Learning to Fight! Conversations in Combat Skill

Send us Fan MailI finally snagged the boys from Emergence to come and talk to me about MMA. I have been following Shawn Myszka AKA @movementmiyagi since coming across his youtube channel several years ago. Shawn is an NFL skill coach and movement consultant, co-founder of Emergentmvmt.com, regular podcast and skill conference presenter and co-author of the recently published paper "Applying an ecological approach to practice design in American Football". His biz partner Tyler Yearby also a co-author of the same article and is an educator and speaker on sport science and skill-development for American Football. Both Tyler and Shawn are regular guests on Rob Gray's Perception Action Podcast and are considered to be well informed and passionate advocates of the ecological approach to sport. They also somewhat uniquely straddle both the academic and on-field coaching spaces which arm them both with a deep theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding.Be sure to follow them both and stay tuned for their soon to be launched Patreon community which will be a fantastic resource and information sharing space for progressive coaches and sports academics alike. Should you wish to get in touch with either Shawn or Tyler, they are very receptive and helpful and best reached on twitter or at their website. (See names above for links).I was very grateful for their time and consider them coming on as another scalp, as this duo were on my original shortlist of wanted guests when I started the Podcast a few years back. 

Send us Fan MailUFC vet and UK MMA pioneer Leigh Remedios returns to chat on the Primal MMA podcast.Ireland's 'Team Torres' Coach Martin McLaughlin also joined the chat. Martin is diving deep into the Ecological Approach and speaks about how he is implementing the theory and principles of the Eco D practically on the mats.This was largely an informal chat between the coaches and we shared lots of ideas and challenges we've experienced as we try to get the most out of our training time.It's apparent that both Martin and Leigh are very progressive coaches and passionate about facilitating their team's development ethically and responsibly. To reach out to Leigh you can find him on his gym's FB page To link up with Matthew, you can get him here

Send us Fan MailTodd Fossey is the founder of and Chief Instructor at Integrative Defense Strategies in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today he accepted my invite to chat with me about managing anxiety and arousal in training and competiton, and how getting the right levels can help promote learning, skill development and performance.Todd has been in the sport coaching and motor-learning space for several decades, add to that movie producer, trained psychotherapist and high performance consultant and it's clear he has lived a very interesting a full life thus far.Todd is also both a coach and a student of highly regarded MMA coach Greg Nelson of the "Academy' in MN where trains grappling and bjj. Todd has also built a firearms training and education business that combines gun handling with modern practical MMA techniques and skills.Should you want to follow up or reach out to Todd you can contact him via his FB page, or email todd@gunclasses.netYou can also check out his website and his youtube page where he shares a ton of content about firearm training and personal saftey and protection skills.

Send us Fan MailTodd Fossey is the founder of and Chief Instructor at Integrative Defense Strategies in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today he accepted my invite to chat with me about managing anxiety and arousal in training and competiton, and how getting the right levels can help promote learning, skill development and performance.Todd has been in the sport coaching and motor-learning space for several decades, add to that movie producer, trained psychotherapist and high performance consultant and it's clear he has lived a very interesting a full life thus far. Todd is also both a coach and a student of highly regarded MMA coach Greg Nelson of the "Academy' in MN where trains grappling and bjj. Todd has also built a firearms training and education business that combines gun handling with modern practical MMA techniques and skills.Should you want to follow up or reach out to Todd you can contact him via his FB page, or email todd@gunclasses.net You can also check out his website and his youtube page where he shares a ton of content about firearm training and personal saftey and protection skills.

Send us Fan MailCal Jones is both a Judo coach and practitioner from North Wales (UK). He also recently completed his Master Degree in sports science with a thesis on "Representative Learning Design".Cal is well connected in the skill acquisition community and is a frequent guest on the coaching podcast circuits.Should you want to reach out or follow Cal, he can be reached on his twitter account @CalJonesJudoThis is the part one of a two part episode where we discuss RLD and its implications for effective practice design for skill development. Cal and I also discuss much of the dated and stubbornly held perspectives that are so prevelant in martial arts today.Cal is an understudy of Keith Davis who is one of the giants and leading researchers in ecological dynamics and skill acquisition.I look forward to Cal being a returning guest on the show as we had a fun discussion and clicked well. My appreciation to him and all my guest who work hard to bring the research and data from the labs to the mats. Let's be better at getting better!   Ancora Imparo!

