WNY MMA to Fix Those Kickboxing Mistakes

According to Joe Lewis, there are forty mistakes that kickboxers make during their training and preparation for fights. These mistakes will ultimately cost you and may at some point or another, take from your joy of training and will remove you from the gym all together. So lets nip a few of those bad habits in the butt before they become a permanent fixture. So WNY MMA & Fitness will give you ten of those forty mistakes for you to look over. 

Kickboxing Training Mistake #1

Trying to counter when you should be leading the attack. Counterattacking, like faking, is an advanced art. It requires knowing three things: the lead of the opponent, your method of avoiding his lead and the exact way of executing the proper counter-shot. Unless you know them all, initiate.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #2

Failing to step in when you punch. Whether jabbing or kicking, you always need to put your weight behind your executions for maximum power. Stepping in also increases your energy when you use the pivot-shifting and waist-pivoting (hinging) principles for punching power.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #3

Rushing your closing kick after a punching combination. The kick doesn’t have to be in cadence with the rhythm of any preceding punches. After the last punch, you should practice angling out of one of the side doors, resetting and then finishing with a power kick.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #4

Slugging toe-to-toe from the pocket with a slugger. Remember the fundamentals of fighting: Don’t slug with a slugger or hook with a hooker.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #5

Standing square while you’re in front of an opponent or in the pocket. If your shoulders are open, you not only present an easy target for your opponent but also limit your ability to fully rotate your hips through the centerline to create power in your knee strikes or inside punches.

I can say with confidence that if you are learning kickboxing under Corey Webster at WNY MMA & Fitness, you will not be making these mistakes. He is a competent coach and will definitely be there to correct this before it becomes a bad habit.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #6

When facing a southpaw or a sharpshooting hard kicker, failing to possess effective feinting or faking skills. Such skills would enable you to draw him off-balance by breaking his timing. When it seems impossible to back him up, you need to know how to disrupt his rhythm or cause him to hesitate using faking skills. Then you must work defensive timing to come in the back door with a counterattack.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #7

Failing to keep your back toward the center of the ring. You’ll end up getting walked to the ropes and find yourself trapped and punished without any room to maneuver or escape.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #8

Remaining in the same pocket position and continuing to fire combinations.You need to at least turn your opponent or change the angle or position from which you attack. Remember that standing in the same spot makes you an easy target.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #9

Failing to keep your feet directly under your punches. When you overreach with your punches, especially a straight right, you’ll end up lunging off-balance without any power. You’ll have too much hang time at the end of your punch, which leaves you unable to follow up with a left ridgehand or hook. You’ll often find yourself collapsing into your opponent directly behind your overextended punch. Or you may leave yourself open to his counter.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #10

Positioning yourself directly in front of an aggressive opponent. This will get you hit. To avoid that fate, you must know how to employ rhythm sets, both with your head movement and your footwork, to offset his alignment or range just before his trigger squeeze.

There are many more training mistakes, way too many to have posted here. I would have gotten sick of looking at them, so I saved you from that trouble. But what we can do is hit up the gym if you're every in the Western New York area, just look for Corey Webster. He will definitely fix those problems for you, he helped prepare one of the worlds highest rankers in american kickboxing. So he has what you need. Just saying. 

WNY OUT!!!!

Big Night For WNY MMA at Lace Up Promotions

Today is the day, you guys better have gotten you tickets because its about to go down. Tonight at the Kenan Arena in Lockport, fists are going to fly during the once in a lifetime event. Legends will be born and legends will be destroyed. Lace Up Promotions: Legends Rise, the event to be at. WNY MMA & Fitness will be representing the Western New York area with many of the fighters that you know and love, Aswell as bring in some new talent that may make you look twice. All this culminating to the final bout featuring The Mighty Joe Taylor facing off infront of the great "Iron" Mike Tyson for the title.

Fighters that you will see tonight from your friendly neighborhood Wny mma will be Superfly Sean Felton, The Supernova of athleticism Quamaine Austin, the baddest thing around Scott Skinner, Hard Hitting Bubba Norton, The Grin Reaper Ayanna Tramont, The Candyman Erick Plumeri. Don't miss out on a night of excitement, it will be a night to remember. For those looking for kickboxing, hit us up after.

WNY MMA OUT!!!

