Reflection

Fighters' trash talk before fights and ambitious comments afterwards are often easy subjects for media when creating articles. I don't think that's wrong, and I don't want MMA to become a sport where the loser gets more attention.

Most fighters have losses on their records and there is nothing wrong with fighters having no words when they lose. They don't plan to lose, but I want to bring some attention to fighters who talk about and analyze their losses.

Losing gives a sense of reflection to fighters and I feel that some fighters reflect with dignity rather than with ambition.

I have heard losers talk about how they will erase their faults and/or evolve their strongpoints. These fighters' trial-and-error approach is a lot like MMA itself and its evolution, but this does not get the attention that it deserves.


MMA is about violence, but I think that people underrate intelligence and the importance of reflection in MMA. I must point out that there are fighters who have a sense of reflection when winning, and not just after defeats.

In Japan, fans and media refer to some fighters as philosophers. That does not mean that the fighter is similar to a true philosopher, but it does mean that opponents must watch out for his or her ability to reflect and adapt.

Some fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Lyoto Machida have fanatic supporters, but that does not mean that fans like them because they are mysterious. Fans see a sense of intelligence and reflection with dignity.


When I form interview questions, there is always one common theme despite the fact that the questions are different. I ask fighters whether their training and game plans for fights actually work out in the fights themselves.

With that question, I think that fighters generally show personality when answering, and that provides an interesting insight into their intelligence and reflection.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Who Can Solve the Ultimate Challenge?

Jon Jones has put together an absolutely fantastic record as a fighter. Through 15 fights, he has lost only once, via disqualification, and has finished his last five fights in vicious fashion while sustaining hardly any damage.

Lyoto Machida has been tabbed as Jones’ most interesting and, potentially, most dangerous opponent to date, but why? Is it because of Machida’s exotic crane kick? Here, we’ll break down the most interesting facet of this Saturday’s UFC light heavyweight title fight.

Perhaps the best aspect of Jones’ striking game is the variety which he uses to keep opponents guessing. It’s a merit which shines even more given Jones’ long-distance attack. Basically, Jones’ opponents can’t hit him because his reach is simply too long and his strikes are too unpredictable.

On the other hand, Machida is known for out-striking opponents from long range. His hand strikes aren’t exactly like boxing punches; his “tsuki” (thrust) comes with less shoulder motion, which benefits speed but causes less damage than punches thrown with more shoulder rotation.

Because of his karate-influenced technique, Machida isn’t as effective when fighting at short range. His losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson came when he was out-struck in close quarters. Both Shogun and Rampage pressured Machida in the pocket and struck from varying angles.

Jones’ extremely long frame his one of his greatest assets as a fighter, but we’ve never seen Machida lose when striking a long range. I’m most interested in whether the fight will play out from a distance.

At short range, we’ve seen less flattering sides of both fighters. As he did with Machida, Rampage got inside on Jones and found some success, but Jones’ long frame isn’t easy to control at short length either. With his wrestling base, Jones can shoot for strong takedowns when opponents get close enough. Machida will have had a tough time finding someone with Jones’ frame and grappling acumen to train with, so I will favor Jones at close range.

Machida has other strengths, such as the wicked front kick he used to knock out Randy Couture and other unpredictable karate tricks. Like Jones, he has a variety of strikes to keep opponents on their toes, which could lead to both fighters trying to trick one another with feints and fakes.

Of course, there is a chance the fighters won’t choose to trade from a far range. They may go for a takedown, choose to fight in the clinch, or utilize some other unexpected strategy. If it turns out like that, well, that’s the fun of this kind of fight.


Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Sherdog) for English and editing.

Clouds Of Childishness

In the past, I wrote about the supremacy of Lyoto Machida's karate. He then lost immediately.

Does that mean what I thought was wrong? I say yes and no.

