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http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=7908 If true, this is an incredible disappointment from a man I would consider as one of the most fair and respectable characters in the martial arts. I hope it's all a big mistake...

In our school there are specific techniques tested for the four stripe gradings between white and blue. After blue, I believe gradings are awarded based on technique shown during rolling in class and/or competition. A friend of mine, however, studied BJJ at a school where promotions were based solely on competition.

Helio Gracie is in his mid-90s and still trains and helps his sons with seminars and demonstrations. shows him at 91, demonstrating techniques for a sports reporter (it's also a great intro to BJJ ).

I'm tired, so some of these are missing detail. I might edit them in later. BJJ Four figure-4 armlocks: * From mount: Reach accross to pin the arm in a figure 4, then reach under the bicep of the pinned arm with your other arm and grab the wrist of your arm that is doing the pinning. Drag the pinned hand toward you and use your leverage to rotate the arm back toward the head. * From side control: Use your elbow to push against his head and arch his body slightly to stop him escaping, then reach accross (with your other arm) to the far side arm and pin it in a figure 4. Reach under and grip your own wrist as with figure 4 from mount. Walk your side control around and step over his head with your closest available leg, put the knee of that leg on his head and pin it to stop him escaping. Pull his elbow off the floor and rotate. * From front control, with you in an attempted headlock:\ * From guard Shootfighting * Switch leg round-kicks * Switch knees * Fireman's carry to side control headlock (drilled as response to right haymaker)

Me <- John Will <- Rigan Machado <- Carlos Gracie Jr. <- Carlos Gracie Sr. <- Mitsuo Maeda.

Well, I don't know that the UFC or any MMA organization "focuses" on grappling. Grappling isn't particularly favoured by the ruleset; I would actually say the rules are somewhat biased against grappling in that fighters who do not engage while grappling on the ground are stood up but fighters who do not engage while standing are not forced to grapple on the ground. I would wager that most results in MMA these days are a KO or TKO due to strikes rather than a submission though they are still common. I do agree with you about some of the old events being more exciting though, which I think is partly to do with the lack of rounds and time limits back then. The Gracie - Severn final went for 15 minutes, with Royce controlled on the ground for nearly all that time by Dan until Royce threw up a triangle choke out of nowhere, and I consider that one of the most exciting UFC fights in history. Today it would not happen, they would have been stood up after about 30 seconds of viewer-apparent "inactivity" and the action would be split up by 5 minute rounds anyway. I see no problem in the WCL trying to get into a more Full Contact Karate-derived Kickboxing niche if that's the way they promote it, but their website claims the WCL to include techniques from a whole load of different styles, including Muay Thai, which for any practical purposes simply isn't true, and neither is their name true to what the league actually is. The difference between the WCL and MMA competitions where competitors largely choose Muay Thai for striking is that these MMA competitions do not restrict other styles; there are no rules stopping a fighter from using Tae Kwon Do or Karate instead, and they don't call it the "World Karate League" when it's an MMA competitions.

While I do enjoy the full-on kickboxing action, there are a few things that have annoyed the heck out of me when I've watched clips of it: * The name. World Combat League? Can you say "delusions of grandeur"? American Kickboxing League would be more appropriate. * Lack of recognizably top-quality fighters. If Chuck could attract one or two names from K-1 it would greatly improve the competition's credibility. * Long pants and clown shoes. They're not necessary, it's supposed to be full contact. I suppose it appeals to the part of me that enjoys '80s nostalgia, but come on, this is not a Kickboxer movie. * No clinching at all means virtually no knees. Couldn't they be allowed on the proviso of a follow-up technique? I keep seeing guys close the distance and automatically expect a head tie and some knees. * Leg kicks are only allowed with a follow-up technique. I can only assume that whoever came up with that has never thrown a leg kick, because this makes no sense whatsoever. Again, this rule means nobody ever leg kicks, even though they're "allowed". Basically, the last three points go to an impression I have of the WCL trying to promote themselves as including the best competitors from all the striking disciplines, but not actually allowing them to compete on terms other than American kickboxing. Muay Thai has a name for itself as a style with credibility and it would seem the WCL would like to exploit that without actually allowing Thai techniques because the public might think them brutal, or not as exciting. But, there are some good ideas, the ring for instance, and the team concept. The WCL has potential.

We go 60 minutes or sometimes a few minutes over.

Shootfighting is a system containing striking and grappling elements. Officially, it refers to Bart Vale's system and the ISFA (International ShootFighting Association); our system is a little bit different in that it is more self-defence oriented and has belt ranks. Ours is more-or-less a combination of various elements of Muay Thai, wrestling, and BJJ. We train from pre-fight, fight, and post-clinch situations. We don't train much ground grappling in shootfighting classes - we train takedowns and controlling an opponent on the ground and stop there - but a BJJ blue belt is required to get a black belt in our shootfighting system.

