None of the fights were particularly interesting this time around. I thought the Sylvia-Vera match-up would be much more technically interesting, but it boiled down to a much larger, longer opponent overwhelming a smaller guy. Perhaps it would have gone differently if Vera hadn't broken his hand and been reduced to swinging with his elbow on the left side.
Anderson Silva dispelled any doubt that he's simply a better fighter than Rich Franklin. I'm not sure who they bring in to challenge Silva. Dan Henderson might be the next choice given that he's already in the UFC. I'm not sure what the likelihood is of bringing in Paul Filho.
Maybe it's because it was in Cincinnati, but the whole vibe of this show was lower-key than most UFC pay-per-views. It seemed more like a Spike TV event. When the highlight of the night is the cut on Kaleb Starnes's forehead, you're not talking about a memorable event.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Randy Couture
It's probably too soon to assume that Randy Couture really is done fighting, given that he's retired before and would be hard-pressed to pass up a fight with Emilianenko if somebody could arrange it. But I probably wouldn't attempt a summary of his career anyway, since a thousand people are typing it up right now.
I admire Couture as a fighter, and he seems like a pretty nice guy even if he looks like a comic-book thug. But what i find most impressive about the man is that he's still fighting and training at the age of 44. Now, i know that many people have made a big deal about Couture's age, but in my case it's not an astract thing. I turn 44 this year, and as somebody who trains in both the martial arts and endurance sports, I find Couture's durability to be nothing short of awesome. I have some idea of just how much the dude must hurt on some days. There are days when i wake up in the morning after having had a grappling class the night before, and i can barely get out of bed. Couture has to grapple, wrestle, box, strength train, and do conditioning work. He must take ibuprofen like candy.
Occasionally somebody in the sports media will note that guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are still playing baseball into their 40s, but those guys are getting paid millions to swing a bat or throw a ball. It simply doesn't compare to the energy and physical stress that goes into fight training. Couture is an extremely special athlete. Maybe Bernard Hopkins could be placed in the same category, but considering the level at which Couture is competing, he has to be considered a historically great athlete.
I admire Couture as a fighter, and he seems like a pretty nice guy even if he looks like a comic-book thug. But what i find most impressive about the man is that he's still fighting and training at the age of 44. Now, i know that many people have made a big deal about Couture's age, but in my case it's not an astract thing. I turn 44 this year, and as somebody who trains in both the martial arts and endurance sports, I find Couture's durability to be nothing short of awesome. I have some idea of just how much the dude must hurt on some days. There are days when i wake up in the morning after having had a grappling class the night before, and i can barely get out of bed. Couture has to grapple, wrestle, box, strength train, and do conditioning work. He must take ibuprofen like candy.
Occasionally somebody in the sports media will note that guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are still playing baseball into their 40s, but those guys are getting paid millions to swing a bat or throw a ball. It simply doesn't compare to the energy and physical stress that goes into fight training. Couture is an extremely special athlete. Maybe Bernard Hopkins could be placed in the same category, but considering the level at which Couture is competing, he has to be considered a historically great athlete.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Cloud Warriors
I stumbled across an article about the Chachapoya civilization of Peru, who are also called the Cloud Warriors. They also occupied a fortress called Kuelap in the Andes.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Montiel-Melendez
If they show it again, try to catch the Montiel-Melendez bout on Versus. It was a 12-round fight for the WBO junior bantamweight title. One of the best boxing matches i've seen in ages.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Lanchester Models
This is only tenuously connected to the topics of fighting and warrior culture, but i came across the idea of Lanchester models a few days ago. Basically, these are mathematical models of attrition in combat. One of the interesting consequences of this particular model is that the size of the group involved in combat is more important than the skill of the individual fighters, which seems contrary to the special forces model that seems to be advocated for the fight against non-centralized guerrilla or terror groups. Of course, these are pretty simple models and they apply more to traditional combat engagements.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Style of the Week VII: Gatka
Gatka is a martial art originated by and still closely associated with the Sikhs. In my part of the world, Sikhs are little known or understood and frequently mistaken for Arab. Even those who are familiar with Sikhism as a religion are unfamiliar with their history. It turns out that the Sikhs are also a true warrior culture, and a fairly badass one at that.
Gatka is a weapon-based martial art, to the extent that it doesn't seem to have any unarmed component. There are numerous weapons including swords, daggers, staff (the lathi), spears, and battles axe (tabar). However, the most fundamental aspect of the art seems to be the panthra, a footwork form. Some of the sword movements are reminiscent of the Chinese broadsword, but the style itself is very distinct and rhythmic. Here's a video displaying sword and shield techniques:
Gatka is a weapon-based martial art, to the extent that it doesn't seem to have any unarmed component. There are numerous weapons including swords, daggers, staff (the lathi), spears, and battles axe (tabar). However, the most fundamental aspect of the art seems to be the panthra, a footwork form. Some of the sword movements are reminiscent of the Chinese broadsword, but the style itself is very distinct and rhythmic. Here's a video displaying sword and shield techniques:
Friday, September 28, 2007
Endurance Sports and Martial Arts
I really like this post at the blog Jonathan in the Distance. If you're in the rare intersection of martial artists and endurance athletes, it's a great read. This is the fifth post on the topic, so there's plenty there to read.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Why Did Boxing and Wrestling Evolve Differently?
I'm not nearly the historian of boxing and fighting in general that many fans of the sweet science seem to be. A question I've been trying to find an answer for recently is why boxing continued to be a more-or-less legitimate sporting competition while wresting became, well, the WWE. The simple answer is of course that amateur/Olympic wrestling is boring to watch while boxing can be exciting for the right match-up.
I'm not convinced of that though. First, people have proved to be willing to watch grappling in the context of MMA, and some forms of wrestling are major spectator events (think sumo). From what i've read professional wrestling was considered a legitimate fighting sport until around the 1920s, but was declining in popularity especially after the retirement of the legendary Frank Gotch. The answer to the decline seems to have been the rise of the theatrical style now honed to perfection in modern pro wrestling.
Even with the profusion of fight sport on TV these days it's hard to imagine a new professional wrestling organization that tries to have "real" matches, even if they incorporate judo and jiu jitsu techniques. Although some have argued that the popularity of MMA has increased peoples' awareness of pure boxing, I haven't seen evidence yet that this translates to more viewers for live and pay-per-view events.
I'm not convinced of that though. First, people have proved to be willing to watch grappling in the context of MMA, and some forms of wrestling are major spectator events (think sumo). From what i've read professional wrestling was considered a legitimate fighting sport until around the 1920s, but was declining in popularity especially after the retirement of the legendary Frank Gotch. The answer to the decline seems to have been the rise of the theatrical style now honed to perfection in modern pro wrestling.
Even with the profusion of fight sport on TV these days it's hard to imagine a new professional wrestling organization that tries to have "real" matches, even if they incorporate judo and jiu jitsu techniques. Although some have argued that the popularity of MMA has increased peoples' awareness of pure boxing, I haven't seen evidence yet that this translates to more viewers for live and pay-per-view events.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Style of the Week VI: Gladiator Combat
OK, so this isn't so much a style as a category. The gladiators were among the first warriors trained exclusively for sport fighting, albeit of a particularly brutal nature. The word gladiator means "one who wields a sword", so not surprisingly the training of gladiators often involved sword training. But other weapons and methods were used, for example the type of gladiator known as a retarius used a trident and a net to capture opponents' weapons.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about exactly what the combat style of a typical gladiator might have looked like, but there is evidence that gladiators were often trained in set of choreographed routines and that they would fight according to these sometimes in gladiatorial contests. Some archaeologists have even suggested that gladiatorial events were a sort of ancient WWE-style spectacle, although it's clear that combatants did in fact sometimes die in these contests.
