Posts Tagged ‘Thailand MMA camps’

Back at Legacy Gym

Posted on: June 19th, 2011 by admin No Comments

So finally, I am getting some time to sit down at a proper keyboard and wrote about some of my training so far. I have arrived in Cambodia via Ubon Rachathani where I trained at one of the top MMA gyms in South East Asia – Legacy Gym. Legacy Gym though small and not the most fancy gym in Thailand is most definitely a legit fighters gym. All the guys there were within the same skill level and there were hardly any new guys and absolutely no one who was just passing by or was not training seriously. Ubon is random rural city in south eastern Isaan (the rural Thai breadbasket) with no real tourist sites or attractions. Anyone going there to train is not coming there to train and party or train and mess about. They are there only to train.

Most of the students are from Scandanavia as the gym owner himself Ole Laursen is from a Danish background. However, I did also meet a an Australian and a guy from Hong Kong named Alex Niu who is a professional fighter and is currently fighting in Asias biggest promotions outside of Japan including Legend Fighting Championship in Hong Kong and Martial Combat out of Singapore.

I walked into the gym and was greeted by the MMA trainer Vaughn Anderson, a very knowledagble and very, very nice guy hailing from Sweden. He is also fighting on the SEA circuit and is the MMA trainer at Legacy. You can view his biodata on the website for the gym (www.legacygym.com).

After that I started training by jumping rope. Then shadow boxing. Then hitting the pads for 3 rounds. Then hitting the bag for 4 rounds. Then doing 100 kicks on the bag.

I nhave trained in Thailand before and this is not an extreme workout by any stretch of the imagination. In all honesty this is quite light, and I probably do approx the equal amount of total work at Shaheen MMA on a regular basis. What made it different was, was that for the first time in almost 2 years, I had a trainer pushing me the whole time and not giving me any rest between any of these exercises. At the end of all this I was done. I didn’t end up being sore but for the first time in a long time, I was tired. I mean I was really tired, I just wanted to go home and lay down and that felt good. Very very good.

Of course conditioning comes and goes and its the techniques that stay with you forever. This session, although mostly about getting me back into training mode also got me some good tips from Ajarn Rye regarding how to throw knees. I have a lot of experience training in Thailand but its nice to feel like a student and get little adjustment that turn good execution of techniques into perfect ones. I am after the perfect, and I will probably never get there.

Since they don’t have MMA training in the morning I went back to my friends house and went exploring the streets and markets of Ubon with my wife (this is also my honeymoon :) .

Later on in the afternoon it was sparring time. Six four minute rounds with three partners switching every 2 rounds. The guys were good and it sort of increased in intensity as my partners changed. My first partner I was quite even with, I think he had less experience than me but he had been training full time at the gym for some time and was quite sharp. My experience is went held me through as I started to figure him out and started hitting him with hook and leg kicks with some regularity by the end of the second round.

My second opponent confused the hell out of me. He obviously had ALOT of striking experience in something other than Muay Thai cuz he kept throwing these weird spinning kicks and hook kicks at me. He did this weird double kick and it landed right next to my eye slightly cutting me and giving me a bruise. On top of this he had some good speed and movement and since I had not trained in so long and was already exhausted from the morning, I was not fast enough to catch him. Third round I was with one of the Thai trainers and although more skilled than both guys before by far, I had a better time sparring with him. I have a lot of experience with the Thai style and I know how to work with it. Although I got my butt kicked, I did not feel as confused as I did with my second partner. Also, with Thai’s sparring is a lot of fun since they like to m ake a lot of weird OOWAYYY sounds when they are fighting. Unless you have trained in Thailand your not gonna understand :) .

After sparring was the MMA class with Vaughn (for those who also trained in MMA, everyone else continued the Muay Thai regimen) where we went over mount escapes and I learned a very cool escape that would lead into a foot lock or at the very least a scramble.

All in all, a great time at Legacy, I hope to go back for an extended period at some point, maybe 3-6 months. Great gym to be training in after such a long hiatus. Made me think of something standout grappler from my home state of Virginia once said and I think a lot of Martial Artists in Pakistan should really think about before they consider themselves to be at the peak of all knowledge and think that no one can teach them anything – “You an instructor for a few hours a day, but your student for the rest of your life – act like it.”

