Anerobic Grappling Conditioning
I put this article up a bit quick. It is primarily an aerobic workout. However, check back for a major revision before October.
First, I'd like to make it clear, I'm no fitness expert. I don't even play one on the internet. These are just a few ideas I can up with over a period of a few years. I have notice there are numerous areas of fitness that affect grappling. In my opinion the one that often separates the fair grappler from the good grappler is anaerobic conditioning. A lot of people have good endurance, but can't go all out for a minute or two, and a lot of people are extremely strong, but can't sustain that strength over a minute of two.
There are a lot of ways to train anaerobic conditioning. Sprinting is an excellent way, but what if you want something you can do in your apartment? Grappling is obviously the number one way, but what if you have no one to grapple with? My ideas below are adapted from drills I've done over the years. Some I learned directly from and instruction and some are from video. Much of the idea come from an exercise called "The Drill." It was taught to me by Pat Miletich, while we trained at Nick Tarpin's in Davenport Iowa. It is a partner based drill. My first partner was Joe Slick. I still remember the feeling of DEATH! The drills below are designed to do without a partner. I rarely train with anyone. When I do, I prefer to take advantage of the situation and grapple.
The drills below can be done in any order. Sometimes I only do one of them. Other times I will do several. The times and rest periods (if any) can also be varied. If you plan to fight, you might want to tailor the drill to the length of the rounds etc. When I'm really trying two push my conditioning, I have two favorites. One is to pick 3 of the drills and do them for 4 minutes each, with a 1 minute rest in between. The other is to pick three of them and do them for 2 minutes each, non-stop.
The Drill's
1. Sprawling----I consider this to be a core drill. I almost always do it, as part or all of the complete drill. I didn't take pictures as I felt everyone would know how to do it. Jog in place between sprawls. Be sure to keep you hands up, as if someone is striking at you. When you sprawl, keep you hips down, against the mat. Your feet should be pointed back and flat, so if someone was pushing on your shoulders, your feet will slide.
2. Knee on chest----Use a heavy bag or grappling dummy. Put you knee where the chest would be. Throw several strikes, I usually do two, then hop to the other side and repeat. Always wear proper hand protection.
2. Sperry---This was named after Mario Sperry. I saw him to something every similar on a video. Get on one knee and one foot, as shown on the pictures below. Throw hooks to what would be the floating ribs and straight strikes to what would be the abs. I usually throw 2 to the floaters and 1 straight down. Then hop up on both feet and strike down. I usually throw 2 strikes. Then get down on one knee and one foot on the other side of the bag and repeat.
3. All out attack----Atack the bag like it's a rich mama's boy! Mount and through strikes, take side control and throw elbows and knees, take guard and throw more strikes. Use any position and any strike. ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK.... Shown below if an head smash. It would work better on cement!!!
4. OTHERS---There are a lot of other things you can do. Grab the bag lift it and smash it to the ground. Get the bag in your guard and attack. Clean the bag to either shoulder. Clean the bag and lift overhead. Another good one is to take mount and simulate doing an straight armbar. Then quickly remount and repeat. I really like this one, but lack the room to do it without hitting my head on occasion! There are many more. Use your imagination!!