MMA Grappling Drills

For information purposes only. Exercise and diet at your own risk

There are numerous ways to drill your techniques and vary them around, to make your training more interesting and diverse. If you are a regular trainer you need to spice things up a bit to break up the monotony of continuos drilling. We need to drill basic positions, submissions and combinations so they become ingrained in our sub-conscious but by finding various ways of achieving the same end product we can get better quality training and results. I will list some of the drills you can do and which we practice in our club, for more details check out my training videos/DVDs Impact Ju Jutsu Vols. 1, 2 and 3 and Sudden impact (MMA training). These following drills will enhance the grappling side of MMA training. Some drills can be solo, others partnered.

Shadow Wrestling
Just as a boxer or kickboxer will shadow spar, so to should a grappler. Move around and practice s hooting for legs, sprawling away from a shoot. Go to the ground and flow through your pins, positions, sweeps, submissions and reversals. Set a timer and do 3, 4 and 5 min rounds. This is also great cardio training which will raise a sweat.

Training dummy or bag throw work
Put either on the ground and work through your floor positions (mount, cross body, knee on, North and south, Scarfhold guard, rear mount etc). Flow from one position to the next and add punches, elbows, knees and palm strikes for an excellent workout. Also lift, clinch and throw the bag or dummy, then go to work on the floor.

Grapple/Conditioning drills
Mix your grappling movements with conditioning exercises i.e. burpees, pushups, ‘V’ up ab crunches, jump squats etc. this gets your up and down conditioning ‘honed’

Position flow drills
Get a partner and work back and forth with your floor positions and pins, try and make seamless changes from one to the other.

Submission flow drills
Now bring in one for one submissions and escapes. Go back and forth flowing through each submission and escape. This is done lightly without cranking on the holds or hooks. To make it more interesting one person may decide on doing nothing but Armbars and other only strangles. This helps you find a particular submission from any position. Or play the don’t repeat the same submission, so you have to look for a different one each go.

Blindfolding sparring
Grappling is all about touch and movement. When you can’t see this it becomes even more crucial. Try this testing and innovative drill.

Sparring
Work this on a scale of 1 to 10 in intensity. Beginners should work say around 5 to 6 although with natural enthusiasm and adrenaline this will have to be monitored. Advanced students 7 to 9 keeps you sharp and gives you realistic training. 10 for matches or contests. This has to be monitored sharply by a coach to prevent injury. Safety gear should be worn. You can have wrestling from the knees, a good safe option, also good if limited for room. You can play it just pin, just submissions, or strikes included. Wrestling from the feet can be the most dangerous of grappling training, so good mats and supervision is essential. All out MMA sparring with strikes, throws and submissions must be monitored properly and safety gear worn.


Limited sparring can involve the following:

Just punching Vs Just takedowns
Just kicking Vs Just takedowns
Puncher Vs Kicker
Takedown Vs Takedown defence
Standing Vs Ground opponent
only pins
only Armbars
only leglocks
only chokes etc etc.

You can have timed bouts or fight to submission.

Other sparring options
Kneeling line up and everybody fights each other in turn. One person spars with 4, 5, 6 people one after the other. All in sparring with a group last man standing. 2 on to one. Tag sparring.

These are just a few ideas on how to vary your training and get more enjoyment out of it. As always safety is a priority and coaches must monitor everything so it is done in the right spirit and manner.

MMA Contest
There are currently three types of MMA contest available. Each can be an individual test or a stepping stone to the next.

Amateur rules.
Fought mainly on matted contest area but has been done in ring and cage on occasions. The amateur format excludes any striking above the neck level standing or on the floor. All major throws, takedowns and submissions allowed. Punching, kicking and kneeing allowed to body. No elbows.

Semi pro.
Fought in a ring or cage. All standard MMA moves allowed. Strikes to the head whilst standing but not on the floor.

Pro.
Usually in cage. Strikes allowed standing and on floor. All MMA techniques allowed. Elbows are allowed to head as are knees and kicks.

Outlawed moves in MMA
No eye gouging No gripping or wrenching windpipe No fish hooking No direct strikes to spine No direct strikes to joints No groin shots No small joint wrenching (toes and fingers) No downward elbows No dropping opponent on their heads or necks No kicking to the head of a downed opponent Again various events/organizers will have other rules and regulations but the above are standard and takes away any image of no rules, fight to the death type publicity. Check out ‘ML Sports’ website for full rules and regulations.

Kevin O’ Hagan’s MMA record
I started competing in what we know as MMA at the age of 37. I wanted to get my guys into it and thought I would go along and try it out myself to get an idea what it was all about, I got hooked and carried on fighting to the age of 43, where at present I have retired?

Official competition/Fight record
Amateur Fights 10 MMA 2 Submission No Gi wrestling
Semi Pro/Professional Cage fights 3 (2-1)
European Brazilian Open Championships Silver medal (Vets)
Ju Jutsu Kumite open Championships Gold Medal (Vets)
Ju Jutsu Kumite open Championships Silver Medal (Vets)
Gi grappling submission matches in contest 12 bouts
Unofficial bouts/closed door bouts 1000’s???

Safety Rules for Grappling
The nature of grappling is competitive, hard and demanding, but when you drill or spar with a training partner save the balls to the wall approach for the actual competitive arena (mat, ring, cage). Your training partner is essential for your progression, treat them with the respect they deserve. In that way they will treat you the same. If you want to prove yourself compete properly don’t try and massage your ego in class.
Take the tap. The honorable way to avoid injury when your partner has a good submission on is to tap out and start again. Nothing but injury or worst can be gained by letting your elbow get ‘popped’ or being choked to unconsciousness. Ask any good fighter, if you haven’t been tapped you haven’t fought. Obviously we want to avoid tapping but not at the expense of your health!
Slow up on the submission. This is another good way to avoid injury. By all means fly into the sub and set up but then when you have got it set in, slow up the final movement. Never slap on Armbars or chokes in training. The skill is to be composed enough to tap the opponent humanely and without undue injury.
Wear safety equipment. Gumshields and groin guards are a must to prevent silly injuries. Ear protection if you have sore or ‘colly’ ears developing. Ladies, breast protector may be needed especially as a lot of weight will be on you in this area on the floor.
Finally agree on a 1 to 10 scale where you would like to drill or spar and stick to it. Also have good quality mats and a safe surrounding area to train on. Have fun, train hard, train smart and train safe!

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Disclaimer: Consult your GP before changing diet. Follow any Training regime or diet on this site at your own risk