FGLG: A Puncher's Chance, A Choker's Choice

A Puncher’s Chance, A Choker’s Choice

The age old question of who is more deadly, the striker or the grappler, has been tested time and time again. In the old days of MMA, the early UFC’s, Vale Tudo’s  and Pankrations  we saw that the answer was nearly absolute.  Nine  times out of ten  the grappler won.  There are some striking purists, particularly boxers, who still pretend grapplers aren’t fighters or that they can beat any grappler with angles and precision. For the most part this is a fallacy. A puncher’s chance is slim compared to a choker’s choice.

Now before I go any further  I should note that I absolutely suck at striking, and my takedowns are ‘passable’ for my level; so I would probably  be in the 10% that would get KTFO when paired against a decent  striker-that being said let’s take a closer look at the realities of striker vs grappler!

We all know now that the best fighters are skilled in both disciplines,  you have to be good at both to truly excel in MMA. While specialists still exist, they have enough knowledge of both sides of the coin to stay afloat.  Why though, do grappling specialists pose such a danger to striking specialists? The answer is actually pretty complex. I have narrowed down the three things I feel are what makes grapplers so deadly.

The Human Head

Our domes can take a lot of damage, it is surprising honestly. In the glory days of bare knuckle boxing, it was very common for the fighter’s hands to give out before an opponent’s head. It’s one of the reasons you see old barroom brawlers who can’t make a fist anymore. The forehead absorbs most of the shots, and it is the hardest part of the human body, and it should be, it protects the most vital organ in your body (although let’s face it, if we used our brains more we probably wouldn’t do combat sports). Knockouts arising from head trauma come one of three ways:  1. the head gets hit so hard that the brain actually bounces off the skull and causes a shutdown 2. the overstimulation of nerve endings behind the jawline, or 3. temporary shutdown from pain (rare, but actually documented).  Strikers have to continually impact someone with blunt force trauma or very accurately to cause one of these three knockouts.  Grapplers however, have multitudes of ways to attack the head; from front standing position alone there are 15 different chokes and cranks that I can name off without thinking much, and I’m just starting my journey.

Space

Strikers need space. Their strikes have to garner force by distance traveled. Scientifically speaking, force = ½ mass X velocity² with velocity being calculated by distance over time.  Simply put, to generate force, the striker needs to create velocity, which requires distance. The grappler however, does not need a force of impact to do damage. If the grappler removes space from the striker, the striker cannot attack effectively. Yet the nature of submission fighting makes this an opportune position. Even in the case of ground and pound specialists, they must remove space from their opponents by placing them on their back and then give themselves distance for attack while maintaining a lack of space for the opponent.

Volumes Of Attack

Yes the striker can attack from a thousand different angles with their hands, feet, elbows, knees and even heads (if we are talking thai boxing), yet even that pales in comparison from the sheer volume of submissions a grappler can pull from. This is what I am talking about when I say the choker’s choice. They literally have thousands of options for finishing an opponent. Even from a basic guard position there are literally hundreds of submissions available. Arm bar, Kimura, razor lock, wrist lock, wrist pop, double arm bar, pretzel choke, head and arm choke, triangle, omoplata, kickstart Americana ,  guillotine, cradle choke, jaw pop neck crank…and these are just the beginning of a huge list from one position, all performed in endless combinations ! If we look at the old UFC’s and Vale Tudo tournaments, we saw this repeatedly. Kickboxers getting taken down and choked out in seconds, karate masters having their ankles separated from their leg, boxers getting armlocked from standing position.  Today pure grapplers are not seeing the same level of success in the octagon but that is because all Mixed Martial Artists are very skilled grapplers now- with striking skills to boot.

I know there will be strikers who disagree with this, hell I am from a striking school so I probably will get a lot of flak for it. Yet, the numbers don’t lie: World class strikers lose to world class grapplers most of the time.

See you on the mats!

“Polar Bear”  Ken Dunbar

-SOTG Staff Writer

Fat Guy in a Little Gi "Of Losses and Lessons"

Of losses and lessons

“What the hell happened…?”

I asked myself repeatedly after I just lost my last match. Up 6-2 I was dominating my opponent, when I got swept, mounted, and Ezekiel choked in less than 3 seconds. Back to back losses on a day where everyone in our camp, from our school and others, thought I was going to be amazing. I had lost 50lbs and 11% body fat and my cardio was insane. Technically sound and able to hit sweeps on command. Everything said I was going to be on the podium; except my two opponents.

First guy, Army Combatives dude, with very little technique; however he was in peak shape and at 6’9” 270lbs, a force to be reckoned with. I failed an Uchi Mata attempt and he landed in half guard top. There we stayed until 20 seconds left when he was able to pass to side. I had attempted to maneuver for sweeping position, but he just pinned me. My brain left me, I didn't fight for underhooks and instead chose to work collar holds and keep lockdown. I lost that match because I wasn't focused.

