SubGrappler

Pressure points are usefull as tools, because they are NOT a means to an end. They have been legal since the very first UFC and like many of the other myths of MA's they have gone their way. As I said, they're usefull as an accessory to a move, for example, using a cross face on an opponent from the back mount to lift his chin and expose his neck. Another example would be driving ones elbows into an opponents inner thighs to open his guard. So you see pressure points do exist in UFC and MMA, they just dont do what people thought they would (i.e. KILL/maim someone) As far as kicking someone while they go for a shot, thats never been very effective. The only one I can remember was Hendo vs Rezno Gracie, which is one successfull attempt out of over 100 MMA shows I've seen. While I think this rule is a hinderance to strikers, they've got way too many rules already in their favor, so they've got no room to complain.

Your back and spine should be arched as if you're looking towards the ceiling when you attack with a double leg. If your base is correct, your opponent will be unable to wrap your head, not to mention that you will be driving him to the side. An idealistic double leg will often finish with you in cross side or half guard.

To be honest, yes i would like to fight one of them. I'm not saying i would win, but it would sure be fun. I was thinking more along the lines of PAINFULL

THATS the problem you're having when you're trying to watch such events. You're assuming everyone is a grappler. The fact of the matter is there are just as many strikers as there are grapplers in MMA competitions. That line is becoming hazy as well, since all the fighters nowadays are getting so well trained, they can be a striker or a grappler at any given time since they possess the skills needed for both. "A stand up martial artist would do just fine in MMA as long as they mastered ground defense and escapes" You're right, and its a good thing that you bet on that, because its already been proven. Fighters like Pete Spratt, Robbie Lawler, Chuck Liddel, Marvin Eastman- have ALL done exceptionally well in the UFC and are fighters who prefer the fight on the feet. Lets pick apart what it is you see in these fights: "What I often notice in MMA fights, is that the fighters will trade punches in the beginning, but they seem to be looking specifically to go to the ground and stay on the ground" It really depends on the fighters. Just because someone clinches doesnt mean they're looking for the ground game, so bear that in mind. It is also inevitable that anytime there is an exchange of strikes on the feet, one of the two fighters is going to get the better of it. If you're getting beat on the feet, strategy and intelligence would have you try a different approach (i.e. the clinch or the ground). There have been more than a few occasions where you get two strikers who will stay on their feet until the bitter end or until one knocks the other out. "they seem to be looking specifically to go to the ground and stay on the ground, because when they have an opportunity to stand back up, they instead try to take the mount on their opponent." If you hold the top position in a ground fight, you're in a pretty good position to dish out some punishment, ESPECIALLY if your opponent isnt a specialist in groundfighting. The only other position that could arguably offer the same odds of finishing a fight with such effectiveness as the mount would be the back mount position. This is mixed martial arts, and its almost inevitable that you're going to see a fight go through all phases of a fight (standup, clinch, and ground). Reasons why someone would elect to stay on the ground rather than stand up when they hold the top position: 1:It offers a chance for them to rest. 2:while they rest, their opponent has to work to avoid blows, protect his position, and possibly escape. 3:if he doesnt know how to fight particularly well on the ground, you stand a better chance of pounding him into defeat there than on the feet (if hes a good striker for instance). 4:Simply standing up out of the guard isnt as easy as it sounds- An open guard is easy to stand up out of, but stand up in a closed guard could offer some attacks for the man on bottom. 5. Many times fighters will get stunned and knocked down, but not knocked out. If you dont follow the fight down to the ground, you may have missed your opportunity to end the match. "It is my contention that tournaments like the UFC are often more of a jujitsu/jiu jitsu competition that ALLOWS the competitors to strike with hands and feet, but is in general a ground fight." You're wrong- the UFC is more like a karate competition that allows fighters to wrestle on the ground Seriously though, there are people from all aspects of martial arts in these tournaments, you simply have to pay more attention to these events. Its difficult to escape after you've been thrown to the ground, especially when you're trying not to get knocked out in the process. The natrual tendency of a fight, regardless of the styles of the opponents, is to end up in a grapple, whether it be on the feet or on the ground, so the very nature of fighting itself favors the grappler.

Thats the problem- beating a black belt SHOULD mean something- it used to mean something, until watered down standards have made them a dime a dozen.

I guess the bluepring would help, but to be quite honost, training with any instructor when the both of you are determined to cover the ground that Lloyd advertizes to would yield similar results. Blueprint or not, you have to bust your * in order to get a black belt in BJJ.

Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, Judo, and Sambo all fit in extremely well with Krav Maga, simply because Krav gets many of their unarmed techniques from those styles.

Before they do I'll second your statement. Muay Thai and Western Boxing have much more full contact sparring in their regiment, not to mention the fact that Thai fighters are dangerous once they get their neck clinch on their opponents. I'd say the best thing that Wing Chun has going for it is its emphasis on controlling the center line, which is a very important thing in a fight. Dont forget though that boxers and Thai boxers are doing the same.

