Archive for Combat Sports
Saenchai cartwheel kick
Posted by: | CommentsMuay Thai fighter Saenchai is well known for doing his cartwheel kick in the ring and here’s another example of it. It starts as a technical sparring session at first but the cartwheel kick probably landed a bit harder than Saenchai wanted it to… Regardless, nicely done knock out.
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Rob Kaman Interview
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a long interview with muay Thai and kickboxing legend Rob Kaman that just came out:
In this interview, you see him talking with his former sparring partner and the current Mejiro Gym trainer, André Mannaert. They reminisce on days gone by and on what’s going on in the muay Thai and kickboxing world right now.
What strikes me the most is how calm and relaxed they both are. Neither man has anything left to prove and it shows in their demeanor. I always liked that in true champions, they don’t feel the need to rub into your face how special they are. Which is a far cry from some of the attention seekers and diva’s you see in todays combat sports. Read More→
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MMA Against Multiple Opponents, Part Five
Posted by: | CommentsI wrote about MMA against multiple opponents in detail in the past, but this fifth part sums it all up so well. Take a look at this video of a street fight that goes to the ground..
Here’s the full fight:
Now you can give me a load of excuses why this isn’t “real MMA” and how much these guys suck at it and why I’m wrong. I’ll even help you get started:
- Their technique sucked.
- They weren’t in shape.
- They should have done technique X instead of Y.
- GSP would kick your ass!
- You just suck man, WTF are you doing undermining my self-esteem!
- And so on ad nauseam.
I’m sure you can come up with a bunch more “arguments” but that’s not really the issue. Anyway you slice it, the young man was doing MMA when he hit the ground: he got side control, guard, tried chokes, ground and pound, the works. Granted, he didn’t do a good job of it but you didn’t see him try strategies from traditional arts.
The real issue is that this video illustrates what I’ve been saying for so long: Read More→
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Can combat sports get you killed in a self-defense situation?
Posted by: | CommentsBefore I talk about why your MMA or muay Thai might get you killed in a self-defense situation, go read this excellent blog post by Kasey Keckeisen.The man is a SWAT team leader and instructor; he knows what he’s talking about.
Can my MMA or muay Thai get me killed in the street?
Yes it can. Not necessarily, but it can. Before you start writing flaming comments, read this:
- I train in and teach combat sports and absolutely love it. I’ve done so for the last 20 years, I’m not bashing them at all. Here’s a clip form my Sanshou class if you don’t believe me.
- Nor am I saying that traditional arts or H2H systems are the best thing since sliced bread. Yes, I do train in and teach these too. I believe they’re just as valuable as the full contact sports.
- The most important thing: there are no guarantees in a fight, regardless of which style or art you practice, so in a way, the point is moot.
That said, if you’re interested in using MMA, muay Thai, kickboxing or sports karate not only to stay in shape or to compete but also to defend yourself in the street, then I’m going to assume you’re interested in learning the differences between the ring/cage and the street. Because that’s what’ll determine if you make it out alive or not. If you’re not interested in those, then you’re a fool. Not because you aren’t intelligent but because you refuse to accept these differences out of pride. I’m sorry if that offends you but I believe it is true.
I’ve written about the differences between sports fighting and MMA before, so I won’t go over it again. If you want to read my reasoning, go here first: Read More→
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Sanshou training: the old guy against the young guys
Posted by: | CommentsLast Saturday, I participated in a Sanshou training session for the selection of the Belgian national team. I was asked to come take a look at the new talent and also to consider taking up the post of national trainer again. So I put on my gloves and shinguards and spent an hour or so sparring with a bunch of 20-something young guys (and one girl).
Training Sanshou athletes as National Trainer, back in 2002 at the ECs in Portugal.
Here are some random thoughts that came out of that session:
- I can still hang with the young bucks. Yay for me! :-) I’m 39 and well past my prime as far as competing is concerned. I never stopped training since I hung up my gloves, so I’m in fairly good shape but it was still nice to see I could hold my own. Also, these guys are not yet at their peak right now as the world championships are still a long way out. And maybe they were taking it easy on me, who knows? But as far as I could tell, I landed a lot more shots than they did and I wasn’t the one counting stars when that happened.
