MMA Techniques and Exercises: Anderson Silva

Pin-point Accuracy - If there is one MMA technique that you need to take from "The Spider's" game, that technique is accurate strikes. Anderson Silva continues to destroy every fighter placed before him, and he does it mostly due to his super accurate punches, kicks, and knees. If you want to become a better fighter, you should strive to develop your striking accuracy to the level of Silva's. So how do you develop this highly desired yet rarely acquired MMA technique? Start by mimicking the pro himself. Watch a few of the videos I linked to in this article of Anderson Silva doing his thing, and learn. One of the training techniques that have been most helpful to me as an amateur fighter is watching the strike order (jab, cross, left hook, rear-leg roundhouse) of my favorite strikers in an actual fight (by watching videos like the ones listed below), and then mimicking that order on a heavy bag. I literally will write the strike order of an entire round, and then go do it at the same pace. You will be surprised at how much this helps your striking. Sure, you may not use that exact order in a fight of your own, but you will be opened up to throwing combinations you may not have been throwing before. It also may be a cardio check. Other ways to develop accurate strikes, like Silva's, in MMA:

1) Focus Mitts

Utilize focus mitts as often as possible when trying to develop this technique. Preferably, obtain a pair of mitts with dots in the center of them (I believe most come like this now) and actually aim for them every time you punch (or kick). Also, have the holder move them around.

2) Marked Heavy Bag

Get a roll of duct tape and cut out little pieces (I use pieces about 3"x3") and place them at different key locations on the bag (chin, nose, solar plexus, liver, etc.). Practice hitting the squares only. Step it up by getting the bag swinging, forcing yourself to move around and now attempt to hit moving targets. This will help your timing also, the twin of Silva's deadly accurate strikes.

3) Sparring

Grab some head gear and get to it. A helpful drill might be making your partner not strike back at first, but move around as much as possible while you (lightly) place as many accurate strikes as possible (at key targets of course).

Accuracy is an MMA technique that every truly great fighter possesses. If you want to be one of the few, give these exercises a try.

This article is part of a series to help amateur mixed martial artists improve their game by providing broad overview of different techniques and attributes that make a complete fighter, and then giving acute insight into how to get there. If you want more exercises to develop different MMA techniques, look out for other contributions to the series.