert was also stepping up his power in line with my progress and sparring took a slightly more serious tone (yet still firmly being a non competitive game/play) which just reminded you to be more focused.
Certainly time to invest in a mouth guard. :D
With our trainer Albert away in the US for the BJJ Mundials for 2 weeks, it was just Owen and me training.
Owen is an interesting sparring partner as he is taller than me and has a similar reach as me. As such it wasn't too easy to keep him away but I found a proper diving board punch still gave me the necessary reach advantage to keep him at bay.
Jabbing to keep distance
I found the jab pretty effective at discouraging him from attacking me even when he tried to push forward as long as it was a properly executed jab with some force behind it or used as a push rather than a strike by making sure your body weight is behind it.
Bad CM when under heavy attack
I noticed that I was getting hit a bit on the sides of my face even while doing CM and as Owen's punches packed some power, I at times ended up CMing while looking at the floor which placed me in a very passive and bad position as I couldn't necessarily tell where he was.
Owen was also guilty of this but in a different way in that he turned his side to me which allowed me shots at his exposed side of the face.
Counterattacking when under attack
I really don't like being pummelled at and really want to get out of a barrage. I should be circling out more but sometimes when I still can't get out, I find that I like to just move in and launch a counterattack of my own to disrupt his rhythm.
This seems kinda risky as even with diving board punching, I still feel rather exposed but perhaps what exacerbates the situation is my tendency to extend my hands and pop my head out to take a look at where to direct my punching. While this allows me to see where his weakspots are and punch at them, it also creates a huge spot of my own. Thus far Owen or Albert has not taken advantage of this but I believe someone with a longer reach or more determination to move in could easily knock me out.
I need to find a way to maintain TES and still be able to direct my punches. I remember Albert's words that if you see the chest, you know where the head is but sometimes when being punched, it's hard to see much more than the fists coming at you! I think counter-attacking while under attack should be a valid strategy especially since there's a psychological effect rather than just taking it and weathering the storm even with proper CM. Must make a mental note to ask Albert.
Footwork
Finally walking around in tiptoe and working on strengthening those calves have paid off! I can now move with a lot more freedom and can dodge attacks a lot faster than I used to without feeling pain in my calves. I still need to work on circling off more and not stepping back.
Not quite related to CM but I couldn't resist going back to a bit of interesting history on boxing.
Jack Dempsey, one of the greatest boxers ever pioneered the bob and weave move. Previously boxing was generally bolt upright fashion and Dempsey revolutionized boxing with his innovation of dropping low and attacking from a half crouch position. Perhaps the very early precursor to the CM hunchback position?
In fact, Jack Dempsey would do rounds in a 5 foot cage, forcing him to box in a deep crouch. This drill builds leg strength and endurance and adds explosion to his punches.
I first learned of the 'Dempsey Roll' from an anime: Hajime No Ippo, the bob and weave move which incorporated the natural momentum of the bob and weave into devastating hooks.
First the anime version:
Now the real thing from one of the most one-sided fights in history: Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard.
A bit of background info, Willard, the reigning champion is 6 foot 6 inches and the huge favourite. Dempsey utterly mauled him with his new style of boxing with Willard quitting in round 3 after being knocked down countless amount of times and sustaining broken bones and teeth.
The Dempsey Roll has been since used by early Tyson who used his shorter stature to great effect by ducking under punches and using his enormous punching power to dominate his taller opponents.
The Roll doesn't look quite that effective in a MMA fight as the bob and weave is quite predictable to experienced fighters and it does leave the 'roller' open to quick counterpunches or shoves but it is fascinating nonetheless and is great fun to do!
Yesterday was Basrull's last class with us before he heads back to the UK to continue his studies. We wish him all the best and will miss his cheerful demeanor!
Last night we basically did tennis match and light sparring and continued to drill the CM1 phase. Everyone shows marked improvement and when sparring I notice it's a lot harder to break through their CM1.