Hide Map Kenan Center Inc 433 Locust St, Lockport (city), New York 14094

No Tender Shins at WNY MMA

So, after watching UFC for the last like decade, you have been introduced to a number of combat arts that have been proven to be effective in the cage. One of those styles is a striking art from Thailand called muay thai, or for the initiated, the art of eight limbs. Unlike other styles that you may be familiar with, kickboxing for example; only makes use of the fists and the feet to do damage. In muay thai; you have the fists, elbows, knees, and shins. But wait, isn't muay thai just like kickboxing, ummmmmmm... next question. As you can see, it utilizes many more tools than you would find in american boxing and kickboxing, pretty much giving you more to put your opponent down with. At WNY MMA & Fitness we have all three, but Ill be cover one particular aspect of muay thai in this article; shin conditioning.

Now I know what you're thinking, they kick with there shins, it hurts when I bump my shin on the edge of a table. Through proper shin conditioning and years of training, there have been muay thai and Kyokushin guys have put their shins through baseball bats with little more than a trickle of blood. Read what I just wrote again so we are both on the same page, I said PROPER shin condition. Lets go over what improper shin conditioning is, by no means do you go outside and kick trees. I know, you see videos of guys in thailand doing it, here's the thing about that; they are kicking banana trees, they not sturdy like the trees we have in our yards. If you do, you may kill the nerves in that area, but you will also increase the risk of fractures in the shin, ultimately you will be unable to train for a while. What we do at WNY MMA & Fitness, along with other muay thai gyms, is that we will use thai pads and the heavy bag as the primary source of shin conditioning. Its a gradual progression from soft and tender shins to shins of steel.

How does this happen, I glad you asked. Your skeletal system goes through a breakdown and remodeling cycle quite frequently. I posted a video above for you to take a gander at that will give you a very cool view of the process. Anyway, when you put stress on the bone over a long period of time, I.e. when you kick the bag or when you do weight bearing exercises like squats, the body will breakdown old bone and rebuild it with new calcium deposits. This is important because this is how your bones become harder and stronger, this process can not be rushed. This is not to say that your shins won't hurt in the process, they will hurt when you first start training muay thai. When they start to hurt always give your shins time to heal, during that time its always good to work your knees or the other striking tools. When sparring at WNY MMA& Fitness, you will be wearing shinguards, so no worries. 

WNY MMA: Muay thai

The at wny mma, fighting stance is the most fundamental position that you will ever learn in any type of martial art. A proper stance allows for strong, effortless movement and an easy transference of force from body to extremity. Furthermore, having a good stance allows you freedom of movement that directly translates into the individual expression of the practitioner’s style. Whether you are a martial artist or an athlete of another physical discipline, there is no disadvantage in having a good stance. It will only make you a better at what you do. 

Frequently in the gym I see people sacrifice their stance in order to land a blow or to get a specific grip on their opponent. While it would seem to make solid sense to attempt such an action, remember the goal of combat is not just to hit your opponent at all costs. It’s to do so in a way that weakens their position while at the same time strengthening your own.

The stance is the starting position for all martial movement. I feel that the stance nowadays has lost importance in many styles of martial arts and combative sports. It is still taught, but within the student population there seems to be a lack of information as to why certain actions are performed. In order to perform at your best it is absolutely necessary to find, perfect, and understand your starting position. Can you imagine what would happen if you attempted a max deadlift without knowing how to properly secure yourself in the beginning of the lift? The same principle applies to martial arts and, for the sake of this article, muay thai at wny mma.

In muay Thai there are several stances you can adopt during your training. Everyone is built slightly differently and these differences will determine what is the optimal stance for you. I personally feel the stance you adopt should be the one that allows for maximum ease, fluidity of movement, and transference of force. 

The great Bruce Lee put it best: “The arms and kicking leg are important only because they are the vehicles of body force. They, the tools, only give expression to body force when the body is in proper alignment. The position of the hands and arms and of the legs and feet that facilitate easy body expression is important.”

Below are five tips that will help better your stance:

1. Foot Position

The feet are the most important factor in determining your balance. The more the martial artist can feel and control the position of the feet the better he or she will be at expressing intention (punching, kicking, moving, etc.).

The feet should be staggered and placed slightly wider than the hips (but for muay thai no wider than the shoulders). The weight distribution between both feet should be fifty-fifty. Both feet should be angled slightly to the side and the knees should be facing in the same direction of the feet. Having the feet and knees aligned will minimize any leakage of force and provide a more stable base for the athlete. The rear heel should be raised with the weight placed on the ball of the foot. The elevated heel acts as the trigger for the majority of your striking arsenal and it allows your feet to be alert and move quickly. Never stand flatfooted on both feet at WNY MMA, your movement can easily become sluggish.

2. Abdominal Tension and Hip Position

Whenever you are in a fighting stance you want a small amount of tension kept in your abdominal muscles. Also it is important that your pelvis be positioned directly underneath your shoulders. This will allow for a stronger defense, assist you in transferring force to your extremities, and improve balance by keeping your spine in an optimal position.

