Born to Brawl

Talk the Talk: Born to Brawl 1.4.08

“Talk the Talk”

OK folks, I’m back from the holidays and with that comes the second edition of Born to Brawl.  In my absence there’s been some marquee fights that have happened: Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Lidell, Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Hughes, Fedor Emelienanko vs Hong Man Choi etc. Guys like Kawajiri, Misaki, and Bustamante have fought since then as well and the IFLGrand Prix Finals happened too.

 Instead of trying to cover all of those fights I’m going to go over some terminology.  For those of you that are new to MMA, learning what is being said is key to understanding what you’re viewing. Learning to ‘talk the talk’ is essential to expanding your MMA horizons because context clues won’t always help since much of the parlance is taken from other languages.

 This list is in no way complete as it would take enormous amounts of time to enumerate every technique, position, term and all their variations. I’m assuming that because boxing is an old institution in the U.S. the majority of you will know what jab, cross, hook punches are so I’m going to skip those. There are also a wide array of wrestling techniques and the throws of the Nage-waza that I’m intentionally leaving out.  

I tried to insert pictures but they won't format correctly. Sorry all.

 Common Terms:

1. Ground and pound: to take your opponent to the mat and use assorted strikes (usually punches and elbows) to damage him aka GNP
2. Takedown: any variety of methods used to change the combat from standing/clinching to ground fighting.
3. Lay and pray: Derogatory term for a fighters GNP prowess. It essentially means pinning an opponent to score position but not to finish the fight and hence win a judges’ favor.
4. Passing the Guard: To force your opponent to release his hold around your hips and move around his legs to gain a superior position.

 Common Positions:

1. Guard: the person ‘in guard’ is the top position. The person ‘guarding’ is on their back with the legs wrapped around the hips of their opponent.  This position is used to minimize the leverage the opponent can gain to rain strikes from the top position. There are several variations of the ‘Guard’ position i.e. butterfly, open, half, rubber etc. 
2. Mount: The person ‘in mount’ is the fighter on the top. The person ‘being mounted’ is on the bottom. The top fighter has their knees above the hips of the opponent and is minimizing their defensive capabilities and aiming to TKO via strikes or set a submission. Considered a superior position. 
3. Half Guard: The fighter on the bottom has both legs locked in a ‘figure 4’ around one of his opponents’ legs. Typically this is the result of a halfway successful attempt at ‘passing the guard’ of the man on the bottom. 
4. Back Mount: When your opponent is belly to back with you. It exposes the neck for chokes and head for strikes.  ‘Getting your hooks in’ refers to having back mount and then hooking your legs between the legs of your opponent in order to control their hip movement. Considered a superior position.
5. Thai Clinch: When one fighter is holding the crown of the head on another fighter to control body movement. Typically used in conjunction with knees to the head and body. So called for its origins in Muy Thai Boxing.  

Common Techniques:

1. Armbar aka ‘kakegatame’: to straighten the arm (thereby ‘barring’ it) so that the fulcrum of the pressure is against the elbow. Commonly this is done with the legs over the head while holding the wrist to break the arm. There are variations to this such as ‘Japanese style’, from guard, from mount, branch straight from side mount, far side, Brazilian style, inverted etc.  It is sometimes incorrectly called a ‘straight armbar’. All armbars are straight (hence the term ‘bar). 
2. Triangle Choke aka Jiujigatame: The fighter applying the choke has his legs in a ‘figure 4’ around the head and arm (just one) of his opponent. Proper application of this technique causes hypoxia (and consequently blackout) by closing the carotid arteries in the neck. Contrary to popular misconception this is not an air choke.  
3. Kimura: a shoulder lock with the wrist below the shoulder. Primary objective is to tear the rotator cuff in the shoulder. Named after a famous Judoka. Can be executed from standing, top or bottom positions.  
4. Americana aka Key Lock: Also a shoulder lock but it is a wrist above the elbow lock. Americanas also tend to put preasure on the elbow as well as the shoulder.
5. Guillotine Choke: What you may have seen in school as a ‘front head lock’. This is an asphyxiation choke. The blade of the wrist acts as a trachea crusher to cut the air. Can be applied standing or from virtually any ground position.
6. Rear Naked Choke aka RNC aka ‘Mata Leo (Lion Killer)’: The fighter applying the choke is belly to back with his opponent with one arm snaked around the neck while the other arm is placed behind the head to apply pressure. Depending on your instructors’ methodology it can either be a hypoxia or asphyxiation choke. It is most effective as a hypoxia choke. 

 That is the most basic list I could compile for terminology.  There are quite literally dozens if not hundreds more that could be listed but this is enough to get you started with a basic understanding of what is going on for your next (or first) viewing.  If any of you have questions regarding a technique, its origin, application, name, effectiveness, mechanics etc. please email me at santi_ostinati@hotmail.com  and I’ll be happy to help out. Just put Born to Brawl in the subject line.