I dont think theres a such thing as "too long" for a black belt in martial arts. A black belt is supposed to be an amazing achievement that, quite frankly, not everyone should be able to accomplish. Its SUPPOSED to be difficult to get a black belt. If the guy in question for some reason isnt of that status yet, he shouldnt recieve it. If he never reaches this level, then he should never get his black belt.

So, he has in fact been training BJJ for 5 years- he did 10 months prior to Lloyd, and then 4 more with him.[/b]

Wrestlers are proficient at taking their opponent to the ground and putting him on his back- not so much achieving the mounted position. Submissions pose a problem because they're not used in wrestling, and as a result, most wrestlers have never practiced them before. Theres nothing wrong with a ground and pound style, its the fact that wrestlers are so good at taking their opponents down AND keeping them down (you get points for escapes in wrestling competitions). A common submission for example is the armbar. If done improperly, you'll lose you position and the submission. In this case if you're not particularly good at it, its a safer option to stay where you are and pound.

Agreed Disagree- the pavement would give mild scrapes, cuts, and abrasions. I seriously doubt the ability to tear major muscle groups. I've been on the concrete in grappling situations and while these things will happen- When you're fighting outside you're not worried about scraping your knee, or abrasions on your back- you're worried about the other guy curb stomping you. Its a fight, and chances are you're not going to walk away unscathed regardless what you train in. Very much agreed. Many people will encouter tunnel vision during their fights- its a very common thing Thats not entirely true, and we can take a few examples from it as well. Wes Simms got DQed for stomping a downed opponent when he mauled Frank Mir's head against the cage. This technique is clearly illegal in UFC competitions. The same happened with Igor Vovchanchin when he fought Mark Kerr and delivered knees from a front headlock position. During this fight, the 4 points rule was in effect (no knees or kicks to a downed opponent). Under this assumption, Jiu Jitsu fighters wouldnt use strikes from advantageous positions such as the mount, cross side, and back mount positions because training under this style would forbid you from doing so. The same goes for wrestlers, or for any kind of striking oriented fighter who stomps on a downed opponent. Now, I do understand somewhat at what you're getting at, which I believe is situational awareness. However, the fighting skills these guys have is what takes such a long time to learn. Situational awareness isnt quite as difficult. What good will reaching for a pool cue do if you get knocked out before you get a chance to make it to the billiard table?

Try to figure out specifically which style of Jiu Jitsu it is (either its Brazilian or its not to keep it simple). That said, if it is Brazilian, there are many kids who start training in it when they're around 5 years old. We should all have been so lucky.

In Northeast Ohio? Im pretty sure that Pedro Sauer is on the East Coast. Do you train with an affiliate, or are you yourself an affiliated instructor with him?

I disagree, at least not with the present day MMAs of UFC and Pride, with all their extra rules. In the early 90's, when it started happening here in the U.S., it was a great thing. Now, not so much... and people are focusing more on things that are 'within the rules' and that work best under the restrictions of said competitions. Depends what it is you're referring to as "working the rules." Today's fighters in the UFC are light years ahead of anyone who fought in the original ones. They would in fact maul any of those fighters regardless of the ruleset. The biggest problem I have with the rules is the frequent standups, which heavily favors the strikers. Most of the rules instilled in MMA events favor the strikers over the grapplers. The exception being kicking a downed opponent (or an opponent on his knees) which is another one I really dislike. However, looked at from a different perspective, this is technically a good thing, because it pushes the grapplers to incorporate striking into their style much more so than they would otherwise have to.

If you cant afford it, dont worry about it- Grapplers Quest is an expensive venue to fight in and there are often times many other tournaments which will offer more matches at a cheaper price. Dont decide on whether or not you want to get a shiny medal before you compete (I know we ALL like to have a nice gold medal, or even better, one of those championship belts). Keep in mind though that you're a white belt/beginner, so the experience you take from the tournament is much better than any medals you can recieve. You learn alot about yourself when you compete, as well as your jiu jitsu game. $100 is if you preregister for both divisions (gi and no gi). One division on the day of the even is $80 I believe (which is an atrocity). Should you go to compete in the no gi division, you'll find yourself in the novice (less than 6 months exp) lightweight (150-160lbs) division.

