The idea is that after you gain a dominant position, you punish your opponent with some strikes and hopefully open up a submission. When they are defending your punches, try to isolate a limb and crank it - flowing between ground and pound and submission searching. I’ve heard a couple of different MMA legends - BJ Penn and Bas Rutten come to mind - say that you don’t want to have two modes: a striking mode and grappling mode.  It shouldn’t be an on/off switch - your strikes and submissions should be integrated.

That being said, it seems that submission attempts can wear both combatants out physically, and unless the submission finishes, you may not have been better off because of it. Strikes however, chip away at the enemy and even when they are blocked cause cumulative damage. As long as you are striking efficiently and following some smart guidelines of ground and pound, you are making active progress toward both a potential striking victory and a submission finish - given that you have an integrated punch/submit attitude.

The season 9 Ultimate Fighter Finale Wilks vs. Johnson is a good example of a fighter who have this mentality.  (Watch it below for as long as it stays up)

Also, here’s a little clip of Fedor teaching how to use strikes to open up and finish an armbar. Here fighter Joe “Jitsu” Chrisopher setting up the armbar via strikes from the mount - as the the bottom guy uses his arms to defend punches, he gets a grip control and eventually pulls off the armbar.

30 minutes is quite a long time (for web surfers anyway), so I’ve listed the techniques in the video below. The video has nice technique recaps, so it’s easy to navigate to any distinct part of the video.

1. Omoplata to foot lock.
2. Omoplata attempt, transition to back control, and finish via armbar from the back.
3. Armbar finish when opponent is resisting. This is a really slick move; he switches the arm he attacks.
4. Standard Kimura arm lock.
5. Sweep from blocked kimura.  Look how he bases strongly and really pushes off that back leg.
6. Kimura attempt to back control, finishing with a rear naked choke.
7. Open guard ground and pound defense, up-kicking into a triangle.
8. Closed guard ground and pound defense, transition to a belly down armbar.
9. Half guard G&P defense, sweep into side control, finish via headlock.
10. Attacking within the G&P, then defending the calf crusher.
11. Sprawl counter to a low single-leg take down, finish via a gator roll/anaconda choke.

I’ve seen Big Nog use almost all of these moves in MMA fights.  Watch one of his highlight vids and you probably can check off more than half of the above list.  (There is even an amusing compelation named after the anaconda choke he uses).

If enjoyed that kind of material, I hear that Big Nog’s book, “Mastering Mixed Marital Arts: The Guard” is excellent.  After reading the amazon reviews, I’m saving my extra pennies to buy it.

Zebra Mats, one of the sponsors for this season’s ADCC wrestling tournaments, is selling off the mats used in this years competitions. If you’re looking for some “new” mats at a discount, you might want to check into it. See here for some details.

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling tournaments bring in some of the best no-gi grapplers in the world. (Although they have kids, teens, and beginners divisions, too.)

This year, regional tournaments are being held in Spring Texas, Los Angeles California, Las Vegas Nevada and Denver Colorado.  For us Utahans, the most accessible would probably be the Vegas regional, held on August 1.

If you have any questions about the tournament, you can read this interview with promoter Brett Boyce. If you desire to sign up, click here.

If you’re travelling and might be able to compete/attend one of their events, check out the official ADCC regional site, www.adccregionals.com .

Article Summary: Self talk (ST), or inner talk, is vital to a healthy mental game and performing well - and mixed martial artists should spend some time thinking about it.

Imagine bombs blowing up around you, gunfire whistling past your head, and you’ve still got save the President from terrorists and get the girl. You’re freaking out, which is normal considering the circumstances. Now, what do you say to yourself to calm down, kick ass, and get the job done?

It’s obvious that something like, “Stop freaking out”, “I’m going to die” or “Don’t panic” won’t be as effective as “I can do this” or a confident “It’s go time.” This makes intuitive sense, right?

However, few people manage their self talk as a technical part of their mixed martial arts game. Ironically, UFC fighters frequently talk about how important the mental game is.

Words can Help, Words can Hurt

In my personal experience, I can think of no instance where someone had heavy negative self talk and competed well, no matter the sport.

In sport karate, I’d overhear competitors “get down on themselves” saying stuff like, “I’m so stupid, can’t keep letting my guard down!” Inevitably, in their next match they’d get sloppy, let their guard down and get blasted.

While speaking with a director in the U of U exercise and sport science department and some staff,  I learned how important the “head game”  was in running a triathlon.  We chatted about a man who trains very hard - even being able to complete a full triathlon in practice - but when competition day came around, he’d buckle under the pressure and would not finish the race. The man would get in his head, over and over repeating stuff like “My legs are burning.” and “I’m so tired”.  On the flip side, one woman said that she’s finished a number of triathlons despite being dehydrated and hypothermic - let alone tired. Furthermore, she talked about how she loves the head game, and when the going gets tough she yells at herself like a drill sergeant - “You f*ing b*tch, get off your ass and RUN.”

