Watch the footage a couple of times. The first time, everything is a shock, but you need to get used to the fact that you aren't doing what you thought you were. Repeated viewings will make you comfortable with watching yourself and help you pick out the little things.
Think like an opponent. What do you see you doing well? How would you counter it? What is the biggest error you're making? How would someone take advantage of that?
Take notes. What is the easiest thing for you to improve? What can you put on the back burner, as it were, because you're doing it well? Give some thought to this and you'll find that you can really improve the efficiency of your training. Which of your habits are symptoms of bad technique and which ones are symptoms of a poor mindset? Be honest.
Structure your future training around the things that you need to improve.
Make another tape. Have you improved? If so, cool. Now move on to the next set of bad habits. If not, why? Do you need to restructure your training again, or do you just need more time?
Oh, who am I kiding? :)
* As an aside, getting over yourself is one of the best things you can do in your life. Sifu Z has some great insight into this, but that's for another time.
Despite this video being in a whole bunch of languages you probably don't understand, stick around for the first minute to see what the CroCop drill looks like:
I remember catching this video over a year ago and then setting up the bags for ski hops and, since I couldn't get anyone else to do it with me, sprawls and shadow boxing. I don't know how long that first cycle was, but by the time I was done, I had an audience. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I dunno, but I'm never doing it again."
I tried to put it out of my mind until one day I talked to our resident MMA fighters. They were looking for something to do at the end of their training session. I brought up the CroCop drill and they both rolled their eyes.
I wasn't in for their next session, but Jim was excited. "Dude, we tried that CroCop drill! Eric puked!"
Now those sadists can't get enough.
The CroCop drill is what Enamait refers to as a "finisher drill" - something you do at the end of a workout to exhaust yourself. Although this drill does a good job of simulating a fight with semi-random pacing and not necessarily allowing you to catch your breath (as well as working the alactic and anerobic pathways). I don't recommend doing this as a warmup exercise - all but the most superbly conditioned and relaxed people will be dying by the end of one or two rounds and training after that is only an invitation to get hurt.
Here's how the drill works for those who couldn't make heads or tails of the video.
Set up three heavy bags or grappling dummies or whatever you have available to you approximately. one ski-hop apart. Keep in mind that you're going to be hopping while tired as hell in a few minutes, so make sure that whatever you're jumping over isn't too tall.
Depending on how many people you have, one or two will grab Thai pads, focus mitts or a Thai suitcase and stand at the edges of your course.
As the "crocop" ski hops from side to side, the pad holders will shout out combinations for the crocop to do. It is very important that the holders keep in mind the relative energy level of the crocop. The goal is to just barely get through the whole five minutes (or three, or whatever), not to waste a guy in the first minute and then watch him trip and hit his head.
Of course, you can add any variations in that you want to. Anderson Silva does something similar where he ski hops across a rope and as soon as his feet touch the ground, is immediately attacked by the guys holding the pads before doing his combos.
Another variation that just came to mind was setting up the bob-and-weave rope in the ring and the hopping over a bag, bobbing under the rope three times and then going over the other bag.
The first couple times you set this up in the gym, people will walk over and ask what you're doing. The first reaction is generally something like, "cool, can I hop in?" Then when you say, "sure, why don't you watch us do a round so you can see what it is," they disappear before the round's over. After doing this three or four times, the gym will clear out when you start dragging the bags around.
It's a good way to reserve the ring if nothing else....
This might look a little freaky, but this video of Renato Tavares working on a stability ball shows some pretty cool ways to use the ball to simulate a scrambling opponent and work on your balance. Between this and some drills on the grappling dummy (which we'll cover soon), you've got some great options for training ground and pound when you can't work with a partner.
I won't admit to trying this at home and falling on my head. Because I didn't. Seriously.
Update: We did grab a couple balls and tried it before our MMA workout today - the first fifteen minutes or so saw balls shooting across the room and guys falling flat on their backs, but after that, we got the hang of it and were able to do some pretty cool stuff that carried over nicely into a GNP drill we were working on. The only problem is that you need to make sure the ball is inflated properly or it's going to be grabbing your leg hair out.
