The First Two I's In Action

Making the decision to train mixed martial arts for self defense can feel exciting and also overwhelming. If you are wondering what you will experience on your first day of training you’re not alone. Fortunately, while the material may change our way of teaching it remains consistent across SBG gyms.

At SBGI, our classes are designed around the “three Is.” In every class, you will learn and practice a technique in the following fashion:

Introduction: Your instructor shows a technique and you work to get technically proficient in the movement

Isolation: You learn the application of timing, distance, angle, pressure of the technique with a training partner who is using varying types of resistance

Integration: You and your partner practice mixing the particular skill into your overall “game” or delivery system while sparring

The following training video shows the first two I’s (introduction and isolation) used in a recent kickboxing class. When you watch the video pay close attention to the following:

0:00 to 2:30: The mechanics of a kick are introduced to athletes

3:30: The introductory mechanics of a “slip step” are introduced

4:40: We isolate the sidekick using “slip step” distance

7:25: We introduce the pendulum step

9:20: We mix the two steps, drilling the slip and the pendulum three times

9:55: We isolate the side kick with the pendulum to learn how to better manage distance

11:26: We tie it all together using an isolation drill w/ the slip or pendulum to better manage reactions and distance.

In the next post, we will take a look at the “integration” phase where we use these techniques during safe, technical sparring.

See you on the mat!