Secret Weapon of the Mixed Martial Arts Workout

Posted on: November 23rd, 2009 by admin 1 Comment

Just imagine, you’re out of breath, tired, and you have a black eye, but the smile and raised fists say it all. Having been in martial arts for years, it’s not uncommon for someone to ask me what are the secret workouts that a mixed martial artist will do? What the secret that makes him or her different than others who train hard?

The truth is that it’s more than just having the best routine, because even if you do after a short period of time you’ll adjust and then you’ll not be ready for a competition. You have to change the routine regularly.

After you read this article you’ll have confidence that you can get to that level of training. First of all I have to say that if you are just getting started, this is a great place to start so you can gain valuable tools. Please be sure you check with a doctor before you start.

Grab a pen and take notes the differences may surprise you.

Myth: Most people I’ve talked to think that to get in shape to compete you need a certain set routine.

Actually you need a routine which combines everything, strength, cardiovascular, endurance, stamina, balance and flexibility.

A tall order I know but to be able to compete, you must have all of these or a good opponent will see where you’re weak, and continually challenge you where you there.

Think with me for a minute. You are watching a fight that goes for five minutes.

During this time you’ll see:

• Strength, resisting with wrestling or delivering strikes
• Cardiovascular conditioning, constant foot work in combination with striking
• Stamina after a few seconds you’ll be exhausted if you don’t this
• Balance, suddenly finding yourself on one foot you still have to fight
• Flexibility the last thing you need is a torn muscle or tendon

Are you ready for the most important aspect?

The real secret is that once you are fighting, the toughest thing is not the physical aspect, but the mental. You have to be able to out think your competitor.

Yes it is difficult; it’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But with the right tools this is the key that will get you through your toughest competitions.

You can’t expect to win if this is your weakest link, it’s impossible. You’ll end up fighting someone who does have mental strength, and they’ll get in your head. Once this is exposed; with mental training you’ll be able to tell the mental strength of your competitor, they can use this against you.

“Although most fighters believe that the fight is 90 percent mental and ten percent physical, they train 90 percent physical and ten percent mental. That is going to have to change as MMA continues to evolve or those fighters will be left behind.” Randy Couture

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion

Do you have what it takes to train your mind, and body at this level? Can you visualize yourself in the ring with opponents like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Anderson “the Spider” Silva? Then you have to have the mindset they have.

Schedule for the next 2 months!

Posted on: November 13th, 2009 by admin 1 Comment

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan is about to get very busy! We a lot of stuff planned over the next 8 weeks. Make sure to try and show up at any event you can and bring friends and family. If we don’t cover a city please let us know and we will try and include it on our tour. Please remember these are tentative dates. Nothing is finalized until we get feedback from fans on the ground. Remember Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan is YOU. You are going to make this happen. The fans and supporters of all Martial Arts are going to lead the way to a new stage in Pakistani sport. So, here are the tentative dates.

November 21st

Grappling session in Karachi – time and location to be announced

For those who want to get the most out of the seminars in Karachi it is highly recommended you attend these sessions!

December 1st

On Site Interview With Shah “No Pain” Hussain in London!

December 6th – 9th

Seminars in Lahore

Dec 9th – 12th

Seminars in Karachi

December 12th – Jan 3rd

Full time training in Lahore

Jan 3rd – 8th

Seminars in Islamabad

So that’s the basic idea of what will be going on for the next couple months

Controversy regarding Shah “No Pain” Hussains fight emerges

Posted on: October 29th, 2009 by admin No Comments

Recently it was posted that Pakistani fighter Shah “No Pain” Hussain lost a decision in his recent Oct. 24th bout in the UK. After getting a chance to discuss the details of the fight in turns out that on Oct.24th along with a controversial Machida-Rua decision Hussain also suffered a controversial loss although it was quite different in detail from the Machida-Rua situation.

Turns out that Hussain lost on a technicality. The fight was ended during round two when Hussain was poked in the eye requiring medics to make an examination whereupon they deemed him unfit to fight because he could not see anymore.

Oddly enough despite being not able to continue, the judges scored the bout based on only one round. Because his opponent was ahead on points during the one completed round the fight was awarded to Hussain’s opponent.

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan got a chance to talk to Hussain and got a blow by blow summary of the fight.