Gladiators were trained in schools called ludi, the best known being the ludus magnus that was connected directly to the Roman Colosseum. There were also schools in which combatants were trained specifically to fight animals. Gladiators were owned by men called lanista, who were sort of the Don King/Dana White equivalents of their time. Sources including Epictetus and Cicero indicate that gladiatorial training was also like modern fight training in the sense that it included conditioning and dietary restrictions.
True gladiatorial spectacles, called munera, are mercifully a thing of the past. But apparently, you can still engage in the training of the gladiator.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about exactly what the combat style of a typical gladiator might have looked like, but there is evidence that gladiators were often trained in set of choreographed routines and that they would fight according to these sometimes in gladiatorial contests. Some archaeologists have even suggested that gladiatorial events were a sort of ancient WWE-style spectacle, although it's clear that combatants did in fact sometimes die in these contests.
Gladiators were trained in schools called ludi, the best known being the ludus magnus that was connected directly to the Roman Colosseum. There were also schools in which combatants were trained specifically to fight animals. Gladiators were owned by men called lanista, who were sort of the Don King/Dana White equivalents of their time. Sources including Epictetus and Cicero indicate that gladiatorial training was also like modern fight training in the sense that it included conditioning and dietary restrictions.
True gladiatorial spectacles, called munera, are mercifully a thing of the past. But apparently, you can still engage in the training of the gladiator.
UFC 76
Wow. I was not only wrong, but had Jardine followed up on his knockdown of Liddell in the second round, i'd have been wrong in reverse.
It's kind of hard to believe that not long ago Randy Couture was retired, Liddell was thought unbeatable, and Pride was considered by many to have the superior fighters. The idea that any fighter can win on any given night is what gives MMA much of its appeal, but i'm not sure if fans are going to want a situation where there is no dominant fighter at any weight class.
Personally, i thought that both Tavares/Griffin and Sanchez/Fitch were excellent fights even if they went to decision. But Griffing/Rua and Liddell/Jardine were only interesting in the "what the hell is going on here" way. That's the Rua that KO'd Quinton Jackson and outpointed Nogueira? Very unimpressive. And Liddell was pathetic. When he raised his arms at the end of the fight I was actually embarrassed for him.
It's kind of hard to believe that not long ago Randy Couture was retired, Liddell was thought unbeatable, and Pride was considered by many to have the superior fighters. The idea that any fighter can win on any given night is what gives MMA much of its appeal, but i'm not sure if fans are going to want a situation where there is no dominant fighter at any weight class.
Personally, i thought that both Tavares/Griffin and Sanchez/Fitch were excellent fights even if they went to decision. But Griffing/Rua and Liddell/Jardine were only interesting in the "what the hell is going on here" way. That's the Rua that KO'd Quinton Jackson and outpointed Nogueira? Very unimpressive. And Liddell was pathetic. When he raised his arms at the end of the fight I was actually embarrassed for him.
Friday, September 21, 2007
TUF 6
I'm already bored with TUF 6. Even Matt Serra can't sell the idea that there's some sort of legitimate feud between him and Hughes. It cracks me up when Serra says about Hughes "He thinks I got lucky". Got news for you Mr. Serra. Everyone thinks you got lucky.
Here is the one really interesting thing that i learned from Episode 1 of TUF 6: Mac Danzig is the world's most bad-ass vegan. I hope he wins on that basis alone.
Here is the one really interesting thing that i learned from Episode 1 of TUF 6: Mac Danzig is the world's most bad-ass vegan. I hope he wins on that basis alone.
UFC 76 Predictions
One of the good things about the UFC is that the good fighters get matched up (sometimes, still waiting on Emelianenko/Couture). The bad thing about that is it's pretty easy to lose a couple of fights in a row, which can be tough on a fighter's career. That could be the theme for the night at UFC 76 though. Clearly, somebody will have consecutive losses in the Liddell/Jardine fight since both are coming off losses, and i think it's entirely possible that Sanchez loses to Fitch. Although Griffin won his last fight, he's in a similar boat. He might withstand a loss since he's incredibly popular and everybody seems to acknowledge that his opponent is simply better than he this time, but this would be three losses in five fights.
My predictions: Liddell by KO, Rua by submission, Sanchez by controversial decision. Of course, the only thing harder to predict than the future is a future MMA fight.
The only really interesting undercard fight is the Thiago Tavares/Tyson Griffin match up, since there's some speculation that the winner could fight BJ Penn for the lightweight title left open by Sean Sherk's suspension.
My predictions: Liddell by KO, Rua by submission, Sanchez by controversial decision. Of course, the only thing harder to predict than the future is a future MMA fight.
The only really interesting undercard fight is the Thiago Tavares/Tyson Griffin match up, since there's some speculation that the winner could fight BJ Penn for the lightweight title left open by Sean Sherk's suspension.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Book Review: No Holds Barred Fighting-Submission Wrestling
A training partner recommended Mark Hatmaker's No Holds Barred series of books to me. I'm very skeptical of martial arts instruction books, because my personal experience is that most techniques have subtleties that require both the guidance of a good instructor and repeated practice with a live opponent at various levels of resistance. However, i decided to buy Hatmaker's Submission Wrestling book to see what value it might have.
The book is well produced, with quality paper and good photographs (black and white, but clear and well composed). The progression of the material from stances and drills to positions, takedowns, and takedown defense before proceeding to submissions is very good. It would have been easy for an author simply looking to exploit the current UFC-inspired interest in grappling to move straight into submission techniques, but clearly Hatmaker is a committed teacher.
The photographs are, in my opinion, adequate to illustrate the techniques. That was one of my biggest concerns prior to seeing the book, but i didn't find many cases where the transition from move to move was not clear (the Switch Step takedown defense being an exception for example). The text is also written clearly and generally augments the photos. There are some suggestions that I find interesting and will probably experiment with (for example, Hatmaker's recommendation to try to figure-4 the legs when you have your opponent in guard rather than just crossing the ankles).
On the other hand, my original concerns remain. I think this book serves an excellent reference for someone who already has some training in some submission art, but I'm not convinced that somebody without any previous experience could become proficient using just this book (plus willing training partners). So much of grappling is learning to sense when you have the opportunity for a particular submission, or switching positions to create opportunities. For example, the book illustrates well how to do a triangle choke and you could learn the basic technique by drilling what's in this book. But it won't teach you how to create the opportunity for that triangle, or what to do if your opponent tries to stack you or lift you.
If you're a relative newcomer to submission grappling (like me), I'd definitely recommend the book as a reference. You'll probably discover some submissions you don't know, and depending on the situation in which you're learning the chapters on takedowns and takedown defense might be new material. However, if you have no grappling experience, i'd still recommend finding a good instructor first.
The book is well produced, with quality paper and good photographs (black and white, but clear and well composed). The progression of the material from stances and drills to positions, takedowns, and takedown defense before proceeding to submissions is very good. It would have been easy for an author simply looking to exploit the current UFC-inspired interest in grappling to move straight into submission techniques, but clearly Hatmaker is a committed teacher.
The photographs are, in my opinion, adequate to illustrate the techniques. That was one of my biggest concerns prior to seeing the book, but i didn't find many cases where the transition from move to move was not clear (the Switch Step takedown defense being an exception for example). The text is also written clearly and generally augments the photos. There are some suggestions that I find interesting and will probably experiment with (for example, Hatmaker's recommendation to try to figure-4 the legs when you have your opponent in guard rather than just crossing the ankles).
