Tag Archives: grappling

The Limit of Mixed Martial Arts

Newsletter 890

The Limits of MMA

I’m a big fan of MMA.
I am a critic,
however,
of those who believe that MMA is the only way,
who would speak ill of karate, kung fu, or any other art.
MMA is just a piece of the bigger pie,
a piece of the bigger martial arts
which includes all martial arts.
Which bigger art,
thanks to matrixing,
makes sense and is easily learned.

So,
I was teaching the other night,
got a kid who was a wild hair.
Now,
the kid is actually not bad.
He can freestyle,
and he can grapple,
but he can’t control his body.
Isn’t that interesting?
He’s actually a black belt.
Not a bad one,
but he can’t control his body,
and here is where we come to the limits of MMA,
and the tragedy of this particular martial artist.

When he learned jujitsu
his teaching stopped at the techniques of jujitsu.
So he learned how to freestyle,
to fill the gap.
To be competent both in fisticuffs and grappling.

So I asked him to do a simple move.
Something like a block and punch.
He mouthed off,
sulked,
laughed,
and looked like garbage when he finally tried the simple move.

His attitude was:
I know how to fight
so I don’t need to know that stuff.

So his art stops at flesh contact.
That was the art he learned,
jujitsu,
and when there is no flesh contact,
no wrestling,
he doesn’t know what to do.

What about his ability to fight?
All he can do is kick and punch,
destroy,
and while there is an art to destruction,
it is not the true art.

The true art lies in control.

To the degree that you can control your body…
AND OTHER BODIES
to that degree you have the true art.

To the degree that you canNOT control your body…
AND OTHER BODIES
to that degree you do not have the true art.

He can control his own body in the limits of wrestling.
He can control his body if it comes to kick and punch.
He CANNOT control another person’s body.

And here is a subtle but determining factor.
If you practice MMA,
without recourse to classical arts,
you practice beating people,
not controlling them.
And that puts a severe limit
on what you know
and what you can learn.
MMA is great,
but you have to know how to get beyond that one limit.

So I asked the kid to punch me.
He couldn’t.
Every time he tried to punch me I would simply shift,
slap his hand aside,
and control his body.

Then,
I applied a grab art,
tied him up,
took him down,
and said:

‘Would you like to be able to control other people like that?
Would you like to know the simple tricks I use?
It’s easy,
but you’ll have to work hard,
and you’ll have to think.’

He mouthed off,
sulked,
laughed,
and made himself scarce.

His attitude was:
I know how to fight
so I don’t need to know that stuff.

In spite of the fact that I had just proved it worked.

And here is the tragedy,
in a nutshell,
the whole thing of what was wrong with the kid,

He was scared of what he didn’t know.

He was scared of learning something.
Heck,
if he learned something,
it would prove that he didn’t know everything.
Can’t have that, eh?

And that’s true,
to a degree,
of almost every child,
and even of every adult.

I don’t want to learn
because it will prove I don’t know something.

I CAN’T HAVE MY IGNORANCE SEEN!

So,
the kid hangs around the dojo,
marginally useful,
as long as the task is simple,
but you can’t trust him to do any teaching,
as teaching is merely a way
for him to be dominant (read bully),
and prove to the world
that he knows something,
even though he doesn’t.
He only knows shadows,
and the light eludes him.

Here’s the true education right here.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

How to have PERFECT form in seven simple steps.
How to have PERFECT techniques in six simple steps.
This knowledge is so powerful that people read it
and are totally changed.

Have you ever experienced something that was so true
it simply changed you?
A blink,
and you were different.
That’s what this stuff is.

have a GREAT work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

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Karate Throwing Techniques to Make You Grin!

Finding and Define Karate Throwing Techniques!

When this writer first learned Karate, there weren’t any Karate throwing techniques. There was just kick and punch, and so much of it that there wasn’t much interest in how to throw somebody.

Heck, if you wanted to throw, you took Judo, right?

karate throwing techniques

He could punch…and he could throw!

But, as time played out, and arts were learned, the subject of Karate throwing techniques kept popping up again and again.

Interestingly, there were throws in Karate before that art became a mass produced method of making money for US teachers.

I’m not trying to diss anybody here, but the US teachers were all saying ‘My art is the only Martial Art!’ And they were concerned with pushing their tournament fighting, which had no room for throws.

But Gichin Funakoshi was once taking lessons with Jigaro Kano, and suddenly Gichin did a throw that Kano didn’t really know. And when Kano was surprised, Funakoshi passed it off with, ‘Oh, there are a few karate throwing techniques.’

A few throws, indeed! Karate is LOADED with takedowns and locks and all manner of manipulative grappling techniques!

Finding Karate Throwing Techniques in Kata

My favorite example of a karate throwing technique is the move at the end of Pinan Three. You poke over the shoulder and elbow, and slide to the side. Absolutely perfect grab art, if, instead of poking the eyes, you grab an encircling arm and throw on the slide.

Anyway, we could get into a lo-o-ong discussion about the placement of throws in almost every single move of every single kata, but I will leave that up to the reader to explore on his own, and merely say: ‘the throws are there, you just have to learn how to look.’

I will say that the throws in Karate tend to be all over the place. Karate wasn’t organized logically, and the things are placed in haphazard arrangement. That may make your job of finding them harder, but it will also make it more interesting.

I will also say that, in the end, while this writer loves throws and locks, there is greater efficiency in one punching an opponent. I know that some people may disagree with this, but I recommend practicing the punch until it works, and exploring the throws and locks so that you don’t get trapped or fooled by them, and so that you may have options. An option, for instance, in the event that it’s only your drunk cousin…don’t punch him! Just do one of your Karate Throws, over the shoulder and into the trash can…he he!

Here’s a great article about Karate Throwing Technique. You can also check out Matrix Kung Fu at Monster Martial Arts, which is the bible of Karate Throwing Techniques.