1ONEfighting

I looked at both articles/threads you posted. How does any of that support your stance? MacYoung advocates learning grappling to round out your arsenal, and the Wahnam thread turned into a UFC lovefest.

Wcnavstar, I can think of a lot of easier ways to make a buck than fighting in a cage. I love to fight. MMA is a way to do it safely, and legally. Most of my MMA fights were amateur, and for no money at all. I have driven halfway across the country out of my own pockets, and came home with medals and trophies. Not much cash in MMA, i'm afraid. Will I be competing at an old age? No. Will I be training? Yes. Is it an urge to prove myself? NO. It is a chance to IMprove myself.

And I checked out Joe Sayah's web site, and checked it against Sherdog's fight finder. They have no record of any Joe Sayah ever fighting in an organized MMA/NHB event. All talk, zero walk.

Can I ask where that groundwork comes from?

Yeah, you'll never run into a grappler on the street. Do you realize how many high school and college wrestlers are out there? Half my fights in the street have been against wrestlers. None were wing chun practitioners, however. Historically MMA is not street proven? Seventy years of Gracie challenges? Muay Thai and wrestling unproven? I NEVER said wing chun or any other art was ineffective, I am merely advocating crosstraining and pressure testing in order to further your martial development.

How could wolvie's head be removed from his body? Try cutting through his spine with all that adamantium.

Hypothetical situation for you. Say you are fighting someone with equal standup skills to your own, maybe he's just a little bit better, starting to get an edge. Do you A. continue with your previous strategy and lose? or B. Formulate a new strategy, one that can take your opponent out of his element? It is the more well rounded fighter who has this choice.

You said the guy who claims the UFC was fixed had won a number of "equally big" tournaments. Which tournaments would these be? And just because one blowhard claimed it was fixed does not make it so. You want it to be fixed SO BAD that you would believe anyone who said so.

I had the distinct pleasure of training with Wally Jay a few years back. Amazing.

When did I "assume" anything? My only real problem is blind style loyalty, whether it be to BJJ, Wing Tsun, TKD, wrestling, or tiddly winks jitsu. If you study Wing Tsun your whole life, but take wrestling in high school, does this make you a wrestler or a Kung Fu stylist? I will train with anyone, regardless of their discipline, and if I see something I like, I endeavor to learn it. Nothing tests your techniques more than training grappling with a good groundfighter, or putting on the gloves against a skilled boxer, and sparring under THEIR rules. You need to take yourself out of your element in order to truly see the holes in your style.

Mixed Martial Arts is the sport, not a style. If you have one art that encompasses all ranges, and you decide to compete in MMA, you ARE a mixed martial artist, just like someone who plays baseball is a baseball player, regardless of the position they play. If you don't mix, you can still be a very good martial artist. If you do mix, and decide to actually learn from fellow martial artists who JUST might be able to show you something you missed, you can be a much better martial artist. My posts have all been completely respectful of the opinions of others, and I hardly think any of them can be considered immature. As far as those fights being fixed, you are disrespecting a lot of good people and great martial artists, all of whom have one thing a lot of others do not. BALLS. At least they get in the ring.

Yes, but in the battlefield, you could not learn from your mistakes. You make a mistake, you died. The ring, in that respect, is a much more valuable teacher.

I have a wide array of styles on my resume, but basically it is because I move a lot. I take whatever is available. Had I stuck with one style, That would have been great, but I would not be half the fighter I am now. I figure as long as you train consistently, you will soak up whatever is placed in front of you. And all of my crosstraining in other styles has made me a lot of friends, which I value even more than the knowledge. I'm glad you found a style you enjoy. If you flow so effortlessly between fighting ranges, with no discomfort in any, you ARE a mixed martial artist, whether you compete or not.

Untrue. Size and strength does make a difference, but if the smaller fighter has superior strategy, he will win.

What I am saying is you can't study only your particular art, sparring only with those within your particular art, and expect to know what the hell is going on when attacked by another style. You may THINK you can fight in any range, but you need to crosstrain, and develop techniques against SPECIALISTS in each range, not just those within your system. Otherwise, you are just paying lipservice to your art. Try to wrestle a wrestler, or box a boxer, and you will learn a lot more than you would think.