These anecdotes illustrate what science has begun to prove: Positive self talk improves performance and negative self talk impedes it.

Believe it or not: Language influences reality

Whether you believe that positive self talk can improve your game or not, ST works. In fact, one particular study noted,

These results suggested that the type of self-talk used (i.e., positive or negative) was more important than one’s belief in self-talk. Results supported previous literature indicating that techniques designed to produce positive self-talk should be included in psychological skills training programs.  (emphasis added)

In other words, ST isn’t some new-age mumbo-jumbo that only works if you believe in it hard enough.

Where the mind goes, the body follows

If you’d like to do a small science experiment, try this: Tie a heavy paper-clip at the end of a foot long piece of string. On a piece of paper draw a circle and some arrows, as below.

Holding absolutely still, hang the paper-clip a half-inch above the circle and imagine the paper-clip swinging around the path of the arrows.  Chances are, you can get the clip to move with just your “mind powers”.  You can even draw the arrows going the other direction and get the clip to move counter clockwise.

This isn’t a result of magic - it’s subconscious mind creating micro-twitches, little muscle movements outside of your awareness to move the string and paper-clip.

This is just a generic way of showing how the mind controls the body in unseen ways.

In terms of self talk, the preferred modus operandi is to phrase all of your self speech in the positive. Use language such as “I going to win” in stead of “I’m not going to lose.”   Keeping your mind solely on what you want, not on what you don’t want.

Some schools of thought (Nuero-Linguistic Programming, to name one) suggest that using “negative” or reverse-commands is dangerous - a command like, “don’t think of a pink elephant” causes one to think of a pink elephant.

It reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon by Gary Larsen.  The picture is of a percussion player, standing behind the orchestra, holding only one cymbal. Above his head is a thought bubble saying, “Don’t screw up, don’t screw up, don’t screw up.”  The caption?  “Bob screws up.”

Different Types of Self Talk

There have been dozens of studies about self talk and specific sports performance - how self talk affects a golf swing, overhand baseball throw, butterfly swimming times - each revealing a little nugget of truth.

Generically, use self talk increases self-confidence and decreases cognitive anxiety. ST can help you relax and de-stress. Two instructors down at Fusion BJJ (Tony V and Noah J) told me that they use statements like, “Just like at home” and “It’s just hard practice” when fighting to ease their nerves and mental tension, affirming that they can perform just as well in competition as they do in practice.

Technical performance can improve as well; self spoken statements like, “Keep your head up” or “Elbows down!” can trigger a body response to clean up move.

Additionally, there is motivation self talk, statements like “Power through” and “Keep pushing” - phrases to increase your level of focus and muscle power for a particular activity.

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose

There was an interesting study done with young basketball players, illustrating how different types of self talk aided them at different times.

Athletes reported a significant preference for motivational ST when dribbling and shooting, while they did not favor one ST type over the other when passing. Moreover, athletes’ motivational ST was perceived as a significant aid for their concentration, confidence, and sense of relaxation during shooting, while instructional ST as more beneficial for improving their technique during passing.

To me this suggest that you should get in the habit of practicing techniques with their appropriate self speak phrases.  Every time you practice passing from half guard into side control, you could chant, “keep hips low, keep hips low.”

Repeating the Mantras

You probably have noticed that most self talk comes in doubles - ie: “I can do this, I can do this.”  It’s a very natural way to say them, and seem to have more force when doubled up.  Why, exactly?

At this point I could reason with you about how repetition is the mother of all learning, why yoga mantras must be repeated more than once or how it takes at least 7 or more repetitions to make an impression on the subconscious mind.

Instead, I’ll pass along a hillarious story about a pick up artist, Rick H, renowned in the seduction community for his extreme confidence and potent mojo.  Rick is a character to say the least. I’ve never met him personally, but through mutual acquaintances, I’ve been told he’s a legit womanizer. Like a no-fear, funnier, crude version of Don Juan Demarco.

Anyway, a dude starts talking to him about trying to pick girls up in Vegas and running into hookers and asks if he’s ever got “ladies of the night” into bed without having to pay.  Rick says, “All the time.”  He adds something like, ” You have to be funny about it though.”

His system goes something like this, early in the night he’ll meet and chat up a lady, but eventually she’ll give a tell-tale line, “I’m working.” He then gives some BS explanation why they need to “get warmed up”, and she laughs. He ends with, “It’s good for you. It’s good for you. It’s in your own best interest. It’s in your own best interest. C’mon.”

