MMA: Crossing styles + Bruce Lee?
I don’t understand this fad being thought in MMA gyms as training in basically an ”mma style”, basically i was reading over a biography of Bruce Lee that i had & hes considered the ”father” of mixing styles YET his best students were people well versed in other arts & Lee himself stated just as i thought myself, that you can’t just go in & take techniques from various arts….mesh it into a style & expect it to be effective, that you have to train in one art & understand the core of that martial art + then integrate other arts in where you now have a solid understanding of your ”main art” & can build upon.
How come many MMA (modern ie past 5 years) seem to ignore this philosophy & have beginners training in Muay Thai for stand-up Bjj/wrestling for ground etc? (apart from obvious reasons such as time constraints + money)
Can you really mesh 3 styles together that easily & actually be effective from the eyes of each arts practicioners? (ie a Muay Thai practicioner watching you using Muay Thai
Hoyleday (first user) yes but those artists had alot of training before hand in some other art which is what Bruce was on about having a ”core” to build on.
Lee liked the side kick and Lee was wing chun. MMA has little side kicking and no wing chun.
Other than that, of course there are similarities. Humans tend to move their arms and legs in roughly the same way.
You may be sick of hearing about MMA, but I’m sick of hearing about Bruce Lee.
Yes you can mesh 3 styles into 1. Obviously each style wont be as effective as it would be if you only trained 1, but if you go into the UFC with a BJJ black belt and nothing else you’ll get destroyed. Fighters who have meshed styles together expertly include.
BJ Penn – Boxing and BJJ
GSP – Wrestling and kickboxing
Frank Mir – Muay Thai and BJJ.
Yes you can mesh them together effectively. The question becomes can you mesh them together and be as effective at each as you would if you devoted your time solely to it, and the answer for most people is no. Some phenoms notwithstanding. Let me say it this way, the more narrow the rule set of allowed technique, the greater the skill at said technique to be considered among the best. So take boxing, in boxing you can only use punches of which there are five(Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, and overhand) So to be one of the best boxers takes years of dedication and training. Now, an mma fighter that is skilled at wrestling, boxing, muay thai, and submissions would almost surely lose a boxing match against a decent boxer and nearly inevitablyy against an elite boxer such as one of the Klitchkos. But in an MMA fight, or on the street where a boxer would have to contend with kicks from ranges that he can’t strike effectivelyfromm and being taken to the ground where he has noskill sett whatsoever, even one of the Klitchkos would be at a huge disadvantage if they could not force the fight to stay within the rule set that they are proficient. Much like other areas of life, expertise in one area diminishes the ability to be proficient in many areas. So, you will basically have to ask what you want out of training.