Advanced Kickboxing Drills – How to Fight at Elite Level with Mick Crossland

Learn advanced Kickboxing drills and fighter-development systems with World Champion Kickboxer and elite striking coach Mick Crossland. Develop intelligent, adaptable striking through a systematic approach to defence, distance, counter striking, fight strategy, power and pad work.

This was the first full-length Warrior Collective instructional filmed with Mick Crossland, founder and Chief Instructor of The Combat Academy, and it remains one of the most complete Kickboxing coaching resources in the Warrior Collective library.

Rather than presenting a random collection of combinations, Mick breaks down the concepts, systems and training methods he uses to develop fighters capable of reading opponents, controlling distance, defending intelligently and creating their own opportunities to land damaging strikes.

Across the instructional you'll study:

Key Principles of Defence

Effective Footwork & Distance Control

Deflecting & Redirecting Attacks

Blocking & Power Counters

Evasion & Nullifying an Opponent

Intercepting & Disrupting

Creating Knockout Opportunities

The Southpaw Code

Attacking the Body

Systemising Striking

and Kickboxing Pad Work Drills.

Whether you're a Kickboxer wanting to develop a more complete fighting game or a coach looking for a structured framework for developing your own students, this instructional provides an exceptional insight into the methodology of one of the UK's most experienced Kickboxing coaches.

 

Building Complete Kickboxers – Not Just Teaching Techniques

Learning more techniques doesn't automatically make somebody a better fighter.

At higher levels, the challenge becomes understanding:

When should you attack?

When should you counter?

When should you give ground?

When should you stand your ground?

How do you control distance?

How do you disrupt an aggressive opponent?

How do you create openings rather than simply wait for them?

And how do you adapt all of this to the opponent standing in front of you?

This is where Mick Crossland's approach becomes particularly valuable.

Mick has spent decades competing, coaching and developing fighters across different forms of Kickboxing.

K-1.

Full Contact.

Low Kick.

Light Continuous.

Each changes the tactical demands placed upon the fighter.

Instead of teaching one rigid way to fight, Mick looks at the underlying principles that allow a Kickboxer to recognise problems, make better decisions and adapt their striking accordingly.

This instructional brings those principles together into a progressive framework of concepts and drills that can be taken directly into your own training or coaching.

 

 

Mick Crossland – World Champion Fighter to Elite Kickboxing Coach

Mick Crossland is a former World Champion Kickboxer, lifelong Martial Artist and founder and Chief Instructor of The Combat Academy in Barnsley, UK.

With more than 30 years of experience across Kickboxing, Boxing, Muay Thai and Karate, Mick competed internationally throughout his own fighting career and accumulated titles at amateur and professional level.

His achievements include:

• Multiple Yorkshire, English, British, European and International amateur titles

• English Professional Kickboxing Champion

• Two-time British Professional Champion

• European Professional Champion

• World Professional Champion

• 1st Dan Black Belt in Freestyle Karate

• 4th Dan Black Belt in Kickboxing

But it is arguably what Mick has achieved as a coach that makes his instruction particularly valuable.

Since establishing The Combat Academy, Mick has developed more than 40 recognised champions from Area through to World level, with his fighters succeeding across K-1, Full Contact, Low Kick and other Kickboxing formats.

The result is a coaching methodology that hasn't simply been developed theoretically.

It has been tested repeatedly through years of coaching fighters, preparing competitors and solving the different tactical problems presented by competitive Kickboxing.

 

 

   

The Combat Academy – Developing Fighters from the Ground Up

Based in Barnsley, The Combat Academy has grown into one of the most established Kickboxing organisations in the UK.

What makes the academy particularly interesting is that competitive success exists alongside a much broader approach to Martial Arts development.

Students can enter the system as complete beginners and progress through structured programmes, gradings and competition pathways, while advanced athletes can develop towards national and international competition.

That long-term development is important when understanding Mick's coaching.

His system isn't designed simply for an already talented professional fighter.

It's about taking athletes through a process.

Developing their fundamentals.

Giving them a framework for defence.

Teaching them to understand distance.

Building their ability to counter.

Developing tactical awareness.

Introducing structured sparring.

And eventually helping them develop a fighting style capable of adapting to different opponents.