Take my word for it; you do not want to be hit in a relaxed stomach. Body shots have a nasty way of stealing the life from you, especially when they are met with zero resistance. At wny mma, we think of abdominal tension as your armor. Don’t go to battle without it! On a scale of one to ten, you want your tension level at around a two. This amount of tension will aid your movements but will not subtract from your ability to move or breathe effectively.

3. Arm Position

The placement of the fists, forearms and elbows is extremely important in muay Thai. Having these three things in the proper position can greatly add to you offensive and defensive capabilities.

The right (or rear) elbow and forearm stays close to the body and protects the solar plexus,the liver, and the ribs. Note: I said that the elbow stays close, but it is not glued to the ribs. Allowing the elbows to protrude an inch or two can discourage your opponent from kicking to the body as they may smash their foot into your elbow. That being said, do not flare your elbows out to the side and open up the ribcage. The right (or rear) fist stays close to the face and is positioned on the jaw or cheek bone. This protects the face and gives your fist the appropriate path to attack your opponent. 

The left (or lead) arm is placed slightly in front of the body to act as a first line of defense and offense. The forearms and elbows aid in protecting the solar plexus and the ribcage. Unlike the rear arm, the lead arm is going to be very active during combat and therefore should be placed away from the centerline. When finding your optimal arm position make sure the arm is not extended to far away from the body so that the position exhausts your shoulders and prevents the generation of force. The left fist should be held at nose level. This will help protect your centerline while not obstructing your vision.

4. Head Position

The position of your head it also very important in martial arts. A bad head position can lead to knockouts and broken noses. At WNY MMA, you will hear trainers yell at their students, “Chin down! Hands up!” The head should be slightly tilted forward with the chin practically glued to your collarbone. Keeping the head in this tucked position will aid in protecting your nose and the soft tissue of the eyes. Under no circumstances must the head move from this position.

5. Movement in the Stance

Even if you have the perfect stance, for it to be effective in combat movement must be introduced. Standing perfectly still is going to make you a sitting duck for your opponent. Moving targets are hard to hit. If you don’t move, your opponent could close his eyes and still manage to hit you square in the face.

There are many different cadences fighters can adapt and in my experience everyone has their own different “swagger” while fighting. To adapt a cadence, I recommend watching fighters you enjoy and take bits and pieces from their movement patterns to add to your own style. Whatever your cadence may be just make sure that it contains no rhythm (constantly repeated movements). If it does, it becomes easy for your opponents to time you with counter shots.

WNY MMA Fight Updates

This past weekend four of the Wny mma fighters fought hard with three victories; a head kick knockout from Quamaine Austin, Billy Windrum with a second round arm bar, and Joe Goyette with the first round TKO which brought the belt to the gym. Can't wait to see what the gym brings back from Lace Up Promotions: Legends Rise.

WNY MMA: A Different Avenue of Competition

Have you been training your kickboxing and wrestling for a bit, but not comfortable doing ammy mma competitions yet. well, there is something for you in this world that will give you the experience of applying your standing wrestling, clinch work and your striking. In some of the earlier articles that was posted, I mentioned sanshou and shootboxing, does anyone remember that? if not you can look back into the past articles or just hang tight here and i'll enlighten you again. All courtesy of WNY MMA & Fitness.

This will just serve as a reminder that, what makes these following competition styles interesting is their rule sets. So in essence, you can build the skills to compete in them without a hitch. 

ShootBoxing: 

Now, I know some people aren't too familiar with what i will be going over in this article, but it's fine. Now with shootboxing which is also known as standing vale tudo, is a very popular promotion in japan. What makes shootboxing interesting is the rule set, it allows pretty much anything, except for the ground game. to make this simpler; the skill set that you build from muay thai is legal, along with neck-toss, hip-toss, judo throws, back drops and suplexes. This is also including standing neck locks and arm bars. it just sounds interesting, and to me, it feels like a fantastic middle ground between striking and mixed martial arts.

Sanshou:

Now for this one, I know that there are competitions that happen in the states, so this is a little easier to access than shootboxing. The rule sets for sanshou and shootboxing are similar; the throws are allowed but the chokes or "catches" as they are called in shootboxing aren't. But one of the cool things about sanshou is that it requires you to be able to catch kicks to initiate some of the trademark throws from sanshou. Even though there may not be sanshou gyms in your area, you can still participate once you have a background in kickboxing and wrestling.

What does this mean for the lovely people of western new york. Stop by WNY MMA & Fitness, and jump on some kickboxing and wrestling.