Tag: karate

Karate In MMA: How Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire Defeated Daniel Straus With Ease

While much of the attention was set on the UFC bouts in Nashville, there was indeed another fight card that had some pretty interesting clashes. It’s fascinating to me that a fourth fight between two closely matched opponents can somehow still generate interest, but when you consider the fact that the two fighters in question are Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Daniel Straus, you have to make a bit of an exception.

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While much of the attention was set on the UFC bouts in Nashville, there was indeed another fight card that had some pretty interesting clashes. It’s fascinating to me that a fourth fight between two closely matched opponents can somehow still generate interest, but when you consider the fact that the two fighters in question are Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Daniel Straus, you have to make a bit of an exception.

While we can go on and on about where these two men fit in the grand scheme of things in terms of ranking the best featherweights in the world, what can’t be denied is that when these two enter the cage to face off, you can expect fireworks. Or that’s at least what I thought heading into Bellator 178. Instead, what I received was far more gratifying while at the same time conflicting.

I’ve always appreciated the blood and guts style of Daniel Straus, the wrestler with good fundamental kickboxing. But Patricio Freire peaked my interest most in this bout. From the moment he took the center of the cage and stood in a long karate stance reminiscent of Shotokan practioner I knew two things; firstly, Pitbull has gone out of his way to evolve his style and second, Daniel Straus was in for a long night.

Freire has always been a very explosive and powerful featherweight with some good boxing and Muay Thai skills. By implementing karate into his game we were able to see where he can truly shine.

Being in an opposite stance from Straus, Freire utilizing a longer, lower karate stance ensured a few things. One, that the takedown wouldn’t be readily available for Straus when he did choose to shoot in, simply because it would be hard to get below the hips of Freire to elevate the scrappy Brazilian. Another thing the karate stance ensured is that Freire would be using his front hand and footwork for distance control. This means that while Straus could be successful with inside low kicks from time to time, landing strikes to the head would be far more difficult.

Closing the distance for Straus meant that he would have to throw long Combo strings before being able to shoot in for the takedown, but this also meant potentially running into the long range straight right hand or gyaku zuki of Freire.

The fight would eventually be decided by the crushing guillotine choke by Freire, but it’s the lead up to the finish that was truly eye opening. Straus was forced to strike from too far out which allowed Freire the time and opportunity to keep a clear head and lock up the fight ending submission once he was comfortable.

Now, karate isn’t going to solve every problem, I know that well enough. But the benefits are growing more and more obvious as fighters who control distance are always going to conquer the game. Whether that means smothering offense or fighting from the outside, the distancing game that karate provides fighters makes winning all that much closer in reach.

What do you think of Patricio Freire beating Reclaiming the featherweight belt and karate in MMA?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Gunnar Nelson vs Stephen Thompson: The Differences In Their Karate

Fresh off his impressive victory over Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 107, everyone who’s anyone is speculating as to what Gunnar Nelson’s next move should be. Many are calling for him to face off against someone in the top ten of the welterweight division. But with so many fighters booked or on the sidelines, options have been fairly slim. But one intriguing suggestion has gotten people talking. It’s gotten me salivating in fact over the possibilities. That proposed match up would see Gunnar Nelson face off against fellow karate master and recent title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

The post Gunnar Nelson vs Stephen Thompson: The Differences In Their Karate appeared first on Cagepotato.

Fresh off his impressive victory over Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 107, everyone who’s anyone is speculating as to what Gunnar Nelson’s next move should be. Many are calling for him to face off against someone in the top ten of the welterweight division. But with so many fighters booked or on the sidelines, options have been fairly slim. But one intriguing suggestion has gotten people talking. It’s gotten me salivating in fact over the possibilities. That proposed match up would see Gunnar Nelson face off against fellow karate master and recent title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

That kind of matchmaking would simply be a thing of beauty. Both men have styles that make for intriguing match ups no matter who they’re facing off against. The bring an element of the unknown and the spectacular. While Nelson looks to finish the fight in any way he can, standing up or on the ground, Thompson’s game is focused on winning by points through accurate strikes or getting a big knock out. But with this match up already being proposed, I thought it would be fun to see how these two fighters differ in terms of their karate skills.