Born to Brawl 12.15.07

So first thing’s first: what is MMA and why is it getting so popular in America?  MMA is short for “Mixed Martial Arts” as I have stated but it is known as “Vale Tudo” (pronounced: “valay tu do”) in Portuguese, in Russia they call it “Mixed Fight” and in the United States it has become synonymous with “UFC” aka “Ultimate Fighting”. It has also been referred to (incorrectly) as “Luta Livre”.  Essentially they are all the same and what they are in a nut shell is limited rules fighting.  In Brazil these fights have existed since before the 50’s but only recently has it become mainstream world wide.

 On 12 November 1993 Royce (pronounced-“Hoyce”) Gracie stepped into an octagon shaped cage to fight in a bare-knuckle tournament. In those days the only rules were no eye gouging or biting. There were no time limits and no weight classes. It was spectacle aiming to answer the age old question: which martial art was the best?  After three fights against opponents much larger than himself Gracie emerged the winner and MMA in America was born.

Fourteen years later after much turmoil, hard times and near extinction at the hands of Senator John McCain, MMA is now the fastest growing sport in the nation and routinely eclipses boxing in number of viewers and captures the highly coveted male 18-34 demographic with shows like “The Ultimate Fighter.”  Modern MMA is regulated by whatever athletic/boxing commission that oversees the venue state and possess a variety of rules, weight classes, equipment requirements and time limits that have helped the spectacle become sport.

In today’s iteration of the game, fighters may win by traditional knock out, TKO, submission aka ‘tapping out’, technical submission or judge’s decision.  Here is a description of the differences:

• KO:  Knockout. Like boxing a knockout occurs when an opponent is struck hard enough to render them unconscious. The fight is immediately stopped in the event of a K.O.
• TKO: Technical knockout. When a fighter is unable to ‘intelligently defend’ themselves against attacks the referee is required to step in and stop the fight even if the fighter isn’t ‘knocked out’.
• Submission aka Tap Out:  A fighter can choose to quit when they have either taken injury, enough damage for their own liking or when they’ve been checkmated by a finishing hold like a choke or armbar.  In MMA there is no stigma with tapping out as there is in boxing (i.e. Roberto Duran’s ‘No mas’).  This is signified by tapping your hand on your opponent or the mat or by verbally submitting.  It is not to be confused with the clothing line of the same name.
• Technical Submission: Occasionally a fighter will choose to let a limb break, let themselves be choked unconscious or refuse to submit even if they’ve been checkmated. In cases such as this the referee is required to step in and stop the fight when a fighter’s safety becomes a priority.
• Judges Decision: If at the end of the allotted time there is no definitive winner the ringside judges will render a decision much like in boxing. Actual criteria for grading the fighters varies from promotion to promotion but the majority winner wins the fight.

 Despite this growing interest many outsiders as well as casual fans alike have enormous misconceptions about MMA. As this is the maiden voyage of this blog I’d like to take the time to clear up some misconceptions about the sport.

Misconception 1: There are no rules.

Truth: Incorrect. Even in its infancy that was not the case (albeit it was close enough then). Today there are a variety of rules for fighter safety. Here are some of the common things you cannot do: groin strikes, eye gouges, ‘fish’ hooking, small bone manipulation, strikes to the throat, spiking an opponent on the head and throwing them out of the ring/cage among other things.  In the United States competitors must wear like equipment.

Misconception 2: People fight to the death or are frequently maimed/killed in the sport.

Truth: Really guys? If you fought to the death all the fighters would be undefeated. Since its inception there has been only one fatality that can be linked to an MMA bout (NOTE: this statistic refers to sanctioned events. Backyard brawls and non-sanctioned events are anathema to most competitors and are illegal).  Like any contact sport, and combat sports in particular, there is inherent danger of physical harm but that is a risk that these athletes undertake willingly.

Misconception 3: “My friend is an Ultimate Fighter”, or has fought in the UFC.

Truth: Not likely. “Ultimate Fighting” is a brand much the same way that the NBA is a brand. You can play basketball in a smaller league, of which there may be many, but NBA is a brand specific league. “Ultimate Fighting” aka “UFC” is a proprietary brand owned by Zuffa LLC, headed by Dana White and financed by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.  It is regarded as the pinnacle of the sport in the United States and there are actually very few (relatively speaking) actual UFC fighters. If you have friends or have heard of “Ultimate Fighters” in your local pub or tough-guy hang out it is likely that they either train MMA or they have fought under MMA rules in a smaller show.   This does not make you UFC fighter. That’s like saying you went to the Olympics because you wrestled in high school.

That’s it for now folks. The next “Born to Brawl” will cover some terminology so you can talk the talk about your newfound love of MMA!