Rick Bibbs: Beginners Kickboxing (plus)

[rbibbs]

Welcome to our Training Log. I use Coach Sonnon's published works, methods, drills, and principles to teach beginner-level kickboxing. Our group is 3 17yo young women (80-120#). They have a background of public-school PE, and no prior exposure to martial arts.

As a student of Coach Sonnon, I'm hyper-aware that in presenting physical challenges, there is the potential for dissipating Fear-Reactivity, as well as for reinforcing it if done haphazardly. This is my core principle, and it is to this principle, and to the spirit and dedication of my students, that I attribute my success as a Coach.

Our prime goal in this group is advanced fitness, so in the first 1/3 of our 90-minute sessions, we emphasize elements of Warrior Wellness joint strength and mobility, Circular Strength Training balanced symmetrical neuromuscular development, and Body-Flow integration of structure, breathing, and motion.

In the second half-hour, we introduce techniques and in subsequent sessions, review them to incrementally add efficiency and precision. We emphasize development of the students' own strengths and instincts (rather than rote adherance to my, or someone else's, notion of what is "right"). This principle culminates in our Flow Drill, where the students pace themselves to strike for 3-4 minutes, with kinetic chains of their own choosing. A co-product of this exercise, is "soft-eye" awareness, since all 3 students and the heavybag are moving independently, and this motion must be taken into account while formulating attacks in real-time.

Our session concludes with sport-specific attribute development, adapted from Coach Sonnon's "Shockability", "Fisticuffs", and "Body-Flow" works. Training partners push, shove, punch, kick, spar each other with incremental force at framing speed (soft-work). We develop perception, reflexes, reactions, dodges, parries, counterattacks. Some of these exercises are structured as unilateral (attacker-responder) and some are bilateral (restrained-force sparring).

Questions, comments, suggestions about our training are welcome. Each weekly training session is logged, so you can follow our progress. The session dates are in the "post subject" field at the top of each frame. You're also welcome to visit our website at http://home.earthlink.net/~arbilab

Thanks to Coach Sonnon, Coach Chomycia, Boxing Coach Richard Lord, for the background and inspiration to teach Combat Arts Fitness, and to RMAX and all its associates and members for the opportunity to share in this forum.

Rick

[rbibbs]

Warmup with basic Joint Circles from Warrior Wellness. Coach Lord's medicine-ball routine, which is done with instructor standing and student on the ground... this is an upper-body explosive-force drill... 10 reps from each of 3 positions... the 12# ball is disporportionally large compared to the students' bodyweight, so we do these at low reps and close range to start with. Introduced basic stance and handstrikes, and the front kick. 3min mixed strike flow/pacing. 5min freestyle with the double-end, or bungee bag, for speed, accuracy, coordination.

[rbibbs]

Warmup with basic Joint Circles from Warrior Wellness. Medicine-ball routine, 10 reps each direction, note that the students' efficiency has roughly doubled, simply from being familiar with the motions. To the basic ground routine, we added the one-handed circle-toss, and the foot-return. Front kick review, adding body motion. Introduced shin kick. Mixed strikes flow/pacing 3 + 2 min. 5 min on the bungee bag.

[rbibbs]

Short warmup, due to late arrivals. Medicine-ball routine same as 9-14, range incrementing. Reviewed and practiced front kick and shin kick, introduced spinning backkick. Mixed strikes flow/pacing 3 + 2 min. Introduced Shock Absorption, shoulder, hip, thigh pushes. 5min on the bungee bag.

Comments: Students are relaxed, confident, and developing efficiency and concise form on all the exercises.

[rbibbs]

Warmup with basic Joint Circles from Warrior Wellness. Medicine-ball routine, incrementing to 30 reps and incrementing range, plus the circle-toss. Kick review of techniques to-date, worked on pivoting the support foot on shin kicks. Worked spin kick “without trying so hard” and without critique; flow improved. Mixed strike flow/pacing 3 min. Introduced elbow strike and practiced changing range. Shock absorption, shoulder and hip openhand strikes, and head pushes. 5min on the bungee bag.

Comments: Students developed a push-kick/fist strike-on-rebound combo on their own. They are also integrating all their strikes in appropriate combinations without being specifically "taught" to do this. Good instincts, pacing, and aggression, congrats to them.

[rbibbs]

Added leg infinities to Warrior Wellness; students adapted to this motion with little difficulty. Medicine-ball routine 30 reps, plus circle-toss. Shin kick flow 1:30 each leg. To emphasize the motions they were having trouble with-- 1:00 each leg without the bag, only working the support-leg pivot and hip rotation. Introduced pendulum kick. Shock absorption, shoulder strikes; we did a set with eyes closed followed by an incremental set (where they were really whacking each other before stopping). 3+2:10 strike flow/pacing; students integrating all the skills up to this point, mixing them appropriately, controlling range well. Intro to sparring with gloves, US boxing rules, framing speed, emphasis on guard, which is now much easier to remember with an attacker than it was with the bag drills.

Comments: Good instinctive form and motions on all exercises. Students adapted to the "live" shoulder strikes very well; the lightest is so mobile she never really reached a point she "needed" to stop. They were delighted with the glove-sparring exercise, and I was delighted they performed this with relaxed alertness and no fear.

[rbibbs]

Joint Circles, plus arm infinities. Medicine-ball routine 30 reps + 20 situp tosses. Review drill, pendulum kick and shin kick; still cleaning up technique some in the area of foot pivot and hip rotation, to where the shin kick becomes a smooth natural motion. Pendulum kick, students discovered on their own the power advantage of striking while the body is still in forward motion, congrats to them on that. 3:30 mixed strike flow/pacing drill, using all strikes. Shock absorption, open-palm to head and closed fist to sternum. Using these same strikes, we followed with a parry drill. Students liked the gloved (US Boxing rules) soft-sparring so we changed "teams" from last time and did this drill timed to 3 minutes, students applied the parry practice from earlier.

Comments: All are exhibiting excellent control, as far as making their strikes credible threats without injuring each other. We're still going at framing speed but the speed naturally picks up as the students become comfortable with the drill and feel safe working together. The students are innovating some effective combos, pacing and ranging well. Had I tried to "teach" combos it would have slowed the students' implementation down having to "remember" them.