Round 1- “I attacked first with some heavy and snappy inside low kicks, Hamdan was looking to attack by constantly making out he was going for the shoot, but I knew he was doing so, so I would drop the hands and he could catch me with strikes. both of us were sizing each other out, and Hamdan caught me with a good left hook which immediately made my nose bleed, ref stopped fight to get the cut on my nose checked out by the medics, medics cleaned it up and gave the ok to carry on. strikes are landed from both of us and Hamdan goes down to an inside low kick, he claims to have been caught in the groin area, but I know it wasn’t that far deep, he falls to the floor claiming I have caught him in the groin area and gets some breathing time. He looked like he was gassed at that stage.”

Round 2- “Both of us are again sizing each other up at the start and again I go in with a round house kick followed by a high kick to which Hamdan blocks, I go for the shoot and take Hamdan down, in side control I control him well and keep a good strong base and punish him with strikes and hammer fists from side control. He reverses me, and from top headbutts me twice, my corner goes crazy and I look for the ref to make a statement, but the ref hasn’t seen it. I reverse him back and again strike from above. We both manage to scramble back stood up from the floor and I shoot and take him down once again but land with him on top, Hamdan throws elbows from above, (Ultimate Challenge UK- bar elbows from being used on the floor, due to fights getting stopped too early from the damage they cause) again ref doesn’t see as he is at different angle and I’m back in side control. From beneath me he tries to strike, but to no avail, as there is no power in his punches. He threw a few strikes and one of the strikes he came thumb first and then clinch a fist, too late as it caught me straight in the eye. I pull away in pain holding my eye and ref calls medics in, I cant keep my eye open and fight is stopped.

Obviously upset with the outcome Hussain summed up his feelings regarding the match

“I can deal with a loss no problem, but to have a loss like that, I just cant get over. As soon as I was back in my corner room, I demanded a re-match. I wont rest until I have that re-match. But for now i’m taking a week off as my left foot is swollen and I have swelling around the nose and eye area. Its back to training from next week onwards, and I cant wait for the next one…..
Just want to thank you all (Pakistani fans) and best wishes messages to Pak MMA – you guys are doing a great job!”

Capoeira

Posted on: October 29th, 2009 by admin 16 Comments

Capoeira is a striking art with origins as an Afro-Brazilian art form which combines elements of martial arts, music and dance. In the martial arts aspect of Capoeira, it focuses on striking particularly kicks accompanied by acrobatic movement. Similar to Muay-Thai and Indonesian Silat, Capoeira is accompanied by its traditional Afro-Brazilian music and is demonstrated in coordinance with the tempo of the music. Although almost non-existent in MMA, Capoeira has made its way in becoming a fully fledged sport.

There have been many theories about the styles that make up Capoeira, however one theory has been considered by many Capoeiristas that Capoeira may have been influenced by a ritual fight-dance called N’golo (the zebra dance) from Southern Angola, which was performed by people of southern Angola. Since the 1960s, the N’golo theory has become popular amongst some practitioners of Capoeira Angola, although it is not universally accepted.

Created by slaves brought to Brazil from Africa, during the colonial period, Capoeira is a martial art that grew from survival. People were brought from Angola, Congo and Mozambique, and with them, they brought their cultural traditions. They hid their martial art and traditions into a form of dance. The African people developed Capoeira not only to resist oppression, but also for the survival of their culture and the lifting of their spirits. After slavery, they continued to play Capoeira.

Capoeira was against the law for 20 years until 1918. The first Capoeira School ever to exist was that of Mestre Bimba. He was given permission to do so in 1937, after he demonstrated the art in front of President Getúlio Varga. Capoeira was finally recognized as a national sport.

The Jogo (game/match) in Capoeira is played in a Roda (the circle of people around the Capoeiristas), its circular shape is maintained to keep focus on the players and musicians and retain the energy created by the Capoeira game.

Capoeira does not focus on injuring the opponent. Rather, it emphasizes skill. Capoeiristas often prefer to show the movement without completing it, enforcing their superiority in the roda. If an opponent cannot dodge a slow attack, there is no reason to use a faster one. Each attack that comes in gives players a chance to practice an evasive technique.

There are two main styles of Capoeira that are clearly distinct. One is called Angola, which is characterized by slow, low play with particular attention to the rituals and tradition of Capoeira. The other style is Regional, known for its fluid acrobatic play, where technique and strategy are the key points. Both styles are marked by the use of feints and subterfuge, and use groundwork extensively, as well as sweeps, kicks, and head butts

The actual object of the game is different according to what style of Capoeira you are playing.

