Learning to Fight! Conversations in Combat Skill

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Learning to Fight Podcast — Conversations in Combat Skill

After a year-long hiatus, the Primal MMA Coaching Podcast is back—Rebranded, and refocused as the Learning to Fight Podcast: Conversations in Combat Skill.

Your hosts are:

Adam Singer — Co-owner and head coach at SBG Athens, BJJ black belt, long-time MMA coach, with years of developing novice to elite level fighters. Student of Matt Thornton and SBG's philosophy of 'aliveness'.
Scott Sievewright — Co-Owner at Primal MKE, MMA skills coach and obsessive student of how humans learn to move and fight. 

Together, we dive deep into the art and science of coaching, training, and skill development in combat sports.
 Expect honest conversations about MMA, striking, grappling, practice design, contemporary research, traditional approaches, ecological dynamics, and the messy realities of learning under pressure.

No gurus. No dogma. Just two coaches trying to understand fighting a little better each week.

Same curiosity. New lens.
Learn how to learn.
Find your own style.
Thrive on the mats—and in the cage.

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In this episode, I’m joined by Andy from the School of Grappling, a coach and physicist whose analytical approach to no-gi grappling and wrestling has made him a respected figure in the sport. We discuss the science behind skill development, biomechanics, and training methods that align with the ecological approach. As the podcast nears its conclusion, I’m grateful to have one of my dream guests on the show. Tune in for a deep dive into the art and science of grappling!

Catch more of Andy and his insights on the great Sonny Brown Breakdown Podcast. 

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 In this episode of the Primal MMA Coaching Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Laura Cuijpers, an assistant professor at the University of Groningen, to explore the emotional and psychological aspects of martial arts training. We dive into Dr. Laura's work on agency, resilience, and the application of the ecological approach in self-defense, with a particular focus on women's self-defense. We discuss the challenges of moving away from choreographed methods and the importance of improvisation under pressure. This conversation is packed with insights relevant to anyone interested in martial arts, self-defense, or ecological dynamics. 

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Today I welcome Sonny Sahota from Praxis Gym in Canada. Sonny, a judo black belt and manager of Kensington Judo Club in Vancouver, shares his insights on integrating Ecological Dynamics and the Active Inference Framework (AIF) into martial arts coaching. Sony introduces some of the tenets these approaches, discussing how they inform skill acquisition, practice design, and the balance between training under fatigue and maintaining motor learning. Sonny highlights the importance of understanding athletes' individual narratives and emotional engagement. This conversation offers valuable perspectives on how these cutting-edge theories can complement each other and enhance coaching practices. Whether you're a seasoned coach or new to these concepts, this episode is packed with practical insights and thought-provoking discussions. 

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Coach Rob Cole joins me today to talk coaching within an ecological dynamics framework.

Rob is a long time mixed martial artist, globetrotters BJJ coach and a regular coach at Ascension Athletics in Connecticut. 

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Gray Thomas joins me today to talk about the Ecological Psychology side of ecological dynamics.

Gray is a PhD student at the university of Connecticut where he studies and researches Ecological Psychology.  I enjoyed my chat with Gray and learn more about eco psych. The ecological approach really hangs on the theory of direct perception. Gray took some time today to talk about this and it's implication for sport and movement.

As plugged in the intro.

Some more resources worth checking out are:

The Constraints Collective Podcast 

Danny Hatchers Video Essays on 'Introduction to Ecological Psychology"(Blau and Wagman) and "How we learn to move" (Gray). Danny's Youtube channel is a treasure trove of Eco related content.

And lastly the recently launched Ecological Dynamics for submission grappling podcast. 

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Today's chat was with Pittsburgh Pirate's coach John Baker

John is a former MLB player and current performance and skills coach alongside Andy Bass in the Pirates Baseball organization. 

Also a BJJ purple belt, Ecological dynamics advocate and MMA fan. We had a fun chat covering all things eco, baseball and combat sports. 

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The boys from emergence are back to discuss their recently accepted and published paper on  "Applying an ecological dynamics framework to mixed martial arts training". 

This paper followed their previous publication from 2023 "(Re)conceptualizing movement behavior in sport as a problem-solving activity".

Both of these papers were supported and co-authored by Professor Keith Davids himself a titan in the skill acquisition community and a pioneer of ecological dynamic.

SBG's Adam Singer, The Academy's Andy Grahn and myself were also able to provide modest contributions by way of case studies that were included in the paper as practical examples of the application of an ecological approach at our prospective gyms.

Tyler Yearby and Shawn Myszka plan on further investigation and future studies in the space of MMA from an ecological perspective.  Until then, check out the papers linked above and to access an absolute treasure trove of all things ecological, check out their website at Emergence. 

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In this episode I talk with Coach James de Lacey of Sweet Science of Fighting.

While most discussions on the podcast have been biased toward the perceptual half of the perception-action loop. Coach James talks about how we can support the action side through science informed exercise programming.

While James doesn't offer a specific program for combat athletes, he does give valuable insight and his opinions on where the best bang for the buck comes with regards to S&C for fighters. He also offers some practical and measurable ways to integrate S&C into busy training schedules and simple ways to track and measure.

James can be found on IG here and has a YouTube channel definitely worth checking out if you want some combat sport S&C content that has been research informed.

Thank you to all that listen. Stay tuned for a whole bunch of episodes in the pipeline featuring Skill-Acquisition specialists from all over the world. Here's to an educational and enlightening 2024! 

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Today I talk with Dr Andy Bass. Andy is a researcher, educator, former pro baseball player and is currently a performance coach with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Andy talks about both the mental side and motor learning side of skill development. How the two can be separate but also generally integrate.

I have linked several episodes that Andy features on in the podcast description, and would recommend you check them out if what Andy talks about today interests you.

Slappin Glass Podcast

Beyond Baseball

 Coach Your Brains out

Ride the Grey


Andy, admirably, is not on any of the social media platforms but he can be reached by email. Please get in touch with me if you would like an introduction.