- My timing has improved a lot. Some things never worked for me when I competed, like slipping punches. I saw them coming but always reacted too late. Which is why I usually blocked or parried them. But the last year or so, I noticed that I instinctively started slipping and bobbing my head to make my training partners miss. I first figured it was because we’d been training together for a long time and I could “predict” their moves now. But it turned out this works just as well with fighters I haven’t met before. Cool. But I sure would have liked to have had this skill 15 years ago when I needed it…
- Nothing works better than basic techniques. Pretty much all I did was throw jabs, leg kicks, a cross here and there. Maybe a hook or two and a few trips/sweeps. I did do one spinning heel kick but only because he was wide open for it and my orientation was just right. Other than one more crescent kick, nothing fancy. Those basic techniques worked just fine. Like I said in the previous bullet, my timing seems to have gotten better as I didn’t throw them as fast as I could have but they hit the mark well enough.
- My basic strategy has changed compared to 20 years ago. Just like most fighters, I’ve changed from when I started competing. I was pretty aggressive back then. Not so much nowadays. I’m no longer interested in running after an opponent and much rather have him come to me (when it suits me best.) That way he does all the work for me. As a result, I’ve developed a more defensive and specifically, a countering style of fighting. It seems to work well enough for me at this point in time.
- The basic requirements of full contact-fighting haven’t changed. I teach my students two things when they start training for competitions. IMO, everything else flows from there:
- You have to be able to generate forward pressure.
- you have to be able to absorb the forward pressure of your opponent.
If you mess up either of these two things, I don’t believe you can fight effectively in the ring, cage or on the leitai. You can fake it for a while and if you’re in shape, that can last for a while longer still. But the first time you face serious opposition, you crumble. Read More→
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In Memoriam, Andy Hug
Posted by: | CommentsJust today, I stumbled upon and old clip of Andy Hug fighting in the K-1 tournament. It’d been a while since I’d thought about him so I figure I might as well share it with you here.
Andy Hug was one of those guys who inspired martial artists from all over the world. He started with Kyokushinkai karate and made a big name for himself as a fighter in that art. Later on, he became one of the most exciting fighters of the (then still young) K-1 circuit and actually won the tournament in 1996. All that stuff isn’t what made him special in my opinion, this here is:
- He came from a karate style and despite all his training, his body mechanics always kept some of that background when he fought in the ring. But he went up against world-class muay Thai fighters in K-1 and actually beat them, often knocking them out. Very, very few karateka were able to do this.
- He was by far the smallest and lightest guy in K-1 fighting. He came in at only”220Lbs for 5 ft 11. In other words, he fought in a style that wasn’t his own and went up against taller, heavier and stronger guys almost every single time.
- He used flashy techniques but did so exceptionally well. He was famous for both his axe kicks and the low spinning heel kick (which I haven’t seen many fighters try ever since). The only reason he got away with it (again, against taller and heavier guys) was tons and tons of training.
- He never gave up. You’d seem him get pounded upon by a behemoth of an opponent, be knocked to the floor and tossed around and he just got back up again. The only way to stop him was to knock him out.
All this is what made young fighters try to emulate him back in the day. I was his size when I started competing and always admired him for having the courage to go up against these huge monsters. But even that isn’t really why I wanted to write about Andy here: Read More→
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Flying cartwheel in MMA fight
Posted by: | CommentsProps to Restita for finding this gem: a flying cartwheel in an MMA bout. The guy then scores a solid knee strike and finished with an arm bar. Nice! The cartwheel is at about 55 seconds
Sakuraba does a cartwheel too but he uses his hands so this guy here deserves some serious kudos for trying it without hands. He did get some help from his opponent who kept him in the air with his feet, but still. Nice work.
Here’s Sakuraba:
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