Sport Fighting

[saldanjt01]

I will be training fighters and the whos got a hold of me grip is important. Anything sport specific that is going to be different than grip competitions and such?

[CMunger]

Thick bar type grip and general wrist/forearms work will transfer best to controlling opponents' wrists. Thick rope climbing (no feet if able) might be an attractive option since it expands the scope of the muscles trained beyond just the hands. If there's gi involved, towel pull-ups would transfer well.

[nickr104]

Thick bar type grip and general wrist/forearms work will transfer best to controlling opponents' wrists. Thick rope climbing (no feet if able) might be an attractive option since it expands the scope of the muscles trained beyond just the hands. If there's gi involved, towel pull-ups would transfer well.

What he said.

[DAN PRAYDIS]

im guessing but sand bags not filled all the way up so you can get a hand full of materal and then do throws and catches would be good for grip

[gerryg]

Rick Walker has a good article on the Diesel Crew site!

http://www.dieselcrew.com/articles/rw%20-%...mbat%20Grip.pdf

[gerryg]

Here is another Diesel Crew article by Jim Smith.....

http://www.fightersreview.com/mma-training...onditioning.php

[saldanjt01]

Thanks a lot guys. I will read those articles. I did not mention it but yes wrist control is a huge deal for many reasons especially when someone is trying to hit you in the face.

[judoboy]

i would say that grip endurance is more important to a fighter, than the average gripster. the articles mentioned above are excellent and, in fact it was those very words that inspired me to focus more on grip to improve at grappling.

high rep sledgehammer work is my favorite grip and lower arm blaster. also good for building core strength and rotational power.

[bencrush]

If you're training gi fighters you could do some of these:

Gi pullups. Drape the gi over a chinup bar (or a power rack pin set high) and grab the lapels and do pullups that way.

Body-supported gi rows. Similar to the gi pullups but with your feet supporting some of your weight so that you can do a horizontal row instead of a vertical row.

Sled dragging with a gi. Very simple. Hook a gi (they're very solid as you know) to a sled and drag it.

And one I thought of the other day but it's a no-brainer: Straddle gi deadlift. Straddle an Olympic bar (or whatever type of bar) and then wrap the gi around the center of the bar. Make sure it's centered before you lift. Grab the lapels and pull until the bar is above your knees.

You could also do straddle gi rows.

If you're more interested in no gi fighting, try this: Have someone lie down on a smooth surface and extend one of their arms over their head. You walk up and grab their wrist with ONE of your hands and then drag them as far as you can. Alternate going fast with going slowly if you want. Great supporting grip strength work and will definitely help your endurance. Switch hands. Try different partners. Have your partner put a 45 pound plate in their lap to "reward" you for being strong.

On another training day, do the same exercise but with their ankle as the part you grab. Your hands will thank you by becoming much stronger.

[Pancake Sprawl]

i've actually made people's hands go numb and limp from gripping their wrists tightly as i go for certain armlocks, so i think power is just as important as stamina. both are equally important, the power means nothing if you don't have the stamina to continually lock it down, and the stamina means nothing if you don't have the power to exert control over the extremity that you want.

but grip is very important, especially in grappling sports and also in striking because the harder you can clench your fists the harder your fist will be, it will feel like getting hit by a boulder in the face when you strike someone.

[twig]

If you know what you're doing, and more importantly, if your opponent does, then the best grip in the world won't help. Leverage is everything.

[Pancake Sprawl]

If you know what you're doing, and more importantly, if your opponent does, then the best grip in the world won't help. Leverage is everything.

this is very true, but all things equal your grip can win or lose the match, because when technique is equal or close to equal strength comes into play.

[Number Ten Ox]

i've actually made people's hands go numb and limp from gripping their wrists tightly as i go for certain armlocks, so i think power is just as important as stamina. both are equally important, the power means nothing if you don't have the stamina to continually lock it down, and the stamina means nothing if you don't have the power to exert control over the extremity that you want.

but grip is very important, especially in grappling sports and also in striking because the harder you can clench your fists the harder your fist will be, it will feel like getting hit by a boulder in the face when you strike someone.

Yup if you want bricks for hands, grippers and block weights are the way to go to beef up the hands and make monsters out of them.

The block weights are key to hand thickness when done with lighter weight and held in different positions in the hand for time. The more time you hold the weight the better with these (like 10 minutes plus...). I actually use river rocks as they are cheap and about the right weight (for me 12-25 pounds-not too heavy) Just keep moving the rock around in different positions somtimes palm up, sometimes down, sometimes to the side. Sometimes wrist curling it sometimes biceps curling it, reverse curling it with your palms down will thrash you thumbs (in a good way)... If you hold a position till you get a pump and almost have to drop the weight and then switch to a slightly different position to work the hand in a different way it works AWESOME. You hand will be swollen and rock hard at the end of the session.

The other thing i've found to pump the hand up is high rep full range gripper closes. They really thicken the hands as well. Gripper strength isn't as important on this, I would do about 150 fully open to fully closed closes on my GUIDE gripper and the thumb pump is incredible. Since you need to hold the gripper in place for a long period of time with your thumb, it pumped my thumb in a way nothing else has. I could actually see my thumb pad start growing and start creeping further up my wrist.

People actually look at my hands and cringe. "I wouldn't want to get hit by that..."

I think someone also mentioned high rep levering which I also love. Hammer above the head like you are pounding a hole in the ceiling and hammer to the front like you are pounding a nail. High speed high reps again to pump the hand/arm. Good stuff. Freaky looking hands afterwards.

When levering I think doing thick handled levering would be best for grapplers. I slid a 2" piece of pvc over my sledge and it's a whole new world. Seems like you could tweak you thumb if you weren't carefull but the carryover should be great.

Sorry if this is exactly what the articles said, I didn't click the link yet...

Edited December 20, 2007 by Number Ten Ox

[Pancake Sprawl]

wow, i really need to get into block weight holds. i never thought of that, thanks for the information Ox!

[Pancake Sprawl]

well i just got a hold of a block weight, half a 25lb. and i can really see how it does explode the muscles in your hand and fingers because i can feel new muscles i've never worked out before when i use it for holds, and it's only half a 25lb, i can only imagine what lifting the heavier ones must feel like.

[Sybersnott]

i've actually made people's hands go numb and limp from gripping their wrists tightly as i go for certain armlocks, so i think power is just as important as stamina.

If I were to give you advice on this, it would be: TRAIN THE ENTIRE ARM. The grip, the fingers, the thumb - the wrist, forearm, biceps, triceps and delts. Do you do any sandbag training? I have a 150 pound sandbag and it's a great exercise just to pick it up, and then put it down and repeat as many times as possible... wow, what a workout!