On the other hand, my original concerns remain. I think this book serves an excellent reference for someone who already has some training in some submission art, but I'm not convinced that somebody without any previous experience could become proficient using just this book (plus willing training partners). So much of grappling is learning to sense when you have the opportunity for a particular submission, or switching positions to create opportunities. For example, the book illustrates well how to do a triangle choke and you could learn the basic technique by drilling what's in this book. But it won't teach you how to create the opportunity for that triangle, or what to do if your opponent tries to stack you or lift you.
If you're a relative newcomer to submission grappling (like me), I'd definitely recommend the book as a reference. You'll probably discover some submissions you don't know, and depending on the situation in which you're learning the chapters on takedowns and takedown defense might be new material. However, if you have no grappling experience, i'd still recommend finding a good instructor first.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Carano Submits Evinger
The build-up to the Gina Carano-Tonya Evinger fight had just about every cliche imaginable, from Evinger's line about wanting to "make out" with Carano, to discussions on Internet forums about Carano's lack of seriousness because she wasn't making weight. In the end, it turned out to be a pretty good fight though (several sights are hosting video of the entire fight). The fight was almost entirely on the ground and Carano ended it with a rear naked choke.
Evinger, a former wrestler, took Carano to the ground with ease, and it looked for most of the first round that she might end the fight there. It doesn't appear that Evinger's grappling skills are any match for her wrestling though. Eventually Carano reversed positions, and managed to get a rear naked choke. I think it's significant that such a high-profile fight ended on the ground, since many women's MMA bouts look essentially like kick-boxing matches. Evinger clearly needs to work on grappling defense (Sherdog says that all of her losses have been by submission), but this was a quality fight on the part of both women.
Evinger, a former wrestler, took Carano to the ground with ease, and it looked for most of the first round that she might end the fight there. It doesn't appear that Evinger's grappling skills are any match for her wrestling though. Eventually Carano reversed positions, and managed to get a rear naked choke. I think it's significant that such a high-profile fight ended on the ground, since many women's MMA bouts look essentially like kick-boxing matches. Evinger clearly needs to work on grappling defense (Sherdog says that all of her losses have been by submission), but this was a quality fight on the part of both women.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Style of the Week V: Glima
I was trying to find a martial arts style from the traditions of Western Europe. I expected to find information on various types of sword fighting, pugilism, and wrestling. However, I was a bit surprised to find Glima, a style of wrestling originating in Iceland (yes, you read that correctly).
Glima is an old art, dating at least to the 12 century. Points are scored when one of the participants is thrown to the ground, so the wrestling does not continue on the ground. The rules stress sportsmanship and fair play, and there's an odd dance-like quality to the initiation of a match. For example, check out this video from a Glima competition in 1932:
Glima is still practiced today, and seems to have retained much of its original character unlike other arts that have taken aspects from other systems. It's interesting to me that while arts involving striking, kicking, or weapon handling are widespread, wrestling arts seem to be almost universal among populations of human beings, no matter how isolated.
Glima is an old art, dating at least to the 12 century. Points are scored when one of the participants is thrown to the ground, so the wrestling does not continue on the ground. The rules stress sportsmanship and fair play, and there's an odd dance-like quality to the initiation of a match. For example, check out this video from a Glima competition in 1932:
Glima is still practiced today, and seems to have retained much of its original character unlike other arts that have taken aspects from other systems. It's interesting to me that while arts involving striking, kicking, or weapon handling are widespread, wrestling arts seem to be almost universal among populations of human beings, no matter how isolated.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
New Movie Based on Kung Fu TV Series
This is from a couple of months ago, but a news report says that producers are trying to make a movie based on the Kung Fu tv show from the 70s. I hope that they make an effort to cast a martial artist in the Kwai Chang Caine role. I like the series, but it's a tragedy that Bruce Lee was not cast in that role.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
What Is Warrior Culture?
I came across an article recently in which the LAPD was criticized for having a "warrior culture". The term was used pejoratively to mean a subculture that considers itself separate from mainstream society and which will resort to violent means to assert control even if other means are available. In reality, I assume that all major police departments have a warrior mindset given that we provide them with a variety of tools clearly meant to do battle: guns, special vehicles, armor, etc.
The idea of a warrior culture could encompass everything from ancient Sparta, the nomads of the Eurasian steppes, the Samurai, various branches of the modern military, police departments, and probably even certain criminal organizations if the idea is stretched thin enough. The characteristics of the warrior culture seem to include
My personal view is that a warrior culture is not either a morally superior subset of society, or a cultural trait that emphasizes revenge, honor, and glory. Rather a warrior culture is a society or subculture that focuses on the practice and refinement of martial methods to achieve some end for that society. This might manifest itself in a nation that wants to aggressively expand its boundaries and resources, or it might result in an organization that is more cautious about the use of force than society in general. I think the latter is often true of the American military. Whether it's Iraq or Darfur or Bosnia, the educated warrior in the military usually understands the consequences of his or her actions better than the people calling on them to perform those actions.
The world of sport fighting and martial arts training can't really be considered a warrior culture even though a contribution is ostensibly made to the evolution of martial arts, because the focus is on the individual. I can't blame commentators when they describe a fighter, or even a football player, as a "warrior", but the other key distinction of a warrior culture is that of course its members often die, sometimes anonymously and without much reward.
The idea of a warrior culture could encompass everything from ancient Sparta, the nomads of the Eurasian steppes, the Samurai, various branches of the modern military, police departments, and probably even certain criminal organizations if the idea is stretched thin enough. The characteristics of the warrior culture seem to include
- There is a warrior caste that is clearly distinct from the rest of the society
- There is a code to which the warrior is expected to adhere
- The group takes precedence over the individual
- The warrior has tools or techniques that are not available to the general population, because of lack of expertise or legal restriction
My personal view is that a warrior culture is not either a morally superior subset of society, or a cultural trait that emphasizes revenge, honor, and glory. Rather a warrior culture is a society or subculture that focuses on the practice and refinement of martial methods to achieve some end for that society. This might manifest itself in a nation that wants to aggressively expand its boundaries and resources, or it might result in an organization that is more cautious about the use of force than society in general. I think the latter is often true of the American military. Whether it's Iraq or Darfur or Bosnia, the educated warrior in the military usually understands the consequences of his or her actions better than the people calling on them to perform those actions.
The world of sport fighting and martial arts training can't really be considered a warrior culture even though a contribution is ostensibly made to the evolution of martial arts, because the focus is on the individual. I can't blame commentators when they describe a fighter, or even a football player, as a "warrior", but the other key distinction of a warrior culture is that of course its members often die, sometimes anonymously and without much reward.
Training Like a Warrior
I enjoyed this post at Pencak Silat Blogspot. I think it intelligently discusses one of the aspects of the martial arts that is sometimes hard to come to grips with, which is that while your training might provide enjoyment, exercise, and spiritual insight it also has to be done with a certain violent intent. My Sifu has said in the past that if you're not training with the idea of aggressiveness in mind, you might as well be playing basketball.
Pencak Silat Blogspot: 9/11
Pencak Silat Blogspot: 9/11
Monday, September 10, 2007
Style of the Week IV: Choy Li Fut
Choy Li Fut is a Chinese martial art derived from both Shaolin kung fu and styles of southern China. It was originated by Chan Heung, who gave the system its name in 1836. The name is a tribute to his three teachers. It is also incidentally the style i have trained in for the last five years.
