The Fights At UFC 196 Were Not Upsets

Sure, you've seen or heard about the last UFC fight show. Tate defeated Holm and Diaz defeated McGregor. Many are happy to see the "Notorious"lose. Are these upsets? No. This is the fight game. Both Holly and Conner stepped up to the plate. Both Meisha and Nate stepped up to the plate. The are warriors. Warriors fight. Belts, titles, wins, losses, etc. are all part of fighting. At the end of the a fighter wants to be able to say, "I went in there and laid it on the line". If one can say that, win, lose or draw the can be content. While many will rest on their laurels or never step up to the plate, those who do will always be fulfilled. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what others think of you. It's what you think of yourself. And if you have the courage to challenge yourself to do something others will never try, then you feel good about yourself.

Drilling Vs Doing

How does one become proficient at doing something? Should you drill or perform the activity real time. For me personally, I prefer to just do it. When I played soccer as a youth, we would scrimmage to prepare for the game. When I boxed,sparring was the main method of preparation (same for kickboxing, judo, etc.). I never really did a lot of drills because I felt that after a certain point they created a pattern to how one moves and reacts. I always wanted to be adaptable, so I would just do. This may not work for all, but it is my believe. I want to be like water and be adaptable.

Discipline & Consistent Training

They way people learn in martial arts is very different than it was years ago. People tend to want to learn flash and flare over basics and they try skip on to what they see as advanced before perfecting the basics. It isn't fun to run, skip rope, shadow box, hit the bag, do push ups, etc. day in and day out. It is exciting to work on one or 2 things for one training session. People get bored easily and want to move on to the next hottest thing (not just in the gym, but in other aspects of life). Well, the basics are most important and when all else fails, you can fall back on them. The discipline of training day in and day out for the sake of training is what we must do. This is how you build a foundation. Take your time and build your house strong. Don't throw it up quickly (like a lot of the new subdivisions these days). Make it last.

Be In The Moment

People like to plan out strategies to prepare for fights. The work on drills based on what they think their opponent is going to do. They work on some special weapon that they will need to defeat their opponent. I never took that approach. I don't pre-plan. I live in the moment. What this means is that I go with no expectations. I flow with the situation. In the moment, I find my way to victory. When I train I work on strong basics. I believe that the basics are what positions for success. So, don't look at what someone did yesterday and assume that it will be the same today. You are not his or her last opponent. You don't move, think or look like their last opponent. Be yourself and be in the moment.

Judo And Taekwondo Are The Most Popular Martial Arts

Have you wondered what the most popular martial arts are? They are Judo and Taekwondo. Both are Olympic sports and are practiced worldwide. For male sports, the sport must have 75 countries and 4 continents and for female sports, 40 countries and 3 continents. Both have a governing body and recognized world championships. Every time I've visited a another country and turned on a sports channel, I've seen some Judo on TV. Now of course sports like boxing and wrestling are popular too, but I'm referring to traditional arts. Karate is very popular, but there a thousands of styles that don't associated with each other for political reasons and what not. Tai Chi is probably the most practiced non sport martial art. In the U.S. many think Kickboxing and MMA are more popular. In the U.S. Judo has never been really popular. I would say Taekwondo has been and still is. In my home state, I see more Taekwondo schools than any other type of martial art.

Tway Ma Shaung Highlight (Bare Knuckle Lethwei)

This is a great video showing Lethwei fighting. It is a bare knuckle style of fighting wear the fighters only wrap their hands. Very much like Muay Thai (with head butts, standing chokes, etc. included. You have to knock the opponent out to win. No point system. Once you get past the brutality of it, you can appreciate seeing what skilled fighting looks for real. Imagine these skills on the street. It is pure and practical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y3K84cCoIU

You Have To Spar

The most important training tool in learning a martial art is sparring. You can do all the drills, exercises, etc., but you have to spar. When we look at athletes in any sport, we see all the training and sport science philosophies put out in the magazines. We want the same supplements and training equipment they use to take them to the next level. All that is cool, but nothing is more important than doing the activity that you aspire to be good at. Everything is supplemental. Professional sports team scrimmage to prepare for games. Fighters have to spar to prepare for fights.