By Mike Stidham
Anderson Silva is arguably the greatest MMA fighter in the world today. Georges St Piere is often compared to him. They are both like watching skilled ballerina's performing the Nutcracker. They are poetry in motion, and they make everything look so easy. That is unless you were to watch what went into them being able to fight like that. The years of dedicated and regimented training that went into creating that seemingly ease of movement is worth exploring.
- When learning the English language, we are taught our alphabet. Our first grade teacher spent many hours, teaching us how to properly enunciate each letter. Our parents helped us at home. This task seemed an unsurmountable at the time. With repetition, we became masters of reciting the alphabet. Now, we can spit it out fat will. How many of us, however, have gotten lazy with our speech, and don't enunciate as we did when we were children? How many of us haven't practiced the alphabet in recent years? Can you recite it forward and backward with perfect diction each and every time?
Much like footwork and a proper stance are the basis for becoming a great fighter, the alphabet is the basic building block for the English Language. Advanced linguists learn how to string those letters into words, then sentences. Soon, those monosyllabic words, become larger, and more difficult to pronounce, let alone use in a sentence. In time, we learn how to expand our vocabulary and mastery of the English language to turn those sentences into music or poetry. We learn the importance of proper spelling, grammar, pronunciation, punctuation, and even handwriting in order to communicate effectively. Orally, we learn to listen to other's words, to use voice inflection, and changing tones in order to deliver messages as intended.
THEN, the craziest thing happens. In our minds, we are masterful linguists... until your 5 year old comes home from school with her homework, and she can't properly say her R's. You dig down deep into your VAST well of knowledge and mastery of the English language, and cannot figure for the life of you why that precious little thing's R's sound like W's.
- You patiently pull out flash cards, and begin to go over the fundamentals of sound that you had forgotten about. You haven't read a children's book in decades. It seems beneath you at first, but your love for your child drives you to suffer through it. Suddenly, after hours of repetition, and determination, 'The dog says Ruff' no longer sounds like the dog says Wuff'. You were able to communicate something to her that resonated to the point that her speech started to sound as it should.
This may have been a long-winded analogy, but comparing your martial arts training to something we all have endured is the best way I can explain the 'Building Blocks' that go into it. Without basic fundamentals, you will NEVER excel at those 'fancy' techniques you see the top level UFC fighters execute.
Interestingly enough, there are those who are very naturally gifted athletes that are able to perform some of these techniques. Jon Jones is a great example. He is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was able to accomplish that feat in under 3 years of MMA training. He is, no doubt, a phenom. He deserves all the credit in the world for his accomplishment, and this article is, in no way, intended as an insult to him. I'm confident that in ten years, when he HAS learned the nuances of the game, he will agree with every word I say here. Much of his technique LOOKS like Anderson Silva. But it is not the same. Jones' fundamentals are unsound. He is a gifted athlete, that is able to emulate what he sees other do, yet cannot explain to you WHY he is doing it. Without having a complete understanding of the fundamentals, your capabilities are limited.
- Here is where the water gets a little murky. Anderson Silva's fundamentals are COMPLETELY unsound as well. He often stands flat-footed, with his hands by his side, jutting his chin out, daring opponents to hit it. He does everything your coach would yell at you for doing your first day in class.
Anderson Silva is able to do that because he has already climbed the mountain, and has returned to the bottom with a complete understanding of what is at the top. He knows how to fight fundamentally sound, and has no learned how not to. This is very hard to understand without having taken that journey yourself.
Many young fighters try to skip the part about 'putting letters together, forming words.' They aren't interested in 'learning proper sentence structure, or the difference between a noun and a pronoun.' They want to recite poetry just like Anderson Silva.
Anderson Sliva, GSP, and the upper-echelon of great fighters painstakingly learned how to stand, move, block, strike from the most basic movements to what you see now. This didn't happen overnight.
Now, there is a dynamic of fighting that you just don't see in the analogy of the language arts. There are many facets to MMA fighting. Being tough, having great endurance, being mentally strong, psychologically fit, having a good work ethic, remaining injury free, good decision making, are just a few of them. ALL of these can be made better by paying attention to detail, and learning basic fundamentals of each. But, one punch can, one injury, one poor decision... can change everything. Many skilled fighters, that took those painstaking steps to be great, have failed when one of these variables presented themselves at an inopportune time.
A simple look at the all-time greats, however, prove that there are VERY few that have made it to the top without sound fundamentals. Very few have excelled at any craft without building the blocks necessary to succeed. Young fighters MUST first learn how to crawl before they can walk. They must learn how to walk before they can run, and run a great deal before attempting marathons.
OK, that was another lame analogy, but I wanted those who don't know much about language arts to catch my drift.
- Properly learn your stance. Learn how to move properly. Learn the basic fundamentals of offense AND defense for each level of advancement. Learn that a jab is more than extending your arm in front of you, and hitting your opponent in the jaw. A proper jab requires the entire body to move in concert, making that movement quick, powerful, and accurate. Breathing properly, and relaxing your muscles are all components that take time to develop. It takes literally thousands of repetition before the first really good jab is thrown.
Learn the intricacies of ALL your techniques from a fundamental stand-point, then repeatedly drill them like your professional MMA career depends on it... because it does.
For more information about Mixed Martial Arts training, log on to http://www.ucombat.com.
For information about Mixed Martial Arts competitions, visit http://www.ultimatecombat.com
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