In Capoeira Regional the object is to try and floor your opponent. But still you do not actually floor him or her. You just show how you might be able to the moment you find an opening.

For Capoeira Angola the object is to try and hit your opponent in the face. That is why in general the arms are held up higher in Capoeira Angola to protect the face. Again, the object is not to actually hit your opponent but to show where you might be able to. Angola is played mostly close to the ground.

Yet having very little to do with MMA, Capoeiristas have managed to involve Capoeira in MMA competitions yet some have succeeded and some have not but still it proved that Capoeira is not useless in MMA and one can benefit from it with the right combination of styles.

Notable Capoeira practitioners in MMA:

* Elvis Sinosic
* Marcus Aurélio
* Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons
* André Machado Gusmão

Kushti

Posted on: October 26th, 2009 by admin 7 Comments

Sometimes known as Indian Wrestling or Pehlwani this form of wrestling dates from the 5th century B.C. Although indigenous to South Asia this form of grappling is thought to be originally influenced by Persian wrestling styles. In Pakistan, Kushti teachers are known as Ustads and in India (specifically amongst the Hindus) they are known as Guru’s.

The focus of Kushti as is common in other forms of wrestling is to pin both of your opponents shoulders to the ground. In practical terms, this pinning of your opponent exhibits positional dominance. So if one were to view Kushti training in terms of self defense or MMA competition, Kushti teaches the player take away your opponents striking weapons by closing the distance and bring him to the ground where he can be helplessly pinned and vulnerable to strikes from a dominant top position whereupon the only option for the pinned opponent is to escape from the bottom or be knocked unconscious.

Strength exercises are very important in Kushti. traditional exercises involve the use of large stones stone rings and clubs known as “joris.” Body weight exercises are also commonly used the two most important being the push up and the squat known as the Dand and Baitak respectively. These two exercises are done for hundreds of repetitions and form the foundation of the Kushti wrestlers training regime. Another popular strength building exercise is rope climbing which is essential in building the pulling strength required in Kushti wrestling.

Here is a short video showing some of the particular training methods to Kushti wrestling.

The training area in kushti is known as an Akhara and training sessions in traditional camps are typically 4-6 hours per day. Traditional wrestlers typically live and eat at the camp. A very strict diet is emphasized with certain foods being encouraged for their strength building properties, namely, milk, almonds and ghee. Spiced food as well as tobacco and alcohol is highly discouraged.

Kushti wrestlers have had a history of success competing in the Olympics and and in commercial bouts in the west. Many modern wrestling experts inclduing the renowned Karl Gotch have traveled to South Asia to learn Kushti techniques and train methods. Indeed many modern forms of wrestling such as shoot fighting and catch wrestling borrow throws and submissions from Kushti.

Here is a video with Kushti in action. As is common the use of a dhol (south asian drum) accompaniment is used similar to the use of music during Muay Thai bouts.

Here is another short documentary about life in a Kushti camp. Other than Muay Thai, Kushti is the only martial art with extremely rigorous workloads and gritty surroundings where fighters lives revolve around their sport.

And to finish off with on a lighter note, a somewhat humorous video of a Englishman in Lahore trying out Kushti.

7 Ways YOU can Help Promote MMA in Pakistan

Posted on: October 26th, 2009 by admin 2 Comments

Every few days we get emails from individuals asking “what can I do?” or posts on our face page asking if there is a training center in such and such city. So for everyone who is interested in bringing MMA into the sport scene I have made a list of what you can do to help out.

1. Hold a fight night

UFC events air live on Show Sports 4. Invite your friends, have snacks and just sit back and enjoy the fights. Simple easy and fun. If you don’t want to get up at 8 am, then download the fights burn them and watch them later that night.

2. Promote the website

Spread the word about the website through internet forums and word of mouth. For those with even a bit of knowledge about MMA, knowing that there is something going on to bring it to Pakistan may set the convert them from casual to die hard fans. For those already training at a school tell your instructor about the website. Remember we are here to promote ALL martial arts. Tell your instructor what a great business move it would be to be profiled on the most viewed site regarding Martial Arts in Pakistan.

3. Bug your local Martial Artists

Call up or visit your local Martial Arts school and ask them if they offer MMA classes. Ask your friends to do the same. Hopefully after seeing that there exists a demand, local martial artists will start looking into what MMA is and offer classes.