Like many martial arts, the lineage of the style since Chan Heung has fragmented and diversified in the last couple of centuries, but regardless of the particular branch Choy Li Fut has retained certain distinctive characteristics. One is the set of circular "long-arm" strikes that are added to the normal repertoire of straight strikes. In practice, these can be incorporated into sparring at a range somewhat intermediate between boxing range and kicking range, and if you're careful with your footwork they can be surprisingly effective because of the unusual angles at which these strikes arrive. The second characteristic is the footwork. Though Choy Li Fut teaches fairly low, solid stances, the forms also emphasize quite a lot of angular movement and rapid advancement and retreat. In less stylized form, this footwork can also be applied to sparring as a way to transition to a throw, or to chamber a kick while appearing to retreat.
Choy Li Fut is a very comprehensive system, encompassing ground fighting, joint locking, sanda-style kickboxing, and a ridiculous number of forms, especially for traditional Chinese weapons. The school at which i train also teaches modern submission grappling, so it's a style that's evolving in some circles (our students and instructors participate in grappling and pankration tournaments). There's a lot of debate these days in the traditional martial arts world about the applicability of techniques, and that's especially true with CLF because it is a system with a heritage of combat. But it's also true that Choy Li Fut forms, done properly, look really cool. Here's a decent performance of a Choy Li Fut spear set:
Like many martial arts, the lineage of the style since Chan Heung has fragmented and diversified in the last couple of centuries, but regardless of the particular branch Choy Li Fut has retained certain distinctive characteristics. One is the set of circular "long-arm" strikes that are added to the normal repertoire of straight strikes. In practice, these can be incorporated into sparring at a range somewhat intermediate between boxing range and kicking range, and if you're careful with your footwork they can be surprisingly effective because of the unusual angles at which these strikes arrive. The second characteristic is the footwork. Though Choy Li Fut teaches fairly low, solid stances, the forms also emphasize quite a lot of angular movement and rapid advancement and retreat. In less stylized form, this footwork can also be applied to sparring as a way to transition to a throw, or to chamber a kick while appearing to retreat.
Choy Li Fut is a very comprehensive system, encompassing ground fighting, joint locking, sanda-style kickboxing, and a ridiculous number of forms, especially for traditional Chinese weapons. The school at which i train also teaches modern submission grappling, so it's a style that's evolving in some circles (our students and instructors participate in grappling and pankration tournaments). There's a lot of debate these days in the traditional martial arts world about the applicability of techniques, and that's especially true with CLF because it is a system with a heritage of combat. But it's also true that Choy Li Fut forms, done properly, look really cool. Here's a decent performance of a Choy Li Fut spear set:
Sunday, September 9, 2007
UFC 75
I thought the Jackson-Henderson fight was excellent, though before the fight i would have picked Henderson to win. I was surprised at how comfortable Jackson was on the ground. Against Henderson, Jackson looked close to un-submittable. I hope we get to see him fight Rua again some day.
An interesting trend is that the more well-rounded the fighters in the UFC become, the more fights go to decision. I wonder how that will affect the popularity of MMA.
Mirko went from intimidating top-contender to irrelevant in two fights. That's got to be close to a record.
An interesting trend is that the more well-rounded the fighters in the UFC become, the more fights go to decision. I wonder how that will affect the popularity of MMA.
Mirko went from intimidating top-contender to irrelevant in two fights. That's got to be close to a record.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Women In MMA
On my personal blog I once wrote an entry about women who box and do other martial arts (in summary, i think that whether or not women fight is none of your damn business). At that time, there were quite a few high-profile female boxers (Laila Ali, Christy Martin, Lucia Rijker), but only a couple of women in MMA with any recognition at all. I think there is still significantly less support among men for the idea of women participating in MMA, but it's happening anyway. The premiere issue of Fight magazine not only has a profile on Gina Carano, but also lists her fight vs. Julie Kedzie at Elite XC in February as one of the "10 Fights That Made MMA".
I think that the resistance to women in fighting, especially MMA, comes more from the fighting fan base than from the fighters. Across the country there are plenty of gyms with women training, and plenty of willing trainers. In general, women who work hard and take the sport seriously are eventually treated with respect. There seems to be a fairly substantial base of female fans of sport fighting also, but i think the mainstream fan still tends to be young to middle-age males for whom being a fight spectator is some sort of manhood ritual in itself. Recently, when Dana White announced that it was hard for him to bring Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC because the mainstream fan didn't know who he was, i was surprised. But he may be right. The casual fan may want the fighters to just bleed. Apparently there's an audience for the so-called "tough man" competitions, which are ugly, unskilled brawls.
Of course, White himself is on the record as a non-fan of female fighting, and there's a significant percentage of educated fans who simply don't want to see women fight for whatever reason. One of the oft-stated reasons is because the women are less technically skilled or less physically gifted than their male counterparts. I'm not sure either is true. The depth of talent is certainly less, but one of the good things about sport fighting is that it matches up opponents of similar size. The skill evident in womens' boxing matches and even the kick-boxing style of something like the World Combat League has increased dramatically in recent years. I think this evolution will happen even faster in MMA, if only because grappling and wrestling are such technical sports.
Some percentage of fans, both sophisticated and otherwise, simply don't want to see women get beat up, even by other women. I can understand that. Men at least seem to be able to treat violence against other men more abstractly, so that a broken nose or a submission is simply part of the game. But as i said in my entry on boxing, i think the desire to fight is a human urge, not just a male urge. As the skill level elevates and the passion for competing becomes evident, i think male fans will get past that instinct.
I think that the resistance to women in fighting, especially MMA, comes more from the fighting fan base than from the fighters. Across the country there are plenty of gyms with women training, and plenty of willing trainers. In general, women who work hard and take the sport seriously are eventually treated with respect. There seems to be a fairly substantial base of female fans of sport fighting also, but i think the mainstream fan still tends to be young to middle-age males for whom being a fight spectator is some sort of manhood ritual in itself. Recently, when Dana White announced that it was hard for him to bring Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC because the mainstream fan didn't know who he was, i was surprised. But he may be right. The casual fan may want the fighters to just bleed. Apparently there's an audience for the so-called "tough man" competitions, which are ugly, unskilled brawls.
Of course, White himself is on the record as a non-fan of female fighting, and there's a significant percentage of educated fans who simply don't want to see women fight for whatever reason. One of the oft-stated reasons is because the women are less technically skilled or less physically gifted than their male counterparts. I'm not sure either is true. The depth of talent is certainly less, but one of the good things about sport fighting is that it matches up opponents of similar size. The skill evident in womens' boxing matches and even the kick-boxing style of something like the World Combat League has increased dramatically in recent years. I think this evolution will happen even faster in MMA, if only because grappling and wrestling are such technical sports.
Some percentage of fans, both sophisticated and otherwise, simply don't want to see women get beat up, even by other women. I can understand that. Men at least seem to be able to treat violence against other men more abstractly, so that a broken nose or a submission is simply part of the game. But as i said in my entry on boxing, i think the desire to fight is a human urge, not just a male urge. As the skill level elevates and the passion for competing becomes evident, i think male fans will get past that instinct.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Traditional Martial Arts
There's a scene in the 1980s movie Uncommon Valor where Randall "Tex" Cobb is fighting somebody (i think it's Patrick Swayze) and he says something like "don't try that Oriental martial bullshit on me". Then he proceeds to beat up his opponent using a couple of kicks to the body and head (Cobb was once a professional kickboxer). Those kicks look a lot like the kicks that are taught in traditional Asian martial arts.
