|
Evolution of fighting styles
Mixed-martial arts contests have a long history, dating
back at least to the late 1800s when wrestlers representing a huge
range of fighting styles including Jujitsu, Catch-as-catch-can,
Collar-and-elbow, Graeco-Roman and many others met in tournaments and
music-hall challenge matches throughout Europe.
However, the vogue for
professional wrestling died out after the First World War, only to be
reborn in two major streams: "shoot", in which the fighters actually
competed, and "show" which became increasingly dependent on
choreography and theatrics and evolved into modern professional
wrestling.
In the early 1990s, two styles stood out for their
effectiveness: Wrestling and Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ). Jiu-Jitsu had the
early advantage, since wrestlers were not equipped with a way to defeat
them standing or on the ground. However, when wrestlers started
training in striking, pure Jiu-Jitsu stylists ran into difficulties
since they had a hard time taking the fight to the ground and away from
their stand-up weaknesses.
This represented the first step of evolution
towards cross-training. Wrestling eventually branched into two styles
described below: "Ground-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting on
the ground) and "Clinch-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting
standing up).
Kickboxers and boxers were next to evolve and added
grappling skills to their arsenal. In the early days, they could not
compete with the grapplers, since they could not avoid the takedowns
and had no defense on the ground. After adding ground techniques to
their training, they scored some major upsets, and showed that fighters
specializing in striking could be effective in the sport.
Due to its
early dominance, BJJ was the last to evolve. Eventually, Wrestling and
Muay Thai were added to their training, and Jiu-Jitsu fighters have
returned to being competitive again in the sport. MMA is also
considered an evolution of Pankration, a combination of striking and
grappling that was introduced in the Olympic games in 648 BC. The
"Pancrase" fighting promotion in Japan has strong ties to modern MMA
and actually predates the first UFC by a few months.
Modern fighting styles
The following is a breakdown of the different fighting
styles of modern MMA. With essentially no exceptions, all successful
fighters train with (and thus practice against) experts in all
disciplines used today. Most fighters will base their overall strategy
on one particular style and become associated with it.
Sprawl-and-Brawl
A sprawl and brawler is a boxer, kickboxer or Muay Thai
fighter who has trained wrestling to avoid takedowns and tries to keep
the fight standing. Usually these fighters will study enough submission
wrestling so that in the unfortunate event that they are taken down,
they can tie their opponents up and survive long enough to get back to
standing or until the referee restarts the fight. This style is
deceptively different from regular kickboxing styles, since
sprawl-and-brawlers must adapt their techniques to incorporate takedown
defense.
Clinch-and-Pound
These are wrestlers that have added in components of the
striking game (typically boxing). Although their base is in wrestling
and ground control, they are rarely reluctant to throw some leather on
the feet. Often, wrestlers that have added the striking game are
partial to strikes from within the clinch (particularly wrestlers who
have developed a strong clinch game already).
In the case that an
exchange on the feet does not go in their favor, they can bring the
fight to the ground quickly as their true expertise lies in wrestling,
so they are ultimately less timid about trading blows. Don Frye was
among the first wrestlers to add versatile strikes to his arsenal, but
it was Randy Couture’s stunning performance, in which he used
close range boxing to out-strike a reputedly superior boxer in Vitor
Belfort, that was the true birth of this style of fighter.
He was the
first to demonstrate that standing and ground were not the only phases
of combat. Through the use of Greco-Roman clinching techniques, he
showed that a third phase, the clinch, was not well understood and
could be used to devastate ill-prepared opponents.
Ground-and-Pound
This style is for wrestlers or other fighters
well-versed in defending submissions and skilled at takedowns. They
take every fight to the ground, maintain a solid top position, and
hammer away until their opponent submits, is knocked out or is cut so
bad that the fight can't continue. Although not traditionally
considered a conventional method of striking, the effectiveness and
reliability (as well as recently-developing science) of this style
cannot be denied.
Originally most fighters who relied on striking on
the ground were wrestlers, but considering how many fights end up on
the ground and how increasingly competitive today’s MMA is,
strikes on the ground are becoming more and more scientific and
technical and essential to a fighter’s training. Dan Severn was
the first proficient fighter using Ground-and-Pound with his brutal
takedowns and powerful fists, forearm shots, elbows and knees on the
ground.
Submission Wrestling
Typically associated with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also
encompassing a number of other styles, such as Olympic Judo, Sambo, a
myriad of other descendants and arts inspired by Kodokan Judo,
evolutions of pre-1940's Catch Wrestling or even Hybrid styles such as
Shoot-Fighting, Shooto and Pancrase.
Submission wrestlers attempt to
win on the ground using joint locks and chokes to secure a tapout. This
style has evolved since the early days as submission wrestlers now
usually crosstrain in Amateur Wrestling and Kickboxing to complete
their skills, but still focus on submissions as their primary weapons.
The information above is provided for your knowledge.
When defending yourself, “the only goal is keeping yourself from
being harmed.”
Other Resources
|