Second guy, one stripe blue belt from a smaller gym. He had gotten severely dominated his first match and ended up tapping to a short choke as he was belly down. I knew I was more technical, and when we locked up in Randori, I knew I was stronger. I Tried an ankle reap which caused him to attempt an ankle pick and a switch to a single. My sprawl was good and I was able to dig an underhook. He let go of my leg and forced his way to standing, then I hit the most beautiful Uchi Mata that I have ever hit (not saying much really). I crashed on top and attempted to establish side; he was able to get his guard back quickly, but not before my points were on the board. Then I froze. Again my brain left me. I looked like a first day white belt trying to break his guard, not using any of the technique I have. Luckily I remembered to posture, but even that was lacking. He sat up for a hip-bump sweep and I fought it, only to have him arm drag and attempt to take my back. My back defense is impeccable for my level and I was able to easily reverse, but I reversed right into a sweep. As my back hit the mat I pushed his hips and attempted to get to my side, but his hand was already in his sleeve and around my head. 2 seconds, and I tapped. I looked at the monitor, and there I was; up 6-2 and had just been submitted.

Dejected I stood up from the mats, bowed, shook hands, and left the competition area. My coach stood in disbelief, as did all of my camp who were watching.

“Next time, you’ll do it next time.”

“That guy was lucky.”

“You just had an off day.”

Phrases that held little consoling for the anger and disappointment that was within. Another failure in the sport I dedicate my life to. In the locker room, as I stripped off my gi jacket, I looked into the mirror. Tears welled up, and I became disgusted with myself.

“I’m done with this.”

As I said the words, a thought entered my mind.

Go ahead and give up, you just aren’t good enough for this.

I wish I could say I didn’t listen to those words, but I did. The next few weeks, I attended class, but I wasn’t there. The motions were done, the knowledge shared, but nothing really stuck. My coach and I had a long talk, but it did little except make me promise that I was going to keep showing up to class. I hated grappling, and I took out my frustrations on some of the junior students. Not ‘hurting them’ mind you, but no longer being docile, no longer working on positions. Every roll, I was testing their wills and resolves. Until about three weeks after the tournament.

To understand this next part you have to know something about our gym. It’s a striking school with a developing ground program. We have our section of mat that we can use, and the rest is for those who wish to hone their hands and feet. Further, most of our grapplers are no-gi people and those that do train gi tend to be in sporadically. (Haha at Ken referring to “no-gi people” –hey I’m a no-gi person! Editor)

One day, like every other day, I expected 20 or so strikers and about 8 grapplers. To my surprise however, there were 3 strikers, and almost 20 grapplers. A couple wrestlers from high school who wanted to learn how to tap people out, a few guys who needed to work their ground for MMA, but most surprisingly; a few no-gi grapplers had went out and bought a gi themselves. I was slightly taken aback. Further still, our coach was running late, and being the senior student at the gym I had to run class until he showed up. Reluctantly I began class with a movement drill.

I paired people up by skill, showing the class how to do the drill and working with the new students to explain the why and reason of certain motions, and explaining why moving certain ways gets you in trouble. As each pairing ran through their paces, I was interrupted numerous times and asked questions; even by those who I trained with every week. It was weird, while I often had taught or assisted in classwork prior, this day was different. I had real, applicable knowledge that I could share with fellow grapplers. True, technical knowhow escaped my lips as I coaxed the class into understanding.

After warm up, stretching, and teaching a technique, our coach showed up and took over class. His day job had kept him and he was sorry he was late. However, I will forever be grateful he was late that day. It reignited something in me, the love of the sport.

We all have our mountains to climb, we all have our failures and lessons to be learned: but if we continue on, even if we don’t really want to, we will emerge somewhere far greater than we have ever known. I realized my mistakes at that tournament, and I am ready for training camp for the next one. Not just ready for the next one, excited for the next one. Excited to test my skills and style against the others in the region. Pumped up to see if I have added anything else into my bag of tricks that can help me in my division.  I am excited to bring the wisdom back to our home mats, to teach my mat rat family what I have experienced and learned.

Stay the course my friends, even if you can’t see anything but the waves and the rain.

Ken-

Fat Guy In A Little Gi Entry #3: Forbidden Knowledge

Fat Guy in a Little Gi #3

Forbidden Knowledge

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge” – Stephen Hawking.