Karate A Doesn’t Equal Karate B

Likely the first thing that everyone thinks of with a match between these two is the fact that both men are karate stylists. Sure, they both have skills outside of karate, especially Nelson, but it’s a common factor that is hard to avoid. That being said, both men have very different styles of karate. All karate isn’t created equal. Each style of karate is different.

You have Shotokan and Goju-Ryu, more traditional styles that work on in and out movement and precision striking. Lyoto Machida’s karate is an offshoot of Shotokan and we all know how he tends to fight. Nelson is in the Goju-Ryu camp that shares that bouncing in and out, straight punching, blitzing style with Shotokan. Nelson will hang out on the outside, feinting and shifting in and out, all the while bouncing on his toes awaiting the perfect time to move in and strike with a big burst of energy.

Then you have Thompson’s kempo karate which mixes in elements freestyle karate and kickboxing. While you’ll notice that Thompson does have that similar in and out, bouncing style of footwork, you also notice that he switches between bouncing footwork and simply walking down his opponent. Stephen Thompson also likes to employ longer strings of combinations than what you would see out of a more traditional karateka. He throws hand combinations sometimes in threes and fours, all of them with variety. He’ll throw jabs, straights, hooks, and uppercuts, all techniques you’re unlikely to see used with more traditional styles of karate.

Drawbacks To Each Style

Both fighters certainly have their strengths, but they’re not without their weaknesses as well. Often times when Nelson blitzes in a takedown follows soon afterward. This can create a pattern for his opponents to play off, especially if they have good wrestling defense.

The Differences

Both Nelson and Thompson can be susceptible to low kicks because of their wider stances, though it seems that Thompson has developed a bit of an ability to avoid those kind of attacks.

Thompson also is susceptible to counters from an adequate boxer if he over commits on his own blitzes, but he usually does a great job at entering and exiting the pocket, usually shifting out to an angle when doing so.

Similarities

Stephen Thompson and Gunnar Nelson have shown proficiency in blitzing as mentioned before. They both have a ton dexterity in their hips and legs allowing them to perform a wide variety of kicks.

But while Gunnar will throw an occasional side kick from time to time, Thompson offers a wide variety of different techniques. Simply put, Thompson has more tools in his kicking toolkit.

All in all, a battle between these two would be a very intriguing contest on the feet, one in which we can see the variety in different karate styles and approaches. As for what strategies these two would want to employ against each other, let’s leave that for a fight breakdown shall we.

Whose striking style do you prefer?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Conor McGregor And Stephen Thompson Show That Traditional Martial Arts Are The Future

UFC 205 is in the record books and it was an event for the ages. We saw Conor McGregor become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time. It’s quite the accomplishment to say the least and though the Irishman may talk a whole lot of trash, he’s able to back it up with an excellent overall game. Stephen Thompson also acquitted himself well in the co-main event against champ Tyron Woodley. What do all three of these men have in common?

The post Conor McGregor And Stephen Thompson Show That Traditional Martial Arts Are The Future appeared first on Cagepotato.

UFC 205 is in the record books and it was an event for the ages. We saw Conor McGregor become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time. It’s quite the accomplishment to say the least and though the Irishman may talk a whole lot of trash, he’s able to back it up with an excellent overall game. Stephen Thompson also acquitted himself well in the co-main event against champ Tyron Woodley. What do all three of these men have in common? Their fighting styles all have influences from traditional martial arts.

McGregor’s decimation of Eddie Alvarez wasn’t simply captured by swinging his left hand and hoping for the best. It took timing, distance, anticipation, all traits of traditional martial arts like karate and taekwondo. McGregor’s style and movement can be directly linked to boxing and karate or taekwondo and you can see that in his movement. Conor McGregor is unique in his striking style because his footwork allows him to get in and out like karate, but his boxing skills allows him to strike in the pocket with comfort and ease. McGregor’s movement allows him to appear like he’s there to be hit, but a quick transition to his traditional movement sees him shooting out of range and returning with blistering fast combinations ala karate. But Conor McGregor isn’t the only man to infuse traditional arts into their style.

