Brood 9 Martial Arts owner and stuntman Anthony Eisenhower walks through several agility exercises that can enhance your kicks, knees, take downs, and ground attacks while also building stamina.
In Mixed Martial Arts, you need to rely on every part and muscle in your body, requiring you to train technique, speed, strength, stamina, and explosiveness. With all these different aspects of training, it is easy to miss one part that can really enhance a fighter’s performance: agility training. Through my training in a multitude of Martial Arts, dance, and physical stunts, I have found that agility training is one of the keys to your explosiveness in fighting.
Agility training will help you gain the strength in your core and legs that you need to explode out with your kicks, knees, takedowns as well as your ground attacks. Focusing your training on becoming more agile will also get your speed up and allow you to strike at every angle possible. I have a few specific types of bodyweight agility training methods that have helped me become a better all around fighter and stuntman. We will focus on just a few techniques here and put it together in a small workout routine for you to add to your training regimens. All of these are pure bodyweight exercises and need no extra equipment (except for a wall).
Reverse Wall Climbs
This works your core, arm, and shoulder strength to enhance your takedowns and grappling. Start close to a wall with your back facing it. Place your hands on the floor and place your one foot against the wall. Start walking your feet up the wall until your body is straight and just the balls of your feet are against the wall. Hold for five seconds, then walk your feet back down the wall untilthey are on the floor and then start again. To enhance the workout and build more strength, you can add a handstand push up when your body is straight on the wall.
Roll Jumps
This workout will bring together agility and stamina, strengthening your legs, core, and back to be able to explode into jumping attacks and fast takedowns such as flying knees, jumping arm bars, and scissor takedowns. Start with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees bent. Bend your body and go into a forward roll (as with all rolls, make sure to keep your chin tucked), at the end of the roll, try and shoot back up to your feet into a high jump. On the landing, bend deep into your knees into a low squat and do a backwards roll and explode up into a high jump. Continue performing back and forth with rolls and jumps. To enhance this exercise, instead of doing high jumps, do Frog Jumps to build even more strength and agility.
Frog Jumps
Start with your feet double shoulder width apart and be on the balls of your feet. Bend into a very low squat with your arms raised. From the squat, jump straight up into the air as high as you can. While in the air, raise your knees as close to your shoulders as you can, and have your arms shoot between your legs. Land on the balls of your feet into a deep bend with the knees, back into the low squatting position, then continue with another jump.
Push Up Side Walks
This will build your core and arm strength for your punches, clinch, and ground work. Start in a push up position with your back and hips straight. Walk sideways on your hands and balls of your feet about three steps to your right. Do a single push up, then take three steps to your left and perform another push up.
Wall Jumps
These really work your agility and leg muscles to be able to push off for jumping attacks, takedowns, high kicks, or pushing opponents out of the guard. Begin about six to ten feet away from a flat wall (if you have a matted wall that works with wearing no shoes). To practice, walk up to the wall and place one foot against the wall, while on the ball of the other foot, turn back towards the way you came and push off the wall and walk back. Once you have that down, jog faster towards the wall and jump at it with one foot hitting the wall, turning on it and pushing back the way you came.
Article Information:
This article was featured in the April/May 2011 Issue of the My Mad Methods Magazine. "The Extra Push in the Later Rounds" was written by Anthony Eisenhower. You can purchase this issue by Clicking Here.
Contributor Information:
Brood 9 Martial Arts Head Instructor Anthony Eisenhower has over 15 years of experience studying, practicing and teaching martial arts including Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Coju-jitsu, Capoeira, Kenpo Karate, Gung Fu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Pankration. Anthony studied gymnastics at L.A. Valley College and dance at Loyola Marymount University with the purpose of increasing flexibility and endurance for competition. Find out more.
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