I think of that scene whenever i hear arguments about the value of traditional martial arts. It's fairly clear to me that the term "traditional" doesn't mean what people think it means. For some people on Internet forums, traditional is just a term used in contrast to MMA styles. So Brazilian jiu-jitsu, even though it has its origins in the warrior tradition of the samurai is part of modern martial arts, while, say, Shaolin kung fu is a traditional art because the the gymnastic movements of wu shu, which was derived from kung fu in modern China, don't figure into cage fighting. I've even seen a comment on a video of an escrima demonstration stating that it looked more like real fighting than those Asian martial arts.
Martial arts have always been used to teach people to fight other human beings. Sparring and other forms of training against live individuals are traditional aspects of martial arts. In many cases the training has been applied in real combat situations, enough so that its practitioners have learned what works and doesn't work. As others have have noted more forcefully than i could, any place that doesn't provide training against live opponents is more of a fitness club than a martial arts school.
On the other hand, arguments over the relative effectiveness of various styles are still pretty ridiculous even in the UFC era. If i were to meet Randy Couture's evil twin in a dark alley, would i rather know karate, muy thai, or jiu jitsu? No, frankly i'd rather have a gun. All styles of human combat, whether hand-to-hand or stick-fighting or sword-fighting, are essentially pre-industrial relics. You've got to appreciate them for the art, and for the discipline, and for the transformation they can effect on a human being. The term kung fu means roughly "achievement through effort". In that spirit, one can admire a great martial artist just as one can admire a virtuoso musician or a skillful artisan, but that might still leave them unequal to a thug with a gun.
Arguments about, and research into, the most practical forms of combat are a part of the martial arts. Elements of the military continue to train in techniques of hand-to-hand combat, so it's certainly regarded as valuable even in modern warfare. But that doesn't mean that I won't get irritated when some half-trained doofus without the conditioning to last a 2-minute round disrespects traditional martial arts because he or she learned how to do an arm-bar on a cooperative training partner.
I think of that scene whenever i hear arguments about the value of traditional martial arts. It's fairly clear to me that the term "traditional" doesn't mean what people think it means. For some people on Internet forums, traditional is just a term used in contrast to MMA styles. So Brazilian jiu-jitsu, even though it has its origins in the warrior tradition of the samurai is part of modern martial arts, while, say, Shaolin kung fu is a traditional art because the the gymnastic movements of wu shu, which was derived from kung fu in modern China, don't figure into cage fighting. I've even seen a comment on a video of an escrima demonstration stating that it looked more like real fighting than those Asian martial arts.
Martial arts have always been used to teach people to fight other human beings. Sparring and other forms of training against live individuals are traditional aspects of martial arts. In many cases the training has been applied in real combat situations, enough so that its practitioners have learned what works and doesn't work. As others have have noted more forcefully than i could, any place that doesn't provide training against live opponents is more of a fitness club than a martial arts school.
On the other hand, arguments over the relative effectiveness of various styles are still pretty ridiculous even in the UFC era. If i were to meet Randy Couture's evil twin in a dark alley, would i rather know karate, muy thai, or jiu jitsu? No, frankly i'd rather have a gun. All styles of human combat, whether hand-to-hand or stick-fighting or sword-fighting, are essentially pre-industrial relics. You've got to appreciate them for the art, and for the discipline, and for the transformation they can effect on a human being. The term kung fu means roughly "achievement through effort". In that spirit, one can admire a great martial artist just as one can admire a virtuoso musician or a skillful artisan, but that might still leave them unequal to a thug with a gun.
Arguments about, and research into, the most practical forms of combat are a part of the martial arts. Elements of the military continue to train in techniques of hand-to-hand combat, so it's certainly regarded as valuable even in modern warfare. But that doesn't mean that I won't get irritated when some half-trained doofus without the conditioning to last a 2-minute round disrespects traditional martial arts because he or she learned how to do an arm-bar on a cooperative training partner.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Style of the Week III: Arnis
The Filipino style of Eskrima is fairly well known, mostly because of Dan Inosanto and his connection to Bruce Lee. Depending on which history you read, Arnis (or arnis de mano) is either the same martial art as eskrima and kali, or it's a variant that comes primarily from the northern set of Philippine islands (Luzon).
Either way, Arnis is an art distinguished by the use of sticks and daggers as weapons. However, the modern version of the art also has joint-locking and submission techniques, particularly techniques that will disarm an opponent who has a stick or knife. There are a huge number of videos showing arnis demonstrations on YouTube. I thought this one showed a variety of interesting techniques:
Either way, Arnis is an art distinguished by the use of sticks and daggers as weapons. However, the modern version of the art also has joint-locking and submission techniques, particularly techniques that will disarm an opponent who has a stick or knife. There are a huge number of videos showing arnis demonstrations on YouTube. I thought this one showed a variety of interesting techniques:
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Shaolin vs. Ninja
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be funny, but it is anyway:
http://africa.reuters.com/odd/news/usnPEK269328.html
http://africa.reuters.com/odd/news/usnPEK269328.html
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I'm a bit skeptical of this story about how MMA techniques are making their way into street fighting (link from Fight Opinion). Although they're not very specific, they apparently are referring to ground fighting and submission arts. I suppose that somebody might be able to pick up the guillotine or rear choke without too much training, but my personal experience is that most of submission grappling and wrestling is fairly tough to learn, and the vast majority of people who practice it are not interested in being street bullies. I think most trained fighters also understand that street fighting, potentially against multiple opponents and/or weapons is a different world.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Asashoryu
I stumbled across the recent news about sumo wrestler Asashoryu. He was banned from a couple of competitions because he claimed to have an injury to get out of a tournament only to show up at a charity soccer tournament in apparently good health. He is now allegedly extremely depressed and wants to return to Mongolia, his homeland.
In searching for information about him, i came across some YouTube videos of him competing. I've always thought of sumo as being an art that was too stylized and ceremonial to hold any information that might be useful outside of sumo's own world. However, it's amazing to watch these videos of Asashoryu and the way he uses his leverage and strength to beat larger opponents. He also displays a very intense but controlled aggression.
In searching for information about him, i came across some YouTube videos of him competing. I've always thought of sumo as being an art that was too stylized and ceremonial to hold any information that might be useful outside of sumo's own world. However, it's amazing to watch these videos of Asashoryu and the way he uses his leverage and strength to beat larger opponents. He also displays a very intense but controlled aggression.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Jiujitsu Pullups
A cool video from this article at LockFlow.com on varieties of pull-ups that you can do to train the muscles needed specifically for grappling:
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Style of the Week II: Sirum
Or Ssireum. Or Ssirum. Sirum is a traditional Korean art, and it's basically a variation of wrestling. At first look it seems similar to Sumo because of the ring setup and the Satba, a belt which wraps around the waist and right thigh. However, the techniques seem to be more like Greco-Roman wrestling or judo. There's a Wikipedia article on the style, but the best source i've found (that's not in Korean) is the Korean Ssireum Research Institute.
The rules of Sirum seem pretty formalized. Points are scored by making the opponent touch the ground with some part of their body other than their feet, so it's a lot like certain variations of tai chi combat (e.g., moving-step push hands). Also like many wrestling competitions, strikes and small-joint manipulation are proscribed. Although Sirum is still practice today, it's an extremely ancient art, dating possibly as far back as the 4th century AD.
The rules of Sirum seem pretty formalized. Points are scored by making the opponent touch the ground with some part of their body other than their feet, so it's a lot like certain variations of tai chi combat (e.g., moving-step push hands). Also like many wrestling competitions, strikes and small-joint manipulation are proscribed. Although Sirum is still practice today, it's an extremely ancient art, dating possibly as far back as the 4th century AD.
