World Combat League

[dholmes]

I like the wcl ,and think that grappling is boring,

[dragondad76]

I have been watching wcl for a while there are some really amazing martial artists that compete.

[MMA_Jim]

I like the wcl ,and think that grappling is boring,

The most effective techniques and styles usually arent entertaining. I'd rather something be effective and boring that showy and useless.

On a side note, I am a BJJ fighter, and some jiu jitsu matches are like watching grass grow

[bushido_man96]

I like the wcl ,and think that grappling is boring,

The most effective techniques and styles usually arent entertaining. I'd rather something be effective and boring that showy and useless.

On a side note, I am a BJJ fighter, and some jiu jitsu matches are like watching grass grow

There is truth in what you say. I think that matches for Wrestling and BJJ are harder to watch, unless you can really understand the nuances of what is going on down on the ground there. Once you can understand what every little thing going on causes, it is much easier to appreciate.

[AikiGuy]

I just saw this show for the first time about a month ago and I love it. I love the action and the pacing. The fact that you can't retreat to stall/rest is great. This tests endurance and will just as much as technique. I hope they don't change much in the show.

* The name. World Combat League? Can you say "delusions of grandeur"? American Kickboxing League would be more appropriate.

I think the name including "World" just implies that this sport is not limited to this country's competitors.

* 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.

Yes, big name fighters would help. However, I don't know if the less established fighters would want to compete then. It may hurt them in that way.

* 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.

I assume by "clown shoes" you mean the padded foot gear. I don't see the problem with this. Full contact sport like Boxing, MT, and MMA wear pads on the striking extremities. Why would this be any different? And why does it matter if they have long pants?

* 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".

It's not big on clinching and leg kicks because it's Chuck Noris' show. He isn't MMA, he's Karate. Although I do think they should either allow it any time or disallow it. That part doesn't make sense to me either.

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.

It is unfortunate that all strikers will not get to compete using their own rules but that's to be expected. If you or I decided to go into boxing, they would not expand the rules to let us kick, grapple, etc. So Chuck is just leaning toward his own specialty. I bet if one of the Gracies started a similar show/contest, it would be mostly grappling and not so much striking. These examples have more extreme differences but the idea is the same.

[kermiha]

I think world combat league is positive thing

[nine_weapons]

my coach fights in the wcl.

[nine_weapons]

It's not big on clinching and leg kicks because it's Chuck Noris' show. He isn't MMA, he's Karate. Although I do think they should either allow it any time or disallow it. That part doesn't make sense to me either. {/quote]

considering he's a brown belt in bjj and a black belt in judo, you could call him an mma guy...

[nine_weapons]

* The name. World Combat League? Can you say "delusions of grandeur"? American Kickboxing League would be more appropriate.

it's a name, I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. ULTIMATE fighting championship? same thing.

* 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.

he may not want that. Heck, if he did, he could just go team up with k-1. MMA shows lack big name fighters too, unless you are talking ufc, pride or kotc, mainly. There are plenty of smaller shows for the up and coming competitors - sounds like this is the same thing.

* 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.

kickboxing lesson - in some organizations, pants are used to denote that you cannot kick the legs. I don't like footpads myself, but some orgs like them and in some they are optional. No big deal there.

* 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.

there are a lot of different ways to knee. You don't have to clinch to knee, only to knee consecutively.

* 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".

lead leg leg kick / right cross / hook

lead leg leg kick / uppercut / hook

etc.

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.

it's not an mma venue. I can't use judo in a tkd tournament... All muay thai techniques are exciting except for long, drawn out clinches - those allow for stalling and people resting, in addition to the strikes thrown. And if you notice in the wcl rules, they are promoting non-stop action, no stalling whatsoever, or there is a penalty. That is why they don't allow clinching.

[nine_weapons]

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 competitors are from various style backgrounds. My coach has been training muay thai for years. He just chooses to conform to the rules of this venue. I'm sure there are other muay thai guys in the wcl also.

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.

the biggest complaint kung fu guys have had about mma over the years is the limitations it places on striking targets. Your complaint on the wcl is no different. Muay thai has kicks, punches and knees. it's not that big a deal that you can't kick the legs, really - you just have to adjust your training to that if you want to compete. Pretty much nobody in north america allows elbows (there are some orgs that do), so that's not a big deal either.