Sprawl & Brawl (also known as Sharkbait) is quite possibly the hardest drill in all of MMA. One guy stands in the middle of the mats and looks to take down his opponent. His opponent can strike, whereas he can only grapple.
It’s exhausting for a few reasons:
- Panic! Everytime you get hit your brain does a mini ‘reset’, get hit enough times in succession (even if they’re very light shots) and you go into protective mode – which means you’ll want to back away. Of course, this isn’t a sport which rewards cowardice, so going backwards leads to more damage.
- Gassing: This is secondary to panic, because usually people will panic and that will cause them to gas. But, if you’re conditioning isn’t up to standards, you’ll begin to panic towards the end of your round. Clinch is generally exhaustive anyone, plus the odds are stacked against you.
- Fresh Opponents: This drill actually punishes you the better you are. If you take someone down, immediately a fresh fighter is in.
Video of Stef performing Sprawl & Brawl (2:33, 38.4MB)
Tips to improve your performance in Sprawl & Brawl
- Concentrate on your breathing: If you do nothing else but focus on controlling your breathing, you’ll survive the onslaught. Remember, it’s better to be consistent than to explode out of the blocks and then gas within a minute. Focusing on your breathing will also help you stay relaxed.
- Keep Moving Forward: The more offensive you are, the easier the round becomes because you’re controlling the tempo. If you’re retreating, you’ll always be at the mercy of your opponent’s pace. You want to be in control, so take control.
- Create Angles: Walking straight forward or back will always lead to trouble. If you’re retreating you’ll just get backed into a corner. If you’re advancing, you’ll just get hit! Look to make angles, and move to side to side.
- Keep your hands up!: You only take your hands away from your head once you’ve made contact with your partner. If you reach while shooting/clinching, you’ll eat unnecessary shots – this is where knockouts happen.
- Keep Driving: Don’t ever, ever shoot and stop – it’s shoot and drive!!!