On my own end, I am beginning to learn how to pace myself and move around efficiently. I no longer feel as if I have difficulties breathing when approaching the 2 minute mark and can still throw attacks.
Several points I noted last night:
- CM1 movement can be very light and still effective. I find that as long as I don't overtense my muscles but keep it firmly planted on my head, I need not expend that much energy when doing CM1 even when the force of the punches get heavier. Need to test this against stronger punches.
- When attacking heavily, sometimes it is possible to use that as a distraction to get off at an angle to attack the unprotected side.
- Varying the height of your stance (by going lower not higher) seems to give better angles and makes it harder for your opponent to punch you if your CM is tight
We also learned some basics of the uppercut which is a very close range upward punch that is aimed at the chin. The punch is kept close to the body to ensure that the power generated from the legs is passed fully into the uppercut. Albert demonstrated that with proper CM structure, even an uppercut can be blocked relatively easily.
Here is a video of last night's sparring with Riri and Basrull in front and me and Owen at the back (I'm the shorter one).
The past few lessons I have been focusing on my footwork, where I find that
- I bounce too much
- My legs often come to close together
- Imagine that you're a ninja walking
- Always keep at least one foot touching the ground when moving
- Practice, practice and practice!
Last night I got in two sessions of light sparring with Albert along with the usual tennis match sparring and it felt a lot better.
Several key pointers that I noticed while sparring with Albert:
- I was aware of large movements trying to corner me in but when done inch by inch, I often didn't notice I was being cornered until it was too late.
- Because of the way Albert positioned his head and his shorter height, when I did manage to contact his head mostly by virtue of my longer reach, it felt difficult to get a solid punch in because of the angle of his head.
- I lowered my guard when trying to attack quick. I should not be sacrificing defence for attack at this stage. I got hit in the mouth once because of my carelessness
- I don't quite like the Runner style, extremely tiring and I don't like the idea of prancing around my opponent while he takes his time to move in towards me. It also feels less flexible in an environment where you don't always have a lot of room to move. However this may be just due to my lack of conditioning.
- MY CONDITIONING IS HORRIBLE. Need to do more running/skipping/cardio activities.
Basrull is showing great improvement and I notice his punches to be more probing and his defense a lot tougher to get into. I'll be so sad when he leaves back to the UK :(.
Our CMD class is growing to a nice number and I hope we can have a more regular set of people coming in!
Yesterday was a full lesson of sparring where we did mostly tennis match sparring though near the end of the class there was some light sparring.
While sparring with Riri and Basrull who were going harder on me and punching me with a bit more force, I started to feel more comfortable with the CM1 movement and the contact of their punches against my elbows felt pretty solid. I appreciated the increased resistance and was a good test of how well my CM1 was doing.
The CM1 movement and hunchback position is also starting to feel a lot more natural and I am starting to get used to the limited vision.
Several things that need working on:
- Keep on forgetting to move hands constantly
- Sometimes when doing CM1, my hands block past the centre line leaving the side of my head exposed.
- While doing CM1, found it hard to maintain rim-shot range without backing off. Punches closer in that range still feel pretty heavy. Perhaps this is where CM2 comes in?
- Footwork is improving but I found that when fatigued, it tended to go crappy. Back left calf hurts! :P
- Still moving backwards but making a conscious effort to circle or sidestep now.
- Sometimes during a strong punch towards my guard (especially when sparring with Riri), even if it was in the correct position, I found my guard being blown open for a short while. Do I need to bring it in tighter?
I also found it difficult to mount an offense when Albert had his guard up. Only when he started punching me could I use my reach advantage to sneak some hits in. I don't quite get it as it seems so pointless to hit a good guard so how do you actually get past that? Something to think about as it seemed very energy inefficient unless you are confident you can overpower him.
Watching Riri and Basrull spar was very educational in picking up what was working and what wasn't. I showed Riri the video I took and he picked up things from his video that he didn't notice while sparring like how he turns his body too much when being attacked and his straight body posture. Next week, Riri is going to help video me while I spar so that should be pretty educational and I am looking forward to that.
