In Toto Ed
In Toto Tales - May 2026
In Toto Tales offers an opportunity for our students to share a written piece about something they're currently working on or are passionate about. In this latest edition you can read all the news from In Toto Cambridge, from tips for exam nerves, to Kai's pitch perfect adventure, to an overview of mixed martial arts.
A word on exam / test / assignment anxiety
We asked the staff of In Toto Cambridge for messages on how to deal with nerves, stress, or any negative feeling that can arise during exam season.
"Remember you are enough" - Julie
"Don't have any regrets... work hard now and feel proud when you get your results because you know that you could not have done more." - Mark
"Being anxiety-ridden myself, I often found that in exams adrenaline can make you tense up, which can make it difficult to concentrate at all. My advice: drop your shoulders, take a deep breath, and relax your arm and hand holding the pen. It sounds silly, but when you're more relaxed, answers flow." - Serena
"This is a tip I gave my daughter during her GCSE's this year: always allow time for yourself." - Lizzie
Pitch Perfect
I'm Kai, a 19-year-old sports fan and photographer. As part of my qualification, I went to my local football club to photograph a professional youth match and take some pictures of the ground.
The first part of the project was the most important; in order to progress, I needed to contact the club to get permission to photograph the match and gain access to the ground.
The next stage was actually taking the pictures using my own gear and a lens borrowed from college. I managed to capture some amazing shots of the ground and the match.
The final practical part of the project was editing the photos taken. For this, I looked through around 4,000 pictures, and picked out which – in my opinion – were the best. I made a few tweaks to the colour balance and noise, and cropped the images.
A bluffer's guide to: Mixed Martial Arts
The fundamental thing to know is that MMA is a lot more technical than people think it is at first glance. It's not just two angry half-naked thugs beating each other up.
MMA started in the 90s to discern which discipline was the best: karate, boxing, etc. An event was planned to pit artists from different abilities together in a loose tournament. Rules were added to further events. It was surprising in that expected disciplines did not fare as well as expected.
The smallest competitor for that event, a Brazilian who practised jiu-jitsu, was able to beat opponents significantly larger and heavier than him. His approach to grapples foiled his opponents, who were largely unskilled in grappling and ground combat.
"It's not just two angry half-naked thugs beating each other up."
Fighters soon realised that it was foolish to stick to one discipline, so martial artists who favoured striking would learn to grapple and vice versa.
Eventually, around the early 2000s, a unified set of rules for Mixed Martial Arts were established.
These days, MMA contains combatants versed with striking and grappling.
Striking
The fundamentals of striking
Effective striking combines use of Muay thai, kick-boxing, and boxing.
Footwork is the most important part of any combat sport, so to have an advantage, learn your footwork!
Maintaining a slightly wider, more mobile stance for better control, movement and balance is key to managing your distance and striking capabilities.
Grappling
Fundamentals of grappling
Prioritising control over submission, controlling the head and having a solid base is part of having a decent grappling skill set.
Techniques are a very important part of grappling; without it, grappling would be very difficult due to poor body control. It would be much more difficult for you to hold down and control your opponent. However, with good technique, you will be able to control the pace of the fight and where you want the fight to take place.
Grips are just as important as your fundamentals are; these grips include palm to palm, gable grip, s-grip, and hook grips.