Respect
OK, so Cote did beat Grove. Who knew?
Personally, i thought UFC 74 was a pretty good event. None of the televised fights were complete turkeys, and i thought that the GSP-Koscheck fight and Couture-Gonzaga were both exciting fights. I was happy to see St. Pierre come back as strong as he did. Even though he didn't knock out Koscheck, there was certainly no doubt about who won the fight and Koscheck was clearly bewildered and beaten by the end.
Couture-Gonzaga was only disappointing in the sense that Gonzaga's strengths were essentially neutralized by Couture's wrestling (or "nutrified" as Mike Goldberg might say). Gonzaga got in a few good punches and one nice head kick, but he attempted nothing that looked like jiu jitsu. He was only on the ground when Couture threw him there, and at the end of the fight Gonzaga had no answer to Couture's grounding and pounding. It'd be interesting to see if Gonzaga could put up a better fight if his nose were not broken, but it seems unlikely there'll be a rematch. Couture seems to have settled on a general strategy of trying to get his opponents into positions that are uncomfortable and then keeping them there using his conditioning. Of course, that's a good strategy for any fighter, but it doesn't make for the most compelling bouts. Still, it's always good to see a fighter use their style to its greatest effect, and Couture has really proved the value of Greco-Roman wrestling as a component of MMA.
My favorite fight of the night was Huerta-Crane. Although Huerta was never in much trouble, i enjoyed watching Crane's jiu jitsu. Clearly, his martial arts are not quite that "mixed", but watching the transitions he made and the way he used his hips to maneuver was downright instructional. It'd be interesting to see what he could do with better conditioning.
Last night was the first time i'd heard that Forest Griffin is going to be fighting Shogun Rua at UFC 76. Well, you can't accuse Griffin of shying away from strong opponents, but i'm surprised that Dana White would put such a bankable star up against a clearly better fighter.
Personally, i thought UFC 74 was a pretty good event. None of the televised fights were complete turkeys, and i thought that the GSP-Koscheck fight and Couture-Gonzaga were both exciting fights. I was happy to see St. Pierre come back as strong as he did. Even though he didn't knock out Koscheck, there was certainly no doubt about who won the fight and Koscheck was clearly bewildered and beaten by the end.
Couture-Gonzaga was only disappointing in the sense that Gonzaga's strengths were essentially neutralized by Couture's wrestling (or "nutrified" as Mike Goldberg might say). Gonzaga got in a few good punches and one nice head kick, but he attempted nothing that looked like jiu jitsu. He was only on the ground when Couture threw him there, and at the end of the fight Gonzaga had no answer to Couture's grounding and pounding. It'd be interesting to see if Gonzaga could put up a better fight if his nose were not broken, but it seems unlikely there'll be a rematch. Couture seems to have settled on a general strategy of trying to get his opponents into positions that are uncomfortable and then keeping them there using his conditioning. Of course, that's a good strategy for any fighter, but it doesn't make for the most compelling bouts. Still, it's always good to see a fighter use their style to its greatest effect, and Couture has really proved the value of Greco-Roman wrestling as a component of MMA.
My favorite fight of the night was Huerta-Crane. Although Huerta was never in much trouble, i enjoyed watching Crane's jiu jitsu. Clearly, his martial arts are not quite that "mixed", but watching the transitions he made and the way he used his hips to maneuver was downright instructional. It'd be interesting to see what he could do with better conditioning.
Last night was the first time i'd heard that Forest Griffin is going to be fighting Shogun Rua at UFC 76. Well, you can't accuse Griffin of shying away from strong opponents, but i'm surprised that Dana White would put such a bankable star up against a clearly better fighter.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Too Late for Another Ali-Frazier?
I was going to try to write something about how boxing tends to focus the most promotional energy on fights with well-known boxers (Mayweather-De La Hoya, Jones-Trinidad, the long series of pointless Mike Tyson fights) rather than the best match-ups. But Brett Conway at MaxBoxing already did it much better than i could have.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Book Review: A Fighter's Heart
I read Sam Sheridan's A Fighter's Heart several months ago. At first i thought it had the potential to be a classic-- not only a good book on the culture of fighting, but also one of the first journalistic treatments that includes the mixed martial arts world. After some time, i'd still recommend the book as a good read, but it falls short ultimately in its purpose.
Sheridan is one of those guys who has done more interesting things in his life than about a dozen normal people. He was in the merchant marine, captained sail boats, graduated Harvard, worked as a fire jumper, etc. You begin to hear the voice of John Lovitz's Tommy Flanagan character after a while ("I was an astronaut, and i'm married to Morgan Fairchild"). So anyway, when he decided that he wants to test himself by doing some semi-professional fights, he doesn't go down to corner gym like most people would. He wants to be a Muay Thai fighter, so he goes to Thailand. He wants to learn about jiu-jitsu so he goes to Brazil. He wants to train MMA, so he goes to the Miletic school.
This first part of the book where he's training in various styles while also exploring the culture of the associated schools and styles is fascinating. The chapter in Thailand goes into the Muay Thai training, life at the gym, and the world of professional fighting in Thailand. Best of all, it culminates in Sheridan fighting, which is really what the book was intended to explore-- his motivations for and reaction to fighting.
The chapter on the Miletich camp is almost as good. While the surrounding culture of a gym in rural Iowa is far less exotic for a U.S.-born reader, the exploration of the Miletich fighters, their training schedule, and the lives they lead is great stuff for anybody who's an MMA fan or martial artist. His trip to Brazil to train with Brazilian Top Team is almost as good, though Sheridan gets injured and so that chapter primarily recounts the fights of others, particularly Antonio Nogueira, who Sheridan follows to Japan for a Pride fight.
Here the book begins to run out of steam. He has a short chapter on training in tai chi with C.C. Chen in New York that i felt could have been far more interesting if he'd given the training more time. There's a section where he's training with Virgil Hunter, the trainer for Olympic and professional boxer Andre Ward. This chapter seems like it would have fit in naturally with the previous chapters on Muay Thai and MMA, but it begins to feel at this point that Sheridan is simply collecting experiences to write about rather than exploring his own will to fight.
The remainder of the book, which includes chapters on dog fighting and hanging out on a movie set where Miletich is the fight adviser are interesting, but give the sense that Sheridan simply needed more material to fill out the book. Both chapters would have made excellent magazine articles, but are only peripherally related to the theme of the book. Sheridan tries to tie the dog-fighting chapter into the fighter's heart theme by discussing the concept of "gameness", the quality that distinguishes the best fighting dogs. However, trying to equate the motivations of dogs and human beings with respect to fighting defeats the purpose of Sheridan's book.
Again, i'd recommend this book to fight fans and martial artists. However, it's not the sort of classic sports journalism that will have wide appeal. Sheridan is in my opinion a good, insightful writer, and i hope he covers this territory again.
Sheridan is one of those guys who has done more interesting things in his life than about a dozen normal people. He was in the merchant marine, captained sail boats, graduated Harvard, worked as a fire jumper, etc. You begin to hear the voice of John Lovitz's Tommy Flanagan character after a while ("I was an astronaut, and i'm married to Morgan Fairchild"). So anyway, when he decided that he wants to test himself by doing some semi-professional fights, he doesn't go down to corner gym like most people would. He wants to be a Muay Thai fighter, so he goes to Thailand. He wants to learn about jiu-jitsu so he goes to Brazil. He wants to train MMA, so he goes to the Miletic school.
