World Combat League

[tempoman]

I've got to admit, I don't like it.

What is it that you don't like about it? Is the fact that they don't grapple, or just the way the fights are set up?

Dunno really, just seems a little cheesy. I've only watched short little clips, but the style seems more like NA kickboxing, where I prefer a more controlled Thai style of fighting.

[bushido_man96]

Ah, I see. It just doesn't appeal, eh? I can relate.

[a_ninja]

I get to watch it sometimes and find it interesting

[KNOCKuOUT]

It is defintely fun to watch,but for people who train in some sort of grappling(such as me), it is a little boring. But I definitely respect the striking skills of everyone of the competitors in the WCL.

[bushido_man96]

It is defintely fun to watch,but for people who train in some sort of grappling(such as me), it is a little boring. But I definitely respect the striking skills of everyone of the competitors in the WCL.

That's cool. I think that watching the Abu Dhabi submission grappling tournaments would be a blast, personally. Howerver, a lot of people just don't get into watching grappling/wrestling. You really have to be into the sport, and understand it, to enjoy it. Anybody can watch a slugfest and get into it, though.

[gzk]

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.

[A_Train]

I can understand why someone who is more into grappling would not enjoy the WCL as much. But the same thing can be said in reverse about other MMA leagues that focus on grappling. Sometimes I find UFC matches so boring because due to the high level of skill of some of the athletes, it just amounts to rolling around for 15 minutes without a real result. I preferred some of the older events where joint locks would be thrown on out of no where to exciting results.

I'm not overly famiiar with WCL but what I've seen I liked. I was nt familiar with all the rules posted above, and agree some seem counter intuitive. Perhaps they ARE purposefully against Muah Thai because that is not the niche they are looking for. Watching the Fightnetwork I see countless stand up striking leagues that are called MMA, but really are just Thai boxing as it appears to be the dominant choice among the competitors. I would suggest WCL is trying to cover the opposite end of the spectrum in striking arts.

[gzk]

I can understand why someone who is more into grappling would not enjoy the WCL as much. But the same thing can be said in reverse about other MMA leagues that focus on grappling. Sometimes I find UFC matches so boring because due to the high level of skill of some of the athletes, it just amounts to rolling around for 15 minutes without a real result. I preferred some of the older events where joint locks would be thrown on out of no where to exciting results.

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'm not overly famiiar with WCL but what I've seen I liked. I was nt familiar with all the rules posted above, and agree some seem counter intuitive. Perhaps they ARE purposefully against Muah Thai because that is not the niche they are looking for. Watching the Fightnetwork I see countless stand up striking leagues that are called MMA, but really are just Thai boxing as it appears to be the dominant choice among the competitors. I would suggest WCL is trying to cover the opposite end of the spectrum in striking arts.

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.

[ps1]

I really like the ring. I like the bowl shape to it. Very interesting.

[shift]

I hate the bowl shape. It gets in he ay more than anything.

There are a few exciting fighters in it though. (Few)

the females are pretty decent