When I started my journey, I found that I was fairly proficient in toe holds. I could slap them on many people with ease and get the tap. A few years later, when I started getting really into BJJ specifically, I found out that my ‘go to’ move wouldn’t be available to me in many tournaments until I was a purple belt! I was flabbergasted, and a little pissed off. How could someone claim to represent the art, by banning something as simple as a toe hold? It wasn’t much longer until I saw firsthand the damage a toe hold could do when applied by a complete beginner to another complete beginner. While the victim’s knee was still intact, his ankle popped so loud that I could hear it from a few mats away. Luckily it was just a severe strain and he was only out a few weeks, but if any more leverage or force and he could have been out for much, MUCH, longer. Yet, even then, I rationalized that I was disciplined enough so I should be able to use them. Then I got caught with one just a year later. A young man I was training put me in a toe hold. I thought I could fight it, but when I realized I wasn’t getting out, it was too late. My ankle went pop and my knee got slightly tweaked (lucky I know). I limped for three weeks and didn’t train. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just about knowing when to let go as an attacker, but about knowing when to give in and tap as a defender as well.

 

That singular event made me re-evaluate the limitations BJJ has placed on lower belts. Sure I was disciplined enough to apply the hold slowly and with good technique, but would my partner be disciplined enough to tap? Along these lines, I used to think that heel hooks blowing out knees was the stuff of gym legend. Just a bit of research showed me how entirely wrong I was. Could it be that the tournaments had it right?

Even with that though, I lament. If the instructors had taught us what these moves could do, and advised us on how to tap and what to look out for; wouldn’t we then be prepared to use these techniques? Over the years I have watched more and more seemingly ‘run of the mill’ techniques become outlawed or restricted in different venues. In Judo, recently, we have seen that any sort of leg attack is now outlawed, even a Judoka fireman’s carry. In BJJ we have seen leg locks and neck cranks become more and more restrictive. In all grappling, we have seen that the takedown must not ‘slam’ the opponent.  All of these are sport aspects designed to give the competitor a longer career. However, it severely limits the self defense aspect of the grappling arts. All this begs the question…

Are we helping or hurting our students?

I am sure all of us in this lifestyle have sat on one side or the other on the debate. Total openness or ‘you’ll learn it when you’re ready’. Depending on what base art and instruction culture they hail from, some practitioners can’t even fathom that the other side could be remotely correct. Luckily, most people can agree to disagree or understand the risks that certain techniques have. Yet the debate always seems to spark passion. To understand it, we need to look into some key ideological differences within some of the base grappling arts. There are literally hundreds of grappling arts, but I am going to only look at four. These four make up my own game and I have had exposure to all of them;

Catch as Catch Can Wrestling

Judo

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Sambo

Additionally I will providing some historical/cultural citations (most of which are links) to help paint the picture of contrasting ideologies of these four arts.

Catch Wrestling

You may look at that small list and immediately notice that I put catch wrestling first. The reason for this, is that catch culture is completely at odds with a lot of submission grappling restrictions. Catch is ruthless, with slams, cranks, and leg locks that are designed to bust cartilage and shred tendons. That isn’t a bad thing. Catch capitalizes on a solid wrestling foundation and adds to it holds and submission that force the opponent to be in a bad position for a pin or suffer a humiliating submission.

Catch is far more aggressive than BJJ and Judo. Many view it as the most aggressive grappling arts in general (I disagree to an extent, but in the right practitioners hands it definitely can be). It is less about baiting and more about forcing your opponent to mess up. To quote Sal Bandini from Ready to Rumble “Don't let up until you hear cartilage snap, or they crap in their pants.” That pretty much sums up the culture of catch wrestling (albeit humorously and not entirely accurate, you can tap out before you crap your pants). However, due to this aggressive culture, catch is often seen as ‘brutish’ among the grappling arts. Yet watching a catch wrestler work is a thing of brutal beauty. Each movement measured, each submission used to set up the opponent for something worse. Personally speaking, the catch wrestlers I have met have a higher drive and professionalism on the mats than some of the other arts. One must also note, that catch uses cranks, leg locks, and big slams without many instances of career ending accidents; even though catch tournaments are traditionally ‘no holdsbarred’ (that is literal).

One down side, is we don’t see many catch wrestlers continue to train after their 40^th year. The years of brutality do take their toll on a body. The ones that do continue to train, have learned how to defend themselves early in their career, and are often at the pinnacle of their chosen art.

Quick overview of catch culture here (it isn’t much but it hits the important parts)

http://martialarts.about.com/od/styles/a/catchwrestling.htm

Judo

Jigoro Kano’s Ju Jitsu, Kodokan Judo, is precursor BJJ, and also has a huge influence on Sambo (one of its founders was a second degree Judoka under Jigoro Kano himself). While it mainly focuses on the takedown, Judo is a complete grappling art. It came into being for many reasons, but primarily because Kano’s scholarly dedication to Ju Jitsu and keeping the dying Japanese martial arts alive. Due to his education and his relationship with high level politicians, Kano was able to secure a foothold as the founder of Japan’s national self defense art. During this time, scores of Ju Jitsu and other martial arts masters brought their teachings to Kano, in hopes that he would keep their teachings alive within his new system. Since its foundation, Judo had always been approached by practitioners with a scholarly or philosophical dedication. Students would incorporate other arts (such as wrestling) into their ‘game’ to ensure they were continuing to develop. Jigoro Kano even fireman carried and pinned a rival Ju Jitsu teacher during a demonstration, to show that the practitioner must always be willing to learn and use techniques to better themselves.

