Striking for MMA- DEVELOPING FEINTS AND COUNTERS. Constraints Led Approach

Summary

In this video, Dean Reilly focuses on the development of feints and counters in MMA through a constraints-led approach. He emphasizes practicing with controlled and mindful sparring where one partner uses only their lead hand while the other defends and counters with various techniques. Trust between partners is vital to ensure effective practice without causing harm. The session progresses to include both hands for the attacker to identify gaps in the defender's stance, while defenders are encouraged to maintain an active approach through movement, feints, and strategic pressure. The goal is to enhance striking skills by understanding opponent's weaknesses and reacting with precision.

Highlights

• Practice controlled sparring with one partner using only their lead hand.✊
• Allow the defending partner to counter with various techniques including kicks and boxing.🥊
• The session moves from using only the lead hand to both hands for a more realistic practice.👊
• Defenders are encouraged to use movement and feints to confuse the attacker.🌀
• The drill aims to identify weaknesses in the opponent's defensive stance.🔎

Key Takeaways

• Trust is key during sparring to ensure a safe and effective training environment.🤝
• Use a constraints-led approach to develop specific skills like feints and counters.🔄
• Analyze and exploit gaps in your opponent's defense for effective striking.🎯
• Defenders should actively engage through movement and strategic positioning.🕺
• Incorporate both hands to create dynamic offensive play.✋🤚

Overview

Dean Reilly kicks off his MMA training session focusing on refining feints and counters through a unique constraints-led method. The session begins with sparring where the attacker is limited to using only their lead hand, prompting the defender to counter using diverse strategies like kicks and wrestling, enhancing their tactical thinking.

As the session develops, the restrictions are gradually lifted, allowing both hands to be used. This transition helps in simulating more realistic combat situations, urging practitioners to spot and exploit gaps in each other's defenses. The importance of mutual trust is reiterated to ensure safety while maintaining the intensity and learning potential of the practice.

Participants are consistently reminded to be proactive rather than reactive, whether they're on the defense or offense. By blending movements, feints, and counters, fighters are better equipped to handle real-world scenarios, spotlighting the delicate balance between offense and defense in MMA training.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Lead Hand Sparring Drill In this chapter, the focus is on a specific sparring drill where one participant is only allowed to use their lead hand. The aim is to develop specific skills through controlled sparring where both participants are expected to use protective gear. The drill is designed to be developmental rather than aggressive, emphasizing skill and technique over power and aggression. The instructor notes that while they will make contact, the intent is not to harm but to improve proficiency.
• 01:30 - 03:30: Incorporating the Back Hand The chapter 'Incorporating the Back Hand' discusses the use of the lead hand in combat scenarios. It explains that the lead hand can be utilized in a variety of offensive maneuvers, even unconventional ones like punching the leg. The chapter also covers the opponent's ability to counter these offensive moves with different techniques such as kicks, knees, wrestling, and boxing. The focus is on adapting and responding to a wide range of potential counters from the opponent.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Spotting Holes and Effective Counters In this chapter, the necessity of trust between sparring partners is emphasized. The speaker discusses the importance of not going too aggressively against a partner, as this would prevent the other person from practicing effectively. By maintaining controlled and measured attacks, both parties can benefit from the practice session. The speaker also highlights the importance of exploring different strategies, such as drawing an opponent towards them or advancing on them. The practice of 'give and take' is crucial for effective learning and improvement in this context.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Fainting and Defense on the Back Foot The chapter discusses a specialized sparring technique where one participant is restricted to using their lead hand, while the other can use both hands but focuses on incorporating the backhand. It highlights the importance of adapting techniques under constraints and emphasizes the role of fainting in maintaining defensive positions. Participants are encouraged to stay with the same partner to master these limitations effectively.

Striking for MMA- DEVELOPING FEINTS AND COUNTERS. Constraints Led Approach Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 so one person is only allowed to throw their lead hand okay we are still sparring you might want to put your gum shoes in obviously it's not like sparring sparring it's developmental but I am if Ellis has a brain fart an aneurism and doesn't do anything I will be touching him in around his beautiful face okay right at the same time I'm not trying to punch a hole through his beautiful face right so yeah I'm trying to trying to I'm trying to punch him
• 00:30 - 01:00 okay I'm allowed to use my lead hand I can use it to go anywhere I want even if you want to like punch the leg if you want to do something insane like that here B any type of shot with your lead hand okay now Alis is obviously going to be defending Alis is allowed to counter with anything he wants right so he can counter using his kicks using his knees using his wrestling using his boxing okay that's what I want us to do
• 01:00 - 01:30 now there's got to be an element of trust in here guys I need to trust that Ellis isn't going to punch my teeth through my shoulders otherwise I am never going to open up here and give him looks that he's going to need okay and at the same time it's El is going to struggle to counter I'm just trying to blast him so there's got to be a little bit of give and take here okay so yeah we just play about so I'm I'm trying to punch a this here I'm try to get my FTS going I'm going to try to move maybe I'll step back try to draw them in maybe I'll come forward on them
• 01:30 - 02:00 there and I'm just try to find those shots just imagine normal sparring but these are your restrictions one guy is only allowed to use his lead hand to go anywhere okay you're going to stay with the same partner really simply now all we're adding in is is the back hand okay so again I we just using that lead hand boom and now we can put in Boom the cross the back hand we can
• 02:00 - 02:30 whatever you want to do with that back hand you can do it again obviously that generally carries a little bit more power it's coming from all the way back here so be careful not to just boom blast your training partner but at the same time we still need to be throwing effective like technique that that if Ellis didn't do anything about it boom it it would it would be a shot I'm just going not try to actually them super fast but super hard but we need we need to keep that speed we need to keep
• 02:30 - 03:00 that fence reaction so that he's got something real to work with okay now the people that are attacking you're try to spot holes in defenses okay maybe you just keep throwing up towards the head and Alis is just whatever we just that example Ellis is just double fore arming up here what's threee boom go to the body okay or vice versa you're threatening down to the body he keeps even a Fain he's worried
• 03:00 - 03:30 about that body boom we can start throwing upstairs cool again counters you're allowed to counter whoever you want and [Music] only just H can of some things for you to consider more more for the guy on the back foot really
• 03:30 - 04:00 so I don't need to I'm not trying to be like a Walkin punch bag that someone's just throwing and then I'm reacting to okay you should be on the back foot here I'm changing directions there you can be fainting as well but going to put the guy off from may be thrown cuz he think youve got a counter established there also you don't necessarily have to just be on the back foot you could decide that I'm going to boom stick up a nice strong guard here and I'm going to be
• 04:00 - 04:30 like I'm going to force him back let let his shots bounce off me rather than try to be here all the time okay so just a CLE all of these things for you guys to think about okay so try not to be a punch bag you can be fainting and you can try and put him on the back foot rather than just walking backwards like try to defend yourself cool let's go guys grab a new handsome partner