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Be an Attack Dog!

Belisarius at TPI makes some excellent observations about the MMA fighter skillset as it applies outside of the ring.

There is a lot of bullshit about MMA vs. Comabtives whereas I view the two as complementary. MMA gives the vast majority of the skills (outside of the 'butt-scootin guard-puller' crowd) and is second to none for training. Combatives gives the real-world skills such as observation, line-ups and weapon skills. Of course this is nothing new - guys like Dennis Martin, Dave Armstrong and Geoff Thompson have been including MMA type training in ther classes for years. However, the halo effect provided by the current high levels in MMA competition and the resulting refinement of skills and training methodologies is making for some great improvements across the board.

To add to Cecil's posts about attitude being an important consideration, I think that effective use of these weapons does require a willingness to do what it takes to get to this range and to keep it. Under optimal conditions, the costs will be very low and you'll get in with a low-risk entry on a great attack angle, probably doing damage on the way, and everything will go smoothly. Wonderful. However, conditions can and will deviate wildly from the advertised optimal and pushing the action to force the fight to the clinch range can entail being willing to trade shots, i.e. Badman Contest style, with the risk of taking some heavy blows in the process.

Once you get the Thai clinch, you may find that the guy is unable to answer your technique and simply takes punishment from your close-range tools. However, you may also find yourself having to be a pit bull and refusing to let go of your 'bite' when he starts violently doing things designed to shake you off. If his hands go to his waistband in a real-world situation, for instance, you may have to transition to more of a Greco-based clinch strategy very quickly. I think that this smooth movement between MT and Greco techniques, putting Thai striking and 'dirty boxing' in the whole time, is a real key to this game.

I think MMA is a To add to Cecil's posts about attitude being an important consideration, I think that effective use of these weapons does require a willingness to do what it takes to get to this range and to keep it. Under optimal conditions, the costs will be very low and you'll get in with a low-risk entry on a great attack angle, probably doing damage on the way, and everything will go smoothly. Wonderful. However, conditions can and will deviate wildly from the advertised optimal and pushing the action to force the fight to the clinch range can entail being willing to trade shots, i.e. Badman Contest style, with the risk of taking some heavy blows in the process.

Once you get the Thai clinch, you may find that the guy is unable to answer your technique and simply takes punishment from your close-range tools. However, you may also find yourself having to be a pit bull and refusing to let go of your "bite" when he starts violently doing things designed to shake you off. If his hands go to his waistband in a real-world situation, for instance, you may have to transition to more of a Greco-based clinch strategy very quickly. I think that this smooth movement between MT and Greco techniques, putting Thai striking and "dirty boxing" in the whole time, is a real key to this game.

I think MMA is a bit like undergrad because you have both a liberal arts curriculum and you have your major. Everyone in MMA needs basic striking and grappling fundamentals (the liberal arts), and then will usually tend to emphasize certain tools for "attack" and to leave the others for contingencies and opportunistic use (declaring a major).

As has been written about extensively, the three majors are really Sprawl & Brawl, Ground & Pound, and Submissions Technician. If MMA were an ecosystem, these would be three predators who prefer to kill in different ways. Within these you even have subspecialties:

-G&P has relatively one-dimensional fighters that always try for the takedown as soon as possible and almost never get a standing KO or sub or bring the fight back to standing; and it has multi-dimensional guys like Fedor who can knock people out in the stand-up phase and pull off efficient submissions, too.

-Subs Technicians have the classical Gracie family strategies that generally look to pull guard---let's be honest---and are very comfortable with the idea of working subs from the bottom, and who are essentially uninterested in using techniques from outside of BJJ; there are the BTT types who prefer the top-position and incorporate a lot of wrestling takedowns, stand-up striking skills, and G&P (these are very close to the multi-dimensional G&P fighters); and there are the Catch/Shoot/Sambo type guys who will often try submissions before position, grabbing everything they can and emphasizing rolling techniques and leg attacks.

-S&B has the Counter-Punchers, the precision bombing guys who circle/push away from the clinch and use stand-off weapons as much as possible; and the Attack Dogs, the carpet-bombers who come straight at you and will trade leather in order to get what they want---clinch-based striking.

I personally think that the S&B guys probably have the most in common stategically with the emerging "Tactical MMA" type of fighter who combines MMA training with weapons and different overarching tactics.

This is a simplistic categorization scheme because all of the elite guys can and do employ techniques from all of the above. It is more a matter of portfolio concentration than it is anything else. In all cases except one (guard-puller) you have to be a solid wrestler, and that one stand-out is starting to go the way of the Dodo bird in high-level MMA because guys are getting killed.

To be a great standing elbows & knees guy against strong opponents, you probably have to have that Attack Dog mentality---this isn't always easy to bring out in people.

Labels: Mindset, MMA, RBSD

- posted by La Bete @ 12:28
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