You can see the results of that process throughout The Combat Academy's competitive team, which has produced champions across multiple generations and Kickboxing rule sets.

This instructional provides an opportunity to study many of the concepts underpinning that process.

 

        

What you will learn

1. Key Principles of Defence

Mick begins by establishing a framework for defence rather than treating defence as a collection of individual blocks.

The aim is to understand the different defensive options available to you and how your choice of defence affects what happens next.

Defence should not simply prevent you from being hit.

Used correctly, it should help you control the exchange and create opportunities to attack back.

2. Effective Footwork & Distance Control

Distance determines which weapons are available to both you and your opponent.

Mick looks at how different types of footwork can be used to manage range, control exchanges and put yourself into positions where you can attack while making it more difficult for your opponent to do the same.

For fighters who rely too heavily on combinations without understanding positioning, this section provides an important missing piece.

3. Deflecting & Redirecting Attacks

Not every strike needs to be absorbed on a hard block.

Mick demonstrates how attacks can be redirected to change the opponent's position, disrupt their combination and immediately create counter-striking opportunities.

The focus isn't simply on defending the original strike.

It's about understanding what the defensive action gives you next.

4. Blocking & Power Counters

Sometimes moving away isn't the best option.

Mick explores situations where holding position, using a strong defensive structure and immediately returning with significant counters can be more effective.

You'll learn how defence can become the trigger for offence – allowing you to turn an opponent's aggression against them.

5. Evasion & Nullifying an Opponent

Movement doesn't always mean retreating.

Mick demonstrates how lateral movement and intelligent positioning can be used to make opponents miss, frustrate their attacks and force them into making mistakes.

This becomes particularly useful against aggressive fighters who want to continually pressure forward.

6. Intercepting & Disrupting

One of the most effective ways to stop pressure is to prevent the opponent from establishing it in the first place.

Mick breaks down his approach to intercepting forward-moving opponents and disrupting their attacks before they can develop momentum.

Rather than simply accepting the opponent's attack and then responding, you learn how to break their rhythm and impose your own game.

7. Creating Knockout Opportunities

Knockouts aren't always the result of simply hitting harder.

Often the most damaging strikes are the ones an opponent doesn't anticipate.

Mick examines ways to create these opportunities through positioning, reactions, timing and intelligent striking sequences.

The objective is to make significant shots easier to land, rather than simply trying to throw every technique with maximum power.

8. The Southpaw Code

Southpaw opponents present different problems of distance, positioning and weapon selection.

Instead of treating fighting a southpaw as something mysterious, Mick breaks the problem down systematically.

You'll study ways to understand the stance matchup, identify opportunities and build attacks specifically around the positions a southpaw creates.

9. Killer Body Shots

Elite fighters don't simply hunt the head.

Mick explores how attacking the body can become part of a broader striking strategy – creating damage, changing an opponent's reactions and opening opportunities elsewhere.

Rather than viewing body shots as isolated techniques, you'll see how they can be integrated into your overall fighting system.

10. Systemising Your Striking

This is one of the most valuable concepts within the instructional.

Individual techniques only become truly useful when they begin connecting together.

Defence leads to counters.

Footwork creates angles.

Body attacks change reactions.

Interceptions stop pressure.

Those reactions create further opportunities.

Mick shows how K-1 Kickboxing drills can be used to start connecting these individual elements into a coherent Kickboxing system rather than leaving fighters with a collection of unrelated techniques.

11. Kickboxing Pad Work Drills

Pad work should do more than make somebody tired.

Used correctly, it can develop timing, positioning, decision-making, combinations and tactical behaviours that transfer directly into sparring and fighting.

Mick demonstrates baseline Kickboxing pad-work drills and explains how they can be used as part of a wider fighter-development programme.

For coaches in particular, this section provides ideas that can be immediately incorporated into classes, pads and competition training.

 

 

Who Is This Instructional For?

Kickboxers

If you already understand the fundamental strikes but want to become a more intelligent and adaptable fighter, this volume helps connect those techniques into a complete game.

K-1 Fighters

Develop the distance management, defence, counters, body attacks, interceptions and tactical awareness required to operate effectively under K-1-style rules.

Martial Arts Coaches

Rather than simply collecting new combinations for your classes, learn concepts and drill structures that can help you develop better fighters over the long term.

