Bullseye

As a trainer you, want your students to target you. In the sense that you want them to be trying to get the better of you; to beat you in some aspect of the sport. What happens, though, when this goes too far?

First off, let me explain that we are talking about the invisible line and no one really knows where it is (hence invisible, not just the line). This line is different for every club. Some trainers are the yard stick and they get in there, mixing it up with their students. There are other clubs where you have an elite coach with elite fighters and the trainer trains and the fighters fight. However, there are more coaches that are somewhere in the middle. But let’s face it, if it is not a trainer then there is one or two people who set the tone at any given club or as I like to call them, the thermostats. These people are usually very skilled and the training attitude flows down from them, they are key to any fight gym. These people keep things in check, help people out, and make sure they get their own training in as well. So, what happens when one of the students decides to take the challenge to a thermostat? To be fair, this usually occurs in some way in most sessions when people try want to get the better of them and, in most instances, it does not escalate as they keep in control. But what if that person who is testing the thermostat is very good and things really kick off. To me, there are three options, 1: one of the authority figures steps in and tells them to quit it. 2: Hope that the thermostat will control the situation and trust the outcome. 3: Sit back and enjoy the show as it is a fight gym after all. If you got 100 trainers dealing with the same situation you would get 100 different responses.

If we look at the individual sports then you will see there are different options available. In BJJ, a black belt can tie you up in knots and make you look like a fool without causing you any damage at all – except your pride. As soon as you are in a position that you don’t like, you can just tap and then restart. This means that in BJJ you can really make an example of someone without hurting them. In the good old days of the Gracie challenges, there was a rule (apparently) of “first round tap, second round snap.” This meant that when you had a challenger in the BJJ gym, they would take them down, roll around for a bit then when they tapped you would let go. However, more often than not, they thought it was a lucky submission so they would want to go again. The formula repeats – takedown, roll, tap – this time, though, the tap was ignored, and they got put to sleep or some ligaments got popped. What you can take from that story is that anyone who has trained has had their temper tested. There is always someone who just gets under your skin and things can get heated. It is just fortunate that in BJJ tapping saves your ass (unless you went back in time to the days of the Gracie challenge).

It’s more or less the same in wrestling. You can absolutely destroy someone on the mat, and they can walk away afterwards no worse for wear. A wrestler can do a big slam but that doesn’t usually do too much damage. This is why you don’t see many knockouts in wrestling, they do happen but they are extremely rare. In striking, however you are stuffed as when things pick up there are bruises, blood and knock downs. Getting punched, kicked, and kneed does more damage then what happens after a hard wrestle or grapple.

People who are members of fight gyms are usually competitive and do not like to back down. Even if the circumstances are right, how far should someone go to prove a point – this is impossible to answer. To be clear, this is from inside my head as I cannot comment on how anyone else thinks. When the switch goes on for my fight brain, all I want to do is hit and not be hit. This sounds very simple but that is it, while that round is going, I am doing everything I can to hit them. This is not done to hurt them; rather, landing shots is the aim of game and success is enjoyable. Yes, landing punches does hurt the opponent, but that is a by product of doing your job right. Once that switch goes on and the opponent is throwing heavy it will stay on until one of you is not standing or the end of the round comes. If there were any issues, they’re usually sorted out after the sparring. And and from my experience, these instances don’t happen too often. But when it does, I have found myself letting nature take its course and just see what happens.

Instructors out there will, in some way, keep their students in line. At fight gyms the hierarchy is usually sorted out physically and it is constantly tested. I am sure a lot of trainers have very diplomatic solutions while others deal with things more directly. Either way, most instructors will let them know who is boss in some way that leaves no room for misunderstanding. I was at another fight gym a few weeks ago and one of the senior students was taking the session. After going through the technique and some options, something very interesting happened. A lower ranking student put his hand up and mentioned and demonstrated some technical points that he felt the higher-ranking student had left out. Although he did this to help, I couldn’t believe it. I was just there as a visitor and was intrigued to see how this was dealt with. The senior student smiled and nodded as the lower ranking student went through the technique then at the end he smiled and said thank you and just did a recap. I was very impressed that he dealt with that so well, from the world I am from this would not happen. It would be a very safe bet that if the instructor were there, he would’ve kept his mouth shut. All in all, some instructors tread quietly, and some make a noise but either way, they all have their way of keeping people in line and sometimes, just sometimes, this can get a little out of hand.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor