How to plan a training session - free planner template

This is what I use for planning a training session. I will explain each area. Please email me (see link on the sidebar) if you want me to email a Word template file so that you can use it yourself. The only thing I ask is that you don't sell it, otherwise I'll come after you!

First of all, I email this out a couple of days before the training session after reviewing video of the previous session.

I use the area in red to remind my students/partners of something important.

Group Training Objectives: are broken into:
Review: Items to review from the previous training sessions. This could be from last night, or last year. It should be something that needs reinforcement.
Teach: Obviously these are objectives for new techiques, tactics, or strategies that should be incorporated. They can be as broad as concepts, but should also be very specific. The specificity doesn't have to be on this part of the planner, but should be known or attached for student reference after training.
Demonstrate: This should be a time to show how something they have learned can be used, or what they may learn in the future. Give your students something to think about on the way home, and to be excited about for the future. This is your opportunity to show off in a way that encourages further study.

Training Agenda: This is where you put each bullet point form the Group Training Objectives. Put them into the logical sequence for the class/workout. Make sure that you have a little more material than the time you think you have. Also, plan out the important things first.
I like to have a warmup, then cover:

• review items while you're fresh
• then drills (while still fresh)
• Sparring (getting tired)
• Burnout (I will post on this later for examples)
• Stretch and demonstration. During the cooldown/stretch, talk about what you've learned together and make suggestions for improvement and drills for the next training

Does this help? I hope so. Please send that email if you want this in Word.

Back to work!

TDA Training Planner

Day, Date, Time:	Scheduled Participants:
Saturday, 8/12/06	Nathan, Sam, Daniel
A heavy Gi or BDU top is now required! Coordinate on airsoft weapons for disarms
Group Training Objectives	Training Agenda
Review:	1. Warm-up – includes falls & strikes, shrimp 2.
· Clinch · Front takedown and with leg hook to mount · Rear takedown to mount · Escape the mount, trap & Roll · Escape the mount, Shrimp to Guard
Teach:
· Hip throw to Straight Arm Bar · Arm push and roll to the rear mount, rear naked choke · Front Guillotine, stand and sit · Bent Arm Bar from the Mount and cross mount · Straight arm bar from the mount
Demonstrate:
· Vertical punch to the solar plexus ·
Action Items – Nathan
· Keep hands up, even when they're on the run. You're getting hit with flailing shots · Work in locks, throws, and sweeps · Feint and fake more – practice what you preach · Keep the lead aimed! · Circle!
Action Items – Sam
· When one hand is striking, the other needs to be guarding · Never move straight back – stay on the balls of your feet to move laterally · Aim through the target · Plan your clear before you engage · Counter me by feinting and drawing my counters, then hit me when I miss · Stay in, or always return to, your base fighting stance, you're getting hit when you're out of it · Clear to the side or in at a 45-degree angle, behind the opponent
Action Items – Mike
· Feint and fake!!!!! · Double and triple every lead hand. · Turn in the hip for the Thai Kick, and work on the front kick a lot · Exhale and tense the abs when getting hit to the body
Action Items – Daniel
· Work on closing the gap with leads, doubles & triples, misdirections, feints and fakes · Work on leg-kick defense – checks, flex in, stop-hits, and cut kicks. Takedowns later. · Drill lateral footwork during sparring · Learn the fine points of Thai clinch, knees, and defenses/counters · Protect the groin!

Ideas

· For defense, and to improve using one side, drill with one hand tied to the body.

· Drill fighting with both hands tied for defense

· Don't bang your knees together when you ukemi on the hip throw

· 2/3 on 1 sparring [9-4] – hands

Stray dogs - another good dog attack link

DefendU covers the question of how to defend stray dog attacks in their Q & A section, and, as usual, covers it very well. Please read the whole thing. Also reference our previous posts (here, here, here, here, and here) on this subject, it may save your life. Salient points:

• "carry a rattan cane or stick. I have seen a case where a person intervened in a dog attack with a stick and successfully stopped an attacking Pit Bull. "


• "consider carrying an umbrella. They are useful for thwarting an attack. When you open the umbrella and position it between you and the dog, you are hidden behind the fabric and the dog is bewildered."


• "DON'T RUN! The predatory instinct in most dogs (some are more "prey driven" than others -- some are "food driven") will cause them to chase you and they can run decidedly faster than you can. You will be dragged down and mauled."