Sadly, the current Judo competition atmosphere seems to have moved away from this. While Judo schools still teach leg attacks and takedowns, they are no longer allowed competition. In fact, you cannot even touch an opponent’s legs anymore, or else you will be disqualified. Some say it is to preserve the art, others have valid arguments against certain takedowns (scissors takedowns can blast knees EASY), yet most I speak with say it is for the same reason- a fear that traditional wrestlers will dominate the competition. While I don’t subscribe to that theory as a primary, it has sparked a huge debate over the integrity of Judo.

This book is an amazing look into the philosophical ideologies of early Judoka including the founder himself.

The Way of Judo – A portrait of Jigoro Kano and His Student by John Stevens

Also this website has a transcript of Kano’s own writings on Judo

http://judoinfo.com/kano2.htm

BJJ

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or Gracie Jiu Jitsu for some of you who prefer, is a gentle art. It focuses on technique and leverage. By design, you should be able to negate your opponent with minimal effort and gentle repose. This gentleness and focus on using an opponent’s own movements against them, is what allowed both Grandmasters Carlos and Helio Gracie to participate and train until they left the world for the big mat in the sky. It is not uncommon to find 50yr+ white belts in a BJJ academy. The bjj lifestyle is supposed to be about patience, commitment, dedication, and bettering yourself. When competitors do go hard, they are less brute force, and more heavy pressure (there is a viable difference between the two).

By design, BJJ strives to keep its practitioners safe. It is an art that is self defense at heart, sport secondly. While ‘modern’ BJJ seems to be more sport than self defense, it doesn’t change the original ideology of being able to survive in any situation. With self preservation at its core, it is a small wonder that BJJ has started to really regulate the techniques allowed at the lower levels. Keeping the practitioners safe is within the base ideology of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That being said, some schools do not adequately prepare their fighters against neck cranks and, more pressing, leg locks. Many do not even begin to play with leg locks until blue or purple belt. If a white belt attempts an MMA fight or a No-Gi tournament, it may place them at a potentially large disadvantage.

Sambo

Sambo is an acronym created from the phrase; Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, or self defense without weapons. It was created to be a complete military self defense system, designed to equip the Red Army’s soldiers with a system that would allow them to negate any enemy in hand to hand combat. It is no small wonder that Sambo practitioners are extremely intense when they work on the mat. Still in use today by the Russian military, most of Russia’s top Judo players, wrestlers and MMA fighters all have experience in the sporting arm of Sambo .   With the original system designed for military purposes the intent of survival and elimination can still be found in the drive of even the sporting competitors.

Similar to MMA, Sambo utilizes strikes, takedowns, and submission holds to render an opponent unable to continue. It is best known in the grappling world for its dedication to leg locks and slick transitional takedowns. Knee bars, calf locks/slicers, heel hooks, ankle locks etc, all make the Sambo practitioner dangerous. Students of Sambo learn these techniques very early and use them often. Whereas BJJ tends to wait for higher level belts before these techniques are taught. Yet, even as these techniques are taught, there is a strict competition limitation (depending on the type of Sambo competition; in sport Sambo there are limitations, in Combat Sambo there are not). For example; Novichok (novice) practitioners may compete in sport Sambo  or Combat Sambo but the allowable locks would differ in each, the leg locks used in sport Sambo are much more similar to those used in BJJ competitions with the exception that Sambo promotes leg reaping, while all leg locks are legal in Combat Sambo including heel hooks.

While I don’t like using Wikipedia as a source (even if colleges are starting to allow it), this article is really well done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_(martial_art)\

THE MOVES THEMSELVES

Now that we have explored some of the founding ideologies and can see some of the differences between four different grappling arts; let’s look at some of the moves themselves and what each of the four’s views on them are. I’m purposely hitting on the most controversial. I also am adding my personal ‘fat guy’ view on each one.

SLAMMING and SPIKING

Slamming is a big no-no for a lot of grappling competitions. The difference between a throw and a slam boils down to two things, intent and control. If the intent is to do gratuitous harm to your opponent and you chuck them with all of your might and don’t arrest their momentum, they get slammed and you get kicked off the mat.