Although I agree with your assessment 110% in this instance, I do so feel compelled to play devils advocate and say that if one trains in an effective style, and puts all of their effort and focus into learning it's secrets, that they could theoretically become a thousand times more efficient than one who just samples and tastes a bit of each. These people arent sampling and tasting a bit of each- they're becoming pros in each venue of the fight. Take someone like Alistair Overeem for instance. Heres a world class kickboxer from Europe (and hes primarily known for his striking) but many seem to overlook the fact that he placed in the European Abu Dhabi trials. Here is a guy who's a master at both the ground game AND the standup game- not just someone who sampled a bit of both. A few things have been determined through MMA- we know that wrestlers have the best takedowns, so rather than learn takedown defense from say, a karate instructor, you'd be much better off learning it from someone who's wrestled their entire life, rather than a karate instructor who's merely been exposed to it. The same is also true in the reverse- I wouldnt ask a wrestler (i.e. Mark Coleman) to teach me how to strike- Im going to look for a Chuck Liddel or a Wanderlei Silva to teach me. You're taking things out of context here. As I said, many of these fighters have done much more than "sample" a different style. Murillo Bustamante is another example of an Abu Dhabi black belt jiu jitsu fighter who was also a pro boxer. Most people in MMA (the ones you see at the big shows) have one particular aspect of the fight that they excell in. This is generally seen by what style of fighter they label themselves as (wrestling, BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai). So lets say for instance Im a world class boxer. I dont need to be able to win a prestigous grappling tournament in order to fight MMA- I merely need to know enough to either survive should I be taken to the ground, or enough to prevent my opponent from taking me there in the first place. Either way, the amount of time that I sacrifice from boxing in an effort to cross train in grappling will yield FAR better results than if I did nothing but box at all.

15 minutes Apologies, but i'm in total disagreement. Not on what you state, but on what actually occurs. First, TMA is a sort of 'odd' classification that is generally delegated to those schools practicing a system without actually applying said system in MMA-type competitions. MMA stands for mixed martial arts, but it does not mean 'mishmash' of the arts into a single person. There are plenty of competitors that are single-system practitioners (including, but not limited to, the Gracies). That definition of TMA is debatable, but often referred to. As far as any competitors that ONLY use one system of martial arts, that doesnt happen anymore. ALL of the Gracies from the new generation have trained in wrestling and some sort of striking, whether it be boxing or kickboxing. You never stop learning when it comes to fighting in MMA. Grappling in general is one of the most difficult venues of fighting to actually get a grip on and "master"- much greater than for instance a striking style. So, contrary to belief, many fighters DO have to spend alot of time learning the tools of the trade- just as much, if not drastically more, than say a TMA practitioner. As far as the rules aspect, they dont restrict any drastic number of techniques from a particular style. The age of mixed martial artists varies greatly in all events- you'll see some guys that are young and some that are old. What vast number of techniques from Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, BJJ, Judo, or Sambo have that is restricted by the rules of MMA competition? I believe the differentiation you need to make is not traditional MA vs. mixed MA, but full-contact vs. otherwise (all the ones you mentioned above are full-contact). That is the basic argument, it just seems that many styles that are labeled TMA lack that full contact aspect of it. Yes I realize there are few TMA styles that DO train full contact, but they are drastically outweighed by those that dont. As a result, the conception of full contact became synonmous with MMA, and anything otherwise was labeled with TMA.

Because TMA was once a part of MMA. MMA is MIXED martial arts. Obviously if you take the best parts of all the different styles, you're going to be a far better fighter than if you just trained in one. Whie the popular styles in MMA dont seem to be so traditional (BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Judo) there are some fighters who incorporate traditional styles into their regiment of training. In terms of realness, UFC and Pride are as real as it gets. Now as far as not fighting these type of people in the street, thats not a good way to look at things. Its like a highschool football player who doesnt lift weights every day, because hes not playing against NFL levle players, or a baseball pitcher who only throws a fastball and a curve ball, because hes not pitching to major leaguers. Basically what Im getting at is that by being at the level these guys are, any fight they get into with someone who's NOT one of their peers is going to be a joke of a fight for them.

I guess I'd have to say Kendo- just about every attack they teach you is going to be fatal (cause you're swinging a sword.....)

Small joint manipulation.Does this mean you can't use locks?? If so does this include things like the figure four type locks? If so, how can we consider this efficient and realistic grappling? Small joint manipulation means you cant grab a guys index finger, for example, and twist/break it. You must grab at least 3 digits when you from someone's hand.

Because its all about realistic fighting. If a mixed martial artist got into a fight with some "thug" or "brawler" on the street, he just might end up killing the poor guy. Not too long ago, Tim Sylvia and I believe Wes Simms got into a fight at a bar with a couple of Navy Seals and beat the hell out of all of them.

Its MMA- never go into a match without both striking and grappling training.

Yes, Abu Dhabi allows wristlocks. No, I dont believe that catch has a greater variety of submissions, they simply like to attack whatever is near them, which happens to be feet alot of the time. There are only so many ways to choke a guy out or dislocate his arm in so many positions.

Youngest I believe is 18 years old, thats obvious. People from all ranges of experience in BJJ will fight in mixed martial arts tournaments. Remember, BJJ is NOT MMA, and MMA is NOT BJJ even though they are very closely related. If you were to start with absolutely zero training in anything, I would recommend being around purple belt level- thats a pretty solid belt and your grappling base should be well off by then. If you want to succeed at the higher shows, I'd recommend mastering one of the phases of combat (i.e. being a NCAA/Pan Am/Olympic caliber wrestler, being a BJJ black belt, or being a top quality boxer/kickboxer).