[rbibbs]

Full medicine-ball routine, 30 reps, 20 situp returns, plus foot return and circle-toss. The students handle this very efficiently now; they are very relaxed and flow through the work, finding the biomechanical efficiency. Comprehensive kick review drill, making the motions instinctive, working on differences between legs, and particularly on the foot strikes, working more toward heels from toes as the impact site. Front of foot is easier to articulate/steer, but the power is in the heel, so we're working toward making that the instinctive strike implement, at the same time making the approach motions more instinctive. Elbow strike free-form drill, to get them further acquainted with that motion, because it's the most valuable defense strategy for females (assuming a much larger male is in very close range). We finished with a 4-min mixed strike flow, emphasis on varying range. They were disappointed we didn't get to shock absorption or glove work, but we'll emphasize that next time, since we worked kicks heavily today.

Comments: Students' progress has been noteworthy, so I handed out written certificates of achievement. They are knocking the portable heavybag across the room and almost knocking it over. The lightest literally does a flying front kick which she developed instinctively (maybe watched some Bruce Lee too).

[rbibbs]

Joint circles, +arm infinities. 15 reps medicine-ball each direction, over-shoulder and walk-around. Circular strength: With 10# handweights we did two sets, first one is wrist-circles widening to elbow-propellers, reverse and ease back to wrist-circles, both arms moving at the same time in mirror-phases. Second is outside-curl using whole-body motion (NOT isolating bicep) > press to level with same-side ear > pass behind head to far-side shoulder > biomechanical circle around front to return to starting position, alternate arms, then the same sequence reversed. Kick review, shin kick, pendulum kick, push kick. On the shin kick we explored the body-spiral that takes weight off the support foot to facilitate the pivot. On the other two, we worked toward landing the strikes with heels. Mixed-strike flow/pacing drill 3 min, students integrating strikes, range, and guard well. Shock absorption and slipping/parry drill with shin and push kicks to thighs. 3 min glove sparring US boxing, framing speed.

Comments: Good guard and range work from all the students and very little fear/tension. We're all comfortable switching stance, which would utterly confound much-more-extensively trained amateur boxers! Congrats to the team for taking on the complex weighted arm motion with confidence and success, and remarkable ability with the leg parrys.

[rbibbs]

Joint circle warmup. Introduced inside, outside, back shoulder rolls and shinbox switch. Since our space requires us to practice rolls one-at-a-time, we didn't get to the medicine-ball this time. Circular-strength wrist, elbow, arm circles. Kick practice, shin, pendulum, front, still refining these motions for optimal biomechanical efficiency. Mixed-strike flow/pacing drill 4 min, emphasis on closing range in a strike sequence. Leg-parry drill, handstrike parry & counter drill, both of these with footwork included, switching stance and range.

Comments: The students are working on form, not power, but in the mixed-strike drill they are all within reach of being able to knock over the heavybag, which weighs up to twice what they do. The students are very adept at leg parrys, for only the second time we've worked on it.
Readers, you may have noticed this entry is shorter, even though it includes material introduced for the first time. This reflects the fact that the students adapt so readily now to new motions and principles, it's gotten simpler to explore and document new material.

[Scott Sonnon]

Very thorough report, Rick!

[rbibbs]

Thank you Coach.

Conducive weather so we started outside today, with the medicine-ball, shoulder toss, foot return, and circle toss. Inside, we did WW joint circles plus arm infinities. Then our CST, wrist circles expanding to elbow, reverse and back to wrists, and the shoulder orbitals. A new CST routine, grabbing one weight with both hands and moving it in frontal circles. This "should" be easier than the orbitals, but it's challenging for the outermost shoulder/humerus muscles. Inside and outside arm-thread shoulder rolls; just introduced last time, became a lot more natural a motion this time, students experimenting with using it as a breakfall from their knees. Comprehensive kick review; these are all becoming instinctive. Very good work on the shin kick, spiral/pivot/hip rotation. Later in the day than usual, so we did 3 min flow/pacing mixed strikes. The heavybag is in serious jeopardy of getting knocked over all the time, and we have never worked power as a goal. Finished with a new drill, two-against-one fist parry. This is a wonderful drill for working "soft-eye" awareness, non-cognitive responses, and confidence.

Comments: (Most are embedded in the text.) One of our most playful drills, the medicine-ball circle toss, is one of our most productive in terms of full-body multiplanar coordination. What once "looked impossible" is now done with grace and playful imagination. Bearing in mind, that this is a round, sometimes spinning/tumbling object equal to 1/10 or more of the students' body weight, their handling of it is phenomenal.

[rbibbs]

WW circles, plus arm/shoulder infinities. 40 medicineball shoulder tosses, 60 ground returns, these are big increments and the students did not struggle with them. CST: wrist & elbow circles, head-orbits, double-hand full front circles. BodyFlow: inside, outside, backward arm thread rolls, plus shinbox-switch carousels. We did some ab body-armor/shock absorption with the medicineball, this went well, dropping 12# from one foot. Kick review, mixed pendulum/front/shin. 3:30 mixed strike flow drill. Now it gets fun. We did the 2-on-1 strike drill with the student who missed it last time. Then the "perceived intent" drill, where some hits are real and some aren't, and you only react to the real ones. After reviewing leg parrys, for the first time we sparred strikes+kicks at framing speed, student vs coach and student vs student.
Comments: A lot of new (and potentially intimidating) stuff this time. The team is pretty much above intimidation after 2 months... and after fitness, that was our secondary goal. Training should be an adventure, and there seems to be little limit to what we can try together.

[rbibbs]

Warmup with WW circles and infinities. Added a kinetic chain to this, doing hip and arm circles at the same time. 4-corner balance. Medicineball, ground and shoulder returns, 20 each direction. CST: double-hand front L-R and in-out circles, elbow circles, head orbits with 10#, plus wrist ROMs under load. Ground engagement flow, mixed arm-thread shoulder rolls.

Kick practice, added knee strikes and heelspikes. Since the kicks are getting instinctive, instead of practicing them in isolation, making kinetic chains out of them with L-R-L-R repetitions.

Strike practice, we concentrated on kinetic-chain force generation and an elliptic rather than reciprocal arm trajectory. We practiced these on the bag, then I let the students practice them on me (chest), so they'd get the feel of striking a live target. 3 min mixed-strike and range pacing/flow drill. The kinetic-chain material was new, so it ate up our time for live soft-work.