This first part of the book where he's training in various styles while also exploring the culture of the associated schools and styles is fascinating. The chapter in Thailand goes into the Muay Thai training, life at the gym, and the world of professional fighting in Thailand. Best of all, it culminates in Sheridan fighting, which is really what the book was intended to explore-- his motivations for and reaction to fighting.
The chapter on the Miletich camp is almost as good. While the surrounding culture of a gym in rural Iowa is far less exotic for a U.S.-born reader, the exploration of the Miletich fighters, their training schedule, and the lives they lead is great stuff for anybody who's an MMA fan or martial artist. His trip to Brazil to train with Brazilian Top Team is almost as good, though Sheridan gets injured and so that chapter primarily recounts the fights of others, particularly Antonio Nogueira, who Sheridan follows to Japan for a Pride fight.
Here the book begins to run out of steam. He has a short chapter on training in tai chi with C.C. Chen in New York that i felt could have been far more interesting if he'd given the training more time. There's a section where he's training with Virgil Hunter, the trainer for Olympic and professional boxer Andre Ward. This chapter seems like it would have fit in naturally with the previous chapters on Muay Thai and MMA, but it begins to feel at this point that Sheridan is simply collecting experiences to write about rather than exploring his own will to fight.
The remainder of the book, which includes chapters on dog fighting and hanging out on a movie set where Miletich is the fight adviser are interesting, but give the sense that Sheridan simply needed more material to fill out the book. Both chapters would have made excellent magazine articles, but are only peripherally related to the theme of the book. Sheridan tries to tie the dog-fighting chapter into the fighter's heart theme by discussing the concept of "gameness", the quality that distinguishes the best fighting dogs. However, trying to equate the motivations of dogs and human beings with respect to fighting defeats the purpose of Sheridan's book.
Again, i'd recommend this book to fight fans and martial artists. However, it's not the sort of classic sports journalism that will have wide appeal. Sheridan is in my opinion a good, insightful writer, and i hope he covers this territory again.
Monday, August 20, 2007
UFC 74
The UFC always gives its pay-per-view events silly, WWE-style names. For UFC 74 the official name is Respect, but i think it could have also been called UFC 74: Who Knows? Seriously, i have no idea who's going to win the main fights. It seems like Gonzaga should have the advantage on Couture by virtue of youth alone, but Couture has proven himself adept at finding and exploiting an opponent's weaknesses. I also wonder if Couture's wrestling skill might frustrate Gonzaga's ground game, but then again maybe Couture needs to watch Gonzaga's feet. Whatever the outcome i hope this fight doesn't end with some crazy-ass kick or punch. I'd love to see a long, active ground fight between these two guys, with maybe Gonzaga working from Couture's guard.
The St. Pierre-Koscheck fight is also hard to call. Clearly GSP is the more skilled, more well-rounded, more experienced fighter. But Koscheck has momentum and confidence. Although it'd be disappointing to me, i wouldn't be surprised to see Koscheck upset St. Pierre. GSP is my favorite MMA fighter right now (actually, i also like his buddy David Loiseau, but he's practically disappeared since his loss to Rich Franklin). Although i think too much has been made of his mental state since the loss to Serra, i do think he'd have benefited from a better match-up on his return. Ironically, on the night of the fight i'll be in Montreal at a friend's wedding and so will probably miss the live event.
Kendall Grove will probably beat Patrick Cote, but who knows?
The St. Pierre-Koscheck fight is also hard to call. Clearly GSP is the more skilled, more well-rounded, more experienced fighter. But Koscheck has momentum and confidence. Although it'd be disappointing to me, i wouldn't be surprised to see Koscheck upset St. Pierre. GSP is my favorite MMA fighter right now (actually, i also like his buddy David Loiseau, but he's practically disappeared since his loss to Rich Franklin). Although i think too much has been made of his mental state since the loss to Serra, i do think he'd have benefited from a better match-up on his return. Ironically, on the night of the fight i'll be in Montreal at a friend's wedding and so will probably miss the live event.
Kendall Grove will probably beat Patrick Cote, but who knows?
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Style of the Week I: Defendu
Not long ago I was reading the book A Perfect Hell, John Nadler's history of the First Special Service Force. The FSSF was a joint American-Canadian force that pioneered a lot of the methods and organization of the special forces that were established later in the U.S. military. The Germans bestowed the name schwarzer teufel (black devil) on the FSSF soldiers, because they operated at night and were rarely seen.
The training of the FSSF included a style of hand-to-hand combat called defendu. Defendu was developed by William E. Fairbairn for the Shanghai Municipal Police between the World Wars. His protege Pat O'Neill taught the style to the FSSF members at their training base in Helena, Montana. Defendu was based on jujutsu, but apparently pared down to basic and deadly strikes that would allow someone with relatively little training to disable an attacker. Defendu was not a martial art that could be learned for sport fighting-- it's method were all about inflicting serious, disabling damage.
Fairbairn's original book on Defendu is apparently still available, but he later apparently wrote an updated version and renamed the book Scientific Self Defense. There's an excellent article on Fairbairn and Defendu by on gutterfighting.org.
The training of the FSSF included a style of hand-to-hand combat called defendu. Defendu was developed by William E. Fairbairn for the Shanghai Municipal Police between the World Wars. His protege Pat O'Neill taught the style to the FSSF members at their training base in Helena, Montana. Defendu was based on jujutsu, but apparently pared down to basic and deadly strikes that would allow someone with relatively little training to disable an attacker. Defendu was not a martial art that could be learned for sport fighting-- it's method were all about inflicting serious, disabling damage.
Fairbairn's original book on Defendu is apparently still available, but he later apparently wrote an updated version and renamed the book Scientific Self Defense. There's an excellent article on Fairbairn and Defendu by on gutterfighting.org.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Cung Le Movie
I've always like Cung Le because of his origins in san shou. He's apparently made a movie, with David Carradine and Gary Busey. A clip from YouTube:
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Brandon Vera Returning
I found via Bloody Elbow that Brandon Vera will be fighting again in the UFC, possibly this fall. There are quite a few MMA pros here in San Diego, but Vera has to be among the most interesting. He's also one of the more intriguing heavyweights period since he fights more like a middleweight or a light heavyweight in terms of his mobility and skills.
It also says on Vera's own web site that he's starting his own gym in San Diego's South Bay area (he had previously been affiliated with City Boxing). The new place is called Alliance MMA.
It also says on Vera's own web site that he's starting his own gym in San Diego's South Bay area (he had previously been affiliated with City Boxing). The new place is called Alliance MMA.
SEALs Recruit Endurance Athletes
There's an interesting article in this month's Outdoor magazine ("Run. Bike. Swim. Shoot. Kill") about how the Navy SEALs are trying to recruit endurance athletes at triathlons, ultra-marathons, and adventure races (since i run marathons, this stuff interests me). They've found that endurance athletes are more likely to survive the training than bigger, more muscular men. In fact, they say that the average SEAL is 5'10", 175 lbs.
The SEAL training, called Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal Training (or BUD/S) sounds hellacious. I found a page about it on the SEAL web site, which also contains this awesome quote:
The SEAL training, called Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal Training (or BUD/S) sounds hellacious. I found a page about it on the SEAL web site, which also contains this awesome quote:
“The difference between combat and sport is that in combat youThe article also features a picture of David Goggins, a SEAL whom i've run way, way behind in a couple of races (the Lake Hodges 50k and the Boston Marathon). He's an amazing athlete. He's run the insane Badwater Ultra a couple of times, among many other ultra endurance races. I've seen him also lately in Under Armour ads.
bury the guy who comes in second.”
