If you end up in the ring with Anderson Silva, here is your best groundfighting advice: "Lay down and play dead!"
In the past four years, MMA has become all the rage …
From the frat kids watching UFC, graciously giving advice to the TV on why their favorite fighter is losing, to the local Jujutsu club that implores you to believe that all fights end up on the ground–MMA is here to stay.
Now, whether or not you like being on the ground, there is merit in training from it, AND it will improve your ground game.
Plus, you might just build a nice “Ultimate Fighter” body in the process … that might be nice huh?
So what is this amazing one exercise?
How do you do it?
How should you add it to your routine for immediate results?
Here’s everything you need to know:
The Turkish Getup 101:
I’m not here to discuss the history of the get up or its nomenclature, but you pretty much go from laying supine on the floor (on your back, fool) with a weight extended at arms length, and stand with it. Sounds simple, huh?
Well, try it out. Not so simple, but that is the gist of it. Here’s a step by step.
- Lay on your back on the floor, legs straight out, holding a kettlebell in one arm. For demonstration purposes, lets say you are using your right arm. Your forearm should be close to vertical/perpendicular to the floor
- Press the kettlebell up. Might be a good idea to use a light one first!
- With your right arm up, bend your right knee to about a 90 degree angle–your right foot should be flat on the ground now
- Extend your left arm out, as if you’re pointing to your left. Your arm should be flat on the ground.
- Now, using your right foot to push, you are going to “roll” to your left, onto your left elbow. Once on your left elbow, push with your left arm, so you begin to sit up, leaning onto your left arm. Remember, your right arm needs to be pushing the kettlebell up! Keep that elbow locked!
- Here is the tricky part! You need to get to a lunge position. At this point, your right leg is bent (foot on the ground), and your left leg is straight, laying flat against the ground. You need to get your left leg under you! You need to swing the left leg back, onto your left knee
- Got it? It’s fairly simple, but takes a little flexibility and coordination. From this position, you are in a standard lunge (left knee down, right foot down), with your right arm up, holding the kettlebell. From here, get up!
Getting back down is simple: do all the steps in the opposite.
Yes. He doesn't look impressive. But he has forgotten more ways to kill you than you'll ever know.
What makes this drill great?
- Core work-Your core is constantly braced, supporting you as you try to move up. Obliques, abs, lower back, serratus–its all worked!
- Shoulder mobility and strength-Your shoulder is being constantly worked supporting a weight overhead, in a range of motions, going from “flat” on the ground, to “incline” in the middle of the movement, and to “overhead” at the end. Every head of the deltoid is worked
- Motor skills-Wha? Motor skills? Coordination! You gotta get to standing somehow, so its up to your body awareness and ability. You are teaching your muscles to work together as one unit. This carries over to a myriad of other skills.
But what specifically about groundfighting?
Groundfighting, specifically while in the guard position (or any position on your back), you have to work against something in order to get back up–and that something doesn’t want you to get back up. It forces you to use your body as one unit, whether you’re bridging out of the mount or keeping the guard.
Perhaps the best “specific” application is getting back up to your feet while your opponent is already on theirs.
You can’t just turn over and get up–that would leave you completely exposed. You have to get up but also stay focused on your opponent. The get up trains these skills–focusing on keeping the kettlebell vertical while having to stand up. This is a directly applicable skill to groundfighting.
If you are going to add get ups into your routine (and you should), don’t save them for last–the muscular coordination necessary for the movement would only deteriorate with your fatigue.
They make a great “warm up” or mid-routine exercise. Add them in to each training session–they can be done with light weight for high reps or heavy weight for low reps.
Old timers used to put hundreds of pounds overhead with movements like this–they can be a great supplement to your strength routine, and your MMA training…BRAH!
