The Primal MMA Coaching Podcast

Coach Bruce Hoyer is the owner and Head coach at Next Edge MMA, Sioux Falls, ND.
 
 After listening to Bruce talk on the Combat Learning Podcast, I reached out to ask him to further explore his flipped classroom model for BJJ.
 
 Optimizing Jiu-Jitsu practice and balancing the technical and theoretical with the live and dynamic practice can be a great challenge.
 
 Bruce seems to have addressed this largely with a 'flipped classroom mode' where he avoids much of the typical "one size fits all' lesson plan by giving his students the autonomy and responsibility of creating their own individualized lesson plans and strategies in their own time.
 
 This frees up precious mat time for testing and exploring.
 
 After years of tinkering, Bruce has found a system that is streamlined and embraced by his students.
 
 Bruce talks about the evolution of this approach and how he implements it at his gym. He also talks about how his strategy to increase retention and create more robust learning outcomes.
 
 A fascinating talk and a lot of nuggets to take away for coaches and students alike.
 
  You can follow and connect with Coach Bruce on FB or his IG @nextedgeacademy and at his website www.nextedgeacademy.com 

My discussion with Professor Nicola Hodges was all about demonstrations!  Dr Hodges researches and teaches out of the motor skill lab at the University of British Columbia.
 
 I reached out to Dr Nicola to ask for her to lend her expertise and insight into the science of demonstrations and learning in sport.  
 
 Being such a big part of our sport and coaching, I was interested in how we might make the most of the demonstration time while increasing the effectiveness of them.  
 
 Professor Nicola did not disappoint, other than reminding me I get a little overzealous about the ecological dynamics space that place less emphasis on direct instruction and demonstrations. 
 
 Nevertheless it was a great reminder that there are still so many unknowns and that there are many roads to the destination. I fun chat with immediately implementable nuggets of advice. 
 
 You can follow and connect with Dr Nicola via twitter @nicolajhodges and learn more at her website http://msl.kin.educ.ubc.ca/home

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

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 

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 

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. 

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!!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

In this 5th episode I talk with Michigan State University's Coordinator of Sports Coaching and Leadership, Andy Driska PhD.

Andy talks about different kinds of feedback, what is effective and what's not, and bridging some of the gaps between the Sports Science academics and the day to day sports coaches and practitioners.

Andy is able to do so as both an academic/researcher/educator and long time coach of swimmers and water polo teams.

As in previous episodes we discuss the challenge of balancing effective practice and risk/injury mitigation.

Andy can be reached at https://twitter.com/andydriska and I very much hope he will be a returning guest on the Primal MMA coaching Podcast.

In this fourth episode, I talk with Jeff 'Jackie' Chan. Jeff is the creator of the hugely popular MMA Shredded YouTube channel.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt1ZR07apYANZ3MmlbipIXg and a professional fighter currently signed to ONE FC.

Jeff's training videos and tutorials differ from most typical coaching videos in that he demonstrates the skills in live and authentic situations. 

In the podcast we discuss the evolution of MMA Shredded and Jeff's training history. We also discuss the importance of sparring, authentic training methods and balancing the sparring volume with intensity to mitigate risk.

Jeff has traveled the world training at some of the best MMA gyms. He talks about his experiences and how his own training has evolved over time.

We also talk about the differences between training for skill and training for technique and finding the balance between both to optimize the practice experience.

I have written about Jeff and his training methods before and how I think they epitomize many of the effective principles of learning and development which science supports. https://www.primalmke.com/post/youtube-coaching-why-i-m-jeff-chan-s-fan-boy 
Jeff was fantastic guest to have on the Podcast so early. Enjoy.

In this third episode, we talk with Will Massey. Will is a Sports Psychologist, educator, coach, and practicing martial artist.

Will and I discuss the motivations of Martial Artists, how to foster sustained motivation and participation. We also talk about the types of athletes and students that step onto the mats.

Will is able to pair an academic and theoretical perspective with a practical understanding as both a student and coach of the sport. 

This valuable discussion given retention, motivation and participation involve creating a positive and engaging psychological training environment.

In this second episode, we talk with Irish TKD coach Richie Forde. Richie is a former World Level competitive TKD competitor, coach, and the creator of a tremendous amount of content for the 'The TKD coach academy'. 

Richie and I discuss our perspectives on effective training and coaching and our embracing of the live, chaotic, and authentic training environment.

Richie is a very progressive and forward-thinking boxing coach from Ireland and with his collaborators, is working hard to change training attitudes and approaches on the national TKD scene. 

A valuable discussion for any combat sports coaches who find themselves questioning some of the conventional wisdom and traditional training methods in martial arts. 

In this first episode, we talk with Boxing coach Adam Haniver. Adam is a former competitive boxer, coach, educator, and host of his own coaching podcast, 'The boxing coach podcast'. 

Adam and I discuss our similar journeys into coaching and our embracing of the a non-linear and constraints-led approach to coaching boxing and mixed martial arts.

Adam is a very progressive and forward-thinking boxing coach from the UK and is constantly questioning and pushing back against the conventional wisdom and traditions of British Boxing coaching and training. 

A valuable discussion for any combat sports coaches who find themselves asking the same question. Can we do it better?