Spiking on the other hand is when you deliberately throw your opponent headfirst into the mat. Anyone can immediately spot the dangers of this, but for the sake of completeness, let me show you a video on what can happen. Warning, not for the feint of heart;

http://www.mmamania.com/2013/8/21/4646258/video-15-year-old-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-competitor-suffers-broken-neck

NO ONE endorses spiking, except in possible self defense situations (and even those that do endorse it for self defense are rare).

Catch wrestling’s view

Every catch wrestler I have asked loves slams. They have been slammed and have slammed people. There are no qualms to putting every ounce of strength into a throw to capitalize on damage. However, that being said, they always strive for control. Rarely have I seen a catch wrestler launch an opponent without either maintaining grip on impact or body positioning on impact. They do this so they can secure the pin or position immediately following the throw.

JUDO

When I talk to Judoka about slamming they often look at me like I’m completely stupid. I gather the reason for this, is they take great pride in maintaining control during their throws. If they lose control, they could potentially get disqualified. However that being said, I have seen some powerful throws that had forces of impact far higher than any slam I’ve seen, and they were legal.

BJJ

No slams, and throws must be super controlled. In reality, it is no different than Judo.

Sambo

The most vicious slam I have ever seen was the Randal-plex done to Fedor. Fedor was belly to belly thrown and spiked by Kevin Randal. The commenter even said ‘we may have just watched the first death in MMA’. Yet, in true Last Emperor fashion, Fedor shook it off as nothing and ended up winning the battle. When asked afterwards if he thought he was in danger after that throw, he replied ‘no, it happens all the time when I train’. That is the reality of Sambo training. Slams are ‘just part of the game’. Just like with catch wrestling, Sambo views slamming as not only valid, but trains them as part of their game plan. In fact Sambo allows all throws of Wrestling, Judo, and regional styles of traditional  wrestling form around the old Soviet Bloc, in fact Sambo even contains takedowns from Bear wrestling (Zacep Goloni). In fact some of the highest amplitude throws come to international Judo competition via Sambo including the Georgian pick-up, Flying armbar, Fireman’s Carry, The Belly to Belly (Brosk Cherez Grud) and many belt grip and over the back grip throws that have been performed with notable Russian style. Although many of these techniques existed before Sambo, they were not seen in competition and certainly not used in an offense all or nothing manner that the Russians are famous for.

The Polar Bears View:

Slamming force for me has always been something I expect when I’m thrown. I have been slammed many times over my career and honestly it has been a nice change of pace practicing BJJ and not having to worry about excessive throwing force. If you are going into MMA, train getting slammed, if you are staying in the BJJ/Sub Grappling scene, train slams just in case. How do you train slams? Get thrown. Get thrown a lot-on GOOD MATS, or a throw pad. Learn how to fall and practice break falls from a competent instructor. I hate getting slammed, at 265lbs (still losing though!) that is a lot of force to come down on my body. Yet, when I am slammed (and it happens) I know I can fight through it. Also, by learning how to take a slam, you also learn how to manipulate your body, which; just in case, can help you to maneuver your body to stop from being spiked should you find yourself in that situation.

HEEL HOOKS (and other toe/leg locks)

The long debated technique, pinnacle of forbidden knowledge. Heel hooks are extremely dangerous; causing damage to the knee joint, ACL/MCL, lower leg tendons, and ankle. These attacks are extremely effective and often times easy to snatch because people don’t prepare for them early enough in their training path. The same can be true of other leg locks and toe holds.

Catch

Teaches them and loves them, in fact they love every leg lock as they use them to set up pins. Escaping leg locks tends to force people into bad position and wrestlers use that position to secure dominance. Catch loves all leg locks in fact. Here is Erik Paulson’s (dude’s a beast!) heel hook from mounted, in my opinion pretty legit;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahktYM6Q4sU

Judo

No leg attacks, OUTLAWED

BJJ

Depending on the tournament, brown or black belts are the only ones allowed to do heel hooks. Very rarely do I even hear of schools teaching heel hooks to belts below brown. Toe holds are forbidden until purple belt in most tournaments and often the only leg attacks that are legal are straight ankle (white) and straight knee bars (blue).

Sambo

Taught early, used early, and used to great effect; the heel hook is a staple in the Sambo practitioners diet. In fact all leg locks are. Yet, while they are learning the move, they are also taught to tap when they feel the pressure of the move, not the pain. It is an important point that I personally feel should transcend to all grappling arts at a young level.

My view

I hate heel hooks for junior practitioners during live rolling. I hate them because junior practitioners are stupid (yes, I include myself in that list). Pride hasn’t been tempered yet and in arrogance we tend to fight pressure when we really should just tap. That said; I do believe everyone should learn to defend them, avoid them, and use them. In a self defense situation, the heel hook should be a last resort, but it should be a resort none the less.

