Archive for September, 2017
You Tapped to What!
In the recent UFC fight night there was a fighter who tapped out from ground and pound. Then I turn up to work and hear all these people saying how much of a pussy that guy was for tapping out to ground and pound – which got me thinking.
If you see someone in a choke hold and they tap before they go to sleep no one calls them a pussy. When Miesha Tate fought Rousey the second time as soon as her arm got extended for the arm bar she tapped early to stop any injury from the arm bar and no one thought she was a pussy.
Then if you take it a step further when Big Nog got his arm snapped from a Frank Mir kimura then people do not want to watch the reply as it is not nice seeing a bone go pop. As an extreme example a guy like Rousimar Palhares who would put another twist on heel hooks after someone would tap and caused a massive uproar that got him kicked out of the UFC. So why are there different rules for ground and pound?
With ground and pound there are two different ways in which you get finished, there is the too tired and can’t move with the guy on top landing lots of little shots with no reply (Miocic v Hunt ). This isn’t causing much damage but looks kind of bad, but the stoppage is due more to fatigue than damage. Then there is the other type of stoppage where there are massive shots landing and it is going to end in damage (Gustofsen v Johnson). If you are so damn tired and you can’t escape and the person on top is keeping position and landing consistent clean punches is it that bad to think I can’t get out should I tap, which is not that different to any other submission really. If you are getting hit or a joint is under danger is it that bad that you tap? It is a different beast if you have taken a massive shot from some ground and pound master like Khabib Nurmagomedov where there are repeatedly heavy shots landing cleanly on your skull. In this situation you should tap to keep your brain from turning in to a liquid, but there is usually not enough time before you get knocked and if you take a hand away from your head to tap then your head might get detached from your body. In both these situations the referee is there to stop the fight. It also seems fine to land a few punches more than you need to, if you whipped on an arm bar and popped the elbow and kept cranking and cranking until the ref came and had to pull you off people will have a go at you (as well as the ref). However there seems to be different rules if you keep throwing punches after someone is knocked out, as it happen all the time. You can keep throwing until the ref pulls you off and there is no problem at all. (to be fair Phalers even went after the ref tried to pull him away)
Is it because we are so used to watching boxing and seeing people get knocked out that we look at ground and pound in the same way. As we expect boxers to ‘go out on their shield’ they are expected to take a standing 8 count take a knee, get knocked down or knocked out that is about all the options available. If a boxer ever quits it can be the defining moment of their career. One of the best fighters in history, and one of the toughest, Roberto Duran quit in a fight against Ray Leonard – the No Mas fight – and that’s what he is most remembered for even though he was a four weight world champion and won 103 fights. Just by pure definition isn’t tapping out in a fight whether it is due to pain, pain that is going to happen, or lack of oxygen quitting? If you are making the call to stop the fight so not the ref or your corner but you decide to stop the fight isn’t that, by pure definition, quitting? Why is tapping looked at different, why don’t we say “they should’ve let him break his arm, “should’ve gone to sleep” – whatever it is.
So if tapping is quitting then why do people who tap early avoid the grief of being called a quitter, or a black mark on their record. When in terms of a long career a popped elbow is better than a concussion. If a MMA fighter took a big punch, knocked down and was about to KO’d decided to tap out I guarantee that there would be a nasty fall out. But if the same fighter got an arm bar put on and as soon as they knew they could not defend they tapped then they would walk away without the ‘fallout’ of being a quitter.
Is it because MMA has not been around that long (20 years) whereas boxing has been around for 100’s that we are used to seeing people getting knocked out and think that is normal and ok. Even with all the information about brain injuries (CTE) this seems an outdated mind set. As MMA is young it seems people have learnt from the outset that it is ok to tap, and that is acceptable rather than being labelled a pussy. I am not sure if this will ever change as people like seeing KO’s as they are considered the most exciting way to finish a fight and if they get taken away by people tapping then less people will watch which is less money so basically bad for business – in short who cares about peoples brains.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Bottom of the Food Chain
When most people begin MMA they are not very good and get easily beaten by the more experienced members. They stay at the bottom of the food chain until some new blood / new people turn up then, for the first time, they really have some fun.