Read it. It's good. Also check out the entire DefendU program. I have never taken it, but based on their Web material it's probably good.

Michael DePasquale, Sr., a Martial Arts Legend Passes

On September 23, 2006 at 1:30pm Soke Michael DePasquale, Sr. passed away. The world has lost a martial arts legend and pioneer. A loving husband, father and teacher he will be sadly missed by all. For information on memorial services click here.

On a personal note, I have long respected Sensei DePasquale, an honorable man, a great father, and an amazing martial arts pioneer. I've spoken with his son Michael, Jr. twice in the past year and he impressed me as a man devoted to his father's care (he has been ill for an extended period), and dedicated to carrying on the legacy of the man whom he seemed to admire above all others. This great teacher will be missed, but not forgotten.

If anyone has links or more information on this, please pass them along. If you have personal anecdotes, please leave them in comments, and I will forward this to Michael Jr.

The downside to using a blog editor

As I sit here at Dallas-Ft-Worth, waiting for a ride home, I thought of something I should share with you. Back-up, back-up, back-up, back-up, back-up, back-up!!!!

I use the Qumana blog editor, and discovered something, much to my dismay. When I went from the Manassas PD job to my current one, I realized that I had never backed up the local files from Qumana. I had about 20 or 30 draft posts that were going to be done when I had time. What I do when I have an idea, but no time, is start a post on the editor, then save it as a draft until a rainy day when I can reflect and continue this here fine tradition of writin' that we have at this here blog, by expounding at the length the subject deserves.

Never again! I have a backup drive in that I will use weekly so that this doesn't happen again. It's not as much a tragedy as you all must think because, in my experience, whhen things like this happen, what I come up with later is better than the original. We'll see.

Vice Sting Gone Wierd!

This is a good one. Read the whole thing. "Women Arrested After Bizarre Sex Sting"

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- A police sting took an odd turn when an officer pretending to be a john met a suspected prostitute pretending to be an officer.

Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Connellan said here's what happened Thursday:

A male undercover officer driving in a neighborhood known for prostitution was flagged down by a woman. The woman got in his car and they went to a nearby parking lot to negotiate a price for sex.
She asked the officer if he was a cop and he said no.

'That's OK, because I am,' the woman said as she pulled out handcuffs and a two-way radio. She barked into the radio: 'Move in!'

The officer, concerned the woman was armed and looking to rob him, forced her from the car. Moments later, officers who had been monitoring the situation arrived and grabbed Greene and her radio.

A male officer pretending to be female used the radio to find out who was on the other end. That person was waiting in a car in a nearby alley.

Police charged Lisa Greene, 31, with first-degree criminal impersonation, prostitution and fifth-degree conspiracy. Elena Irwin, 20, was charged with fifth-degree conspiracy and possession of a hypodermic needle.

'We believe these people were going to rob people or extort money,' Connellan said."

New job, new laptop, etc.

I finally have a new computer. You may have noticed less posts since the beginning of this month, and that's because I haven't had a PC to post from, nor the time. We have just about gotten our house completely ready to sell, and the listing agent will be here tomorrow to take the pics. I have already started the new job, and am just getting my feet wet.

Some posts to follow, but the volume will probably only be every couple of days as opposed to two or three a day as I used to.

Next up is our move to the Pittsburgh area, then trying to find some training partners that I can learn from and teach what I know.

More to come...

Handgun disarm - Single hand from the front

Watch as Daniel demonstrates and explains this disarm. We can try to dissect it and go over the pros and cons of this later. I just want to get it out to you. Please ensure that you make sure the weapon is clear (unloaded), and that it's verified by everyone before beginning. We went so far as to make sure there was no live ammo in the building that would fit that weapon. Recommend using dummy pistols, airsoft, and even squirt guns for training, well as many different types of real weapons. Check it out. Comments welcome.

Tags: Handgun disarm, self defense, pistol defense, MCMAP, marines

Moving along...

As I said before, we're getting ready to move, and I will now work for a law enforcement vendor, rather than a PD, so I am goin' private sector! I've been painting, moving boxes, doing minor repairs, and whatever else my wife tells me to do. We just had a leak repaired that we didn't know about until we moved some things out of the way that we never move. Oh well, it's just money, right?