Competitive Fighters

Study methods developed by a coach who has prepared champions across multiple Kickboxing formats and understands how training needs to translate into actual competition.

Experienced Martial Artists

If you've reached the stage where simply learning another punch or kick isn't significantly improving your performance, Mick's conceptual approach can help you understand how those techniques fit together.

 

Continue Learning with Mick Crossland

Advanced Kickboxing Drills – How to Fight at Elite Level was the first full-length instructional Mick Crossland filmed with Warrior Collective.

It established many of the concepts that underpin his approach to developing fighters:

Defence.

Distance.

Positioning.

Counters.

Decision-making.

Adaptability.

Systemised striking.

Mick has since returned to Warrior Collective with:

Kickboxing Sparring Drills – Developing Fighters

The natural next step in the learning process.

Where this instructional establishes many of the technical and tactical concepts Mick uses with his fighters, Kickboxing Sparring Drills – Developing Fighters looks at how structured sparring can be used to develop those skills against increasingly live and unpredictable resistance.

Together, the two instructionals begin to provide something much bigger than a collection of Kickboxing techniques.

They provide an insight into how Mick Crossland develops fighters.

And with further Mick Crossland instructionals planned for Warrior Collective, this is the ideal place to begin studying his complete approach to K-1 Kickboxing and fighter development.

 

     

The Mick Crossland Kickboxing Series

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to discover the Mick Crossland Complete Bundle.

You'll receive both Warrior Collective instructionals in Mick's expanding Kickboxing series while saving compared to purchasing each volume individually.

 

   

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these advanced Kickboxing drills suitable for beginners?

Yes, although Advanced Kickboxing Drills – How to Fight at Elite Level is particularly valuable for practitioners who already understand the fundamental punches, kicks, knees and defensive movements used in Kickboxing.

Rather than simply teaching more techniques, Mick Crossland focuses on how to use the skills you already have more effectively. You'll learn how to control distance, make better defensive choices, create counter-striking opportunities, deal with different opponents and connect individual techniques into a more complete fighting system.

Beginners can therefore learn a great deal from the instructional, while intermediate and advanced Kickboxers will be able to apply the concepts more immediately within sparring and competition.

Is this instructional specifically for K-1 Kickboxing?

No. Although the instructional is particularly relevant to K-1-style Kickboxing, Mick Crossland has extensive experience competing and coaching across several Kickboxing rule sets, including K-1, Full Contact and Low Kick Kickboxing.

Many of the principles covered – including distance control, footwork, defence, counter striking, interception, body attacks and creating openings – transfer across different striking formats.

The objective isn't to teach one rigid style of fighting. Mick provides a framework that can be adapted according to the rules, opponent and competitive environment.

Is this instructional suitable for Kickboxing coaches?

Absolutely. In fact, coaches are one of the audiences who may get the most value from this instructional.

Mick doesn't simply demonstrate combinations for you to copy. He explains concepts and training methods that can be incorporated into pad work, partner drills, sparring and fighter-development programmes.

For coaches, the value lies in understanding how Mick connects defence, movement, counters, positioning and offence – and how those elements can be progressively developed within your own students.

Whether you coach recreational Kickboxers or competitive fighters, the instructional provides a wealth of ideas that can be taken directly into your classes and training sessions.

What's the difference between Advanced Kickboxing Drills and Kickboxing Sparring Drills – Developing Fighters?

The two Mick Crossland instructionals are designed around different stages of fighter development and work particularly well together.

Advanced Kickboxing Drills – How to Fight at Elite Level establishes much of Mick's technical and tactical framework. It explores defence, distance, movement, counters, interceptions, body attacks, southpaw strategy, pad work and how to begin connecting these elements into a complete Kickboxing game.

Kickboxing Sparring Drills – Developing Fighters takes the development process further by focusing much more heavily on structured sparring and progressively applying skills against live, increasingly unpredictable resistance.

Think of the first volume as helping you build and understand the system, while the second helps you develop and test those skills through sparring.

For anyone wanting to study Mick's approach to developing fighters in greater depth, the two volumes provide a natural learning progression.

 

Below is an extract from Video 6 – How to Create Knockouts, giving you an insight into Mick Crossland's approach to creating significant striking opportunities rather than simply relying on raw power.