The less experienced people are tentative with striking due to counter strikes from the better strikers and if they land a shot against a more experienced person they usually get punished for it. They get taken down and spend a lot of time on their back and can’t seem to escape, then when they do get top position they only keep it for as long as the more experienced person allows them too. As they are getting beaten all the time the defensive evolution is a lot faster than the offensive evolution of their game. The growth of the defensive side is just due to the fact that they are always defending then do not get rewarded for the offence as the more experienced guy just shut them down. We have all been there and it is great for motivation but not for confidence.
Then a beginner (noob) or the ‘new blood’ starts all of a sudden they are getting some success with their takedowns, striking and top control. Where this gets a little interesting is in the mind set as they have not had this success before they are not used to it. Every time they have landed a punch previously they got punished, so now when they land a punch their mind is all ready for the punishment and their intensity picks. With the increase in intensity it leads to more and harder punches at the new person who fires back harder and the cycle continues. Then when it goes to the ground they are not used to being in control so they are tense and hunting that elusive submission. When they get a sniff at a submission they go for it so hard, as they have always missed them previously, that it is close to causing an injury. Overall they try out and practice all their stuff on them as they love the success and have not felt it before.
For the less experienced people this goes against what the trainer and more experienced people keep saying – ‘relax’. When they are sparring the good people beat them easily and they feel under pressure the entire time. During this time they do not feel that the experienced person is relaxed due to the pressure. Then they go against a person they actually match up well against and they are booth tense as that is the person they can beat. Then they fight the new blood and neither of them are relaxed. As both the less experienced and new bloods always feel pressure or tension in sparring they are not being taught to relax from how they perceive the others are acting.
There downside to when you get the new blood in the door, with the how the less experienced people treat them is well outweighed by upside and is well worth it. The upside is when the less experienced students realise that they have learnt some new skills and they are surprised that the new [blood] people are doing ‘dumb things’. When you have a chat to them after the round and you tell them that this is the ‘dumb stuff’ you were doing when you started. They get success with their striking, takedowns and ground work. This leads to massive injection of enthusiasm to their training which leads to my favourite part – more questions. Prior to this time they have only have asked questions that have to do with something they saw on Youtube and UFC or what they keep getting caught with. Now they are asking specific questions about how to do improve things that are working for them and this is the start of system or a foundation of a game plan that they can really start to work with.
Once they have that foundation of some moves that they like then they sky is the limit. Up until that point they are unsure what they are good at or what they can actually do. Once the success happens then you really get a glimpse of their mind set and where their technique is heading.
Yes they bash up beginners and some don’t come back, but they are just repeating the cycle that happened to them. It just seems that this is what happens at fight gyms you start at the bottom of the food chain and try to work your way up. I still get a kick out of seeing that first session of success and seeing that spark get ignited and that wide eyed look that all this training is actually working as that is the real start of their MMA journey.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Thrown To The Sharks
Over the years I have seen many people get thrown in to fights when they were not ready physically and/or mentally. If you have a bad experience in your first fight then the chances of having a second fight is decreased.
From what I have seen the trainer who puts them in the fight has had a number of fights themselves and thinks ‘it will be good for them’. What they have forgotten is how much of big deal a first fight is for most people. The trainers who I have seen with this mind set have been very blessed with talent, speed timing and power, they also seem to have a lot of confidence and belief in their ability. I am unsure if the belief comes from experience, as all the trainers who have done this have had 30 plus fights, or if they are just blessed with confidence. Either way the trainers have confidence in spades and a loss did not so to affect them much. Therefore they assume that everyone has the same mind set and they put people in the ring that are just not ready ‘It will be good for them’. The poor fighter gets told to fight, which makes them feel good, they train hard then get in the ring and reality sets in and it does not go well. I have seen this situation a number of times and vowed to never do it as a trainer.
In MMA it makes it ever more interesting, you get people in who are very good at one discipline and want to fight. It seems that they think that if you are good at one element of MMA then it will only take a month or two to learn everything else you need to know for a MMA fight. This just blows my mind as you would not go in to triathlon if you could not swim, no matter how good you are at running.