I had my last training on Saturday with my friends and training partners/students, and have handed the reins over to the group. They will spin off a blog and we will link to each other. I may be able to get a training date or two in with them, and hope to see them at seminars or other events.

Folks, it's all about the friends you make, and really, how good a friend you can be. They say parting is sweet sorrow, and well, I can say that's true. I have made a lot of good friends in training, the Manassas PD and the City of Manassas, and will miss them.

Post will be infrequent, and probably happen only when I have insomnia, or can only move my fingers - I am helping pack and so forth. More later...

Remembrance of a Day of Terror: A September 11 Retrospective

Read this The Patriot Post - Day of Terror: A September 11 Retrospective. September 11, 2001, I was working in my office on a beautiful, sunny morning (Virginia). I remember being alerted by the lieutenant in the office next to mine that something had just happened. I rushed over in time to watch live footage of the World Trade Center tower that had been hit by an airliner a few minutes before. As we watched in horror, another plane careened toward, then slammed into the WTC. It's been said before, and was said many time since that day - everything changed, we were under attack! As we watched, in the skies above DC, another plane was about to hit the Pentagon, and I began to worry for the life of my mother, an elementary school teacher on Capitol Hill. Like many who were in the area, I worried for the life of loved ones. I watched in awe and horror as those who were about to be incinerated alive, instead leapt to certain death from hundreds of feet, but at least a death of their choosing...

That day has since passed, we have uprooted al-Qa'ida and the Taliban from Afghanistan, deposed Saddam Hussein, and are helping to foster democracy among those who have never known it. We are still a beacon of hope for those around the world who want a better life and yearn for freedom. We are the only hope for those trapped in the gulag of North Korea and the tyranny of the Iranian regime.

Regardless of anything else we do this day, let us not forget...

High-Low combination: Jab-Side Kick

Sam created a nice combination here, the jab brought the hands up, then the side kick brought the lunch up was effective in scoring. Check it out.

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Tags: kickboxing, combinations, sparring, side kick, jab

Heel Hook not so good

Sam, Mike, and I were on the blacktop basketball court behind the PD today and working on some grapplin' and I discovered something useful for y'all: The heel hook hurts when your presumed victim has shoes on. This is one of those theoretically excellent techniques that doesn't pan out in the real world. I got the reality check when I tried to crank it on Sam. It worked great on Mike, who, like me, was wearing some wrestling shoes, but when I tried to apply it to Sam, the pain in my arm from his harder-soled running shoes prevented me from getting it to work. Note to self: If I ever meet Ken Shamrock in a dark alley, make sure to wear boots or Sam's running shoes!

Throw from the Thai Clinch

You have only only two choices offensively when you use a Thai clinch (see this, this, this, and this): knee strikes or throw. There are good reasons for both. As long as you can keep the initiative and land the knee, you should keep doing it. Your opponent will either try to escape, counter, neutralize, or go down from the strikes. If he goes down, great. Counters and escapes have been the subject of other posts (see here, and especially here). Here we will discuss what to do if your opponent tries to escape, or neutralizes your clinch. Watch this series for how Sam handles Daniel's attempt to neutralize his Thai clinch. Daniel has the shorts with a blue stripe.

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Tags: Thai boxing, Thai clinch, self-defense, sparring, throw

Multiple attackers: again, don't grapple!

Sam was off that day, but you'll see here why we say don't grapple versus multiple attackers (see here, here, video here, and here). This is a long clip, and you'll notice that each time, Sam engages the attackers and they hang on. There was a brief pause as Sam and Daniel took out one of the walls, but other than that it's a good illustration. COMMENTS WELCOME.

Tags: self-defense, multiple attackers, sparring, grappling

Today's TDA Tip: Training to Miss

I attended a Bill "Superfoot" Wallace in 1994 (when I was only 10, OK 27!), and picked up this bit of advice, which I will pass along to you: "Train to miss." Those may not be his exact words, but his point was that the facts are that you will miss more than you hit, and that therefore you need to learn to miss properly.

The dangers of missing:

1. You will be over-extended (reaching), and therefore recovery time to proper defensive position is lengthened. This means you're likely going to get hit, if you opponent is half-way decent.


2. You will be off-balance. Have you ever tried to hit a swinging back or shield with a full power punch or kick and missed? Likely you've stumbled forward a time or two afterward. What do you think will happen with a live opponent when you do that? One guess...


