Archive for September, 2011

This post is inspired by the Mayweather – Ortiz boxing match. There has been much discussion about how Mayweather ended the fight. For those of you that do not know what happened, Ortiz was getting a bit of a pasting for the first three rounds, and this continued into the fourth. Then, for some reason, when Ortiz had Mayweather against the ropes and was unloading heavy shots that were not getting through, Ortiz sat back on his heels and then lunged forward leading with his head (also known as a head butt). The ref took a point from Ortiz, then on the restart Ortiz touched gloves and gave Mayweather hug. Ortiz then inexplicably looked around to see what the ref was doing, and in that time Mayweather landed a big left hook then finished him with a right hand.

People seem to have a problem with Mayweather punching when Ortiz was ?not ready?. Here is my take on the situation – if you are boxing for a world title you can?t give your opponent any opportunity to punch you in the face. On the flip side, if you are fighting for a world title and your opponent gives you a chance from their mistake to finish the fight then you would take it with out hesitation ? so what it the problem?

If you are in a competitive match and your opponent messes up, why should you not capitalise on it and pounce on them? If your opponent throws a punch at your head and you slip the punch and they lose their footing, you wouldn?t hesitate to jump on them. The same goes if someone slips while throwing a head kick. It is a simple process – if someone messes up technically, tactically or mentally, then why shouldn?t you make the most of it and go in for the win?

The other side of the coin is that when you are fighting you have to assume that your opponent will take each and every opportunity to get the win against you so you must be ready for that. As soon as the match starts and you go to touch gloves you have to assume that your opponent will not want to touch gloves and try to punch you in the head. You must also assume that your opponent will stretch and bend the rules as much as they can to get any and all advantage over you to win.

At the end of the day we compete to win, especially in the fight game, so why not do what needs to be done to get the win? If your opponent gives you even half a chance TAKE IT – as you may not get another one.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.lockdown.co.nz

With all the athletic requirements of MMA it seems that the sport favours the younger athletes. Case and point – there in one UFC champion who is over 30 years of age, Anderson Silva, and he is considered one of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet.

If you look at the last few title fights, not including the middle weight division, you will see that the younger fighter has prevailed more often than not.

Heavyweight ? Shane Carwin v Cain Velasquez: Carwin is 36 years old and Velasquez is 29 years old – Velasquez won via KO.

Light Heavyweight ? Shogun v Jon Jones: Shogun is 29 years old and Jones is 24 years old – Jones won via KO

Welterweight ? Matt Hughes v GSP: Matt Hughes was 33 years old and GSP was 25 years old – GSP won via KO.

Lightweight ? BJ Penn v Frankie Edgar: BJ Penn is 32 years old and Edgar is 29 years old, Edgar won via a 5 round unanimous decision.

I could go on and on with examples of the younger guy winning over older opponents. Yes, there will always be wins by older fighters but if the opponent is five years or more younger then the percentages sway towards the younger fighter. This trend is present in the other organisations as well – Dan Henderson is the only title holder above the age of 30 in Strikeforce, for example.

Keep an eye on what happens to the sport – most of the champions, if not all, will be in their 20?s and as they come to the end of their career another young guy will step up and take the mantle.

The training that these young guys are doing is making a big difference, as when the ?30 plus? started training they were either wrestlers, grapplers or strikers, and they then worked on their skills to become more rounded as a fighter. This is where the young guys excel – they train MMA as a complete sport and have always put all the aspects together so their game is well rounded from the outset. From there the young guys will just keep evolving the sport, making it very hard for the old guys to stay on top.

Sadly for us guys over 30 there is not much we can do except for beating the odds to get the win over the young guys.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.lockdown.co.nz

When you are an instructor or trainer you must lead by example and demonstrate through your actions what you expect from your fighters. Does that mean that the instructor has to be able to beat everyone on the mat?

Take BJJ for example. You expect your instructor to be able to tap you out at will. Chances are they have been doing BJJ longer than you and should have more tools to handle your game. But what about a 50 year old who has been black belt for 15 years, who has a young charge that competes at any opportunity and is knocking on the door of a black belt? Should the instructor still be able to handle this younger, stronger and more athletic guy? And what happens when the young guy, god forbid, taps the instructor – does that then mean that the young charge has taken over the mantle and it is time for the instructor to make way for the younger, stronger student? The simple answer is HELL NO!

Consider this – if you had a chance to train with Helio Gracie before his passing you would jump at the chance, even though at his age, with all due respect, he would not have the physical ability to defeat you. This means that even if there is a student who gives the instructor hell it does not mean that that person knows more or should take over instructing. The instructor has years of knowledge and knows his game as well as other people?s games inside and out and can make improvements on all of his student?s games. This is in direct contrast to the ?young? lion at the club who knows how his game works and how to beat the other people on the mat but has not yet learned the ability to make someone better using their strengths and weaknesses – all they know is how to defeat people.

There is also another way your instructor might get beaten, and it should help the club and not hinder it – when someone who is very good turns up to train at your club. There are two types of instructor – the first is the instructor that will avoid being shown up in front of his students for fear that they will think he is crap if someone beats him on the mat, cage, or ring. The second type of instructor takes the opportunity to train with someone that can push him and that he can learn from. So what can students learn from seeing someone beat their instructor, other than to change clubs? The students learn that there are more levels above your instructor (in some cases there will not be anyone better) and that there are ways to beat them. This gives the student belief that they can get better than their instructor and go on to another level.

This is by no means disrespecting trainers in any way – but a good trainer is always looking to improve themselves and their students and their ultimate goal is to make their students better than them, because if this does not happen then the sport will not grow.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.lockdown.co.nz