Hello guys!
I hope you all had some good vacation and spent it pigging out on the table.
Great!
Because now its time to get back in shape! And since every new year should bring something new in your life, I have decided to talk about something, most of the grapplers neglect in their preparation.
The silent partner.
The guy who always stays in the corner, without saying a word, but never gets tired and always takes the best breakfalls, no matter how hard you hit him with your most vicious throws!
The grappling dummy!
First of all, why is the grappling dummy so important?
Because is the best tool for drilling and conditioning with weight and body composure, close to the one you will encounter in a grappling match. And because you will always give up first, trying to hurt it.
Also, it will be your best friend when you are injured or dont have enough time to go to practice.
Now, lets see the types of dummies and their application.
First, the simplest of them all, the Greco Roman dummy.
This one is dull, simple, working horse, made to be thrown heavily over and over again.
It is perfect for grapplers, who would use top body control in their takedowns- judo and greco- roman wrestlers, but also it is a great tool for conditioning in all types of grappling.
You could use a heavy dummy to work on your strength and form, or the speed dummy, to concentrate on your entries and speed of execution.
15- 20 min of throwing a dummy is a great way to warm up before your technical session. They are one of the best instruments to include in grappling conditioning circuits as well.
Next is the Freestyle Dummy.
The obvious difference it has 4 limbs, so here you could combine upper and lower grips for your throws.
Put a Gi on it and it becomes the ultimate partner for every grappling style:
And in case you want to practice endless uchikomi, you could attach your dummy to the ceiling with this:
And go for as long as you want:
Some dummies are specially made for newaza drills and come with softer limbs, allowing twisting in all different directions, so you could work on your passguards, sweeps, escapes and submissions.
There are also dummies, specifically designed for drilling uchikomi with throws, using elastic rope resistance:
And then, there is this strange looking dummy, for work out protocols on pairs, to improve grind, osaekomi, static power, newaza resistance and etc…
So here they are!
Make your pick, name it and get a friend for life 🙂