The problem of course will lie in the quality of classes, but we all have to start somewhere and because MMA is a competitive sport, charlatans claiming to teach MMA but have no idea what they are doing will be exposed. MMA by its very nature will provide an evolution.

This being said remember ALL arts can provide the tools needed to fight in MMA competition. Remember, MMA IS NOT A STYLE, it is a competitive format but in order to be successful in MMA competition you must master all ranges of combat. Once Pakistani Martial Artists get that part then the Judo instructor will also add in some strikes to make his Judo more effective and the TKD instructor will start teaching take down defense to make his TKD more effective etc etc.

4. Write for the website

The more articles that the Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan website has the more often it will turn up in search results and hence the more exposure the site will get.

We are accepting articles on a whole range of topics. here are some ideas.

- You can go to a local Martial Arts club or boxing gym and do a review

- You can write about a style your interested in

- You can write about some aspect of Martial Philosophy

- You can write about a current event or tournament relevant to Martial Arts or boxing in Pakistan.

- You can write about a certain aspect of physical fitness or diet or include a workout program

The topics are endless. The only criteria being that any entry submitted should be at a certain standard. Articles written as if they are a text message are a no go. Send any articles to info@pak-mma.com.

5. Give DVD’s to your local DVD shop or demand MMA DVD’s

Go to your local DVD shop and ask if they have the latest UFC. When they say they don’t, ask them why the heck not, it’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Hopefully the DVD owner will look into stocking MMA DVD’s.

You can also burn them a copy and give it to them so they understand what your talking about.

6. Start your own club

This is probably the best thing you can do to promote MMA in Pakistan. As long as you have an internet connection and a love for the sport of MMA this is possible. You do not have to have a black belt to get some friends together and practice techniques that you get from this website (we’ll be including many of them soon) or off of the thousands of instructional clips available on youtube.

Even better, get videos and pics of you training along with an address of where you train at with times and you can become affiliated with MMA Pakistan. What that means is that your local club (even if it is 2-3 friends) will get listed on the website, get mentioned regularly on the fan page and will receive promo items from MMA Pakistan.

As the website and organization further develops we will have instructor courses available where you can come get certified.

This is not only a chance to do something you love, promote MMA in Pakistan but opens the possibility of having an extra source of income if you start getting a large enough class to warrant a proper school.

7. Send us your training pics and videos

If you are already a member of a club send us videos and pictures of you training. If you want to give back to the clubs that have taught you martial arts what better way then putting them out there and getting recognized.

These are just 7 ideas. There is plenty more you can do. it’s up to all us to work together to get MMA Pakistan off the ground. With some patience and teamwork there is no end to the success MMA Pakistan can have.

Judo

Posted on: October 26th, 2009 by admin No Comments

Judo (meaning “gentle way” or “gentleness”) is a modern martial arts form originated in Japan by Jigoro Kano. It all started when Kano, as a teenager started Japanese Jujutsu but due to lack of teachers he found little success in it and later went on to learn Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū but a few years later after he started his master grew ill and died, after that Kano went on to learn Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū from another master. However both of his experiences were different from each other as his first master emphasized on free practice and formal exercises, whereas his second master emphasized on pre-arranged forms or (katas). Through dedication Kano soon received the status of master instructor. Unfortunately his second master took ill and Kano feeling that he still had very much to learn started Kitō-ryū which emphasizes on throwing techniques.

By this time Kano had developed many new techniques by combining all the forms he knew and started teaching them to 9 students from his master’s school at a Buddhist temple. This marked the birthplace of Judo and thus it started to grow and evolve. Judo was originally known as Kano Jiu-Jitsu or Kano Jiu-Do, and later as Kodokan Jiu-Do or simply Jiu-Do or Judo. In the early days, it was also still referred to generically simply as Jiu-Jitsu.

Much like modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo, Judo also focuses on grappling, in fact both of the aforementioned styles are derivatives of Judo. While Judo includes a variety of throws, rolls, falls, throw downs, locks, chokes and strikes but it mainly focuses on groundwork and throwing. All techniques of Judo are divided in categories, for example Standing techniques are divided into two main categories Standing techniques and Sacrifice Techniques both these categories are divided into 4 more subcategories and so does each other technique of Judo.