Send us Fan MailCal Jones is both a Judo coach and practitioner from North Wales (UK). He also recently completed his Master Degree in sports science with a thesis on "Representative Learning Design". Cal is well connected in the skill acquisition community and is a frequent guest on the coaching podcast circuits. Should you want to reach out or follow Cal, he can be reached on his twitter account @CalJonesJudoThis is the part one of a two part episode where we discuss RLD and its implications for effective practice design for skill development. Cal and I also discuss much of the dated and stubbornly held perspectives that are so prevelant in martial arts today.Cal is an understudy of Keith Davis who is one of the giants and leading researchers in ecological dynamics and skill acquisition.I look forward to Cal being a returning guest on the show as we had a fun discussion and clicked well. My appreciation to him and all my guest who work hard to bring the research and data from the labs to the mats. Let's be better at getting better!   Ancora Imparo!

Send us Fan MailMy old pal and returning guest Will Massey PhD,  Sport Psychologist, educator, coach, and practicing martial artist.In this episode, Will offers his insight into how we can foster and cultivate independent and self-directed learning within a group setting. We cover, learned helplessness, implicit learning, practicing for performance vs practice for learning.  Motivation theory and considerations. And finally Will gives some practical takeaways for coaches looking to support athletes becoming more independent and in control of their own development. Will is able to pair an academic and theoretical perspective with a practical understanding as both a student and coach of the sport. This valuable discussion given retention, motivation and participation involve creating a positive and engaging psychological training environment.

Send us Fan MailToday's guest brings both a practical and theoretical perspective to skill development in marital arts.Dr. Alan Dunton is a former Irish National TKD team competitor and now a researcher and lecturer at Cork institute of technology.  Alan received his PhD in Skill Acquisition under the guidance of  former guest, professor  Ed Coughlan. (aka. Dr SkillAcq) .I really clicked with Alan and we went down several rabbit holes and discussed a whole lot of different aspects of training and skill development. Alan is advocate and proponent of a more ecological approach to skill development, but also sees utility and in more traditional approach and frameworks.This is part 2 of 2 - and we carry on from where we left in part 1. Exploring disguised and deceptive actions.Alan was extremely receptive and enthusiastic to collaborate when I reached out and i encourage all that enjoyed his insight to follow him or reach out to him on his twitter profile. 

Dr. Alan Dunton, a researcher and former Irish Taekwondo competitor, shares compelling insights into skill development in martial arts. He delves into the nuances between action capacity and capability, emphasizing how isolated training can be beneficial yet context-dependent. Alan explores the importance of attunement to opponents during sparring, the role of perceptual information in training, and the need for a cultural shift in coaching practices. He advocates for contextual conditioning and discusses how fatigue impacts decision-making in competition.

Send us Fan MailI finally snagged him! After months of pestering, Professor Rob Gray joined me to chat and answer some of my questions on skill development in martial arts. Rob is a giant in the skill acquisition space, and his voice has become all too familiar to me after spending much of my last few years working through his huge catalogue of podcasts of his show 'The Perception Action Podcast" . Rob is an Associate Professor of Human Systems Engineering at Arizona State University and recently published and released his book MOVE .While Rob's podcast is very technical and academic, he has delivered in his book a wonderfully concise and digestible summary of how we learn and acquire movement skills. Rob's outreach and coach educational resources have profoundly shaped and influenced my perspectives and understanding of skill acquisition which spills over into all aspects of my life.Life is movement.... Why not be better at it! In a rush to make the most out of the opportunity I tried to squeeze a lot in this 60 min slot. So this episode moves quick and covers a lot. But he's been busy on the podcast tour these last months. So if you are hungry for more. Follow him on twitter @shakeywaits or search for him on your podcast directory.