Monday, August 13, 2007
UFC Owns the Octagon
This is kind of strange: apparently, the UFC sued a rival MMA organization for using an octagonal cage. Any they won. The UFC literally holds a trademark on the octagon "ring".
Top 10 Pound-for-Pound Boxers
Yahoo! Sports did a poll on the Top 10 pound-for-pound boxers currently active:
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-080807fighterrankings
Not too surprisingly, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. tops the list. (Disclaimer: Yahoo! is my regular employer, but this is not some lame attempt to promote Yahoo! sports).
Speaking of promoting Yahoo! sports, i really like Kevin Iole. He's one of the few sport writers who covers MMA seriously.
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-080807fighterrankings
Not too surprisingly, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. tops the list. (Disclaimer: Yahoo! is my regular employer, but this is not some lame attempt to promote Yahoo! sports).
Speaking of promoting Yahoo! sports, i really like Kevin Iole. He's one of the few sport writers who covers MMA seriously.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Tibetan Military
I enjoyed the movie 300. It was visually beautiful and told a good story. I studied the classics in college so i wasn't expecting a documentary on the Spartan military, but really anyone anticipating reality from a movie based on a comic book (ok, a graphic novel) probably deserved to be disappointed. On the other hand, i also really enjoyed The War Nerd's caustic appraisal of the movie based on its disregard for historical fact among other flaws. That article also rekindled a fascination I've had for a long time with the warriors of Central Asia (he argues that Mongol scouts would've slaughtered the Spartans), that started when i visited the city of Samarkand as a 19 year-old kid.
I've been reading about Central Asia, and in particular the era when the Silk Road was most important as a trade route, roughly the 7th to 9th centuries A.D. Probably the most interesting surprise for me has been discovering the military might of the Tibetan empire during that time. As a student of Chinese martial arts, i have some association in my mind between Tibet and certain martial systems, but the modern image of Tibet is dominated by the Dalai Lami and Chinese occupation of Tibet. However, during that time control of the Silk Road was hotly contested by the Tibetan and Chinese armies, with Tibet essentially blocking the western portion of the trade route in the latter part of the 8th century.
I haven't read anything yet to indicate that the Tibetan warriors were known for any special martial skill, but the Tibetan infantry was apparently well armed, well armored, and known for fierceness. They wore chain mail and carried swords and daggers. They had cavalry, mostly archers who sometimes used poison-tipped arrows, but weren't renowned for equestrian skills like later warriors of the steppes. The Tibetan army was also a massive force, military service being compulsory for Tibetan males.
There's no definitive Tibetan military victory, although it seems that they benefited from the loss of the Chinese Tang Dynasty at the Battle of Talas. Susan Whitfield's book Life Along the Silk Road describes a fairly spectacular battle for the so-called Iron Blade fortress with the Chinese. Although the Chinese ultimately prevailed and took the fortress, the Tibetans inflicted large losses. Not exactly Thermopylae in terms of legendary last stands, but it definitely makes me consider Tibet in a different light.
I've been reading about Central Asia, and in particular the era when the Silk Road was most important as a trade route, roughly the 7th to 9th centuries A.D. Probably the most interesting surprise for me has been discovering the military might of the Tibetan empire during that time. As a student of Chinese martial arts, i have some association in my mind between Tibet and certain martial systems, but the modern image of Tibet is dominated by the Dalai Lami and Chinese occupation of Tibet. However, during that time control of the Silk Road was hotly contested by the Tibetan and Chinese armies, with Tibet essentially blocking the western portion of the trade route in the latter part of the 8th century.
I haven't read anything yet to indicate that the Tibetan warriors were known for any special martial skill, but the Tibetan infantry was apparently well armed, well armored, and known for fierceness. They wore chain mail and carried swords and daggers. They had cavalry, mostly archers who sometimes used poison-tipped arrows, but weren't renowned for equestrian skills like later warriors of the steppes. The Tibetan army was also a massive force, military service being compulsory for Tibetan males.
There's no definitive Tibetan military victory, although it seems that they benefited from the loss of the Chinese Tang Dynasty at the Battle of Talas. Susan Whitfield's book Life Along the Silk Road describes a fairly spectacular battle for the so-called Iron Blade fortress with the Chinese. Although the Chinese ultimately prevailed and took the fortress, the Tibetans inflicted large losses. Not exactly Thermopylae in terms of legendary last stands, but it definitely makes me consider Tibet in a different light.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Too Much Violence on TV?
I like watching fights on TV. I'd go so far as to say that I am a fan of televised fights, though not excessively so (for example, i don't wear Affliction shirts or Tivo boxing matches on ESPN Classic). I was pretty excited when FSN started airing Pride fights and when Spike brought out The Ultimate Fighter, but since then fighting has gone from a fringe sport to the new poker. Not counting UFC, Pride, or boxing pay-per-view, my cable system airs the following:
This might be good for the fighters too, since it should mean more opportunities and more money. But it'll be interesting to see if this is another cyclical surge in the popularity of the martial arts (remember the ninja craze of the 80s?), or a sea-change in the world of sports media. Most of this is driven by the surprising popularity of MMA, which has essentially spurred the creation of a new industry. Like other new industries, a bunch of organizations have sprung up to follow the money, and also like other industries there will inevitably be failures and consolidation. UFC and Pride are already combined from a management standpoint, and the crossovers in WEC (also owned by Zuffa) and the IFL are obvious.
So this might be a martial arts "bubble" that will eventually burst but leave behind a fairly profitable core (as happened with the Internet), or the abundance of televised fighting could be one of those bizarre pop culture phenomena like the motorcycle-building shows that popped up everywhere a couple of years ago. MMA probably won't achieve the prominence among sports fans that boxing once had, and the current crop of fighting sports probably won't leap into the mainstream like NASCAR (although NASCAR televises a few fights also). But i'd predict that in a decade there'll still be a couple of prominent MMA organizations, and its champions will be among the elite of organized sports.
- Boxing on ESPN
- UFC fights on Spike
- The Ultimate Fighter on Spike
- Pride fights on Fox Sports
- The IFL
- World Extreme Cagefighting on Versus
- World Combat League on Versus
- The Tapout reality show on Versus
This might be good for the fighters too, since it should mean more opportunities and more money. But it'll be interesting to see if this is another cyclical surge in the popularity of the martial arts (remember the ninja craze of the 80s?), or a sea-change in the world of sports media. Most of this is driven by the surprising popularity of MMA, which has essentially spurred the creation of a new industry. Like other new industries, a bunch of organizations have sprung up to follow the money, and also like other industries there will inevitably be failures and consolidation. UFC and Pride are already combined from a management standpoint, and the crossovers in WEC (also owned by Zuffa) and the IFL are obvious.
So this might be a martial arts "bubble" that will eventually burst but leave behind a fairly profitable core (as happened with the Internet), or the abundance of televised fighting could be one of those bizarre pop culture phenomena like the motorcycle-building shows that popped up everywhere a couple of years ago. MMA probably won't achieve the prominence among sports fans that boxing once had, and the current crop of fighting sports probably won't leap into the mainstream like NASCAR (although NASCAR televises a few fights also). But i'd predict that in a decade there'll still be a couple of prominent MMA organizations, and its champions will be among the elite of organized sports.
Pride and Pain
Forget about winning and losing, forget about pride and pain: let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life! Do not be concerned with escaping safely -lay down your life before him!
-Bruce Lee
This is a blog about fighting, the martial arts, warrior culture, and whatever peripheral topics amuse the authors. The name of the blog comes from the above Bruce Lee quote from the Tao of Jeet Kune Do.
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