Straight leg locks however, I feel less passionate about juniors not using them. The pain from a Straight ankle lock especially comes on quick but the chance for real damage is low. I trust even the newest practitioners to tap when placed in these positions. Non twisting locks should be a staple of every practitioner from a very early place in their training path.

Toe Holds and Kneebars are techniques that both require care when training with your partner. The Kneebar (in Sambo) is seen as the hardest leg lock to master and the pinnacle of the art. A master of the Kneebar will snap knee ligaments before you can feel any pain.  However the true intricacies of the Kneebar are not widely known or taught and generally the novice practitioner applies direct backwards pressure to their opponents knee, much like an armbar effectively  alleviating much of the risks of the lock, as opposed to a master who will target one side of the knee.  Toe holds similarly (and even ‘ straight’ ankle locks) are fairly safe at the novice level; however care must still be taken, a master can put twist on even a ‘straight’ lock or increase the pressure of a toe hold and severely damage the ankle.

SCISSOR TAKEDOWN

The reason the scissor takedown is included is because it used to be THE flash takedown in the 80’s and early 90’s action movie scene (it even shows up in Three Ninjas…go watch it, terrible right? But wasn’t it great?). So why is it outlawed? Honestly, because people can’t control their opponent’s reaction and/or can’t be trusted to maintain control.  If your opponent steps back when you shoot, or you hit their knee instead of their calf (or waist depending on leg) you run the HIGH risk of blowing out your opponent’s knee. It isn’t a safe takedown. So it has been outlawed in numerous grappling tournaments.

Catch

I haven’t actually seen much of the scissor takedown in catch, except by Erik Paulson (dude’s a beast!). What I have heard though, is it is taught to intermediate practitioners. I actually don’t know this for certain though, so any of you catch guys/gals out there please shoot me a line. I love the education!

JUDO

It used to be common on the mats until it was outlawed in 1980. Kani Basami was outlawed due to an increase in prolonged injuries on the Judo circuit.

BJJ

Since the IBJJF creation, scissor takedowns have not been legal. *note, I had a forum mod tell me they used to be legal, but I could find no supporting documentation*

Sambo

Legal and used effectively to set up some of the slickest, meanest, most evil of ankle locks and heel hooks (here is one from Master Instructor Vadim Kolganov)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYXN8vje54

My view

I have a really hard time with this one. The value of the scissor take down lies in its sneaky setup, but for me, it is hard to outweigh the risk of losing position for the possibility of the quick finish. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful move and no one can argue with its dynamic flash; but the risk is far too great for me to have it firmly in my arsenal. I believe at brown belt, or higher levels, I will probably feel a little different, but the risk of damage will still be there. Risk of losing position and risk of permanently damaging my opponent, will keep this technique out of my box of tricks for some time I feel.

NECK CRANKS

The neck crank is one of the more dangerous techniques out there, because just a little bit too much pressure can actually break the neck. This can lead to paralysis and in rare cases even death. The good news is it is easy to feel when that pressure is getting close in most situations. The bad news is, unless you tap, your opponent won’t know.

Catch

Catch loves neck cranks, they adore neck cranks. Nothing makes someone scramble and panic so much as to feel the pressure on their neck slowly pop each vertebra. Since catch wrestlers tend to be bulky, it makes sense that they would gravitate towards the more brutal neck crank than the more finesse based chokes of other arts. Further, when applying certain chokes, catch wrestlers have the option to turn a failed choke into a neck crank (or jaw crank). Here again is the man Erik Paulson with a sweet crank;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA6ASgx0vpA&list=PL4FD0FCD305BEA22D

JUDO

To be honest, I have never heard of a neck crank in Judo before this blog. Come to find out, they do exist in the art, although they are not allowed in competition. This is partly due to the limited amount of time one has on the ground in Judo, and also due to the extreme dangers they posses. However, it is good to know the art continues to teach them.

BJJ

Neck cranks in BJJ are illegal until the higher levels. The reason for this is because young practitioners won’t tap to pressure until they feel pain. By then it can be too late.

Sambo

Interestingly, Sambo doesn’t genuinely teach neck cranks until after the practitioner graduates out of their novice level (this depends on what style they are learning: combat or sport). The reason for this: spinal locks and chokes are not yet allowed in sport Sambo and thusly cannot be utilized. However they are included in the combat Sambo curriculum and they do have some pretty nice cranks (check this one out, also some cool kimura notes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1_zU5xxUs

My view

I love neck cranks. I tap early because I understand the pressure and I lock them slowly for the same reason. Plus, I am fairly good at turning cranks into air chokes and chokes into cranks. I think they need to be taught early and utilized early; however I do believe it needs to be reserved for those who have been in the art for a while (after a year or so). The reason for this, is people will have started to learn the difference between a clean choke and painful yet unsuccessful neck crank. They will realize the difference between the pressure of a failed choke and the pressure of a properly applied neck crank.