In Judo sparring (randori) half of the time is spent sparring standing up (tachi-waza) and half the time on the ground (ne-waza).In sparring both the opponents may attack each other with Judo throws and/or grappling techniques. Striking techniques along with weapon techniques are reserved in the form but are prohibited from normal sparring. Sparring (randori) is considered much more effective than just regular practice of specific techniques as it develops strategies and reaction time and helps the practitioner get mentally prepared to face a resisting opponent. There are many different styles of randoris but the two styles most commonly and widely used are

  • ju renshu (both judoka attack in a very gentle way where no resistance is applied)
  • kakari geiko (only one judoka attacks while the other one relies solely on defensive and evasive techniques, but without the use of sheer strength.)

A common saying among judoka (judo practitioner) is:

“The best training for judo is judo.”

Kano Jigoro’s Kodokan Judo is the most popular and well-known style of judo, but is not the only one. The terms judo and jujutsu were quite interchangeable in the early years, so some of these forms of judo are still known as jujutsu or jiu-jitsu either for that reason, or simply to differentiate them from mainstream judo. From Kano’s original style of judo, several related forms have evolved—some now widely considered to be distinct arts:

Olympic Judo: This is the predominant form of Kodokan judo.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Mitsuyo Maeda introduced judo to Brazil in 1914. Maeda taught judo to Carlos Gracie (1902–1994) and others in Brazil. Gracie named their development of Judo ‘Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’ in honor of the fact that in Japan and Brazil at that time, Judo was also known as ‘Kano Jiu-Jitsu’. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, considering itself independent of Judo, did not follow later changes in international Judo rules that were added to emphasize the standing phase of the fight, nor those rules that were introduced to ban the more dangerous techniques.

Judo-do: In Austria, Julius Fleck and others developed a system of throwing intended to extend Judo that they called “judo-do”.

Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu: Teaching in France, Mikonosuke Kawaishi developed Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu as an alternative approach to instruction that continued to teach many techniques banned in modern Olympic/Kodokan Judo competition.

Kosen Judo: As a sub-style of Kodokan Judo that became popularised in early 20th century Japanese inter-scholastic competition, Kosen style has the same range of techniques but greater latitude is permitted for ground technique. This style of Judo—arguably, like BJJ—is closer to the original early 1900s Judo than current Olympic Judo is.

Russian Judo: This distinctive style of Judo was influenced by Sambo. It is represented by well-known coaches such as Alexander Retuinskih and Igor Yakimov, and mixed martial arts fighters such as Igor Zinoviev, Fedor Emelianenko and Karo Parisyan. In turn, Russian Judo has influenced mainstream judo, with techniques such as the flying armbar being accepted into Kodokan Judo.

Sambo (especially Sport Sambo): Vasili Oshchepkov was the first European judo black belt under Kano. Oshchepkov went on to create Sambo partly from judo’s influence, integrating native Russian wrestling and other combative techniques into his new system. Oshchepkov died during the political purges of 1937 for refusing to deny his education and dan-rank in Japanese Judo under Kano.[citation needed] In their History of Sambo, Brett Jacques and Scott Anderson wrote that in Russia “judo and SOMBO were considered to be the same thing”—albeit with a different uniform and some differences in the rules

Notable Judo Practitioners:

  • Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce)
  • Karo Parisyan (UFC)
  • Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (Strikeforce)
  • Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pride)
  • Hidehiko Yoshida (Pride)
  • Paulo Filho (Dream)
  • Shinya Aoki (Dream)

By Ali Naseer

Leaving Thailand

Posted on: September 14th, 2009 by admin No Comments

This will be my last post from Thailand for a while. After leaving the United States in May of last year, 16 months ago I am set to go to the United States tomorrow.

I am in Chiang Mai now and tomorrow I fly to Bangkok from which I fly to London and then Washington DC. I saw my last live Muay Thai fight (authentic one at least, least for the next few months) and spent the end of my night sitting down next to the Ancient Chiang Mai gate of Tha Pae having a long conversation in basic Thai with my last opponent and his brother who was also an opponent of mine in the past (1-1 with those two). It was a really a good simple way to end this adventure (there will be many more).

