question-do u do mma type sparring and if so how does your style/approach hold up

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devante

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simple question for those in the forum, we all know our standup fairly well and have exp in that area of fighting, standup (boxing kickboxing muay thai karate tkd etc); my question is this how does your standup hold up in an arena where everything is allowed, i.e. mma.

when i say style i mean your style, mt/tkd/karate/kickboxing/boxing/etc; an how does your style standup, counter/def/off/volume/physical/brawling/technician. What changes do you make in what you do, what is your biggest issue in transitioning your pure standup skills to the mma type sparring/fight.
 
Our competition "track" (as opposed to our military/law enforcement track) has classes for boxing, MT, BJJ, and "MMA', which is like 75% wrestling and 25% "other". I don't think any of our pure standup guys ever spar MMA, and our gym actually has a policy that our managers will NOT let you enter MMA fights under their management without a certain amount of mat time.

That said, I think the usefulness of footwork and angles will carry over (and we are taught this in the MMA class), but I honestly don't think that's enough overall to be effective on its own. One mistake I've noticed a lot of standup guys making is this focus on sprawls to defend takedowns. While sprawls are essential to stop double and single leg TDs, a huge percentage of takedowns actually come off of body locks and clinches. I doubt I need to explain to anyone here how often clinches happen in fights :)
 
My gym us MMA guys train with the pro MT guys and halfway through a spar session we will go off and spare with takedowns.
U do have to change your game, distance becomes alot more important. My main difference is stance when its MMA i crouch down a tiny bit and also follow in with my strikes sometimes instead of in and out
 
i really like MMA sparring. its proly my favorite thing to do.

my style holds up pretty well but my biggest issue is that i find it hard to throw more than a 2 or 3 punch combo. when sparring MMA, for some reason have my hands real low, either because i have good reaction or im worried about the takedown. i also tend to throw a lot of lead right hands when MMA sparring.


good thread btw
 
right hand lead said:
i really like MMA sparring. its proly my favorite thing to do.

my style holds up pretty well but my biggest issue is that i find it hard to throw more than a 2 or 3 punch combo. when sparring MMA, for some reason have my hands real low, either because i have good reaction or im worried about the takedown. i also tend to throw a lot of lead right hands when MMA sparring.


good thread btw
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thanks for the compliment, i quoted u because i have a tendency to throw alot of lead rights when i do mma type sparring.

to answer my own question my actual style is mostly boxing, not that im so good; but its the one im most familiar w/and i PERSONALLY feel is the easiest standup art to transition to mma. My personal style is alot of movement, circling, backing up, cutting angles; i do it in standup and find it even more eff in mma type sparring cus alot of those guys don't work on cutting off an area, they *imo* are more apt to chase. An just like in striking u have to have the right range, the same goes for grappling; so i use alot of movement/stance changing and footwork to avoid that range, move in/out of range or create angles where an opp can't really close to clinch or shoot.

im pretty judicious w/the strikes, i like to leadshot/potshot and move alot; not letting people set their feet, in standup im not busy enough..but when your putting it in mma format its alot more eff (based of my exp)

i just came up w/this thread after doing some mma type sparring w/diff stylist and watchin how some people whole game/approach changed onceyou threw in the grappling element combined w/the striking
 
vjvj said:
Our competition "track" (as opposed to our military/law enforcement track) has classes for boxing, MT, BJJ, and "MMA', which is like 75% wrestling and 25% "other". I don't think any of our pure standup guys ever spar MMA, and our gym actually has a policy that our managers will NOT let you enter MMA fights under their management without a certain amount of mat time.

That said, I think the usefulness of footwork and angles will carry over (and we are taught this in the MMA class), but I honestly don't think that's enough overall to be effective on its own. One mistake I've noticed a lot of standup guys making is this focus on sprawls to defend takedowns. While sprawls are essential to stop double and single leg TDs, a huge percentage of takedowns actually come off of body locks and clinches. I doubt I need to explain to anyone here how often clinches happen in fights :)[/QUOTE]

this is the truth footwork and angles can def grappling to a degree, but its not enough; at some point you have to know how to grapple, as u stated clinches are hard not to get into and there are a myriad of sweeps/trips/throws that can be done from that position. One of the guys i sparred w/is more of a standup guy and he had the shoots def well but had a problem in clinches or when people dragged him down; then once he was on the ground he had alot of issues conditioning wise and tech cus he never learned how to def or counter or get back up when put on the ground by a person who wants to keep him on the ground.
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My style is kind of like Yodsanklai (except he is 1000x better than me), as I like to counter fight aggressively, I move forward very solid but am really counter fighting and I throw the big left kick to the body alot + straight left to the body, also with a strong lead hook. I find when it comes to MMA my main problem is my body kick, it's so easy to have it caught so I pretty much just put as much power in it as I can so they get afraid to catch it. Besides that though, my timing works well and really confuses my opponents, kind of get in their heads. Clinching I never really have a problem with when it comes to MMA, as I said it's more just having my kicks caught that is the biggest thing to work on.
 