3. It's possible that you'll hyper-extend a joint and injure yourself. Obviously this isn't going to happen often, but occasionally, if you miss badly, you'll put too much into it and actually injure your shoulder, elbow, or knee. How many times have we heard of pitchers throwing something lighter than a ball and throwing out a shoulder or elbow?

How to train to miss properly:

Shadow-box a lot, AND hit targets. You should shadow-box about 2/3 of the time, then pad/shields, then heavy bags. Don't hit stationary targets much. Even when drilling, do it in the air for form first, then drill on the opponent or target gloves.

Back to work!

Legends, a nice collage - video

Watch clips of Ali, Bruce, a young Marciano dispatching a faded Joe Louis, a brief clip of Frazier. Very nice.

Keith Yates: What is a Black Belt

I noticed that my post, "What Does the Black Belt Mean Now" getting so many hits, I did a Google query and found this essay by Mr. Keith Yates. I'd recommend it.

Glenn Ford, a Hollywood Hero, RIP

Hat tip: Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. Glenn Ford, born in Canada, naturalized citizen and leading man, was also a patriot, serving his country during three wars. This, from NNDB. May he rest in peace.

He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1939, and served in two wars. In 1941, months before Pearl Harbor was attacked, Ford joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he was on duty some evenings and occasional weekends. Already a movie star, he asked for "regular duty", to be treated as one of the guys, not a celebrity. He later put his acting career on hold to fight in World War II, serving in the U.S. Marines from 1943-45 and seeing action in the Pacific. When he was discharged he signed up with the U.S. Naval Reserves, where he served for decades, rising to the rank of captain. He visited U.S. troops in Korea and Vietnam on well-publicized morale-building trips during those wars. And in a 1993 interview Ford confided that he had also been sent on five secret missions into Vietnam during that war. Asked for details, all he would say was, "They asked me to go, and I went".

Ford also signed on with the French Foreign Legion, while filming The Green Glove in Europe in 1952. He went out for a night of heavy drinking and the next morning discovered he had joined. After four days of arguments and apologies, he got out of it when the film's producer explained to a Legion officer that if they kept Ford, the movie would have to cease production, and about 150 Frenchmen would be out of work.

Boxing Combinations: Jab-Lead Hook Combination

Let's look at one of my favorite combinations and analyze how it works: the 1-3 (see this post on the numbering system).

1. The lead-off fighter (blue gloves) jabs to the face (1). Notice he is pushing off the rear foot, and has his elbow high to protect against a counter straight or overhand.


2. The lead aimed to the face bring the counter-fighter's right guard up and in. Notice that the rear foot of the lead-off fighter has slid up with the punch, and he is now in range...


3. For a lead hand hook (punch 3). The weight has shifted to toward the right foot so that power and weight can be transferred into the target's jaw.

Analysis: Why did the combination work? Two reasons: the jab closed the gap safely, as well as bringing the guard in tight and to the inside. By switching quickly to an outside technique, it takes advantage of the guard being in the wrong place. What made this work was the convincing lead.

Caveat: If you don't throw the lead with conviction, it won't draw a parry or block, and the counter-fighter could hit you with a knockout right as you try to hook.

Tags: boxing, sparring, lead, jab, hook

Beat Down Videos

Nice collection of fight videos. Adding to links.

TDA Traffic Report: August 2006

Traffic was ridiculous! I have to say that I am impressed! Take a look at the graph.

Boxing Punch Numbering System

I'm sure there are other boxing punch numbering systems out there, but this is the one I learned in the boxing gym, and it works well for me:

1. Jab
2. Straight or cross
3. Lead-hand hook
4. Rear-hand uppercut
5. Lead-hand uppercut
6. Rear overhand

Similar to the stick angle numbering systems in the Filipino martial arts, boxing punch numbers help you learn to build combinations and to train a fighter as you have them throw the punches in drills or on the mitts. For example, a 1-1 is a double-jab. A 1-2 is the famous jab-cross or jab-straight. You can build from there, but add in pauses to make them more realistic, and to create openings. I will have a post on one of my favorite combos in the AM, the 1-3. Open-book pop quiz: What is the 1-3 combination?

Tags: Boxing, punch, jab, straight, hook, uppercut, overhand, drills


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All original material is copyright of their respective authors.
All rights reserved. Permission must be obtained before use. Copyright 2006