Karate fighters know better how to create length with their kicks. But Shogun is not heavily reliant on his boxing skill; he has tremendous kicks, and was able to outkick Lyoto. Lyoto couldn't use his counters and hand work because he got stopped by Shogun's kicks.

Also, Lyoto has great clinchwork and he has the ability to determine the distance of a fight. However, Shogun has the strongest clinchwork in the light heavyweight division and was able to take that part of Lyoto's game away.

I still believe diversity is the major charm of the sport, but single martial arts can't win in MMA, and I underrated that aspect. But, karate will remain an important skill for effective MMA because of what Lyoto was able to do with his particular skillset. How to adapt a fighter's background skills to MMA is important, but it will remain an interesting theme to watch how these fighters show off their backgrounds.

I do think that there's a huge value to people who understand MMA and can try to predict the sport by evaluating fighters' skills and fundamentals. However, MMA can't be broken down by theory.

For instance, takedowns and judo throws are completely different skills, but their goal is the same: to take the opponent to the ground. There are different ways to take fighters down, knock them out, to submit them. Considering what kinds of skills comes from what martial arts and what foundations can make this sport's discourse much richer. The more exotic skills of fighters can't be judged by the most common analysis, yet, those skills will determine the new generation of fighters and contenders.

People in MMA claim that MMA itself is the almighty fighting skill. However, MMA can't run from other martial arts and their impact. Their effect will change MMA and for the better. MMA charms people with the whole package -- the idea that a fighter has all the skills necessary to win a fight -- so people want to draw the insane conclusion that MMA itself has all the answers about fighting. In order to not sound ridiculous, you need to be conscious where different elements of MMA come from and how they impact the sport.

MMA is notorious for this kind of behavior, though. It's childish, but then again, MMA has always had a immature essence going back to the style versus style days. That kind of argumentative childishness is in all of us, whether we're conscious of it or not.

If you want to watch my childishness, look at my Twitter.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen (from Sherdog) for English and editing.

You're in freedom (MMA Year In Review 2009)

At year's end, many MMA journalists try to look back at the year, but it's just reading data. I want to give a Year in Review with a different style than just listing fights, knockouts or submissions of the year.

This is shiroobi's MMA Year In Review 2009.

When you think about MMA's background, you can separate distinct martial arts, but in MMA, fighters try to fuse fight skills. You can see American wrestlers trying to add jiu-jitsu; you can't deny the wrestling game has effected the positional game of jiu-jitsu. Therefore, some fighters who have combined those skills call it "American jiu-jitsu".

MMA is experimental for all martial arts. Every martial art needs cultural exchange; fighters need the ability to chose skills to fit their body type, height, reach, weight. On the other hand, being a traditional martial artist can reveal the essence of real fighting; Lyoto Machida has directly benefited from this. His goal is the fusion of traditional martial arts and modern sports skills.

My writing about Lyoto Machida "Empty hand"

We saw a lot of experimental things coming from Japanese organizations. Shooto revived Vale Tudo Japan, and made peace with Pancrase. Those things were inevitable. MMA's content is always experimental, so eventually, circumstances will always alleviate the problems in organizing fights between promotions.

MMA has a dynamic, experimental spirit. It is pointless to talk about the maturity or value of one single martial art, or one single promotion. What is important is the mutual impact of martial arts, which can fly from continent to continent.

Some people think that strict, limited rules make a better, more focused sport. I don't totally deny that, but the charm of MMA is in its dynamism. It is no coincidence that Japan's top boxers like Hozumi Hasegawa, Daisuke Naito and Koki Kameda love to watch MMA. As athletes, the imagination of MMA attracts them. Yet, it is the self-styled critics who are close-minded about MMA.

It's not surprising technology has impacted this sport's worldwide growth, since it really started just before the internet era. People can easily access MMA events with tools like youtube, while hardcore fans are willing to watch horrible quality event rips.