Comments: Last time, we did 5 times the physical work as when we started, and the students reported NO soreness from this BIG increment. This is the magic of biomechanically-engineered force generation (and regular conditioning). The speed with which they adapt to complex kinetic challenges, challenges me to keep coming up with new motions for them to explore. We're all growing, and FAST.

[rbibbs]

WW joint circle warmup. Medicineball toss; foot return, situp return, shoulder return, 25 each. Inside/outside/reverse arm thread rolls.

Most of our kicks have become "instinctively correct" now, so we have advanced from practicing them in isolation, to practicing them in full-body kinetic chains. For example, using 'original force' to do sequential LRLR heel spikes, shin kicks, or front kicks is inefficient; we work on stored elastic energy of the falling leg to raise the rising one. (If you can't visualize this, PM me or post here and I'll try to describe it in such a way that you can practice it.) These are great drills to "discover" the biomechanical efficiency of stored elastic energy, it's very difficult to "power" your way through this drill, and we tell the students to "find the easy way to do it".

3 1/2 min mixed-strike pacing/flow on the heavybag. 2-on-1 soft-eye parry drills (US boxing targets). Live target (pecs) strike drill; while a little rough on the instructor, this drill gives us much better kinesthetic feedback on how well we're generating power, than the bag does.

Comments: Our strike forms are all pretty instinctive now, so we're working on the biomechanics of power generation and efficiency. Seeing good range/attack/range work in the pacing/flow drill. Not really trying to, knocked the heavybag over. Very good progress on all instinct-development. I might have to start wearing a mouthguard for the live-strike drill, some of those chest strikes rattled my teeth!

[rbibbs]

WW circles warmup. Medicineball; 20 each direction, shoulder-toss, ground-return, foot return. Long circle-toss session, we have a lot of fun with it, and it's full-body flow motion. Circular handweights, changing the ballistics when a specific muscle-set fatigued. Arm-thread ground rolls. Practiced advanced WW neck/arm/shoulder infinities, to alleviate tension in traps.

Kick review, 5 of each with each leg. Kick-flow heelspikes and shin kicks, emphasizing biomechanics/efficiency... finding the easy way to do hard work. Range drill; pendulum to shin kick to fist strikes to elbow/knee strikes. These bag drills were very dynamically aerobic, this time we skipped the mixed-strike drill.

Live-strike drill, working on developing jab-hand power in US boxing stance. (I won't be able to withstand this a whole lot longer :) )

Comments: Students very confident with their abilities, not only to do the drills they're familiar with, but also to fine-tune their biomechanics and do the drills easily and instinctively. The whole team is progressing together at a very gratifying pace.

[rbibbs]

WW full-body circles + shoulderscrews. Medicineball 15 reps each direction, plus foot return, plus circle-toss. CST with handweights; modified the motions as muscle sets fatigued, to keep going longer. Front and back shoulder rolls.

Extended shinkick bodyflow drill; students have good form, now getting them to relax with it and do it efficiently. 3-min mixed strike flow/pacing drill.

Glove soft-sparring, with a few shin kicks, student v instructor and student v student, 1 1/2 min rounds.

Comments: Seeing good, centered guard... strong versatile footwork (including switch-stance) and ranging... and effective counterstrikes. Good work, team.

[rbibbs]

WW Circles +leg infinities. Medicineball circle-toss. We had the fortune of visiting CST Coach Doug Szolek leading us through strength-training with genuine Clubbells. Thanks Coach!

Kick review: pendulum, spinning backkick. We worked on efficiency, and landing these strikes with heels (toes are easier to aim but poor 'weapons'). We also greatly increased the range-span of pendulum kicks, and introduced a pendulum front kick (we'd been doing them as side strikes).

3-min mixed-strike flow/pacing drill. Practiced biomechanically-efficient strikes extensively, when it became apparent students were expending too much 'original force' in their strikes and taxing their stamina.

Parry drill at slow-frame speed, to develop this attribute, to discover the effective counters this sets up.

Comments: Handweights moved elliptically are more effective in usable-strength training than handweights moved reciprocally, but are not a 'substitute' for genuine Clubbells used with the correct CST form. Perhaps I should have taught biomechanically-efficient striking from day-one, but perhaps the contrast in the two methods would have been less dramatic, than letting students "hit the wall" then showing them how to break it. Our team has been superb at adapting all along, and they handled the CST and this other new material very well.

[rbibbs]

WW ROM warmup. Medicineball; 15 each direction shoulder-return and walkaround, 20 situp returns, circle toss (indoors) from knees--it's harder to do with the limited body motion. Shoulder rolls. Elliptical weight training; wrist circles, the outside casts we'd been doing, and adapting from what Coach Szolek showed us last weekend, we did inside casts with the handweights.

Kick drill; pendulum-to-shinkick flow, L-to-R shinkick flow, worked extensively on the body motion of spinning backkick, practicing it as a smooth stance/range change.

Framed sparring, student v instructor and student v student, US boxing rules.

Comments: Good adaptation to the inside casts! Students note a marked increase in stamina in their daily physical activities. Feeling of strength (rather than tiredness or soreness) following the Clubbell training last weekend. In sparring, we all noticed that our parries are so effective it's hard to "get a shot through" and we all wanted to kick to break the stalemates. Good attribute development team.

[rbibbs]

WW circles + leg infinities. Medicineball; shoulder toss, walkaround, 20 each direction, circle-toss. Body-flow; spiders. Orbital strength; wrist/forearm circles, outside casts, inside casts with handweights.

Strike practice; emphasis on biomechanical efficiency and range. Example, close range with a R pendulum, sets up for L shin kick, sets up for R hook, sets up for L elbow. Flow/pacing drill, 3 min.

Soft work; two drills. First, in attacker/responder mode, parries and counters to hand strikes, slips for shin kicks, and front kicks. Second, sparring with kicks for the first time. All at framing speed and intensity.

Comments: Everyone had a little "holiday fatigue" today but we did well. Discovered we needed a slip for front kicks, and students picked up the leg rotation well, since it's an adaptation of the WW we always do.

[rbibbs]

WW warmup, circles +shoulder rolls and leg infinities. Medicineball, 20 situp and foot returns, 15 shoulder and walkarounds each direction, circle-toss. Orbital strength with handweights, wrist and forearm circles 10 each direction, 5 each arm inside and outside casts.