Here's a rundown of my style and experience. TKD-Versatile, powerful kicks-developed by General Choi to differentiate Korean MA from Karate Boxing-The hands to complement the kicks-developed into the sport of today after the Queensbury rules were placed in the 1890's Judo-Brutal throws, and solid standup grappling-developed from classical Jiujitsu by Jigoro Kano, to create a safer sport out of the lethal art Sambo-Great submissions, particularly refined leglocks-Russian origin, likely influenced by Judo and Jiujitsu Hap Ki Do-Devastating all around, a little weak on the ground-Korean Freestyle/Folkstyle wrestling-Unmatched takedowns-An American spin on the oldest sport Shaolin Fu/Tai Chi-Adds softness and flow to all of my techniques-developed in China as a means of wellness and vitality weapons (escrima/knives/nunchaku/tonfa/bo) Mostly okinawan and Filipino in origin, developed by farmers to defend against the Japanese

Narrowminded.

With all of grappling's detractors saying that you shouldn't go to the ground, I would like to give everyone a chance to state how they would use grappling in a standup situation. What is your favorite STANDING grappling technique?

Saying that a MMA oriented fighter can't fight on the street is very shortsighted. Unlike most sporting martial arts, all of a mixed martial artist's techniques can be used on the street. It's up to the individual martial artist to endeavor to learn all of the techniques he is not allowed to do in the cage. I guarantee all of the MMA fighters you see on TV know A LOT of dirty tricks for the street. If you can't beat them WITH rules, what on earth makes you think you can beat them WITHOUT rules? Today's Mixed Martial Artists are increasingly well rounded, to the degree that a pure grappler OR a pure striker has no chance in the cage. The best defense against a technique is to learn that technique yourself. If you only practice remedial antigrappling, You are still leaving a large part of your arsenal at home. If the opportunity for a choke or jointlock presents itself, you need to know how to take advantage of it. In short, it's all martial arts, everyone just likes to stick with what they know best. Break that habit, and you open a world of new possibilities.

kchenault, I train with Dwayne Lewis for kickboxing and I just started training ATA Tae Kwon Do under Master Westbrook. Both schools are on 8th street.

Deathstrike is NOT a female version of Wolverine, she is a cyborg. And Spidey can't sense Wolvie's attacks when wolvie is in a full-on rage. Too unpredictable. One hit from Spidey may KO wolvie, but one hit from Wolvie and Spidey is a memory. For the record, Spidey always beat Wolvie in the comics because Spidey is Marvel's posterboy. At least Wolverine has real martial arts training, as Spidey just flips around like a peon.

Little known fact: Olympic legend Carl Lewis is the greatest streetfighter in the world. He can get away from everyone through hoofing it. He doesn't need Martial Arts, either. I, however, am no Carl Lewis. As far as speed goes, I was the slowest guy on my HS football squad next to "The Fat Guy". I am a bouncer. All of my fights I have ever been in, running was not an option. Neither was lethal or malicious force. I have to take out and incapacitate bar patrons WITHOUT biting, eyegouging, breaking fingers, etc. I can't even strike them unless the fight gets out of control. How do I do my job? Grappling. It never goes to the ground, but the principles that I use on the ground are the same as when I stand up. And don't even try to tell me that those aren't real fights.

Royce or Rickson Gracie, Bruce Lee, Inosanto, Bas Rutten.

My best advantage was being a garage Uke for a roommate who studied Judo and HapKiDo. We studied videos and practiced like maniacs. Didn't hurt that I'm naturally big. (6'2" 265).

Who on this forum has fought Vale Tudo, and If you have, tell about your first fight. My first Vale Tudo was in 1998, at Lone Wolf 3 in Littleton, Colorado. (Lone Wolf later became the Bas Rutten Invitational.) Looking back on it, I must have been crazy. I knew jack squat about NHB, I was just a big kid with TKD, no punching ability to speak of, and grappling was all picked up from UFC and instructional vids. It was an eight-man tourney, and in the first round I drew Dan Chase of Killeen, TX. We traded some kicks back and forth, and I scored a hip throw, landing in side control. I squeezed into mount, and started throwing to the body, when he covered his ribs I hit him in the head. He tapped, but I can't say he took any real damage. Probably just the futility of being in mount. I got a bye to the finals, where I had to face UFC veteran Pat Smith. We came out and touched gloves, and it was on. We traded some hard shots and clinched up, where I attempted a standing Kimura, and Smith got a bodylock. I recall his corner yelling "SUPLEX!" and I left the ground. I kept my chin tucked and did my best to breakfall, and when he released, I did a reverse somersault and scrambled into his guard. I tried to strike from there, but it wasn't happening. When I felt his guard open, I fell back for the heel hook. He prevented me from trapping his leg with mine, and rolled up into mount. He stood above me to strike down, and I swept my legs up to apply the ankle lock. He struck down twice, landing one glancing blow, and the ref stopped the fight. I left with a rugburn on my forehead and wounded pride. I regret nothing.