in all honesty, anyone who has trained in a live combat sport would know that it's not a stretch to get taken down. If you boxed/kickboxed/did sanda/muay thai. That logic of clinch=>> possilbe takedown isn't that far fetched.
 
shotokan karate really helps me in mma, i can take almost everyone down at will with karate sweep and its hard for people to hit me because you learn to be elusive
 
I realy prefer mma sparring over just training straight boxing, or mt. I have some issues with my finding my distance though. I fight 145pounds and am 5'10 so more than not I have the reach advantage. But mma sparring with bigger guys at my gym has realy made me realize where I need to improve. Which is awesome because I didnot see those certain gaps in my game before
 
thatkoolguy said:
Which is awesome because I didnot see those certain gaps in my game before
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Yeah, this highlights another problem though in that sometimes the styles are diametrically opposed. Using the clinch example again, bringing your hips in can help defend against knees but will put you in a position to be taken down. And on the flip side, putting your hips back can help defend against takedowns but can open you up for knees. So there are cases where there is no right answer and it starts to come down to feel and effective transitions.
 
Joshua Coquelle said:
My style is kind of like Yodsanklai (except he is 1000x better than me), as I like to counter fight aggressively, I move forward very solid but am really counter fighting and I throw the big left kick to the body alot + straight left to the body, also with a strong lead hook. I find when it comes to MMA my main problem is my body kick, it's so easy to have it caught so I pretty much just put as much power in it as I can so they get afraid to catch it. Besides that though, my timing works well and really confuses my opponents, kind of get in their heads. Clinching I never really have a problem with when it comes to MMA, as I said it's more just having my kicks caught that is the biggest thing to work on.
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yeah, i just realized last sparring session that i dont throw many body or leg kicks. most of the kicks i throw in mma sparing are head kicks
 
Love mma sparring , hands up connect with 3-4 punch combo's , sprawl and if i get taken down i try to get up as fast as possible.
 
i use my front inside kick way less likewise with my jab. but maybe i'm still scared when the glove size changes and the idea of being in side control is annoying.
 
When I'm sparring with the threat of the takedown, I'm a bit more conservative with the kicks. I tend to box a little too much, but I'm working on just using my hands to set up a nice body or leg kick after my combo.

Also when I spar guys who are more focused on MMA sparring instead of strictly stand-up I find I have a distinct advantage with my movement and defensive abilities.

With my footwork I can keep my distance while using angles to attack intelligently. Using head movement I can avoid most punches and I try to step in and counter whenever anyone throws a kick at me (obv. using my hands to block a head kick).
 
I use a TMA style, which means I dont like being hit, which means I defend a lot and am VERY elusive. I throw a lot of side kicks as a defence.

Never been in an MMA sparring fight, so I probably would to pretty poorly.
 
Too Defensive said:
I use a TMA style, which means I dont like being hit, which means I defend a lot and am VERY elusive. I throw a lot of side kicks as a defence.

Never been in an MMA sparring fight, so I probably would to pretty poorly.
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side kicks are an awful defensive tech in MMA, and in any full contact fight actually.
If the guy times your sidekick and makes you miss, you land well out of position and basically offer your back to him. If you try and avoid that by leaving your weight on the back foot and throwing a 'snappy' side kick with no bodyweight in it, you're just basically standing on one leg for no reason.
 
side kicks are an awful defensive tech in MMA, and in any full contact fight actually.
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No sir you are mistaken. Not in any full contact fight. They are great for stop hits.
 
Too Defensive said:
No sir you are mistaken. Not in any full contact fight. They are great for stop hits.
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I am not comfortable with them either. However, I have seen them used by people in full contact. Not sure I have seen lots of damage.

I think the big thing is that in a real MMA fight, people are hyped up and might walk through those attacks. If you are used to people stopping when hit, it may be a surprise. Once more, just an educated guess.

1. You shoot a leg out. I can see how you can be timed and your back could be exposed.
2. The time between the kick and any subsequent follow-up with the hands is concerning.
3. If the foot is smothered batted down and to the inside, you might fall into a strong power punch.

Wouldn't a strong jab do the same thing and not leave any doubt?
 
I like how my karate background has given me techniques that cause problems. A punch followed by a front foot sweep followed by mount/side mount is an example.

Defense: Using a parry, defensive jab, front foot sweep.

Offense: Throwing a jab, bring the hand down, grab the opponents glove and putt his hand to the center of his body so he cant throw the other hand. His lead hand is down and his face is wide open.

Get me in a MT clinch. The second I see it developing, I swivel to the outside, throw an uppercut, turn that uppercut into a leverage point to crank a neck the same time my leg comes across the back for a double led sweep.

These things affect how people fight against you and change their game. They will be more common at some point.

Nice topic.
 
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