If you are a top BJJ competitor and decide ‘I am going to fight MMA’ there is a very steep learning curve, not even including punches in the face. Unlike in BJJ comps you are against people that want to keep distance and may want to stay of the ground, you may be thinking that a BJJ guy will just take them down and submit them. However this is not as easy as you think. With BJJ the training and in competition, they are against people who want to go to the ground they start standing but every person has the intention of going to the ground. It is a lot different taking someone down who wants to stay on their feet and needs a different mind set. Just as if you have a top wrestler they will take you down but have no real idea on how to finish a fight, then with a striker they are fine until they get taken down. So you need more than once discipline to be effective – which was learnt in UFC 5
This a situation that I got watch with my own eyes, the trainer was tough as nails and fought MMA, kickboxing whatever he was not fussed as long as it was a fight. He had a young guy who was physical and talented so they put him in a MMA fight with very little lead up. He gave it hell for the first round and was doing ok, due to his athleticism, until he got tired and all his bad habits came in and he got destroyed with some nasty ground and pound. He never fought again. I have 100% belief that if had trained for 6 -12 months more before his fight he would’ve had a better outcome and would’ve had a number of fights and been a very handy fighter.
At the end of the day a trainer is there to protect their fighter from others and themselves, if a fighter wants to fight then it is the trainer’s job to prepare the fighter the best they can. If they can’t prepare them for the fight then the trainer either needs to tell them that they are not ready and take more time to prepare them or send them to another trainer if they do not have the relevant skills. Sadly in MMA there are many clubs out there, who are just one discipline, who will put one of their fighters in to a MMA fight. It could be a kickboxer, wrestler or BJJ I have seen it all happen in MMA fights and it just should not happen. The trainer should not let it happen, the promoter / match maker should not make the fight in good conscience. If you are going to compete in another sport you would go and train with people that did that sport until you are at a level that is at least competitive. These people that are going in to these fights feel that they are ready as they are working their skills against people who have no idea on what they are doing and getting success then thinking they are good. To put that in context think a squash player going in to a tennis tournament and only practicing on a squash court, with squash players using squash equipment then expecting to do well against tennis players playing tennis – not going to happen. People think those example are silly as no one would do that, but it does and happens a lot more than it should. This means that a lot of people with potential only have one fight as once you get thrown to the sharks you are not likely to get back in the water.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Partial Artists
Why do people from traditional martial arts come to a MMA session get beaten then get surprised that their training is not as effective in MMA against people who actually train MMA?
Over the years many people from many different martial arts have come along to Lockdown MMA and they have all been humbled. This does not mean that Lockdown MMA is all elite fighters and no mere mortal would stand a chance, it just stating a situation that happens at MMA gyms all over the world all the time. These people come in from various traditional styles and are usually high ranking and from what I gather they train ‘MMA’ at their club. When I say train MMA it is a loose term, usually they watch youtube and try to modify the techniques to fit with their style, so in other words they just mess up the moves because they think they know better and they can pass them off as theirs. This arrogance pisses me off, why would you take a sport like wrestling and ‘modify’ a takedown when wrestling has the best takedowns (alongside Judo and Sambo). They also do the same with BJJ and mess up the sweeps and submissions. Then they practice amongst themselves to get an absolute false sense of their abilities. This is very confusing as if you are not competing or training with people who actually compete in the relevant sport then you have no idea what the hell you are doing.
So these people come to training thinking they are going to beat us at our own game, we start sparring and they are going hard and get a little frustrated that we are relaxed and not really bothered what they are doing. They go for a takedown and as they have not come up against someone who has a wrestling base their takedown gets stuffed or reversed. Sooner or later they are on their back so they spaz out and elbow you in the face then go for their arm bar / triangle that is not even close. They get rag dolled on the ground, with one of us on top relaxed and just maintaining control until the submission comes. They fight until the bitter end as tapping is death. Then we are back on the feet and the ‘partial artist’ jumps up and thinks that we got lucky so the cycle happens again. This continues from opponent to opponent and after a couple of rounds they realise that they have bitten of more than they can chew. This leads to the ‘chat’ with the instructor to get some rounds off, during this chat you get some technical questions then some justifications why they are struggling (age is a common one) while all the time covering all talk with a good layer of arrogance. Once the session is over they say thank you shake your hand leave the mat and never to be seen again. This always surprises me as I started in karate, went to kickboxing – got my ass kicked – thought I have to learn this, then I went to BJJ and – got my ass kicked – thought I have to learn this, then I went to wrestling I am sure you can see the pattern here.