Closing remarks

I am interested to hear from our community here on what they feel. This wasn’t written to stir up the controversy, but more to invite the debate and exchange of philosophies. Even though I am only a blue belt in BJJ, I have been in this culture for many years. I started fighting for self defense and that is where a lot of my personal ideology comes from.

Safe rolling in 2014 everyone! OSS!

Fat Guy in a Little Gi: Entry 2- Of Mentors and Teachers Part 2 and 3 "Investment and Knowledge"

Read Part 1: Here

Fat Guy in a Little Gi

One big man’s journey of self-discovery through combat sports

 Entry 2- Of Mentors and Teachers

Part 2 and 3 "Investment and Knowledge"

Personal Investment

Personal investment is the defining point between your every day instructor, and a true coach and mentor. The willingness to sacrifice ones time and energy to help someone else reach their goals is paramount.  Unlike the other traits, this one is easier to explain by using examples. Kano Melvin, my grappling/BJJ instructor, truly is selfless with the amount of time he dedicates to his students. Every Sunday, we meet up and work for 2-3 hours on whatever we want. After our grappling classes during the week, he stays after to work with any student who wants more time. Throughout the week we talk off the mats about things I can be doing to better my game, or engage in philosophical discussion regarding different grappling ideologies. However, his interest in his students doesn't stop with the game. He is genuinely interested in his students well being. He offers advice and a listening ear to whatever problem that they may have. If it wasn't for Kano, I would never have been able to progress as fast as I have, and if I am honest I probably would be more of a mental case than I am.

True Applicable Knowledge

McDojo’s are a dime a dozen. I have had the unfortunate experience of being a victim of one of these ‘schools.’ I don’t want to drop names (for legal reasons) but the biggest issue I had was the instructors lack of knowledge. It wasn't long before I was contradicting the instructors when it came to technique and competition rules. I left shortly after that. I learned how important it was to make sure those you turn to for guidance actually know what the hell they are talking about. You have to do your research and find their credentials. That’s when I turned to Brian Johnson. Brian has an amazing striking gym and his knowledge is why that gym is widely recognized by so many. He is a businessman, and knows how to turn a profit, but he does so without sacrificing the integrity of his gym. 

Make sure to stay tuned for part 4 "Experience" and my conclusion to FGLG entry #2 on mentors-Ken

Fat Guy in a Little Gi: Entry 2- Of Mentors and Teachers Part 1: Honesty

Editors note: "This is a four part series from Ken on mentors and coaches. Ken a BJJ Blue Belt who also trains MMA, writes for SOTG, documenting his progression and thoughts on the martial arts and his journey,  giving you the beginners perspective.  Enjoy!" Gregrooski

                                                       Fat Guy in a Little Gi

One big man’s journey of self-discovery through combat sports

Entry 2- Of Mentors and Teachers

We all struggle in our paths and we need perspective and guidance. Mentors and teachers, good and bad, help us grow and develop into better versions of ourselves. In martial arts, we often think of these as being our Sensei, coach, or head instructor. We often forget that there are others who help us along our path. Senior belts, training partners, family, even fans of the sport have helped us grow just as much, if not more so, than those who guide our training.

I would love to list every single mentor and teacher I have ever had; but that would take an exorbitant amount of time and, let’s face it, be extremely boring for you guys. Rather than just list the people who have impacted me in these roles, I’m going to go over what I feel makes a good mentor; those intangible qualities that must be present to truly define a mentor/student relationship. At the end of each trait, I will give a quick shout out to those coaches I feel best embody the listed trait. For the sake of this blog, I will only be mentioning mentors within the combat sports community (sorry Autumn).

Honesty

Some pros make the mistake of hiring coaches and training partners who feed their ego, rather than feed their technique. Coaches who say stuff like “that’s it, good, perfect” when you are crossing your feet, dropping your hands, or shooting from WAY outside; do not help you. Worse it can get you seriously hurt when you do compete. Luckily, most of us don’t have that problem. We have our Mick who yelled at us for the little things we did wrong (Rocky reference for those too young. Go watch it… now…(don’t worry we’ll wait) Done? Good…moving on).  While we wish they weren't so nit-picky, they helped us. Honesty is the most important aspect to being a good mentor. Having someone who is able to effectively communicate errors, successes, and oddities in your life is paramount to being good at whatever you do. When it comes to my striking game, Julien Martin  (The Academy of Brian Johnson in Lacey, WA) is that man. He is honest with every fighter and member when it comes to his chosen vocation. The man gives it to me straight every time (tactfully… most times). When I am doing well and hitting my angles, he lets me know. When I am sucking, dropping my hands, turning away, or any other multitude of errors…he lets me know. While I often annoy him I’m sure, the man is dedicated to making everyone in the gym a better striker. He has no qualms about being straight with us, but with his honesty comes the knowledge to fix out mistakes or capitalize on what we are doing right (more on that later).-Ken

*** The Polar Bear aka " The Fat Guy in a Little Gi"  was just promoted to Blue Belt! Congrats Ken!***

Fat Guy in a Little Gi Entry-1: Who Is This Guy?

