I trained with Denis Kang for the first five or six years of his MMA career. At some point during that time he became very, very difficult to sweep. Partially this was due to his increasing technical knowledge, but it was also more than that. … [Read more...]
Paulson Podcast
My friend and coach Erik Paulson was recently featured on the MMA Podcast Carson's Corner. … [Read more...]
Congratulations to a Leglock Master
Oleg Taktarov was one of the early pioneers in the UFC. Coming from a sambo background he had a very distinctive skill set. And nobody had more heart!! I'm delighted that Oleg recently stepped back into the cage and defeated Mark Kerr with a kneebar, which has always been one of Oleg's signature moves. Oleg was very influential on my leglock game development, both in terms of technique and … [Read more...]
Grappling/MMA Circuit Training Videos
When people think of conditioning they often imagine people doing cardio and strength training separately. In this paradigm you might run in the morning and then lift weights in the afternoon … [Read more...]
Integrating Striking, Wrestling & Grappling
A grapplearts reader writes: Q: You say that there are 3 main components to MMA: is it important to train these 3 components together or train them separately? For example should you add strikes to the clinch or just wrestle? … [Read more...]
Trust Your Spider Sense
Most instructors, motivators and 'experts' will tell you to train, train, train. Today I am going to tell you the exact opposite: there are some days when you shouldn't go within a hundred yards of a mat. The trick is figuring out which days those are. … [Read more...]
My Favorite Hightlight Reel
It seems like every MMA, BJJ and submission grappling competitor has a highlight video nowadays, and I'm going to share my favorite one with you. … [Read more...]
Congratulations Denis Kang
My friend and training partner Denis Kang recently fought in the Pride Grand Prix, in the Yokohama Arena, Japan. To get to this point in the world's most prestigious welterweight tournament he had already knocked out Brazilian fighter Murilo 'Ninja' Rua … [Read more...]
Denis Wins in Pride
I am very happy to announce that my once-training-partner Denis Kang has advanced further in the Pride 'Survival' Middleweight tournament! To move to the semi-finals he decisively took out Amar Suloev, no mean feat given that Suloev had dispatched veteran BJJ fighter Murilo Bustamante in the first round of the tournament. … [Read more...]
Grappling Dominance
The following question was submitted by a subscriber of the Grapplearts newsletter. Q: Why did grappling dominate early NHB / MMA events, but now striking seems to have the edge" A: I think that the increased emphasis on striking is due to several factors. … [Read more...]
Wrestling Don’t Get No Respect?
Ever since I wrote my Royce vs Hughes opinion piece I've been getting occasional emails politely accusing me of disrespecting wrestling. Nothing could be further from the truth. I believe that wrestling - freestyle, Greco-Roman and catch - has had a HUGE influence on modern MMA. … [Read more...]
Blood in the Water: MMA Killer Instinct
On June 4th Denis Kang did it again. Fighting in the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix he took on feared striker Murilo "Ninja" Rua from the Chuteboxe Academy. The fight did not go long: he KO'd Ninja in 12 seconds! … [Read more...]
Royce Gracie Vs. Matt Hughes: Jiu-jitsu Wins!
Last Saturday night Matt Hughes decisively defeated Royce Gracie in a much promoted UFC matchup. One of the most interesting things about this fight was that mixed martial arts have come full circle, with Matt defeating Royce using a strategy first popularized by Royce himself. … [Read more...]
Congratulations Denis Kang!
Congratulations to my friend, team-mate, and former training partner Denis Kang who defeated dangerous striker Mark Weir at Pride Bushido last Sunday. The fight ended at 4:55 of the first round after Denis landed a devastating series of punches and knees. … [Read more...]
DVD Announcement
My Mixed Martial Arts, the instructional DVD featuring the favorite MMA techniques and training drills of Denis Kang is NOW AVAILABLE. I have been working on this video for 7 months, during which time Denis has won two fights in Pride, the biggest and most prestigious MMA event in the world. … [Read more...]
The Anaconda Choke
The Anaconda Choke used to be a relatively unknown choke that has now been making waves in MMA for a couple of years. It's a rolling head and arm guillotine used by fighters like Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira in Japanese Pride, Randy Couture in the UFC and Denis Kang in Russian M1. … [Read more...]
Eat, Sleep, Train
First I’d like to congratulate friend and former training partner Denis Kang on his recent victory in Pride Bushido 8 in Japan. He out-punched and out-grappled UFC veteran Andrei Semov to earn a unanimous decision. Even more impressive is the fact that he broke his right hand 4 minutes into the fight, … [Read more...]
So You Wanna be a MMA Fighter?
It must have been the climax of The Ultimate Fighter TV show that did it: last week I recieved multiple emails asking me how to go about getting started in MMA. Now I am not an MMA expert, but I have participated in the training of several top-notch MMA fighters, so I have a few ideas on the topic. … [Read more...]