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Archive for Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighter Dies After Fight

Thursday, July 1st, 2010
I have to admit I love all sports. Everything from MMA to bowling. I haven’t always felt this way but as I age and become slower, I seem to appreciate any athletic ability, even if it is throwing a ball down a lane.

 

However, when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts there is a large attraction for me. Even though it is a bloody aggressive sport, and people get hurt. There seems to be enough drama with the creation of the Ultimate Fighter and the dedication it takes to step in the octagon.

I also know it is not for everyone! I read somewhere that the attraction is waining a little bit even with the explosion of the UFC. I don’t see the sport leaving prime time any time soon, but I don’t see it lasting any longer than the poker craze did. But who knows it might just replace WWE?

However recently the sport suffered a blow when a tragic death occurred. Michael Kirkham is the second fighter to die from injuries sustained in mixed martial arts competition in North America.

I want to start by sending my sympathy to the family and have zero desire to make light of what happened. There is nothing that can replace someones life and it is a tragedy when it is cut short by a sport.

What I do want to explore is if this death is going to effect MMA in anyway. I wonder what the backlash will be for those who hate the sport or even for those who love the sport. Will this mans death effect it in either way.

I understand that this sport carries an enormous risk! But I also understand that these guys train like crazy and know what they are doing. They have strong camps that teach these guys how to fight and avoid injury as much as you can in a fighting sport.

The sport has improved in its safety and officiating, just compare matches from five years ago to those you see today, you will immediately notice all the changes.

However, that does not help this situation. The sport is fought in a cage and filled with cheers from every hit that lands on someones face and we love to watch the knock outs.

So I wonder, with perhaps the first death in MMA fighting in North America, will the sport suffer and take a hit, or will it continue on without any recourse? What do you think?

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Principles of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Gracie Jiujitsu was trademarked and stands separate from Brazilian jiu jitsu, though naturally there are many similarities. Aside from certain martial art techniques that have been developed by the Gracies over the years, the main thing that separates Gracie jiujitsu from all the other Brazilian jiu jitsu disciplines out there, is the philosophy that goes hand in hand with the training. This philosophy is the foundation of Jiu-Jitsu according to the Gracies and accepting it is the first step if you want to train in their schools.

The first principle of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is about control. In a fight, this involves being the one who will dictate what happens during the fight. Part of this is in physically controlling your opponent and restricting his movements to what you want him to do; the other part is the self-control that you need to impose upon yourself so that you can make the best choices to win the fight. This is personal training at its best, and it is part of a healthy lifestyle. It is expected that you are able to exercise enough control to eat properly and take care of your health.

The next principle of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu involves patience. This is particularly important for a fighter, since so much that occurs in a fight can depend on timing and whether enough patience has been used. Patience is often rewarded, as opportunities are more likely to appear. For those who rush, bad decisions are more likely to occur. This philosophy is instilled from the beginning and it is expected that if you can be patient on the mat, then you will display the same quality in your life outside of the dojo.

The final of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu principles is efficiency. This is particularly important for a fight, since the foundation of this discipline is built on the assumption that you will be fighting someone stronger and bigger than yourself. Jiu-Jitsu schools will often promote the idea that you drain your opponent of his or her energy while conserving your own strength in order to finish the fight. This applies to daily living as well, with the idea that you are able to maximize your results through an efficient application of effort, whether it is in business or social situations.

As you can see, Gracie Jiujitsu goes well beyond the mat, and really the only people who will succeed in this discipline are the ones who are able to live their lives according to the ideals that the discipline is based upon. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies are everywhere nowadays, and you can probably find one that won’t require a commitment on your part to lead your life outside of the dojo according to the Gracie Principles. But whether that will result in you being a better fighter is unlikely, since how you are on the mat is not so different from how you are when off it.

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Bob Reilly Needs to find a Better Agenda

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Bob Reilly New York State Assemblyman

There must be an election coming up because Bob Reilly seems to be pulling out all of the stops to make sure that he does everything possible to make sure Mixed Martial Arts does not come to New York.  Bloody Elbow quotes Reilly as saying:

“There is overwhelming, widespread opposition to [MMA],” Reilly says. “Many of my constituents come up to say, ‘You’re doing the right thing. How can we have this?’ It’s a violent sport that is harmful and damaging. Violence begets violence. It helps create a culture in our society of domestic violence, of bullying, of violence against gays, of illegal gun use. It’s the job of state legislatures to pass laws against that sort of stuff, and then we put something like ultimate fighting as our form of entertainment?”

Reilly has made weak comparisons to violence begetting violence and MMA in the past, and he continues to do so.  In an article written by Ben Fowlkes for Sports Illustrated Fowlkes asks Reilly, “…harming your opponent to the point of unconsciousness is one of the ways you win a boxing match, isn’t it?”  Reilly’s reply is, “It’s not a stated goal, though.”

Again, I repeat from a previous post, one of boxing’s stated goals is harming your opponent to the point of unconciousness.  I am not understanding how Mixed Martial Arts has anything to do with domestic violence, bullying, violence against gays, or illegal gun use.  This guy is a joke.  He must have a weak agenda because he can’t find anything better to fight for.

Lyoto Machida Highlights Video

Friday, May 8th, 2009

I found this highlight reel of Lyoto Machida and his fights on Cage Potato. I think one of the reasons that Machida is so successful, is that his fighting style is so different than many of the other MMA fighters that step into the ring.  He is a Karate Fighter, but as you look at this video which shows some of his training, you see that he trains other aspects too, specifically, throws and groundwork.  The video is definitely worth watching.