Strike practice; 2-kick, 2-fist, 2-elbow range and L-R flow drill, and we worked on elliptical snap-back-to-guard from jabs and full-body power generation in hooks. 3-min pacing/flow, emphasis on range.

Framed sparring, US kickboxing rules, student v student, no gloves, 2x 2-min.

Comments: Very efficient motions in the strength training (it's become almost too easy). Challenges will arise next time, as our 10# Clubbells have arrived. We are fine-tuning strike form to generate more power more efficiently. Students look good, confident sparring.

[rbibbs]

WW circles + leg infinities. Medicineball; 20 situps, shouldertoss and walkaround 15 each direction. Countdown ab crunches: crunch/relax; 2-crunch/relax... up to 10, then count back down to 1. Followed by ab stretch: face down, arms out, on elbows, on hands, back down to elbows and arms out (to 10 count in each position). Mixed shoulder rolls. Wrist/forearm circles with handweights.

About 60 hours after ordering them, our 10# Clubbells arrived! We did double-hand swipes and mills, and double-arm swings. Practiced the motions for more advanced exercises like helicopters and lassos, with dowels, so we have the form smooth before we attempt it with weight.

6-strike range drill (2-kick, 2-fist, 2-elbow). L-R-L-R heelspike drill for balance, coordination, and utilizing stored elastic energy. L-R-L-R jab/hook drill for full-body helix power-generation. 3-min mixed-strike flow/pacing.

3-min framed sparring, student v student, US KB rules.

Comments: Superb form and efficiency throughout today's session! Our first time with Clubbells, and at 10# they're pretty big for 115# women, we could do all the exercises smoothly... tribute to the team's adaptability, and to the "Simple Sophistication" of CST/Clubbells. We are seeing very-advanced attributes develop, for example, in sparring, very good kick slips and parries, and smooth recovery from missed strikes without loss of balance or stance. Also in sparring, very good pacing, both to the students' own abilities, and to the intent of the exercise, which is attribute development, not competition.

[rbibbs]

Warmup with WW circles, shoulder rolls, leg infinities. Medicineball; 20 shoulder toss each direction, 15 walkaround each direction, 20 foot returns, and walking circle-toss. Wrist/forearm circles with handweights. Clubbells; 20 2-club swings, 10 2-hand mills over each shoulder, practiced form for advanced motions with dowels.

L-R-L-R shin kick drill, timed to 1-min, to develop cross-balance and efficiency. Shin-kick form; using leg as club from hip, as distinct from knee extension. L-R-L-R fist strike drills, 2x 1-min, emphasis on full-body-wave power generation; finds core weak spots, good transverse-ab workout.

Shock-inoculation; open hand head pushes and strikes, shoulder and hip pushes and strikes, kick slips.

Comments: The walking circle-toss adds a layer of neurological sophistication to this drill; the whole circle walks while tossing and catching one-handed. We reverse the circle, then the direction of the toss, then both. We did extended strength-training outdoors (70 degrees mid-winter) and it ate up some of our drill time, and it was the students' choice to drill rather than spar today. We are going to begin working on single-hand/single club swipes next time; this is challenging at 10# for 115# students, so we will take it a step at a time, with one hand free to spot themselves as we swing-to-order.

[rbibbs]

Full WW intermediate program. Medicineball; shoulder tosses, ground returns, 15 each direction, 10 situp returns. Shoulder-screw rolls. Flatfoot squats. CST spiders. Forearm circles with 10# handweights, 5 each diameter (wrist, +elbow, +shoulder) and each direction.

Clubbells: 2-handed mills, 10 each shoulder. Single-handed swing-to-order, 10 each hand. Helicopters at low speed; the Clubbell doesn't yet "fly" but we have to get the coordination down first.

Strike drill: L-R-L-R fist strikes; concentrating on the body-wave power generation and flow as we rotate around center-of-mass. This took a while to refine.

Shock-inoculation open-handed shoulder strikes. We'd done this before, but the students were reluctant to hit hard enough to "make" the receiver want to stop. Since the purpose of the exercise is pushing-back the threshold of fear-reactivity, I insisted that they increment to hard, shocking strikes, and had them practice on me first (since I'm indestructible :twisted: ).

Comments: We were all very gratified at how well and quickly we adapt to the Clubbell exercises! Recalling, that these are 10# CBs, and 115# young women, and they're delighted to find how much control they have over these otherwise heavy, awkward objects, by using their structure in good coordinated form. We observed the "limit" on the shoulder-strike intensity to be the whiplash-effect of sudden neck rotation. Time is flying! We wanted to extend the session to more strike practice, but they had afternoon family obligations.

[rbibbs]

WW infinities (intermediate). Medicineball; 15 each direction, shoulder, ground, situp returns. Shoulder-screw ground rolls; students now very proficient with this motion, it was awkward at first. CST spiders; smooth continuous motion. Circles with 10# handweights; wrist/forearm 5 each direction/diameter, double-handed front and side circles, 5 each direction.

Clubbells: 2-club front swings, to onset of grip fatigue, emphasis on power generation from legs/hips. Single-club/single hand swing-to-order, spotting with free hand (10# is still quite challenging and we want to build control incrementally, not have to deal with losing control). Practiced retrieving from over-shoulder position with dowels, then tried full swipes. Students have the cast-over-shoulder part pretty confidently, but still can't retrieve, we're working up to that, meanwhile working the mill-recovery, which at 10# must be done correctly with shoulder-packing so as not to overload shoulders. Double-handed mills, 5 each shoulder, then the continuous-circle 'helicopters', still at low speed; students find this distribution of core and peripheral load very satisfying to accomplish.

L-R-L-R shin kicks, 1-min; reapplication of momentum and stored elastic energy. L-R-L-R front/push kicks, 1-min; we found that efficiency and accuracy were much better without "bouncing" from one foot to the other (although the bounce-technique is great, aerobically). We did the 4-corner balance drill after the kick drills.

Shock-inoculation; random shoulder and hip open-hand strikes, refining the core rotation so as not to whiplash the neck or pelvis so much. The effectiveness of this drill is readily apparent to the students; strikes that were initially threatening to them are now "no big deal".