New technology not only helps any person on any continent keep up with contemporary MMA, but also creates new stars, and a new audience. The internet allowed street fighters like Kimbo Slice, or to a lesser extent, Jorge Masvidal, gain popularity. I don't really evaluate Kimbo Slice; while he may succeed business-wise, he does diminish the sporting quality of MMA. However, a fighter like Masvidal deserves attention, and reinforces the potential for street fighters to turn into successful MMA fighters through quality fight gyms.

I also must mention that it looks like the major Japanese organizations are going to merge. Sengoku idealized MMA, by trying to mimic North American MMA: announcing fights earlier, competitive match-ups, reality shows to promote events. While it gained support from hardcore fans, that's not enough to sell out events. They tried to sign elite Olympic athletes, but the benefit of those athletes is not immediate.

In the end, however, tons of talent was exposed through Sengoku: Satoru Kitaoka, Dan Hornbuckle, Mamed Khalidov,King Mo Lawal, Mizuto Hirota, Michihiro Omigawa, Masanori Kanehara, Chan Sung Jung, Marlon Sandro and others.

Within the Japanese local scene, DEEP continues to grow. By paying domestic fighters the best, they've struck a good balance of ideal competition and commercial success. They experimented with a cage event, and used former talent from major events. Fighter wise, they're close to Shooto's quality now. It's amazing to think about, since only a few years ago, they used lucha libre pro-wrestlers.

Shooto will also continue to play a major role in the local Japanese scene, too. They can continue to grow by exchanging fighters with Pancrase, and continue improving their rules by experimenting with the rules in the Vale Tudo Japan events.

Some people are conservative about talent exchanges, but if interesting matchmaking doesn't happen, audience approval decreases. There is no reason for local organizations to close themselves off from one another for political reasons. Even though there is competition between them, it is more important to make sure these crossover bouts happen for the sake of Japanese MMA, especially because the quality of regional MMA all over the world is growing.

Specifically regarding the Shooto-Pancrase exchange, I really want crossover between welterweights, middleweights and women. Champions at these weights in either organization never get to fight other quality MMA fighters. For women, there is a different problem: Japanese has some premiere female fighters, but elite-versus-elite fights are too rare in Japan. I'm tired of Megumi Fujii vs. Yuka Tsuji never happening.

Organizations will always try to make profit, and fans need to deal with it. I thought Jake Shields' fight with Jason "Mayhem" Miller was fun, watching a technical grappling chess match between the two. But some people don't find it fun. I support MMA as a sport, but ignoring the need to make money, or considering what an audience finds enjoyable is stupid. MMA is entertainment, and needs to compete with other forms of entertainment. Money is what creates MMA events, and brings talent to the sport.

Being a sport is not enough to help MMA rise. It is about the right balance between sport and entertainment.


Aldo vs Aritano Barbosa

Jose Aldo also started to become the new star of the lighter weights. People don't know, but he has awesome soccer kicks. The Unified Rules limitations hurt the diversity of MMA. MMA needs a more experimental stage, and its still young enough to have one. Jose Aldo is not only showing how talented he is, he is showing a casual audience how great the lighter weight fighters are. MMA is still somewhat old-fashioned about how the larger audience evaluates lower weight fighters, despite the fact that boxing fans realize the smaller weights are usually the most enjoyable.

Lower weight classes make for different body frames, speed, tactics. This is important for diversity, and giving freedom to the audience. Hopefully audiences continue to enjoy the lighter weights, spend money, and allow these fighters to truly be evaluated as professionals.

I want you to understand MMA is a journey across time, continents, ethnicity, human bodies, rules. Every fundamental fuses, or collides with another. I hope you can feel that freedom; it's the joy of MMA.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English editing.

Empty hand

Karate is written "empty hand" in kanji. At first, Okinawan people imported Chinese martial arts. It was first called "Tang Dynasty hand," but Okinawans evolved these skills. In the militaristic era of Japan, Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi's group change this martial art's name to today's "empty hand."

Some critics said that Japanese nationalism effected this name change, but the phrase "empty hand" has a philosophy behind it.

