Smack Talk took a drive through to the east rand to have a look at the much talked about, new and exciting mma gymWorld of Warriors. Here’s the Scoop World Of Warriors (WOW) was originally a Muay Thai gym founded by Shaun Simpson. Shaun has been studying and teaching Kickboxing and Muay Thai for almost [...]

 “Great guy, amazing grappler” is normally a common sentiment shared by people who have trained with Wiekus Swart. He is somewhat of a walking contradiction. For a sweet guy, he can fold you like a lawn chair in seconds (on occasion I have been that lawn chair). Currently SA’s sole heavyweight BJJ black belt, Swart [...]

Personal training is essential in our industry; we took some time to catch up with one of Jozi’s own hardcore elites… Richard Lazarus!   So Rich, outside of the hard exterior and street cred, tell us how this all began???   I began my personal training and life coach training in 1993 after being certified [...]

 The Lowvelder newspaper recently had someone from the community write to them after publishing information about NFN3. The reader pulled no punches when slating MMA and said it held less moral value than Escort services… This sparked a very interesting and positive response from the promoter himself….   ‘Recently Trinity Martial Arts School held a [...]

In the first 5 parts of mount dynamics we focused on basic techniques to escape being mounted. It is important not to just learn techniques but to also focus your training on strategies, tactics and training methods. These 4 components (1.Training methods 2.Tactics 3.Strategies 4.Techniques) form an integral part of the nucleus in being a complete MMA Fighter/practitioner and coach. [...]

Location: CombatCoaching.com’s ‘Team Loco’ 20 South Dale Road, Brick and Build premises, Southdale Johannesburg Morné Swanepoel will be visiting the Team Loco gym in Jhb this Thursday night to conduct a MMA training workshop. Due to short notice we have kept the expenses to a minimum: R150 members and R200 non members. To book contact [...]

In mount dynamics part 5 we will be covering the last of our 4 basic escapes. It is important to drill these techniques over and over until such time that your movements become fluid and one can apply these techniques with pure muscle memory and not hesitating and wondering about the actual steps involved to [...]

The late Bruce Lee was a huge inspiration to many Martial Artists today to explore combat arts, and rightfully so as Bruce Lee was way ahead of his time and era. Lee was a great innovator and technical analyst when it came to functional martial arts in terms of “absorbing what is useful and rejecting [...]

The only thing worse than being mounted by a competent ground fighter is for your opponent to take your back. These two positions are top on the priority list when it comes to MMA/BJJ or submission wrestling bouts. It is imperative to add drills and performance games into your training/preparation to not just improve your [...]

If your opponent has mounted you, the onus is on you to escape. Attempting submission holds and strikes from this very disadvantageous position is not recommended. Your focus should be on escape to a better position, such as the guard or to your knees or even standing up. Four basic mount escapes It will be [...]

One of the most emphasized coaching guidelines in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) No Holds Barred and Submission wrestling today is – POSITIONING. The Oxford dictionary explains positioning as follow: ‘place occupied by person or thing; proper place; way thing is placed, mental attitude, state of affairs, situation, rank or status, strategic point [...]

 This week we focus on what must be the most commonly used Jits move in MMA – the Rear Choke.  It is simple and effective and ends fights more often than not. For more info on Bobby and for personalised training info please visit www.bjmma.co.za.  Bobby and his wife Jenny run one of the best [...]

MMA Training | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training with Bobby Karaginnidis | Arm Bar. In this series of training we bring you a look at “the gentle art” of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Jits or BJJ as it is affectionately known in and around the MMA circles. Call it what you will BJJ is an incredible art form [...]

It is every athlete’s mission to be stronger, faster and fitter than the next. This week I am going to provide a template of an athletic conditioning program designed to build stronger, fast and fitter athletes. Before doing so, I want to touch on one of the four primary training principles – individualisation. This principle [...]

  We’ve touched on the importance of beginning your conditioning program with planning and we’ve discussed the requirement of broad fitness and skill for MMA. Let’s get into which movements form the core of a strength and conditioning program. Calisthenics are exercise movements that are performed without weights. Bodyweight provides the sole form of resistance. [...]

MMA Fitness Much ground work needs to be done in order to achieve elite athletic status. I previously talked about how to begin planning a sports conditioning regime and one of the points was identifying the physical demands of your sport. MMA demands that athletes are capable of performing a variety of physical tasks in [...]

The term ‘strength and conditioning’ has become a mainstay in the sporting arena over the last decade. However given the vast array of conditioning methods, coupled with the growing body of ambiguous conditioning literature there remains a general lack of consensus regarding what form of conditioning is most effective for a particular sport. Discussions concerning [...]

Conditioning is a massive component for any Mixed Martial Artist. MMA must be the most physically demanding sport in the world. What other sport requires maximum effort for the entire duration of the match with no opportunity to rest?  You rest or lose focus for a nano-second and you lose it’s as simple as that. With [...]

Muay Thai Elbow. Step 1. The delivery stance is exactly the same as it has been with every other strike in the series thus far.  The stance needs to be exactly the same in order to ensure that your opponent does not know which strike is coming next. Step 2. The mechanics behind throwing an [...]

Muay Thai is one of the most effective weapons any Mixed Martial Artist can have in his arsenal.  It is also known as the “Art of Eight Limbs” as it focuses on striking with eight points of contact; fists, feet, elbows and knees. Mauy Thai fighters are renowned for their ferocious kicks and vicious knee [...]