Posts Tagged ‘MMA’
Sweet wisps of winter’s breath are couched behind the trees, their leaves turning red and gold. I watch in silent anticipation as nature blushes, dances, and flirts. The season’s crescendo is not lost on me; I bring my brothers round. We prepare to eat, laugh, and watch two dudes beat the crap out of each other. Specifically, I reference this fall’s celebration of Brockober Fest (UFC 121).
I’m pretty pumped for this card; Brock Lesnar vs Cain Valasquez notwithstanding. I’m looking forward to Utah native, Court Mcgee, Jake Shields vs Kampmann, Diego Sanchez – pretty much every fight has something I’d like about it. Additionally, Brendan Schaub (vs Gabriel Gonzaga) is fighting and he’s talked smack about Lesnar, so I’ve got little drama to enjoy too.
But really, the main point here is that it’s great to be an MMA fan. We had UFC 120 broadcast for free and a serious night of fights just a week later.
On Brocktoberfest
Here is my take on the Brock vs Cain fight. Brock is a clear, heavy favorite. I’m not writing off Cain, but the deck is stacked against him.
What is Cain going to bring to Brock that he’s not well equipped to handle?
Wrestling? I think he can deal with that. A good double leg to put Brock on his back might be a game-changer, but I don’t really see that happening. It would be a fun scenario because Lesnar’s BJJ coach Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros says Brock’s got a surprisingly aggressive guard game. I also don’t see Cain slowing Lesnar down with any Greco/dirty box on the cage. Randy Couture roughed up Brock a bit with it, but it’s not a hole in the armor of this beast.
The striking game isn’t Brocks strong suit (as Brendan Schaub had remarked about) and If the match were to be a pure stand up bout, I’d give the edge to Valasquez. That being said, I don’t see it being a stand up war. Cain can probably sneak in some hard shots, but that won’t stop Brock. I think of it in comparative terms. Cain doesn’t hit as hard as Shane Carwin. Cain pounded on Ben Rothwell’s face, but didn’t knock him out cold; Carwin, from a similar position, sent Frank Mir into la-la land.
Submissions? Once bitten, twice shy.
As for speed and cardio – both guys are pretty freakish in this department. In the third, fourth and fifth rounds, if Cain hasn’t suffered too much damage I think we’d see an advantage in performance on his side.
Anyway, I’d love to hear your two cents.
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
- Albert Camus
Tags: brock lesnar, cain valasquez, court mcgee, MMA, ufc 121
The last few sessions at the University we’ve been drilling footwork. Not only is footwork one of the most essential tools in achieving the prime directive, we’ve seen some great fights that have been won by superior footwork (Ex: BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar 2). One of my favorite drills goes something like this:
- Execute a three-punch combo, closing the gap with shuffle footwork
- Immediately step back out at angle, anticipating counter attacks and defensive readjustments
- Burst into opponent with a two-hit combo
The first set of strikes isn’t necessarily to hit a home-run – it’s to close the gap and set up the KO punches. If they land and do damage, great; but you want to put your fists in their face, disguising your encroachment towards a better positional advantage. You cut away with a burst step, 30-45 degrees to the side, preferably away from their power hand. Your opponent will likely try to square back up to you or throw counter punches, but you’ll be to their side (looking into their ear) beating them to the punch.
I haven’t really standardized what I call this combo – “3 cut 2”, “five hit combo”, “3 slip angle counter”, “1-2-3, 1-2”. What would you call it?
Anyway, to illustrate a bit more about why cutting out of the line of attack is so important, I appeal to someone far greater than I to show us: Fedor.
One more vid, from our local taking it to the MMAT guys (Brandon Kiser) . It plays off that theme – distracting your opponent with a punch to set up your footwork … and that footwork enables a hard hitting blow.
Tags: Fedor, footwork, line of attack, MMA
Above, Jon Favreau (Hogan) and Robert Downey Jr (Stark) chillout after working their boxing.
After watching Iron Man 2 on opening night, I’m pretty impressed. Nice to see that Hollywood has taken a break from destroying my childhood joys and let a decent comic book movie slip by, un-bastardized. No really Hollywood, thanks for sodomizing Spider Man 2 and 3, Dare Devil, Ghost Rider, Judge Dredd, 80% of the Batman movies, GI Joe, and the new Superman stuff. I’m glad you did that.
Anyway, during one scene Tony Stark is boxing with Hogan and slips in an elbow to the head from close range. Hogan says something like, “What the hell was that?!”, to which Tony mockingly replies, “It’s called mixed martial arts, and it’s been around for about three weeks.” Hogan spits back, “It’s called dirty boxing, and it’s been around a long time.” Of course, then Scarlet Johannsen is there for some logical cinematic reasons and ends up jumping in the ring, doing this crazy flying-leglock-on-head throw and finishes Hogan with an armbar.
At least that’s what I think happened. Scarlet’s hotness made that part a blurr.
Where were we? Aw, yes. The point, if I even have one, is that the components of MMA have been around a long time, but it’s nice to have a little media love, besides the Diaz brothers kicking a dude while he’s down. To sign off, I leave you with some pics of Robert Downey Jr practicing his martial art of Wing Chung on set.
Tags: elbows, Iron Man 2, MMA
I’ve heard it all.
“Aikido is too dangerous, so therefore it isn’t allowed in MMA.”
“Aikido doesn’t work on trained fighters or resisting opponents.”
“Aikido masters are bound to a philosophy of gentleness and non-fighting; therefore no true Aikido master can compete legally anyway.”
“Aikido is sucks in MMA, therefore Aikido sucks.”
“Steven Seagal knows Aikido, and he’s killed like 300 people. It must be awesome.”
I’m sure you can dig up your own “nuggets of wisdom” on a Sherdog or Youtube – these sites being the epitome of truth, balance and logic. ( Personally, I love the way information and error is rolled into one comical thread of flaming, poor grammar and misrepresentation)
Aikido isn’t the only disputed martial art in MMA; I’ve heard similar jaw-jacking about Karate, Judo, Dog Brother’s stick fighting, etc. There are always fanboys and haters, no matter what you choose. I’ve recently had some people ask me about this, so I’ve decided to post my thoughts.
Anyway, there is some sorting out to do.
In the next few pages, I’d like to see if I can shine some light on Aikido and it’s relation to MMA.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: aikido, MMA
Just in case you needed some motivation to party down or train hard, here’s a little something to help you kick start your weekend.
Tags: MMA, motivational posters
