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.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
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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