Comments: Mostly embedded above. This week's session was actually last week's, delayed by school/work obligations. We stopped some of the work short of "goal", because students could already feel fatigue... they're working harder now that they have the instinctual motions confidently developed, a week-off allowed for some de-conditioning, and we're not pushing to extreme endurance or "failure". The success and balance of this program is evident from the student's observations, that they feel "energized", that 90 minutes goes by so quickly, and that in 6 months of very challenging work, we have had no injuries or strains.

[Dan Chomycia]

Rick,

This is exellent work :!:


The success and balance of this program is evident from the student's observations, that they feel "energized", that 90 minutes goes by so quickly, and that in 6 months of very challenging work, we have had no injuries or strains.

:idea:
Select few coaches can challenge thier students and achieve such results as you have,

keep it up Bro :!:

[rbibbs]

Thank you Coach Dan. And thanks to the students; they're dedicated, conscientious, and interactive with their training.

Rick

[Dan Chomycia]

You are completely welcome Bro :!: 8)

Looking forward to your new discoveries not just in your students but in you as well :!: :idea:

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball; ground (indoor) routine, 15 each. Arm-thread shoulder rolls. CST spiders, shinbox switch carousel; 5 each direction. Wrist/forearm/shoulder circles with 10# handweights, 5 each diameter then reverse, total 15 each direction.

Clubbells (all 10#): 15 each front swings, double-club; side swings, double-hand. 15 slow helicopters; the front wrist-rollover transitions are getting smooth enough to do these fast, soon. 5 mills each shoulder. Now comes the fun part. We'd been doing swipes single-handed, but had to 'mill-out' from the back position. Today we got full swipes including retrieving from back position, 5 each hand (still 'spotting' with the free hand). Big cheers all around, we all love it when we do previously "impossible" things. :wink:

L-R-L-R shin kick drill, 1 1/2 min... a little past our threshold of fatigue, we'd never gone longer than 1 min nonstop. L-R-L-R fist strike drill, 2 min... also pushing back fatigue threshold, and VERY good form here generating force from core-helix. Mixed-strike flow/pacing drill, also longer than usual, 3 1/2 min.

Shock-inoculation: open-hand shoulder strikes EYES CLOSED; closed-fist stomach strikes (first time we tried this, a little fear going in, much less coming out).

Comments: One of our more aggressive sessions, all-around, and very good performance throughout. The L-R-L-R drills can be felt IMMEDIATELY in the transverse abdominals... which tends to be a hard-to-train area. Coach's note; I find myself becoming able to "read" the student's energy/fatigue curve, like my boxing trainer does with me, and push them appropriately hard for the condition they're in at the time, so that they get the most out of the sessions without being burned-out from overwork when they're tired already. Thanks to Richard Lord for showing me that trick (and for using it on me). :twisted:

[Dan Chomycia]

Excellent work Bro :!:

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball; (indoor) ground routine, 15 each direction. Front & back shoulder rolls. CST spiders. Coach Lord's countup/countdown ab crunch routine, followed by ab stretches... lay flat, face down, 10 count each position... arms directly overhead... raise to elbows... raise to palms... back down to elbows, then arms overhead again. Wrist/forearm/shoulder circles with 10# handweights, 5 each direction/each diameter. Isometric CST; palms pressed together firmly, 5 circles each direction in the L-R plane, the front extend/flex plane, and circling the head (great warmup for Clubbells).

10# Clubbells: 15 each, double-club front swings, double-hand side swings; 5 swipes each hand (single-club); 15 helicopters each direction. The helicopter motion is neurologically complex; once that becomes familiar, the exercise will support as much grip/core exertion as the user wishes to apply, as velocity increases the "pull" of the Clubbell.

2 1/2-min L-R-L-R fist strike drill; core-helix power generation and articulation. 2-min L-R-L-R shin kick drill; pacing, stamina, muscle-memory training. 2-min L-R-L-R front/push kick drill; balance, stamina, articulation.

Shock-inoculation; random-mixed shoulder and midsection strike absorption and slipping, with 16oz gloves (strikes alternating between students and not blocked). Framed-sparring, US boxing rules, 3 min.

Comments: We needed the ab routine; it was killing all 3 of us! :twisted: Articulation and confidence progresses rapidly with Clubbells; some 3-day fatigue-sensitivity in shoulder/humerus muscle-sets from last week, no soreness or overuse strains. The strike drills are now all working on refinement, efficiency, stamina. The group is so interactive, that I can correct form (example, foot-pivot in shin kicks) just by LOOKING at it. Every shock-inoculation and sparring drill is followed by unsolicited comments from the students, that they can "see" fear-reactivity dissipating week-by-week.

Coach's aside: All these attributes, especially the last two, are very gratifying confirmations of the validity of these methodolgies, and of the working relationship the team has developed.

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball; full outdoor routine, 15 each direction, +foot-return, +circle-toss. Wrist/forearm circles with 10# handweights, 5 each diameter and direction.

10# Clubbells; 15 double-club swings... added single-hand swing to torch position, with emphasis on recovery when this position "fails"... 15 double-hand side-swings to 'weightless'... 5 single-club swipes each arm, some technique work on retrieval from back position... 15 helicopters each direction... and they're starting to "fly".

L-R-L-R fist strikes 2 min... core-power-generation... this is becoming a flow exercise... instead of being breathless at 2 min, students want to continue. L-R-L-R front kicks 2 min; efficiency needed work, so we went back and worked on articulation of the hip and supporting leg contributing to elevation of kicking leg, we'll continue this next time. 3-min mixed-strike flow/pacing drill... seeing very good development of ranging and instinct in this drill, and much more 'reserve' stamina toward the end.

Comments: We spent a lot of time outdoors (pleasant weather) on strength/agility training, then again on the front kick technique, and time ran short on us so we didn't get to shock-inoculation or sparring, we'll get to that next time. Students can readily see the results of the strike-efficiency work... two minutes of ANY of these drills was exhausting when we started them... now they're almost reluctant to STOP... reminds me of me at the boxing gym. :twisted:

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball; 15 each direction shoulder returns and walkarounds. Ab-crunch countups (1-2---10---1) followed by ab (and lat) stretches (lay face down, arms straight in front 10-count, elbows 10-count, palms 10-count). From flexed-knee sitting, reach R elbow as far L as it will go, alternate directions for 10 total. CST shinbox-switch-carousels and spiders, 5 each direction. Shoulder-screw ground rolls, fwd and rvs.