It doesn’t feel like I am leaving to be quite honest with you, I don’t know when it will truly dawn on me. Maybe its being secure with the knowledge that I will be back here, and back many times over. Maybe because I am excited with all the new developments with Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan which is beginning to really find it’s legs. It’s with this great looming opportunity that I head out to put the rubber to the road and start getting ready for the big things to happen. My time spent in America will be committed to my return to Pakistan this winter where some real concrete changes are going to take place in Pakistan’s Martial Arts scene.

I’ve learned a lot in the past year, I have been gone so long that I can’t really tell you how I have changed as a person and a fighter from over a year ago. I guess I will find out from the reactions and changes people see when I return to the gym. It’s funny, despite saying good bye to “Land of Smiles”, its great people and great sport of Muay Thai this doesn’t feel like the end. It feels like things are just getting started. I leave you with a video appropriately titled Muay Thai’s Greatest Hits in honor of all my teachers who have taught me so much of this very effective, practical and honorable art.

See you on the other side…

What is MMA?

Posted on: September 12th, 2009 by admin No Comments

It’s odd to be writing a post like this after having posted over fifty times. You would think that the topic of “What is MMA?” would be one of the first posts. However, initially the way things were set up anyone searching for Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan would come to the main homepage because they were specifically searching for Mixed Martial Arts. Now however because of the massive number of people joining via facebook we’re getting a lot of people very interested in Martial Arts but not everyone understands what Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is. So to catch up everyone up, I am gonna through the history of modern MMA and the consequences that are affecting modern martial arts now.

One of the most active questions your going to get among martial arts lovers is – What is the best style? In the late 19th and early 20th century people were asking these same questions and were organizing events specifically to answer this question. In Brazil, Japan, Europe and America boxers were pitted against wrestlers, Judo fighters vs boxers, Jujitsu vs wrestlers etc. However I do not believe these events were held persistently enough to set off a combat sports revolution as we are seeing today and of course the lack of information and media sharing which is so common today did not exist to let people know that these events took place or what their outcomes were.

Fast forward to 1993 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held its first event in Colorado. The event was advertised as a way to find the best martial arts style and rules were minimal to ensure that all styles had equal chance to win. The only rules were no biting, no eye gouging and no groin strikes, however these were considered “gentleman’s rules” and could be violated with a penalty in prize money.

In the first few events a man named Royce Gracie whose family created Gracie Jiu Jitsu also known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu dominated the competition. In UFC 1 Royce Gracie defeated three opponents in a combined time of less than 5 minutes to win the tournament. What made Gracie so effective is that he used submission grappling, and defeated his opponents using superior position on the ground to apply joint locks and choke holds. Because at the time in the United States Martial Arts were seen as kicks and punches, no one was prepared for nor expected to be taken to the ground where they were completely helpless. After the first UFC, the Martial Arts community in the United States and the world (but for some reason not so much Pakistan) was transformed. Here was an event in which people could actually find out which style was the best. Because Gracie was so dominant in the first UFC’s people assumed that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was the best, then came the era of the wrestlers with folks like Don Frye, Mark Coleman and Dan Severn (though it should be noted Don Frye and Dan Severn both worked extensively on their striking with Frye having pro boxing experience) but then something started happening Over the course of the next several UFC’s something that started happening. The fighters started evolving, and many of the combatants that entered the competition labeled themselves as freestyle fighters. New combat systems were developed that stated that they only used what worked but even these failed as they became set systems. In the end what mattered was not the style but the fighter. the fighter who took what worked best for himself from the plethora of Martial Arts available and covered all the relevant distances that were used in ACTUAL combat, not a choreographed scene that people equate with “martial arts” (go check out the MMA Pakistan video below for an explanation in Urdu for the ranges of combat)

Here is a quote from Bruce Lee -

“the best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style.”

Currently, the best fighters in the world are those who can grapple on the ground, use wrestling to avoid being taken to the ground or take someone to the ground, control someone in the clinch to use knees and elbows or punch and kick from a distance. The best fighters are the ones who are most well rounded.

I am going to probably going to go back to this topic a few times this week and will also include in my next post some of the early “challenge matches” that went on and woke the martial arts community up as to what was effective and what was merely superstition and dogma.

So I leave you guys with a highlight from one of the most well rounded and entertaining fighters we have had recently, named Kazushi Sakuraba from Japan, who actually came from Japans Pro wrestling community and is one of my favorite fighters of all time due to his class and upholding of Bushido honor, showmanship and technical skill.

Thanks and enjoy.