Tito Ortiz Supports PETA

Friday, May 1st, 2009

I am not a real big PETA fan, mostly because they seem like a bunch of fanatical nut jobs that like to spray paint people’s fur coats (while they are wearing them, I might add). I also have been known to eat a steak or a pork chop from time to time, which I believe would put me at odds with PETA’s core philosophy. That being said, I have not really seen much from them in recent years, and so I don’t know if their strategy has changed. I do know that I would support Tito and PETA in this dog fighting thing. Below is a video from PETA, which Tito did to support eliminating dog fighting in our communities which I found on MMABlips.   So here is possibly the only support you will find of PETA from this carnivore.


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Kyle Maynard: All three Rounds

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Yesterday, I posted round one of Kyle Maynard’s fight against Bryan Fry in Auburn Alabama, Saturday night. I just found the other two rounds on mmaconvert.com. Unfortunately, the reports are correct that the other two rounds are similar to the first. Watching the whole fight, Maynard is really at a distance disadvantage.  I have seen Maynard wrestle, and although wrestling is a very effective MMA technique, wrestling requires both competitors to make contact with each other, and perform throws or take downs, ultimately working to the mat.  It’s obvious in the fight, the Fry was keeping Maynard at a distance, and would not let Maynard come in on him for any type of take down. In the third round Maynard attempts to change his strategy by rolling to his back, attempting to draw Fry into his guard.  Again the distance issue was too great, and Fry was able to continue to punch and push Maynard off, continuing to dominate the fight.

It is obvious he like to compete, but there are other ways to compete for Maynard which would not put him at such a disadvantage.  He could compete in Jiu Jitsu tournaments, or other grappling tournaments, where the distance of the arms and legs do not allow his opponent to dominate the match.  My hat off to Maynard for stepping into the ring, but if he is going to continue, he has a long way to go.  (I have posted round one again, so viewers don’t have to go to a previous post.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3


Kyle Maynard: First MMA Fight

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

Kyle Maynard had his first fight in Auburn Alabama, Saturday night.   Based on an article written by Bloody Elbow, Maynard was not able to wear gloves, and therefore was forbidden to throw any punches.  This is round 1 of the fight, found on YouTube.  Not very impressive fight from Maynard’s side.  I have read on other posts that the other two rounds were very similar to the first.

Although I applaud Maynard for stepping into the ring, based on what I saw in the first round, I am not convinced he should be an MMA fighter.  His opponent, Bryan Fry, effectively was able to keep Maynard from taking him down by throwing punches at his face and backing away when Maynard would come in for a takedown.  In the end it was a unanimous decision loss for Maynard.


Kyle Maynard: “Disabled” Mixed Martial Artist

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

I have to admit that when I saw the announcement that Kyle Maynard, a congenital amputee, was going to fight in MMA, I thought it was rediculous.  I saw this guy a couple of years ago on one of the main stream news programs (20/20, Primetime, I can’t remember which one) and was impressed at the time that he was able to compete in wrestling.

Today, I just read this article in the USA Today which shows Maynard is going to compete in Alabama in an MMA Fight, and that he was not able to get sanctioned in Georgia (where he is from) because of his “disability.”  I put disability in quotes because if you watch the video below, which I also got from USA Today’s website, Maynard has no problem defending himself in a Jiu-Jitsu match.  In fact, it appears that his lack of arms and legs may be an advantage.  I train in MMA, specifically Judo now, and have trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and whenever someone I am training with has a different or odd style of fighting, it becomes a challenge for me.  Based on this video, Maynard may have something going here.  I question how he is going to strike his opponent, but maybe that is part of the strategy.  To Maynard, I say “good luck on your fight.”  I look forward to seeing what the outcome is.


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Tito?

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

I found this picture on joemonster.org.  There are some pretty funny pictures there.  I hate to say it Tito, but there is a resemblance.

titogorilla


MMA in New York

Monday, March 23rd, 2009


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I just got done reading the interview by Ben Fowlkes with New York Legislator Bob Reilly in Sports Illustrated.  First of all I have to agree with Fowlkes on the fact that we should give Reilly credit in the fact that he would be interviewed by an apparent proponent of MMA.  You can read the interview on Cagepotato.  There are two parts to the inteview, so access part one here, and part two here.

In reading the interview, it was very apparent to me that Reilly is a typical politician.  He obviously knows what is best for everyone else, and knows that people can’t make decisions on their own, without the help of the government to intervene.  At one point in the interview he says, “Government says what you can and can’t do.”  Hmmm…Bob, I thought it was the role of the government to listen to the people, and govern based on the will of the people.

Fowlkes asks Reilly if he feels like this is a David and Goliath story.  Reilly likens himself to David, where the UFC is Goliath.  Give me a break!  If the UFC were Goliath, they would be doing shows in New York State right now, and Reilly would be trying to get it stopped.  Remember, Reilly has a whole staff of people to find documentation on his stance, he has a budget from the tax payers of the state of New York.  Reilly is no David that is for sure!

Fowlkes asks, “But for one, that was Pride, which had several rule differences between itself and the UFC, and two, harming your opponent to the point of unconsciousness is one of the ways you win a boxing match, isn’t it?”  Reilly’s reply is, “It’s not a stated goal, though.”  Reilly, of course it is a stated goal.  Why do you think they have a “KO” in boxing, because you win the fight if you knock your opponent out.

I could go on and on about this interview, which I thought was very well done by Ben Fowlkes, but the answers Bob Reilly gave were truly rediculous.  This is Bob Reilly’s chance for his 15 minutes of fame.  He is trying to find a soap box to stand on, so when reelection comes up he can have a reason why he should continue to be a legislator.   I was going to broadcast his views on the topic from a YouTube video, but it’s not even worth broadcasting his statements because they don’t make sense.

If New Yorker’s don’t want the UFC or any other type of mixed martial arts venue, fine.  Go somewhere else.  Send the tax revenues to other states and communities who appreciate the dynamics of mixed martial arts.