10# handweights; L-R circles, in-out circles, L-R infinities, double-hand grip, 5 each direction. Wrist/forearm/shoulder circles, single hand grip, 5 each diameter and each direction.

10# Clubbells: 20 double-club front swings; 15 double-hand side swings with each grip; 5 single-club, single-hand swipes each arm; 15 helicopters each direction (double-hand grip); 10 lassos each direction (same motion as helicopter except single-hand grip).

L-R-L-R fist strike drill, 3-min; seeing very good form and efficiency, this drill is no longer tiring. L-R-L-R shin kick drill, 2:15; good form throughout (whereas form used to deteriorate with fatigue). L-R-L-R front kick drill, 2-min; this drill is no longer tiring.

Shock-inoculation; shin- and front-kick blocks, and eyes-closed open-handed shoulder strikes.

Comments: Unsolicited comments on the Clubbells, "That really feels good". Moderate fatigue-sensitivity in the traps from last time... this is about what we want to feel in core-transitional muscle sets which are in "need of development". We've found the L-R-L-R strike sets incredibly productive. They train strength and articulation in otherwise hard-to-train muscle sets like obliques; they train efficiency in transfer of stored elastic and kinetic energy; they provide a high rep-count to train muscle memory on the forms; and the progress is striking (good pun :twisted: )... we get so much better at them so fast, that for example, this time we increased the time by 50% and have more reserve stamina at the completion than when we were doing them for a shorter time, only a few weeks ago.

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Spine-stretches. Medicineball, ground & shoulder returns, 15 each direction (this is now part of warmup rather than a development exercise, extending it into the range of "growth" would consume time that's better applied elsewhere). 20 diagonal ab crunches (elbow to opposite knee). Ab stretch... instead of "stepping" from outstretch/elbow/palms... we did this by "walking" hands from outstretch to under-shoulders, and turning side-to-side... to complement the diagonal exertion. 5 CST spiders each direction. Freestyle shoulder rolls.

10# handweights; 15 wrist circles each direction... we abbreviated this routine because one student has a cumulative-tension problem in upper R trap we don't want to aggravate... for the same reason, we modified all subsequent routines. 10 inside-curl head orbits (the outside-curl version works upper traps), 5 double-hand-grip front infinities each direction

10# Clubbells: No front-swings, the upper-trap limitation. 10 double-hand side-swings, and 5 side-torches each side. We hadn't done torches before, but this was a fast adaptation. 5 front torches. 10 helicopters each direction.

We're getting so good at the L-R-L-R fist strike drill, that we went 4 minutes without even looking at the stopwatch. That's a 33% increase from last week, and even MORE reserve stamina than we had the week before at 3 min, BIG increase in terms of efficiency. We mixed these up some, into more of a flow-exercise, with uppercuts every-third-strike, then randomly.

3 min framed sparring, US kickboxing rules.

Comments: Mostly embedded in the text above. Seeing AWESOME application of developed instinctive techniques in the sparring! Excellent blocking, slipping, ranging, seeing strike opportunities open... and the pace is now quite fast... with nobody getting "clobbered" beyond that to which they're able to respond... excellent cooperative work, though the students have different backgrounds and innate levels of aggression.
Coach's aside: no fear here, this is exactly how we wanted to develop.

[rbibbs]

WW basic circles. Medicineball; shoulder and ground returns, 15 each direction; 15 situp returns, 20 kick returns, circle-toss. 10# handweights; in/out circles, front figure-8s, 5 each direction; wrist/forearm circles, 5 each diameter and each direction.

10# Clubbells; 10 double-club front swings; 10 double-hand front swings, 5 to torch; 10 double-hand side swings, 5 to side-torch; 5 swipes each arm; 10 parry casts each direction (doing these 'by the book' instead of 'flying', until I find out with certainty that activity doesn't threaten shoulder integrity--it hasn't hurt me, and I'm fairly sensitive to tendon strain in the shoulders, but not taking chances with someone else's shoulders).

L-R-L-R fist strike drill, 4 min. Fist/kick parry drill, 4 min.

Comments: We keep exploring the strength/articulation activities more deeply, time flies. Clubbells are everyone's favorite single exercise. The L-R-L-R drills continue to be very productive; at 4 minutes we're breathing little harder than a brisk walk would cause. This was 'prom weekend', and after 4 hours of dancing last night, students were a little leg-fatigued.

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball; 15 each direction, shoulder returns, ground returns. 5 CST spiders each direction. Countup/countdown (1, 2...10, 9...1) diagonal ab crunches; forearm/elbow/hand ab stretches. Shoulder-screw ground rolls.

10# handweights; wrist/forearm circles, 5 each diameter and each direction (30 total). 15# handweights, double-hand grip 5 each direction; waterwheel circles and front infinities. (Note the 50% weight increase, this increment went well.)

10#Clubbells: 10 double-club front swings. 10 double-hand front swings, 5 to order, 5 to order then to front torch. 5 each side, side swings to side order/side torch. 5 swipes (L arm, 3... fatigue and poor form set in with the recessive arm so I cut it short; this is a demanding exercise, 'impossible' at first, for 115# females). 10 parry casts each direction (dominant grip only), ramping up to ballistic. Demonstrated hand-to-hand-toss swings, we'll try it next time we get to work outdoors.

The L-R-L-R fist strike drill was getting too easy, so rather than make it longer, we mixed in shin-kicks (fist/fist/fist/fist/shin/shin). Aimed for 4 minutes but pretty well fatigued at 3:30. L-R-L-R front kicks, 3 min.

Shock inoculation; open-hand hip and shoulder strikes, eyes closed.

Comments: Rotating the dynamics of the drills keeps them challenging and reveals 'weak links'. We hadn't drilled front kicks for some time, and could definitely feel it in hip flexors. Coach Lord's ab countdown routine is always sweet torture :twisted:. Students exhibit and express pride (the earned achievement kind, not the '7-deadly-sin' kind) in their strength and articulation.

[Doug Szolek]

Rick, I love reading how you mix up your sessions so well. Diversity in action. Very cool stuff. 8)

[rbibbs]

Thank you very much Coach. Clubbells are our favorite tool. They work whatever we feel like we need work on. Great tool for exploring abilities.