If you are training martial arts you should always look at improving and when you see a hole in your game you should look to fix it not just ignore it or justify it. This is an example of a justification that always amazed me, a 6th Dan from the karate style that I did had a one on one session with me. In the session he decided to grapple with me, he didn’t do very well and after a few minutes he said ‘I didn’t think I would beat you, but thought I would give you a run’ I liked the confidence but it was an ignorant comment. If I went to Tae Kwon Do and fought their rules I am getting destroyed, just because I can kick doesn’t mean I am going to do well against a specialist. After some more rolling, starting standing, kneeling, with me on my back and so on the outcome was always the same. He finally thought it would be a good idea to learn some technique that took us to the end of the session. After the session he said something that stayed with me ‘everything you can do now can be found it a kata’ so that means everything I know now has not come from my years of training and competing rather doing kata’s at karate (katas are sequence of pre arranged moves, check video below). From the katas I remember there are no wrestling or BJJ techniques and there is a lot of striking lacking – head movement for example.
With these people not coming back that could be an indication of me as an instructor or their want to just stay in their shell and not improve. I understand that MMA is not for everyone, not everyone wants to get hit in the head, roll around with sweaty guys and so on. If you have an MMA element in your club then go to a MMA club thinking you can hang and come up short then one of two things should happen 1. Keep training MMA at a good club or 2. Stop teaching MMA badly at your club and stick to what you are good at.
I want MMA to grow as I love the sport, however I am not a fan of ‘partial artists’ trying to hook their wagon to MMA to get more people (and $$) through the door. Just because you throw some punches, do some leg trips and a head lock does not mean you know MMA. They need to be honest with themselves and be humble and understand that they don’t know everything. There seems to be too many instructors from traditional styles that don’t want their students to train at other clubs, for fear of losing them, where they should be encouraging them as training with different people is a great way to grow and bring information back to the club. This causes them to try and teach what the students may leave for. There is no one perfect style and we all need to train with different people.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
They Still Don’t Notice It
When training new people in a one on one session they are always surprised that wrestling is such an important part of MMA. Given that MMA is as popular as it is I am surprised that people still don’t understand how important wrestling is.
If you are watching a triathlon you can see the three separate disciplines swimming, cycling and running and you can’t really miss any one part as it is so obvious what the athlete is doing at any one stage, also most people have done all three in some form at one point or another. However when it comes to MMA I am not quite sure what people are seeing. Is it just as simple as people standing up striking, people going to the ground and then people on the ground. It seems that people understand striking, kicked and knocked out. It seems people understand BJJ / ground work as they see them wriggling on the ground, submissions or ground and pound. But people don’t seem to really understand the part that gets them from standing to the ground, yet they cheer loudly when there is a takedown – go figure.
After thinking about this a lot more than I should of and I find myself still very confused. Do people over look wrestling due to the fact that it is very rare for a wrestling move to finish a fight? Is it because people think takedowns are part of striking or BJJ or do people think that the big takedowns are more like a big tackle in rugby where it is just a strength thing and only few people have the ‘knack’ for them?
As wrestling is such a small sport in New Zealand I just don’t think that people understand what is happening. When people start working with closing the distance and under hooks they always ask ‘can’t someone just punch you?’ so we go through it to show how hard it is to stop someone getting hold of you. Then they work some cage control with head position, heavy chest and hips and they are shocked with how effective some very simple things can be. Then you go to the bread and butter take downs the single and double leg and get the question ‘why don’t you just knee someone in the head’. Both these takedowns are not hard to do, but very hard to get right. Then when you work some live drills with defence against their newly learnt take downs they learn how hard it is to get a takedown and how much it sucks when you get squished by a sprawl. Then the people who do BJJ private sessions they love the little wrestling additions to their BJJ game especially from head to head and how to deal with an opponent on all fours.
Where wrestling really takes over is getting the clinch in the open and getting / defending the takedown and working both offense and defence against the cage to get the take down. Then where you can really spice up your BJJ game is with some of the wrestling scrambles and the ‘get to your feet’ mentality, as well as the work from under a sprawl or when someone has your back. Just to add BJJ is a very important part of MMA, I just don’t like people who separate BJJ and wrestling, wrestling makes BJJ better as the take downs are more effective and if you bring some wrestling escapes / scrambles that a BJJ person has never seen then you have an advantage. Wrestling by itself is not great as they only way to finish is via pin and that does not help in MMA. To have a truly effective ground game you need both wrestling and BJJ they work well together and should not be looked as one or the other.
Wrestling seems to be over looked as it doesn’t have many spectacular finishes, even though they one of the best KO’s in MMA history is a wrestling slam. It just seems that until wrestling gets better known in NZ it will still be a hidden secret in MMA.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor