Mixed Martial Arts-MMA?
and Boxing Defensive Skills & Strategy - PART 1
Just haven't been able to put my finger on it but the craze and the popularity over the supposed combinations of fighting disciplines lumped into one package just isn't appealing; however, I am being contacted by MMA participants who desire to improve their boxing skills. It appears that fighters adroit at the use of the hands have a distinctive advantage over ground fighters and are dominating this forms of combat.
After viewing a few contests it appears to be true the hands are quicker than the eyes and certainly the legs and would lead me to dub MMA as AMM or assault, mayhem and a mugging! Actually what ever skills possessed by the participants are very crude and I would admit limited.
Traditionally, usually after a tragedy in the boxing ring a cry goes up from the general public to ban boxing as inhumane, so it's hard for me to comprehend how in the world is MMA fighting being allowed?
The promotions are heavy on hype and titillation promising the ultimate in vicious but skillfull action but boil down to a crude displays of street fighting and Greco/Roman wrestling with knees and elbows added that can leave a participant scarred for life.
With all the rules and regulations governing the safety of boxers to prevent abuses in the boxing ring it's curious that MMA is sanctioned by supposed reputable State Athletic Commissions. Perhaps a conclusion has been made to at least have some control of this activity in lieu of having it go underground?
Boxing, boxing?
Where do I begin? It's sad to see a once mainstream activity, the Sweet Science headed for the trash bin! Why? there are still many ambitious youngsters that are drawn to the sport in spite of the lack of media coverage. It's a combination of circumstances and change in a new world that seeks instant gratification via continuous highlights; prompting promoters of sports to emphasize gore and sensationalism in lieu of quality and style.
Major sport enterprises have wised up and realize that the integrity of their game is also an important aspect of their presentations and owners of franchises have appointed strong commissioners or czars endowed with almost absolute powers to regulate their particular sport; self-policeing their interests. It hasn't been perfect in this tumultuous times but it has kept their heads above water and made a significant difference in the success of their organizations.
Boxing on the other hand is a group of independent organizers,(Alpha Bet Soup Organizations, many minor and a few major promoters), that were kept in line by strong State Athletic Commissions in the past led by New York State and California; they were the trend setters and other authorities followed their lead and respected their decisions, example, if a boxer was suspended in New York he was basically persona non-grata everywhere.
Current Prime Example: Recent bout in Texas, Paulie Malignaggi a challenger from the East, Brooklyn N.Y.C. to be precise ventured to the land of the long horns to engage Juan Diaz in the stellar presentation promoted by the supposed puerer than the driven snow California's Golden Boy Promotions that their CEO promised when they were founded, Would Clean Up Boxing! What he apparently meant was that if it didn't interfer with his goals, it was really just for everyone else?
God Bless Paulie for his prime time Brooklynese is worth the price of admission but a street wise guy like him should have realized he was going to end up on the short end.
Right out of the box the assignment of the officials- judges Raul Caiz , my first thought, Hey, we have a ref here in California with the same name-Oh! it is the same guy, what's he doing in Texas? Tight with the promoter? Gale Van Hoy, Texas and David Sutherland from neighboring Oklahoma both with suspected reputations as homers.
Add the Ref Dickie Cole who has a track record of favoritism and controversy shown to local based Lone Star fighters and to boot a relative of the head of the regulatory commission of boxing in Texas; it's called nepotism.
I'm not a fan of Paulie or care for his punchless style but he got robbed in this one and his post fight interview was priceless. It's a shame for Paulie but to me it's disgraceful not only because of the circumstances proffered above but that Juan Diaz appearing to be a straight shooter didn't realize that he had been the recipient of a gift It was at best a shallow victory and he should have grabbed the mic and stated so, but he's only a kid, but down deep he knows he didn't win! Juan will move on and in his later years will just recall this bout as just another win, however Paulie will agonize mentally over and over of this injustice and how he was sacked in Texas!
Moving on to the cards at the conclusion of 12 fast paced rounds Gale Van Hoy 118-110, David Sutherland 116-112, Raul Caiz Sr 115-113. Gentlemen you have the correct scores but you named the incorrect winner!
This entire atmosphere of it's not about what you do but who you know, (Money, greed, power, human frailties etc, are all involved), from Amateur programs right up through Professional Top of the Hill Attractions this state of mind is widespread and unchecked.
The balance of the card was a showcase for additonal favoritism as house fighters were carefully matched to assure meaningless victories.
MOVING BACK TO AUGUST 7th Primm Valley, Nevada
Alfredo 'ElPerro' Angulo needing some rehabilitation after his tussle with Kermit Cintron and loss, (IMO it was evident that evening that Angulo was weak from a bout with a virus), and that impeded his ability to mark one up in the win column that evening. Against one Gabriel Rosado 12-4, 7K.O's - The 'Dog' had little difficulty with Rosado and posted a win and will move on to a supporting position on a major PPV card.
A positive note is that fans love to see Alfredo who gives it is all in every outing, gives the crowd it's monies worth, he's is shape and he comes to fight.
Next up was Anthony Dirrell 18-0 15 k.o.s versus another offering from the Mid-western circuit, tough and game Alfredo Contreras 10-5-1 who was no more than a target for the brother of one of the members of the Super Middleweight Tournament Andre 'The Matrix' Dirrell; totaling up the records of A.C.'s opponents it stands at 109 wins and 111 loses on the circuit. Anthony hit Contreras with every Sunday punch he has but couldn't stop him till the late rounds.
So you would think that after a televised victory his mangement team would move him up to a higher level, but he's booked for Oklahoma in October against another questionable padded record possessor.
How long are the net- works going to drag out this ad nauseam brother act? True boxing fans are there to see a fight, their attending or tuning in to be entertained with a competitive boxing contest not to witness a 'Novella', leave that for daytime soap fanatics, boxing fans don't care if you have family problems or you had a tough life, shit every boxer can give you a list of the difficulties incurred raising themselves to a level of prominence in the sport.
For the media producers, we want the full attention of your commentators focused on the fight appearing on the screen not a fight that's a couple of months away or a guest that has a completely different agenda, (usually self-interest), than what we are looking at, it's demeaning to the fighters performing and irritating to us listening & watching. If you want to increase your ratings give us competitive fights-not sob stories!
And Teddy please, get some new cliches, were tired of, "Taking him to Deep Water, he's giving up his height,etc, etc. or how about not talking so much, that would be refreshing.
UP DATE-Revisting another SNAFU, (Situation Normal All Fouled Up),last months Nate Campbell/Timothy Bradley has been officially declared a 'No-Contest', a month later? the evidence, the tape replay or how about consulting with the numerous state athletic people who are in attendance and coming up with a consensus right when it should have been decided, that night! What ever happened to Common Sense?
OLD SCHOOL BOXING TRAINING-DEFENSE PART 1
Instruction by Tommy Noel
Boxing is supposed to be the art of self-defense not of offense only and a complete fighter should be schooled throughly in both, however the emphasis of unknowledgeable trainers, coaches etc,. revolves around offense with little attention given to defense. That's fine when you have the current trend of mis-matching hot prospects against opponents with limited skills and/or inexperience.
But the day is going to arrive when the ZERO on the SUSPECTS ledger is going to be severly-tested when they are forced to step up in class!
First when you have a deficiency in just about anything you have to go back to the beginning, the basics, you know read the directions- get some advice, analyze what is wrong and then take corrective action!
When I accept a new student, I usually ask them to shadow box a few minutes for me to see where their at, and in about 10sec., it's obvious if they have had any instruction it was incorrect and amateurish or they have had limited exposure to boxing, the latter is understandable the former is the results of many parties/fans masquerading as competent instructors in the art of boxing doling out improper instructions as if they were gospel.
What I tell the student to do is try to forget everything and we will start as a blank page and build them from the ground-up as if you they are a fresh piece of clay and we're together going to turn them into a work of art! A COMPLETE FIGHTER!
First you must relax, be calm in the face of the danger that you will encounter, mentally it's human nature to freeze or get stage fright in the anticipation of being placed in a dangerous situation, it's natural, but it basically means your normal. Face it when your born you instictively know how to eat, how to let the world be aware when your unhappy or happy by crying or smiling, and in the first few weeks of existence other physical and mental capacities are naturally developed. But as you progress through your early years you learn to be fearful, frustrated with the world you have been cast into, your body's survival system automatically kicks into gear instantly when the least minor dangerous stimuli is introduced and the response is for your system to go into protect mode.
