Learning to Fight! Conversations in Combat Skill

Send us Fan MailCoach Leigh Remedios is the owner and head coach of VT Jiu-Jitsu in England UK. He is a life long martial artist, former professional fighter  and UFC vet, and a recipient of 4 different black belts. My first contact and introduction to Leigh was an exchange over a post I'd made on a BJJ FB group about shrimping and bear crawling in jiu-jitsu practice being a waste of time.What started off as a terse back and forth led to a more substantive exchange, where Leigh was receptive to some articles and resources I sent him. A couple of months later we hopped on the zoom to chat about training. This chat is episode #6 and was a fun discussion, one in which we found much more similarities in our training approaches than differences. Leigh, as apparent is a very accomplished coach and competitor and decades later is clearly still in love with martial arts and looking to learn and improve. So a great guest and a an enjoyable chat was had.Leigh can be found on FB, and at his gym's webpage www.vtjj.co.uk 

Send us Fan MailMaking the most of our valuable training time with the help of Ecological Dynamics. www.primalmke.com

Send us Fan MailA bite sized and unsophisticated synopsis of Ecological Dynamics, and how it underpins our training approach at Primal MKE. www.primalmke.com

Send us Fan MailCoach Bruce Hoyer is the owner and Head coach at Next Edge MMA, Sioux Falls, ND.  After listening to Bruce talk on the Combat Learning Podcast, I reached out to ask him to further explore his flipped classroom model for BJJ.   Optimizing Jiu-Jitsu practice and balancing the technical and theoretical with the live and dynamic practice can be a great challenge.   Bruce seems to have addressed this largely with a 'flipped classroom mode' where he avoids much of the typical "one size fits all' lesson plan by giving his students the autonomy and responsibility of creating their own individualized lesson plans and strategies in their own time.   This frees up precious mat time for testing and exploring.    After years of tinkering, Bruce has found a system that is streamlined and embraced by his students.   Bruce talks about the evolution of this approach and how he implements it at his gym. He also talks about how his strategy to increase retention and create more robust learning outcomes.    A fascinating talk and a lot of nuggets to take away for coaches and students alike.     You can follow and connect with Coach Bruce on FB or his IG @nextedgeacademy and at his website www.nextedgeacademy.com 

Send us Fan MailMy discussion with Professor Nicola Hodges was all about demonstrations!  Dr Hodges researches and teaches out of the motor skill lab at the University of British Columbia.  I reached out to Dr Nicola to ask for her to lend her expertise and insight into the science of demonstrations and learning in sport.    Being such a big part of our sport and coaching, I was interested in how we might make the most of the demonstration time while increasing the effectiveness of them.    Professor Nicola did not disappoint, other than reminding me I get a little overzealous about the ecological dynamics space that place less emphasis on direct instruction and demonstrations.   Nevertheless it was a great reminder that there are still so many unknowns and that there are many roads to the destination. I fun chat with immediately implementable nuggets of advice.   You can follow and connect with Dr Nicola via twitter @nicolajhodges and learn more at her website http://msl.kin.educ.ubc.ca/home

Send us Fan MailAn information loaded discussion with Professor James Stafford. Dr Stafford has a PhD in experimental psycology with a keen interest in Motor Learning and Skill Acquisition and Virtual Reality. James and I discuss the incredibly sensitive and sophisticated calibration of the perceptual motor system as it pertains to movement in martial arts and sport more generally. James delivers a ton of fascinating insights into what we think is going on and why this is so crucial to the way we train and develop skills. Additionally James talks about the exciting world of Virtual Reality and what is coming down the pipeline in terms of training aids, skill development devices and even concussion managment tools. You can follow and connect with DrJames via twitter @JamesStafford94James is also involved and works with VR developers Incisiv sport who can also be followed on twitter @incisivsport

Send us Fan MailPART 2 of my discussion with Coach, Educator and Professor of Skill Acquisition Dr. Ed Coughlan. Ed and I discuss the growing non-linear approach to skill acquisition in sport and how it can help us design more effective training and development environments for MMA. A two part episode here discusses the slow moving paradigm shift in sports coaching and skill development. Dr. Ed helps clear up some of my nagging confusion and ambivalence in my own coaching methods. Coach Ed has a ton of content as podcasts, publications and YouTube videos and I was honored  for him to add a couple of more hours of it on this podcast.You can follow and connect with Dr Ed via twitter @DrSkillAcq 

Send us Fan MailI finally snagged Coach, Educator and Professor of Skill Acquisition Dr. Ed Coughlan. Ed and I discuss the growing non-linear approach to skill acquisition in sport and how it can help us design more effective training and development environments for MMA. A two part episode here discusses the slow moving paradigm shift in sports coaching and skill development. Dr. Ed helps clear up some of my nagging confusion and ambivalence in my own coaching methods. Coach Ed has a ton of content as podcasts, publications and YouTube videos and I was honored  for him to add a couple of more hours of it on this podcast.You can follow and connect with Dr Ed via twitter @DrSkillAcq 

Send us Fan MailSeason 2 kicks off with a talk with Coach John Kessel. Coach John is an US Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee with over 50 years of coaching men's and women's volley ball at the collegiate, international and Olympic level.Coach Kessel is a strong advocate of specificity and authentic representative practice and empowering athletes through relationships and prioritizing a love for sport. John credits much of the success of US Volleyball to an era that embraced the science of learning and more specifically motor learning for sports. It was a privilege to have a coach I admire and one that influenced my thinking so much on the podcast to share his wisdom.For more of Coach John Interviews, this link provides a collection of many of his interactions over the years. https://www.owltail.com/people/FcUKJ-john-kessel/appearancesLastly, this episode had some sound quality issues due some lost connectivity during our conversation. 

Send us Fan MailWhat was intended as a quick test conversation for a future Primal MMA podcast, turned into a fun and broad discussion of training for MMA and Sam's recent foray into the ecological non-linear space. (So we decided to upload it)Sam is a coach at Ronin Fitness in Eau Claire Wisconsin and has been rapidly gravitating towards the ecological and constraint led approach to martial arts training, in this three part episode we discuss the non-linear vs more traditional linear training approach. BE ADVISED LOTS OF BAD LANGUAGE!!