Fat Guy in a Little Gi

One big man’s journey of self-discovery through combat sports

Entry 1- Who is this guy? AKA the journey so far

They call me Polar Bear. I started my journey into martial arts, as many in my generation did, through old kung-fu movies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Watching Leo, Mike, Don and Raph stick it to the foot clan every Saturday morning ignited a lifelong passion that I wasn't able to really commit to until MUCH later.

From the time I could follow coherent logic, I ‘trained’ by reading every martial art book I could; practicing the moves by mimicking the pictures on the page. Names like Ramon Dekker, Andy Hug, and Royce Gracie weren't known to me yet; instead names like Jean Claude Van Damn, Chuck Norris, and the man himself, Bruce Lee inspired me. From the age of about 3, I have constantly pictured myself in some sort of martial combat.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the kung fu/karate guru I wished to be. Theory only helps so much when applied to real world experience. I was bullied relentlessly during my youth. Growing up, my personality was very odd, and I still have more than enough neurotic behaviors to label me ‘a f*cking weirdo nutjob’. While I have overcome much of my social awkwardness, childhood was hell for me. I lost A LOT of schoolyard battles. Most weren't epic scraps, but poor excuses for grappling matches that ended with me mounted and people taunting me. I can only remember winning two fights before I was 14 to be honest.

Part of my issue was a total lack of self-confidence. While formal martial arts training would have helped with that, we didn’t’ have a lot of extra money back then and my mother was adamantly against violence in any capacity off the football field (still is by the way). In fact I never even asked to do formal training until I got a flier in middle school. There was an afterschool program for Tae Kwan Do that was cheap enough ($25 a month) that I could attend, and I jumped at the opportunity. It wasn't long before I realized that it wasn’t the epic ‘defeat anyone style’ I had hoped it was. This was sport TKD, not traditional, and not effective. Further the instructor was very strict at the most random times. During touch sparring (everything was always too forceful apparently) she would joke and laugh, during forms she would be a dictator. All the while I kept studying other arts through the local library. My love of TKD died just after I got my yellow belt, at the age of 13. Sport TKD just wasn't for me.

It wasn't long after that, I found a copy of UFC 1 on VHS. Wow. I was hooked. These guys were real fighters! And one man captivated my vision. It wasn't Royce Gracie like people reading this will expect, it was actually Ken Shamrock. Here was a guy with my first name, a history of being a complete badass. I was rooting for him through everything. When he was submitted my heart was crushed a little bit, but I kept being a fan long after that fight. I watched every UFC VHS I could (my family couldn't’ afford pay per view until I was much, much older). I started reading on this ‘grappling’ thing and found that I needed a true hybrid system if I wanted to be one of these guys later in life. *note- I have since learned the error of my ways and LOVE Royce*

When I was 15, I finally found a system that called to me. That I could use to launch my No Holds Barred career (the term MMA hadn't been coined or used broadly yet). That system was Kajukenbo. It had everything I wanted; Kung-Fu, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kenpo, and Boxing. Everything was there in one spot! My first day was very difficult, the school had old ½ mats that did very little to break any fall, and because the studio was still being built, it was often that my arm felt the cold sting of concrete. I really enjoyed it, but when I sparred my friends at a local open mat gym, I would still get whooped. Wrestlers would continually take me down and negate my stand up, kick boxers would continually beat me on my feet. II joined the Marines and when I came back the school was so different I decided to move on.

In the Marine Corps I participated in my first MMA fights. These weren't regulated and I can barely say there were anything more than drunken service members and locals fighting for sport. I thought I knew what I was doing, but yet again I was proved wrong. At 8-10 I started fearing maybe my passion wasn't for me. I left the Corps and came home, only to find myself even more lost in this journey.

I started my own fight team. I figured I knew enough about the game, if I couldn't do it, maybe I could find guys who could use my knowledge. Glacier MMA (now Glacier Combat Arts). Our first outings were less than stellar, but we started putting up wins and I felt good. Something was missing though. I had rudimentary skills but nothing I was ‘excellent’ at. I looked to a local gym owner who was kind enough to let me bring my team into his gym and train them with his staff or by myself.  It wasn't long before we became a part of the family. Now whenever we fight we are Glacier Combat Arts/Academy of Brian Johnson. Brian has taught me more about kickboxing and the striking game than I can even begin to explain. In his school he also has a Marcelo Alonso BJJ affiliate. That is where I met Kano Melvin and my BJJ journey begins…