It shuts down and stiffens up to protect itself in the presence of danger-in boxing with your opponent trying to knock your head of your shoulders the tendency is to pull back away from that danger when the correct action is to stand up to that peril or risk! and learn how to block, avoid, move around those. dangers and respond, (counter punch).
Lesson one is that we have to overcome this natural tendency by being calm in the presence of danger. The older you are when you begin this corrective training the more difficult it is to overcome, but not impossible, it just takes a little longer, for instance if you are out of your teens you have had that many more years exposed to the dangers of your environment so your inclined to have this fear more deeply ingrained in your system, it's natural but it's not appropriate for the art of self-defense.
TIP- Check out the Foundation of Human Understanding @ www.fhu.com and down load their free Tape-Be still and know! Learn how to relax.
Anticipating your question-At what age would you recommend someone taking up boxing? My advice, not written in stone but a guide would be approximately between 13 and 15 years of age, prior to that the physical and mental development is still in an accelerated mode & also younger children tend to have a short attention span and physically are not quite strong enough to endure the hard physical action required in boxing.
I advise parents who want to introduce boxing at a younger age to allow and encourge their offspring to participate in less dangerous activities and allow the child to hone their physical skills in a competitive atmosphere but not as arduous as boxing. But there are exceptions and it has to be decided on a case by case basis, for instance we have a couple of nine year olds and their doing pretty good. One other thing is that if you start them too young and I'm basing this on my experience by the time they are fourteen or fifthteen their burned out on boxing.
Getting Started:
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Feet space under shoulders
Lead foot forward
Moving On-stand with your legs positioned at shoulder width and move your lead foot forward maintaining the spacing with your shoulders, let your arms hang down as if they were no more than strings, completely relaxed from the shoulder down, don't be concerned - your arms will not detach from your shoulders, now bring your elbows into your sides remaining relaxed, then lift your forearms and hands up and lower your head and tuck your chin behind your lead shoulder, now your in the proper boxing stance and have built a shield of protection around your bodies vulnerable areas, head and body.
Arms relaxed
Raise arms into position
Boxing Position Assumed
By moving your lead foot forward, it extends your reach for one thing but by standing at this oblique angle it makes you a smaller target to avoid incoming punches and in the case of an orthodox fighter makes it difficult for your opponent to land the devastating liver punch! Elbows are your armor to wad off damging body blows.
Look directly into your opponents eyes and you will able to detect any attempt that they will make to attack you, don't ask me why, it just works that way, perhaps because your facing the danger and you have an entire view of your opponents ability to inflict punishment. Push off your back foot to advance forward, push off you front foot to move to the rear in both instances maintaining the proper foot to shoulder distance, try moving to the left and right by pushing off on the opposite foot of the direction you wish to go, retaining the proper distance.
You will repeat these movements millions of times so you must become comfortable with them and do them without thinking, it has to become part of your bodies system like breathing, natural, you don't have to think and act on that function,it's part of your entire system mentally and physical; your upper and lower body movements must be co-ordinated and and work together or independently depending on the situation while fixing your gaze constantly on your opponent.
But of course you have to practice and that requires that you start out slowly as in just about any activity that requires co-ordinatiion between physical and mental adaption, you need to develop a relationship, it's called muscle memory! Didn't or don't you still have the fear of being in danger and your body freezes up or you flee from danger? wasn't that acquired by your natural responses, now what you are going to do is reverse these tendencies, your going to stay calm in stressful situations.
Boxing is a unique activity for unlike other sports there are no transitions periods between offense and defense, your left hand can be on offense and the right hand can be on defense simutaneously, that's what makes the learning process so difficult; imagine when learning to swim or ride a bycycle and at the same time you were being punched in the face!
How do we overcome the fear of danger particularly as it relates to boxing? It's not going to be easy, if everything was easy, we all would be champions and it would be pretty boring,wouldn't it?
