Learning to Fight! Conversations in Combat Skill

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An 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 @JamesStafford94

James is also involved and works with VR developers Incisiv sport who can also be followed on twitter @incisivsport

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PART 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 

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I 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 

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Season 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/appearances

Lastly, this episode had some sound quality issues due some lost connectivity during our conversation. 

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What 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!!

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What 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!

Send us Fan Mail

What 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!

Send us Fan Mail

In this 8th episode I talk with "Sport England's" , Stu Armstrong.

Stu is a educator, talent developer, forward thinking coaching activist and proponent of a non-traditional ecological dynamics approach to learning sport.

With over 150 episodes of his own coaching podcast (The Talent Equation), Stu has collaborated with and interviewed some of the most successful coaches and trainers across a wide range of sports.

With over 20 years of coaching experience, Stu's personal journey and coaching career has been refined by his persistent critical evaluation of coaching methods and continual self improvement.  

In this episode, we discuss the Ecological Dynamics (Non-Linear) approach to coaching. Stu does what he does best. He unpacks and demystifies academic jargon and theoretical concepts and delivers them as easy to understand practical applications for coaches..

Coach Armstrong can be reached at https://twitter.com/stu_arm and his wonderfully informative podcast at https://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/. I very am thankful for his time and contribution to the Primal MMA coaching podcast.

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In this 7th episode I talk with Coach Israel Halperin. Dr Halperin has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Science, and currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel where he lectures and researches.

With a rich history of participation in martial arts as a professional competitor and coach, Israel offers a rather unique academic and practical perspective towards training.

In this episode, we discuss specific and non-specific training and how we might best balance effective skill development, risk/injury mitigation, and the value of various common training methods.
 
Dr Halperin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Israel_Halperin and his research at https://www.israelhalperin.com . I very much hope he will be a returning guest on the Primal MMA coaching Podcast.

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In this 6th episode I talk with founder and creator of "Train Ugly'' and ''The Learner Lab'', Trevor Ragan.

Trevor, is an educator, coach and practice design consultant across several sports, working including, basketball, baseball and rugby.

For the last decade, Trevor has been at the forefront of a mission to optimize coaching, learning and training philosophies.

In this discussion we explore the principles of randomizing and adding variability to practice and how it can be used to design more effective and authentic training environments.

Trevor's body of work is accessible at https://thelearnerlab.com/trevor-ragan/ and his podcast The Learner Lab'' https://thelearnerlab.com/podcast/ is a wonderful and valuable resource for anyone who is interested in optimizing their own learning processes.