You just started doing Muay Thai and a few sessions in and you feel like you’re getting the hang of things. You’re finally learning the basics but getting a bit overwhelmed with all the combinations, techniques and what to use when. Don’t stress because you are not alone! You have embarked on a lifelong journey […]
I recently got back from the annual CSW Coaches Conference hosted by MMA coaching legend Erik Paulson at his gym in California. It was a great experience and I learnt so much from many high level Martial Artists. The first day we got there we trained in the regular evening classes which consisted of one […]
The end of a sparring round and your coach yells ‘change partners’ and there is always that one guy left out… again. So why does no-one want to partner up with “that guy”? It’s probably because people have caught wind of his reputation of treating each sparring round like a world title fight. Sparring in […]
My Fight Career During my fight career I had 16 Professional and 25 Amateur MMA Matches. I had mixed results but I learned a lot from the experience. Throughout this time I never had an MMA coach. I trained mostly at a BJJ club and did additional training at wrestling classes and Muay Thai and […]
I’ve trained at lots of gyms all around the world. I’ve trained all over Europe, in the USA, Brazil, Japan and Thailand I have tried to pick up all the best elements of each place i’ve trained while avoiding the things I felt didn’t work. My dream was to create a gym with high level […]
Long Term Athlete Development in Combat Sports Since the beginning of our fight team we have consistently followed a long-term development program for our fighters. The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Program is commonly found in elite level sports but is often ignored in the world of Fight Sports. Stages in Fighter Development The first […]
Performance Versus Popularity One of the best lessons we learned from sports coaching expert Wayne Goldsmith earlier this year was that ‘popularity is the enemy of performance’. Popularity is easy; performance requires honesty. If you want your teammates to perform at their best you need to be honest with them even if this will make […]
The best part of coaching is seeing the improvement and development of the students who can’t train full time due to family, work, school and life commitments but who still make the effort to turn up and train hard two or three sessions a week every week. I never wanted a team where there are […]
Denis Kelly is a former Mixed Martial Arts fighter and now head MMA Coach at ACSA based in Melbourne, Australia. Denis has competed at a high level in various Combat Sports including Professional Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai. He has fought in the UK, Europe, Australia & New Zealand. Denis has also competed extensively in […]
Recently I’ve been discussing the importance of sparring in developing the technique and skill level of new students. Will students actually improve if the do lots of sparring in place of actual technique work? Sparring Versus Training I believe that sparring is necessary but I have seen countless example of aspiring fighters who did lots […]