Myles Vives's Mixed Martial Arts Training Journal for Fighters in the Philippines: Thoughts on Training with Faber and Drysdale; Teaching Starting in May

Last weekend's Fight Camp was a real treat. Uriah Faber, Robert Drysdale, Shawn Tompkins, Ken Hahn, Jay White, and Mike Springer showed some great techniques in every area: grappling, MMA, striking, takedowns, and even conditioning. Arianny Celeste, the UFC's main ring girl, was there (she's part filipina by the way). (Frank Mir could not make it and sent one of his team mates to handle his session.) In my opinion, this camp was Throwdown's best so far. I was particularly interested in training with Uriah and Rob. I enjoyed talking to them and picking their brains--it made the entire trip worth it.

I will be writing a full report for PinoyMMA that focuses on the camp (i.e. what was taught), so here, I'll focus on some random thoughts about training with Uriah and Rob. The first thing I noticed about Uriah was his intensity and power. Even when he was just demonstrating technique, I could tell that he has a lot of energy and great conditioning. Also, when he demonstrated positions on me, I was pretty amazed at how strong he was for a 155lb guy (he walks at that weight but fights at 145lbs). Some people have told me that for a 140lb guy, I feel like a 155-160lb fighter. Well, Uriah felt like he had the strength of a 180lb fighter.

I appreciate that Uriah is very technical. He has strength, power, and speed, but also has great technique. Now, he isn't a Brazilian jiu jitsu stylist and probably can't tell you about the latest butterfly guard sweep, etc.; however, when it comes to MMA, he knows a lot. I like working takedown defenses when training MMA, and Uriah showed me some great details that I haven't come across yet.

Uriah and I talked about a number of different things over lunch: MMA training and competition, training in Hilo (we both had the opportunity to stay with BJ Penn and train with him), and BJJ training. In fact, Uriah just found his new BJJ instructor--one of the very best out there, Robinho. Since I was a white belt, Robson Moura was someone I looked up to and has to be one of the most technical and successful grapples out there. Uriah told me how he met Robson at an event, rolled, and how Robson was a great match for him. Uriah, even at 155lb, taps out heavier BJJ black belts. Robson is a featherweight fighter. Uriah mentioned that Robson's technique was simply on different level from other black belts he's rolled with. So, he asked Robson to train him and I believe arrangements are being made to fly Robson out to Sacramento.

Robert Drysdale submitted Marcelo Garcia in ADCC 2007. Rob is no joke and he taught some great techniques to everyone present. Coming from a BJJ background, Rob was very detailed and technical when it came to ground positioning. When he rolled, although he was about 210lbs, he moved slowly and smoothly, and showed how great technique can go a long way.

Rob is great at executing Darce/Brabo chokes and he showed us a real sneaky entry from side control (which I will be using a lot!). At one point he asked everyone what techniques they wanted to learn. Justin Lopez and I quickly thought of having him show us more chokes because it seems to be one of his specialties; however, the majority of the other attendants wanted to do some guard work--we couldn't understand why. It was okay though; however, I think it makes more sense to have someone go deeper into what they're good at so that they can show you details that others may not know or teach.

Rob is focusing on MMA now. He's training and teaching and Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, and Jacare is staying with him. I think Jacare is going back to Brazil soon though. Rob's only been doing MMA full time for 2 months, but he mentioned things are going well and he is improving every week. He loves the training and enjoys being a MMA student. He's looking forward to fighting in MMA, but isn't in a hurry. He wants to make sure he's ready. Probably a good idea because a number of great BJJ athletes have had pretty disappointing MMA debuts. Rob doesn't want this to happen, so he's training with some of the best right now.

We talked about how MMA is evolving and whether he still wants or will compete in sport BJJ or submission wrestling. We both shared the same view on things and now want to focus more on MMA. We got to do some guard drills together and it was fun. He was playing guard and I was passing. Our first round, I didn't really know what to expect so didn't mount any kind of offense and he swept me in about 20 seconds. The second round, I was able to fend off a couple of his sweeps and pass to knee-on-stomach, but being as big and technical as he is, there was no way I could hold it. He simply transitioned to a knee bar and in order to defend it, I had to sit to my butt and get swept. Of course, he'd probably crush me if he was going harder, and even if I was going at my hardest.

Anyway, stay tuned for my full report about the camp on PinoyMMA. On another note, I will be teaching at LA Boxing starting the first week of May. For more information, check out the microsite for the specific location I'll be teaching at. They will have their own site up soon. http://www.laboxing.com/sandiego2