BJJ Working on the same stuff as before, seeming to have trouble getting momentum to back roll but getting there I think. We did preparation for grading for 2nd stripe through 4th stripe curriculum, a lot of which is stuff I've spent very little time on yet, though the other guys who came up from beginners were doing ok at them. Unfortunately I got slightly flustered and made mistakes on things I know how to do, like forgetting how to set up a basic armbar from the guard (push off the hip, spin, cut the back with the far leg, etc) and mixed up my arms doing a basic figure 4 armbar from the mount. Oh well, will do better next time. Shootfighting Worked on a combo: Start in the "fence" stance, ask an engaging question, and shuffle up and throw a straight horizontal elbow with no wind-up. Then shove the chest, pushing off the back foot, quickly and explosively, as if there were a hotplate on their chest, then front kick, gaining distance first if necessary. Did ok at that, but my elbows need work -tending to hit with perhaps too much forearm - as do my front kicks as before.

Unless you work hard between classes (or even if you do), I would be prepared for it to take 3 years or more. Although, it really depends on how your school grades, a friend of mine trained at a Gracie Barra school where promotion was based pretty much entirely on competition results, whereas our promotions are based on assessment of skills until blue belt at least.

He'd probably be well covered up, as you should when shooting in, which would make an eye poke difficult. In any case, extending an arm toward a grappler who is within range is often not a good option.

Favourited A lot of that is similar to the bearhug takedown which we were taught in beginner class.

A sweep or two, more different guard passes, probably a couple of armbars from the mount, maybe an armbar from the guard, reverse naked choke, cross lapel choke, hip escape from side control to closed guard. If you trained where I do, anyway

Joint locks are not only allowed, they are quite common. The only difference is that almost all fighters will tap out before their joint is broken, but this is because they are aware that their joint could be broken. Groin and throat strikes used to be legal in the UFC as well, but they were not commonly used. Nobody became UFC champion with throat or groin shots. Techniques against the eyes have always been illegal but they do happen accidentally.

Another point - I wonder what "deadly technicians" would do in a situation where the attacker's intentions are not clear. Are you going to tend to rely on deadly techniques, and kill someone who was not a real threat to your life, or, not use them and be incapable of defending against dangerous but less than lethal situations? I see so many martial artists saying "Oh, I would just rip his throat out or gouge his eyes" or whatever, and that's fine if there is reason to believe the other guy wants to kill you. If not, wouldn't you be better served by incapacitating but non-lethal techniques?

Option 2 is the safer-feeling option because you're performing techniques that your instructor and training partners can help you work on. Putting option 1 into practise may involve finding and becoming acclimatized to another school, or going totally lone-wolf. It also requires a certain amount of training (as you allude to) and understanding of applied biomechanics, and the dynamics of a fight. Not everyone can do that. Everyone should, if they can, though.

Kicking with the feet gives you slightly more range and in theory, the foot has more momentum (I think?) as it is at the end of the lever that is your leg. However, your foot has a much weaker connection to your body mass as there is a joint between your foot and your shin, making the contact less "solid". Also, your foot is full of breakable little bones, and feet don't like to bend back too far, something knees are fine with. Try it with a kick shield. Kicking with the foot will give you a nice, satisfying slapping sound as it connects, but kicking with the shin (properly - with the leg bent and with weight shifted on it) will really penetrate the kick shield's padding; your partner will definitely feel it!

Actually it is from my experience and the teachings of my sensei (Grandmaster Kemp). I have masters degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice, and try to apply those aspects of my education and experience (I am a couselor in a prison) to the martial arts. Ahh I see, it figures. You write very well.

Some styles teach techniques that are considered deadly. Would you be prepared to use them? Would you trust their effectiveness? Are you psychologically ready to kill someone with your bare hands in a split-second? Do you know how much force will be required? Have you trained these techniques (albeit at reduced intensity)?

I normally just exhale forcefully when striking or when "going for something" in grappling, and try to breathe through the nose only. Opening the mouth weakens the chin. I guess, the more air you push out, the stronger the technique is and the less likely the opponent is to be capable of countering - but do you want to assume they won't? Kajukenbopr brought up a point (in a joke, but I think it's a good point all the same) - in a real fight, some people are going to decide who was the bad guy based on what they see after arriving late on the scene. They didn't see the other guy threaten you or try to take a swing at you, they only heard you kiai and saw you flying side kick the guy in the head. It sounds like aggression, which to many people is mutually exclusive to self defence. Then again, any effective self defence will be like that. Just a thought...

Opposite shoulder! No wonder I was always falling over!

I just checked my book and it agrees with you. Thanks for your tips

USCMAAI, are these seven points from particular reference material, or is it your original work? If it's from somewhere else, could you let us know where, as I'd be interested to read it.

Well, ground fighting and martial arts aren't mutually exclusive. I'm assuming you meant ground fighting vs. standup? If so, why can't you test them? Set up a competition where both are permitted; these competitions do exist. What ground fighting techniques were you taught in TKD? Are you ever able to use them in live training (sparring) or in competition? Got a link to it? What sort of matches were they? MMA with striking and grappling, striking only, grappling only? What ranks were the grapplers at? In any case, yeah, assuming the video is all legit and it's not a ridiculously unfair ruleset, it's still something where you need to look at trends from large samples and champion vs champion-type matchups.