Dynamic, interactive group too... we do what 'feels good'... if one thing gets fatigued, we go find something else to fatigue :twisted: .

Rick

[rbibbs]

(One student; the other one was out with acute allergy attack.) Medicineball; ground, shoulder, foot returns 15 each direction, + random toss (either hand can catch or toss at any time). 10# handweights; wrist/forearm side circles 5 each direction and each diameter, 5 waterwheels and 5 front infinities each direction (doublehanded).

10# Clubbells: 10 double-club front swings to weightless. 5 single-club front swings/order/torch each hand. 5 swipes (3 with left arm). Double-hand; side swings to horizontal, swings to torch, 5 each and each side, 10 parry casts each direction with dominant grip, and 5 each direction with recessive grip.

L-R-L-R fist strike drill 4 min, including uppercuts and elbows (random mix). L-R-L-R shin kick drill 2 min. (The student has surpassed the instructor on these. Ordinarily two students do this drill, since there isn't room for 3 sets of legs kicking one bag. Today I did it, but I could no longer maintain form after 1:30. Shows what practice (or lack thereof) does.

Gloved framed sparring 4 min, US kickboxing rules.

Comments: Clubbells continue to be our favorite tool for discovery. I hadn't sparred the student for some time, and she has developed a 'lead with right kick/follow with right hook' combo that got me 3 times. I asked her where she picks this stuff up at. "Oh, here and there" she said. :twisted:

[rbibbs]

One student out, family business. WW intermediate, +neck helixes. Medicineball; ground and shoulder returns, 15 each direction. Countup ab crunches-- 1,2...5...1-- L-R diagonal (elbow toward opposite knee) for the count. Ab stretch routine, linear and diagonal (since the crunches were diagonal). Shoulder-screw ground rolls (outstanding form on the reverse roll). CST spiders, 5 each direction.

10# handweights; both arms at once, in complementary motion: 5 wrist/forearm circles each diameter and direction. 5 each inside and outside curl head-orbits (the handweight version of single-hand CB parry cast). 15# handweights; double-hand grip: 5 front waterwheels, both directions. Front L-R infinities, 5 with top bell leading, 5 with bottom bell leading (the difference is, in top bell position the dominant hand steers and the recessive hand supports, in bottom bell position these roles are reversed). Note the increment in double-hand weight, this posed no problem, although we had to correct form. There's a tendency to 'swing' the weight through the outside arc of the waterwheel, but this sidesteps the concentric/eccentric value of the exercise... if the weight is too big to make a full circle without swinging it, make the circle smaller instead of shortcutting form by 'swinging'.

10# Clubbells: 10 double-club swings to 1 o'clock weightless. 5 double-club swings to order; these are not particularly 'strenuous', but we have to stop when the L and R arms get out of sync, as inadvertent asymmetry in this exercise threatens leg impact on the downward arc. 5 single-hand side swings to opposite-side torch (new exercise, good adaptation for both of us). 5 double-hand side swings to each side torch. 7 (!) swipes with left hand... it could formerly do only 3, and at first this exercise was "impossible" altogether... a grip cramp cut the set short at 3 with the R hand. (Note that when "good form" becomes difficult or impossible, we do not attempt to 'tough it out' and continue to an arbitrary rep count.) 15 parry casts each direction, ramping up from grinding to ballistic (dominant grip only).

L-R-L-R fist/elbow strike drill, 4 min. We added full ranging to this drill, since we have the fundamental dynamics down and working now more on neurological sophistication.

Shock-inoculation: Ab-stomps, and eyes-closed fist strikes. These were also new exercises for us and they went so extremely well that we didn't "push them" to the threshold of fear.

Comments: Mostly embedded above, specific to this session. Since we introduced Clubbells in late January, we have all come to agree that they are our most-productive single tool. By closely monitoring form and what the students are comfortable doing, we get excellent post-exertion tonus throughout the upper body, and complete absence of joint/connective tissue strain. Our former primary strength exercises, medicineball and handweights, have become more of a comprehensive warmup for clubbells. This is why the rep-count in these no longer increases.

Coach's aside: Flexibility, in terms of what the group does, when and how we do it, has proven to be the most valuable attribute I learn and apply as coach. It sustains interest and progress, avoids strains and injuries, and with the freedom to interact in their own training it gives the students the ability to innovate in accordance with their own instincts. One result was the "R-kick, R-hook" combo that was so effective for Nadia in the last sparring session. I didn't "teach" that move, she developed it. If I had tried to 'spoon-feed' such a combination, and the circumstances in which it would be effective (as tends to be the protocol within formal martial arts), there's no way an 8-month beginner could have used it so artfully. I'm not saying this to make me soiund like any kind of 'uber-coach'... (mucho au-contraire, I'm a beginner too)... but only to point out that in a live-fight situation, it is the student's instincts that are going to make them successful, not their application of the coach's instincts. So perhaps there is wisdom in coaching technique as "throw stuff at them, see what sticks, and get out of their way". Just my nickel's worth.

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate; freeform neck articulation. Medicineball; shoulder and ground each direction, situp and foot, 15 each, and random singlehand toss. 10# handweights; wrist/forearm circles 5 each diameter and each direction (30 total). 15# handweights, double-hand recessive grip; waterwheel circles, front infinities with both top and bottom bell leading, 5 each direction.

10# Clubbells: 10 Double-club front swings to weightless, 'aiming' for torch without trying too hard. 5 single-club front swings to torch, each hand. 10 double-hand side swings to side torch each side (dominant grip only). Grinding, ramping to ballistic, parry casts, 10 each direction, dominant AND recessive grip. TEN single-club swipes each hand. Recall that this exercise was 'impossible' to do at all in early February, and limited to 3 with the recessive hand until last week!

L-R-L-R mixed fist/elbow strike drill, with ranging added, 4 minutes. This is a full-body power-generation, pacing and stamina drill with added neurological sophistication of moving toward and away from the bag.

Shockability: Blindfolded, random-mixed shoulder and hip strikes. Ab stomps/steps. Blindfolded ab strikes.