Lyoto Machida is nikkei nisei -- a second-generation Japanese immigrant. His father Yoshizo moved to Brazil in 1968, and took it is a challenge. He said he wanted to do something not everyone did. When he left Japan, he got only 100 dollars from his father.

He started his dojo in Belem, but there wasn't enough people for him to teach, so he moved to Salvador. His karate survived against other martial arts like capoeira and jiu-jitsu, and earned him students. At his height, he had 1200 students in Salvador.

Enjoying his success, he met a pretty girl, Ana Claudia, at a party. He asked her for a date the first time he met, a very rare approach for the Japanese. When people asked him about it, he said, "I wanted to try it first. People here don't know how Japanese are, so they just think all Japanese people are like this."

He married her, and together they had four sons and adopted another. While enjoying the success of his dojo in Salvador, an old student asked him to return to Belem. Yoshizo told him, "If you give me a farm, I'll come back," never expecting that it could happen.

His student made enough money to buy him a farm, making Machida come back to Belem. Machida started a cacao farm, but it failed economically, and he as forced to sell it. When he was asked about the farm, Machida said, "Since karate means 'empty hand,' that's not a big deal. Everything is about trying, losing is nothing."

In Lyoto's post-fight interview after the Evans fight, you heard him say, "Go hard, it's possible." I don't think he's talking just about effort.

When Yoshizo was asked about how to teach karate, he answered, "I don't use books often, because there aren't many things being taught except concepts and philosophy. I find out new things every day because I need to teach students, and they're bored if I always teach the same things." Yoshizo still learns from others. He said he still goes to Japan annually to get lessons from the Japanese karate community.

Yoshizo also compared his sons' aptitude for MMA.

"Lyoto is passive compared to Shinzo. Since it's a streetfight-type of sport, it is good to be passive. He also has a soft body compared to Shinzo, which is good for fighting."

Being passive doesn't mean he's weak, it just means he respects his opponent's skill. Karate's elite practitioners have the hardest training. It isn't always logical, but karatekas push themselves to the limit to develop a calm mind. A Japanese Shotokan master evaluated Lyoto and said that he's at the same level of pure karate competition as a Japanese qualifier for the Shotokan international tournament.

If you re watch Machida-Evans after reading this, it's hard not to feel uplifted. I'm not against rationalism, but somewhere in your heart, the world is not just that. Lyoto and his family create a wonderful sense of spiritualism in us for these reasons.



Reference
Internet Radio: 100 Years of Japanese Immigrants from Brazil, with guest Yoshizo Machida

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.

The karate era has begun

Boxing is widely believed to be the best striking discipline to adapt to MMA, but that may be over if fighters don't fix their faults.

Boxing gloves are big enough that one can avoid early KO's, and throw more combinations without worrying as much about clean counters. Nothing is wrong with that, but in MMA, fighters use smaller gloves. Karate fighters are used to using bare hands, so they know the importance of a single shot. In boxing, a single shot may not be as important, so boxers can trade punches, and take risks with an opponent's strikes.

Karate's idea is not just to take away an opponent's attack, but at the same time, to land strikes without risk. I don't think the majority of karate practitioners can adapt this skill to MMA, but there is definitely other karate challengers that will be coming.

I never really thought karate's ideas could have that much effect until recently, but there are many merits to using karate in MMA.

Better visual recognition: a good karate fighter knows how an opponent will move by how he starts a movement, or finishes a movement. For example, at 1:00 of the first round, Lyoto attacked Rashad when he ended his feint.

Distance coordination: Kicks can make for other striking distances than boxing. This works well with visual recognition.

Fist usage: Karatekas use bare fists, so they have more knowledge of what parts of the first are most effective for striking.

There are conditions for a karate fighter to be successful at MMA. The most important one is not losing in the clinch, also, good balance and grappling.

If fighters don't realize what these real merits of karate are, Lyoto's era will be long.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support.