So the inevitable happened last night when Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans in the 2nd round after dominating the entire fight. The "riddle" of Lyoto Machida has yet to be solved and it seems the conventional MMA practitioner doesn't have a chance to beat him. Everybody's chattering about "old school karate" and "traditional martial arts," but the chatter is coming from MMA guys, not traditional martial artists so it's filled with speculation and theory. Basically, they think they know why they're being beat by Machida, but it goes much deeper than they can comprehend...
As my sparring partners can attest, I've been telling them for years that there are many techniques I've learned from Tae Kwon Do that our fellow MMA practitioners are easy targets for. In fact, I've shared some of those techniques in sparring and it's almost possible to land those shots at will against a Muay Thai guy, wrestler, boxer, or grappler. The back kick (jumping or standing) is a personal favorite and so is the outside-in crescent kick, especially when breaking from the clinch. Not to mention the effectiveness of random kicking combinations.
While driving to Atlantic City a few years ago for UFC 53 I told my buddies in the car (members of Renzo Gracie's school) that if MMA fighters could learn to throw the jump back kick proficiently it would most certainly lead to knockouts. And sure enough, that night David Loiseau threw a perfectly-timed jump back kick while his opponent was throwing a straight right hand, caught him perfectly in the rib cage, and knocked him out. Fight over. David Loisea's background? Tae Kwon Do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
MMA athletes are constantly evolving. It's a game that went from fixed, traditional style vs. fixed, traditional style 17 years ago to one of hybrid fighters typically trained in Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and wrestling who seem to be the total package. We left behind the traditional martial arts with it's colored belt systems, forms, bowing, and board breaking rituals for MMA gyms where instructors wear T-shirts and house music is pumped loudly to guys wearing Tapout gear and ankle guards. We don't bow. We don't call anybody "sir" or "ma'am." Everybody is learning to be tough. To take punishment and give punishment. And we're getting really really good at it. Until Lyoto Machida came along...
Yes, he's a BJJ black belt. Yes, he's a great boxer and wrestler. So he's got all of the contemporary skills needed to step into the cage. But he's also undefeated against the best in the sport today. He's never even lost a round in his entire professional career. So how do all these modern warriors solve the "riddle" that is Lyoto Machida?
They become white belts.
Bruce Lee said that if a traditional martial artist trains for 1 year in wrestling and boxing he could beat any traditional martial artist he faced. And the UFC has proven Bruce Lee right since its "Bloodsport" origins (style vs. style) to its modern hybrid fighting systems (Miletich, Top Team, etc.). Fixed systems don't work. And, perhaps ironically, modern MMA has become a fixed system...
You must train in BJJ, wrestling, and Muay Thai to compete in our sport. Those are the unwritten rules and that is our recipe. And it's a recipe that we've enjoyed for over 17 years, but like any family recipe it receives tweaks from each generation it's passed down to. So along comes Machida who looks out our modern dish of MMA technique and basically says, "It's good, but it can be better." His perspective is one that was formed in thousands of years of historical fighting experience, not recent TV history. His predecessors didn't fight in cages, they fought in forests, on mountains, in emperor's kingdoms where referees didn't step in to save you, but instead your mistake was paid in death. He has what we call in the traditional martial arts world, "a good foundation" or "strong roots" and it's the most important ingredient in any fighting recipe.
When you grow up in a traditional martial arts environment you're taught about the importance of origins, building a strong base, learning to walk before you run, grasping the fundamentals before advanced technique can be understood and made "our own." It's one of the fundamental characteristics of any traditional martial artist and something that is absent in the majority of modern MMA fighters, IMO. I bet you can count the number of UFC fighters who bow to their opponent on 1 hand. Maybe 2. Am I wrong?!
Sure, they're tough. Sure, they're strong. And yes, they put on a good show. But within a cage, with a referee, lots of safety rules, a cup, a mouth guard, bright lights, and cameras. They might get knocked out, or dazed, or cut, tapped out, or just plain outworked. But there is little "real" danger. Not like the life-and-death proving ground that traditional martial arts were forged in. I'll take a skilled Hap Ki Do practitioner over the best MMA guy any day in a street fight, but you'll never see Hap Ki Do in the cage.
So what's the secret to truly solving the "Machida riddle?" as Joe Rogan has so aptly named in. Of course, any fighter has a "puncher's chance" and Machida could get caught like any other fighter (*side note - I hope I didn't jinx Lyoto), but that's not my definition of "domination." To truly beat Machida it's going to take somebody with the same traditional foundation whose techniques were not learned as an adult in a hybrid hip hop gym, but as a child who was taught to bow, to say "sir" and "ma'am," and break boards in order to earn the next colored belt. It's going to take a true warrior who, unlike all those Machida has dismantled, has the "fighting spirit" instead of just the desire to put on a good show and get a juicy UFC contract. Not to say there aren't some amazing MMA fighters, I idolize several of them, but Machida has brought to the table what MMA needed if it's going to evolve into the mainstream and become the respectable and marketable event it needs to be. He brought tradition back to combat.
A fighting sport that has not abandoned its traditional roots and millions of practitioners of traditional martial arts in the process. We've been told for the past 15 years that our traditional styles don't work against an MMA fighter. That they need to be combined with wrestling, boxing, and jiu jitsu so we can be effective fighters. And there is a lot of truth in that, but not perfect truth. What I believe Machida is proving to all martial artists is that if we have technique and power without foundation we will surely fall. Like every one of his opponents. I remember what one of my first Tae Kwon Do masters used to say... "Even the biggest tree falls down from the slightest wind if it does not have strong roots."
So what does it all mean? Does the rise of Machida usher in the fall of pure MMA gyms? No. What it does is introduce ballet to football players. It sends the MMA guy's head racing with thoughts of insecurity and humility, wondering if he needs to learn grace before he can reach his true potential. Does he need to learn to bow? Should he say "sir" and "ma'am" if he's going to retrofit himself with the proper foundation upon which to continue building his MMA skills?
Lyoto "the Dragon" Machida has done more in remaining undefeated than any MMA fighter in recent history. He has single-handedly reintroduced the traditional and modern fighting worlds to one another after a separation of nearly 17 years (since the first UFC event). Like two brothers who parted ways out of frustration and ego who have reunited in understanding to help one another reach their true potential. Machida's riddle is one that forces us to recognize that traditional martial arts schools and MMA gyms should not exist independently of one another if we are going to continue to evolve as fighters. That is Machida's gift.
Final Thought:
In our fighting world we reserve for our most influential teachers the name, "Dragon." In modern times, Bruce "the Dragon" Lee was our greatest teacher who revolutionized film, martial arts, politics, and philosophy. His teachings changed the world by uniting it. In his passing we were left with a void and we've fallen into divide while left to our own device. It took some 35 years, but we are once again given a Dragon to lead us into greater understanding and create solidarity... I hope.
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