Stephen Thompson’s entire game is based on point karate. The bouncing, the in and out movement, all of it stems from karate. But where Conor McGregor was originally a boxing who mixed in karate into his striking style, Thompson is a karate stylist who learned how to box and box well. Karate can be very in and out on a linear plain. What Thompson has done is utilize that blitzing skill and learn to exit on another angle in order to counter his opponent. When he’s in the pocket, uppercuts, hooks and crosses are all in his arsenal making him as much a threat at short range as he is at long range. But Tyron Woodley also showcased that he has a bit of karate skills himself. His ability to close the distance with his own blitz showcases his own skills that can be traced back to traditional martial arts.

Karate is all about hitting and not getting hit and while that may not be the case at all times, the men involved in the main and co-main event of UFC 205 have been able to demonstrate just how effective that blitzing style can be. Muay Thai kickboxing still has its place in the sport and always will. But I’m a sport where constant movement and footwork could be the difference of being taken down or staying on your feet, traditional martial arts movement and skills is going to play a major factor going forward and could be the remedy for success in the future of MMA competition.

What’s your thoughts on karate and other traditional martial arts?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

 

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Martial Arts Fail of the Week: The World’s Worst Karate Demo (No, Really)

(via Bullshido.net)

This week’s Martial Arts Fail isn’t deriding a dubious technique or making light of a strange weapon. No, this week we’re providing a demonstration of how bad mainstream martial arts is.

Watch the above video. That’s what middle class America thinks martial arts is–awkwardly flailing your limbs while concentrating your ki and shouting like you’re in labor. We must warn you though, this video is bad. You might get chest pain from laughing. Or you might get chest pain from depression at what’s become of martial arts instruction in the United States.

We don’t know the school, or the style (Taekwondon’t? You get it? OK it was lame, sorry). All we know is that it’s awful.


(via Bullshido.net)

This week’s Martial Arts Fail isn’t deriding a dubious technique or making light of a strange weapon. No, this week we’re providing a demonstration of how bad mainstream martial arts is.

Watch the above video. That’s what middle class America thinks martial arts is–awkwardly flailing your limbs while concentrating your ki and shouting like you’re in labor. We must warn you though, this video is bad. You might get chest pain from laughing. Or you might get chest pain from depression at what’s become of martial arts instruction in the United States. Think about it, everyone in that room is a black belt. We know that isn’t news, but it’s still really depressing. Being able to spaz out while in a gi means you’re a certified, street-lethal ninja. Thanks, Obama.

We don’t know the school, or the style (Taekwondon’t? You get it? OK the joke was lame, sorry). All we know is that it’s awful.

On a serious note, teaching people that this kind of stuff is “self defense” is liable to get them hurt. There really should be some kind of law against this kind of crap, since people apparently can’t educate themselves when it comes to martial arts.

Anyway, if you really think you’re ready for this, then by all means, hit the play button. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you about the overpowering amounts of strip mall karate present.

If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected].

Lyoto Machida: Old-School Karate

I’ve written plenty about Lyoto Machida‘s karate over the past two years, but I thought we would try something different. I usually speak at length about Machida‘s striking style, which is very much influenced by tournament karate and indeed Japanese karate. Shotokan is, after all, considered a Japanese style of karate rather than an Okinawan […]

I’ve written plenty about Lyoto Machida‘s karate over the past two years, but I thought we would try something different. I usually speak at length about Machida‘s striking style, which is very much influenced by tournament karate and indeed Japanese karate. Shotokan is, after all, considered a Japanese style of karate rather than an Okinawan […]

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UFC 163 Lyoto Machida: The Karate Master

The term “karate master” conjures a strange duality of notions. To one person, the phrase “karate master” evokes images of the comic character in an action film who sweeps his hands in bladed motions through the air before being felled by a single punch from the square-jawed protagonist. In another conversation, “karate master” might bring […]

The term “karate master” conjures a strange duality of notions. To one person, the phrase “karate master” evokes images of the comic character in an action film who sweeps his hands in bladed motions through the air before being felled by a single punch from the square-jawed protagonist. In another conversation, “karate master” might bring […]

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