Rick said that for some reason, the key to making it work is saying “It’s good for you,” and “It’s in your own best interest.” But you have to say them twice, otherwise it doesn’t work.”

The inner game of MMA

After hearing some guys at the gym talk about Pedro Sauer’s teaching them to “go with the flow” and “flow with the go”, I considered how too much self talk could hamper performance. I certainly knew that being “too in your head” - analyzing, considering options, assessing performance - bogged down a mans ability to perform well.

John Will, black belt under JJ and Rigan Machado and one of the ‘BJJ Dirty Dozen’ - the first twelve non-Brazilian BJJ black belts in the world - says this about being fully in the moment while grappling:

“…[O]ne of the hallmarks of the truly good grappler, is that he or she becomes more fully and completely ‘engaged’ in the moment than others.

You can repeat some mantras but you don’t want to suffer from getting too in your head.  You’re supposed to be performing a motor skill, not assessing complex behavior and situations. (I believe this is called analysis paralysis).

Resources

http://bjj-australia.blogspot.com/2009/05/struggle-of-combat-demands-our.html

http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol8Iss4/SelfTalkandPerformance.htm

Negative Self Talk and Sports Performance :

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-35005403_ITM

How and When athletes use self talk

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/10413200490498357

Mechanisms underlying the self-talk–performance relationship: The effects of motivational self-talk on self-confidence and anxiety

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W6K-4T4J865-1&_user=418636&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000019853&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=418636&md5=61753a3754e7157a9a30a8d0e225abd5

Self Talk improves penalty shot performance -

http://jvi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/25/3/233

Self Talk in Basketball

http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss1/BasketballSelfTalk.htm

Olympians Use Self talk

http://www.sports-psych.com/interviews.html

Randy Borum on the Mental Aspects of Fighting

https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=blog.home&entry=3117

If it interests you, the higher higher quality videos are available for direct download on my server at the bottom of the original “Utah Champion” post.

I went down to the Orem Throwdown center for the Utah Champion Submission Challenge XI. First of all, what a blast! This was my first time down to Throwdown and it had a great atmosphere and all of the competitors were very cool. There were dozens of exciting matches, plenty of them taking advantage of the no time limit.  Local MMA’er Steve “Razor” Sharp had a match that must have lasted 20 minutes.

I believe Ben Gardner snatched up the first place in the Absolute division, so congrats Ben.  For all other division’s results, they should be posted on www.utahchampion.com soon.

Videos:

Bart vs Brandon  (HQ) - 162 meg

Bart vs Nick (HQ) - 475 meg

Aaron vs Ben (HQ)  - 534 meg

As I get more vids, I’ll get them posted up.

Also, if your looking for the March 28 competition, check out the  last Throwdown CSC here.

For more info, www.utahchampion.com has the details.

Also, for those competing, tommorow is the last day to save $10 and register “on-time”.

A few days after a no-gi Saturday down at the gym, I was thinking about how to put together a fierce grappling game plan and detailing a jujitsu roadmap to get there, something hit me.  At first, I wanted to dismiss the thought as too simple - but the more I dwelt on it, the more sense it made.

Get on top.

What made it really click is something Mike Colby said while teaching. He said something like, “If you have the opportunity to escape from a disadvantageous bottom position to either a top position or a more advantageous bottom position, always choose to go to the top.  The more time you spend in the top positions, the more guys you’ll tap.”

This rung true with most MMA and grappling I’ve watched, as well as my limited personal experience. Submissions are easier to get and harder to defend when attacking top down. When in top positions, it seems easier to attack the different body zones (head, neck, arms, and legs) from one spot. In MMA, half-guard, side-control and mount are some of the most excellent places to go on the offensive with minimum risk.

If you can just focus on getting from wherever you are to a more dominant top position, a lot of things will just take care of themselves. Having such a simple “plan” will help to funnel all of your moves to one consistent goal easily, instead of getting caught in analysis paralysis.

Watching Mike wrestle, he certainly practices what he preaches. It seems like he’s always putting pressure on his opponent from a top position, creating submissions or waiting for an opportunity.  And if you don’t know Mike, it’s my understanding that he’s one of the state’s top no-gi grapplers.

Anyway, “Get on top” is just a quicker way to say, “consistently attempt to gain positional dominance.” It’s not that you haven’t heard this before. But for me, I often don’t really hear the truth, on a deep level, until I’ve heard it 100 times.

BTW, if you want to, here’s a video of Mike instructing a transition from reverse scarf position to belly down back control. Watch his training partner (Noah), squirm under the controlling preassure.  Mike finishes via short choke/rear naked choke.