Comments: The Clubbell progress speaks for itself! This tool works exactly as it's presented in the literature and demonstrations, and for everyone who uses them, not just for people who are anabolic by phenotype. The L-R strike drill was mindless and exhausting when we began it several months back; it has evolved into a drill of imaginative rhythyms and coordination, and stamina has developed to where it's only marginally tiring even with neurological sophistication added. The abdominal step/stomp/strike drill provokes fear when it's introduced, and fear-reactivity palpably declines as the exercise progresses; the students are delighted to observe this process (so is the coach).

[Scott Sonnon]

Congrats on the progress, amigo!

[rbibbs]

Thanks very much Coach. Even with the 'smorgasbord' structure, good tools and methodolgy produce some striking results in terms of "things we can do we couldn't do before". The "snacking" approach isn't the strongest way to train for a specific goal, but our group goals are general... enhanced GPP (strength & poise), intro-to-standup defense, and fun.

Putting the comments up front, because they weigh heavily on what we did today. Last week, work and school obligations preempted the group, so we lost a little of our performance edge to inactivity. This week, two of us came down with a real-whammy of a sinus virus that keeps its victims up all night unable to breathe (like 24-hr pneumonia), and the other one missed a great deal of sleep attending graduation parties. The weather got about 15 deg hotter than we're accustomed to. So we set more of an "active recovery" pace today, lots of water and rest between sets, and no high-aerobic-demand activities.

12# medicineball; 15 each, returns over each shoulder, walkarounds each direction, situp and foot returns, and freestyle singlehand toss. 10# handweights; wrist/forearm circles, 5 each diameter and direction. 15# handweights; 5 each direction waterwheel circles, 5 each top/bottom bell leading front figure 8s.

10# Clubbells: 5 front swings to weightless (double-club) then 5 to front torch (double-hand). 5 side swings to side torch each side. 5 single club swipes each hand. 5 grinding parry casts each direction.

We skipped the bag work in deference to our recovery state.

Shock-inoculation: blindfolded shoulder, hip and head strikes (openhanded).

Closing comments: Under the circumstances, one of the more gruelling sessions we've done-- developed more mental toughness than physical attributes today. Everyone's energy level was in the dumpster, but Sundays are the only time we all have free, and we didn't want to sideline ourselves another whole week and we were not physically overtrained, so we set a recovery pace and stopped whenever we got 'sloppy'. I think we did the right thing, versus doing "zero" work... although 5# Clubbells would have come in handy... as would a 10MPH breeze and about half as much humidity... but Texas summer is coming, we're going to have to acclimate.

[Dan Chomycia]

I miss those Texas summers Brother, enjoy them for me.
Good work!

[rbibbs]

Thanks Coach Dan, will do. Our kickboxing group may only have one more meeting, then the ladies graduate from HS, one is spending summer in Spain and plans to continue kickboxing in college.

WW intermediate. Medicineball; 15 each shoulder & walkaround returns each direction, 15 situp and foot returns. Leg-toss ab routine. 10# handweights, wrist/forearm circles 5 each direction and each diameter. 15# handweights, double-hand grip, waterwheels and front infinities, 5 each direction.

10# Clubbells: 10 double-club front swings, ramping to torch; 5 double-hand side swings to torch each side; 10 single-club swipes each hand; 5 single-hand grinding parry casts each hand and each direction; 10 double-hand parry casts, ramping to ballistic, each direction; 10 front swing to weightless plus toss from hand to hand.

The students wanted to do some ground gymnastics: countdown (to 10 and back) ab crunches, ab stretch routine, CST spiders 5 each direction, shoulder-screw ground rolls. We did a little tai chi 'soft hands' drill.

L-R-L-R fist/elbow strikes, 4 min. L-R-L-R shin kicks, 2 min. L-R-L-R front kicks 2 min. Stamina was good on the fist drill which we've been practicing fairly regularly, and had fallen some on the kick drills which we'd let slide the last several sessions. The front kick drill isn't all that exhaustive, it's more balance/coordination/hip articulation.

Comments: I am very pleased to note that the students are able to observe their own progress and what they feel they need to work on. The med-ball situp and foot returns are both ab exercises, so is the leg-toss and the Clubbell torch positions, and even after this they wanted to do crunches. Though they will be leaving the training group soon, I think together we've developed the awareness of good physical condition, the internal sense of how much exercise and what type they need, and ways to have fun doing it that will serve them well in the future. They have worked hard and consistently these past 9 months and their progress has been inspiring for them as students and for me as their coach.

[Jarlo Ilano]

Rick,

Congratulations on your success with these women! You have given them more than just momentary skills, you've given them the ability to sense their own personal capacity and its limitless growth.

I am sure they will have a hard time finding a better coach, and they will realize how fortunate they were to have such an auspicious beginning.

By the way, don't know how humid it is over where you stay, but it has been killer around here! But the trades finally started coming in last night, the humidity was unreal.

Regards

[rbibbs]

Thank you Jarlo. I'll insist that the 'success' was ours; we set out together to discover, and that's what we achieved.

(Humid here brah, dewpoints mos' 70. Know what guys from Kona hate? When guys from Honolulu call onshore weather "Kona". :lol: )

[rbibbs]

WW intermediate. Medicineball, shoulder and ground returns, 15 each direction. Shoulder rolls, CST spiders.

10# handweights; wrist/forearm circles 5 each direction and each diameter. 15# handweights: waterwheels with overhead press, 5 each direction; front figure-8s, 5 each top and bottom bell leading.

10# Clubbells: 10 double-club front swing to weightless. Double-hand side swings to side torch, 10 each side. 10 parry casts, ramping from grinding to ballistic, each direction. Single club swipes, 10 each arm. 10 Front swing with hand-to-hand toss.

L-R-L-R fist/elbow strike flow... FIVE minutes without noticeable increase in respiratory or muscular fatigue. Free-form mixed-strike pacing drill, 3 min.

Comments: This was graduation week for the students, both from high school and from our training group. (This will be the last entry in our log.)

Coaching parallels parenting. We help our students grow with their dreams and through their challenges, give them strong understanding and values best we can. We watch them surpass their own perceived limitations that they had when they started, and if we're lucky, we watch their performance surpass our own.

Then we watch as they walk away 'for the last time', confidently into the 'outside world' and the joys and challenges that await them there. There may be reunions, but the time during which we get to actively share in their guidance and triumphs is over.

It's emotionally humbling to have had this opportunity to share the intensity of discovery with them.