Folks, we mgiht be here a while for this responce...
FearlessFreep said:
Last night I saw a fight between Griffen and Bonnar(sp?) and I must say I found it pretty disapppointing, from a Martial Arts point of view (although not as much as earlier fights) Most of the fight's I'd managed to catch, when I managed to at all, seemed to be maybe 20-30 second o trying to punch each other until one could grab the other and then there was a bunch of ground wrestling which, frankly, I find a bit boring. At least Griffen and Bonnar managed to stay on their feet most of the time, or get back there.
There is this strange thing that occurs nowadays, it's called groundfighting. A lot of people who arn't as strong on thier feet (and some that are) have learned if they can get the fight to the mat, they can actually win, without taking the damage or risking a lucky shot. The skill required to pull off a decent submission is high enough that while some find it boring, it doesnt change the fact these guys are highly skilled individuals.
FearlessFreep said:
What disappointed me from a Martial Arts perspective is how very little, or very poor, martial arts skill they seemed to use. It seemed to be little more than a boxing match with smaller gloves where you were allowed to kick (but little was done) and could wreslte if you got the chance. I now know why the fights do go to the ground; bad technique. From how I've been taught, at least, power comes from executing technique properly and quickly and proper and powerful technique requires balance and stability. Balance requires you to keep your back straight, your shoulders square, and your head up. What I saw was a lot of techqniques thrown from off-balance positions and a lot of punches that were thrown, especially in close, without putting body mass and hip movement into them. *Especially* when on the ground it seemed like the punches were being thrown just with arm strength; not stabilizing the body and getting full mass into it.
Are you serious, or are you trying to be funny? I'd like to see a guy go into the ufc, stand in 1 spot, and try to trade, while keeping proper footing and positioning at all times. I think forrest put it best "Everyone has plans for what they want to do, and they all change the second you get popped in the mouth.
FearlessFreep said:
I could tell off the bat that they did not respect the ability to kick. They set up too close, just barely beyond fist range which was well within kicking range. If they expected that the other person would and could kick them hard, the would not have been so close. What it seemed to me from this was that the few kicks thrown came in low, below the ability to see well or parry much , but also not with a lot of authority or power. Yeah, a few kicsk actually got up, but they didn't seem to be thrown very well.
You must have missed the forms competition that occured beforehand. Ever try to throw a decent formly kick while constantly advancing on a target?
FearlessFreep said:
Anyway, what also struck me was the lack of defense and lack of counter movement in the striking/standup game. It seemed to be mostly "I'm going to get in and try to punch you more/harder than you do to me" and when they came in, the opened up their hand position and had very little defense. There seemed no attempt to use hand blocks to block the others defense, and no attempt to work both offense and defense simulataneously, such as to block with one hand while punching with the other. No attempt to counter an attack by defending it and striking back because the opponent had opened themselves up. No attempt to use footwork to bypass or sidestep the attack and come back once the attacker is out of good defensive position. For something labelled a "Martial Art" is seemed pretty one dimensional and unskilled.
I'm going to save my ranting to the end..,. Because this hurts on so many levels I dont think I can form coherant thoughts that dont involve mean mean words. Just wanted ot let you know I did read this section, no matter how silly it is.
FearlessFreep said:
And that's when I noticed the takedown. What appeared to me to happen in most cases is that a person would defensively duck their head and get their head and shoulders forward, which caused a lot of problems. First off, it's awfully hard to strike from down there in that position. Secondly, it got the person off-balance, making it really hard to strike 'well', but mostly, it got the person forward and off-balance and in close to the opponent, making it pretty straightforward to grab them and take them to the ground. That's why I thought, and said "ah hah! lack of good defensive technique leads to being in an easy position to take own, and since it's legal, they do" If you can direct a person's head, you can direct their body, and if they put their head down for you, well...their body will easily follow.
You ever ever ever ever ever grappled? With anyone mildly good? Or spent any amount of time working on takedowns?
FearlessFreep said:
Anyway, for something billed as "Mixed Martial Art" I found it very disappointing. I cannot comment on the ground work (other than that it seemed like punches from that position were not very authoritative and I'm thinking it's because the body position did not allow full hip and body mass motion to get more power into the punches) but the stand up/striking portion did not seem like much of a 'martial art' as it seemed fairly one dimensional and short on technique/skill of what I would consider important in martial arts and important in fighting period.
Now, I wont bother arguing who you may or may not have thought won, because its a moot point for the rest of your arguing. But I'll try ot make my comments in short doses so I dont have a Brain Anyeurism doing this.
This fight, and thats what it was, a fight, not a forms competition, not a chance to show the world you know how to throw a decent roundhouse, was arguably the best fight I have ever seen in my life. Every round I got more and more excited and every round those two went out there with thier hearts on thier sleeves and swung for the fences. It might not have been the most technically sound fight, but those two men put out everything they had. They didnt hold anything back and they with such desire and determination, anyone who watches MMA and watched that fight cant help but have more love for the sport.
It wasnt about anything other than they going toe to toe, man to man for 15 straight minutes, unfliching, uncomprimising. It was rocky, but it was real. No script, no writers sitting at home thinking about how great an outcome it would be. It was everything you should want in a fight, and if it isnt, why are you watching?
That fight made the UFC. There is a reason Dana gave both of those men contracts. It's because this is what Dana wants the UFC to be remebered for. Two guys, no ego's, no bling or pomp and circumstance, just giving it thier all for you in an entertaining manner. Any of my friends who hate the UFC all said the same thing: "The fights are boring, the fights are quick and never really do much, etc." I sat there and MADE all of my friends who could watch the fight, and every one of em said the same thing. "While most of the suck, that was a good fight."
Dana needs more fights like this one and the fact all you can think about is how these two guys apparently had "bad martial arts skills" boggles my damn mind.