The forum gives me a great deal to think about, and I do some of my best writing, about some of the most interesting stuff, on there. Plus, I'm sick of just giving you guys the same stuff I talk about on MMA Opinion.
So, this one came from a "Fighting Styles" thread asking the perpetual question of "What's the best fighting style mix for MMA?"
Personally, it's a question I've answered before, but I thought it'd be interesting to really explain what I mean when I talk about this.
The original post said:
If there needs to be a combination of 3 fighting styles to use in your MMA i beleive it should be in no specific order , wrestling, juijistu, and boxing.
they cover all areas of MMA from standup to ground work, to having good hips.
i think if your strong in theese three styles no one can beat you... a perfect example is george st pierre
Obviously, this is the generic, storebought answer. Here's my response:
Sure, and there are dozens of other combinations that cover these three bases just as well. In fact, there are combinations of two styles that work better that these, and there are single styles that incorporate all of these elements. Look at Combat Sambo.
It's definitely true that the three primary areas that need to be covered in order to be a well rounded fighter are standup, takedowns/clinchgame and groundwork. That's just sort of a general rule in the sport.
Still, to say that the three styles of jiu-jitsu (by which you probably mean BJJ/GJJ), Muay Thai and wrestling is seriously played out. These are the classical dictum of mixed martial arts combination and its believed that these are the best combinations, but it varies from fighter to fighter, and even within these styles there are differences.
Personally, I come from an aggressive, Royler Gracie style Brazilian jiu-jitsu lineage with alot of modern submission wrestling integrated in, I have clinch based brawling for a standup game and a Sambo/Judo/Roman-Greco clinch and takedown game.
This style works for me.
It puts me on top where I work topside submissions, I'm very comfortable on my back and pull guard from time to time, I can strike, I can take guys down and so on.
I don't work within this classical generic mold of "Muay Thai/wrestling/jiu-jitsu" fundamentals and neither do the guys like Georges St. Pierre, who everyone seems to believe work off of that platform.
St. Pierre is a karate fighter, and while he's integrated Muay thai in to round out his clinch game, he still considers himself a karate based striker. (this delusion that Machida is the only guy who does that is a load of bullsh*t)
St. Pierre has wrestling and jiu-jitsu, too, but they are very specialized. He works very reversal based long distance wrestling, not classical Roman-Greco, not folkstyle. His jiu-jitsu is very oriented at the transition game, and his entire game is built around working quickly from one position to the other.
Not everybody fights like that.
Couture always slows the game down as he transitions from position to position. So does Jeff Monson and, for that matter, Fedor.
It's not that their style of fighting is in any way inferior (so that you don't misunderstand what I mean by the term "slower"), it's that their game is powerful and control based, where St. Pierre's is about moving quickly and attacking, attacking, attacking.
There was a second response to the thread, on Jeet Kune Do. Just so you get the feel, here's the post:
I would say all you need is Jeet kun do. as many of you know bruce lee invented it and it is mma. It takes the best moves from every style and puts it in to one.
The kicks of tkd
the knees and elbows from MT
the throws of judo
the takedowns of wrestling
holds of BJJ
speed and punches of kung fu
and many others
Of course, my response:
Jeet Kune Do is probably one of Bruce Lee's greatest regrets in history, and he even said so towards the end of his life.
The fact is, Lee wanted people to mix their own fighting styles, to think about techniques in a new and fresh way and JKD did that when he was at the helm of it, because nobody did that better than him.
Personally, every MMA fighter should work to create their own style that fits their body type, their background and what they like to do in the ring or cage.
This idea that there is a set grouping of styles that works efficiently is crap.
There are techniques within a style that a fighter is good at, and so the fighter takes those techniques and adds them to the arsenal.
There is another set of techniques in a different martial art that suit a different need, and the fighter adds those to the arsenal as well.
It's not this played out misrepresentation that fighters are blending the entirety of styles. Everyone is taking something different from their martial arts, because no one ever learns "muay thai," they learn techniques from muay thai. No one ever learns "BJJ," they learn techniques from BJJ.
Stop thinking so linearly, and you'll start to see that the game is far more multidimensional than everyone seems to think it is.
If you guys like what I'm doing, let me know. It's experimental, but I figure throwing something up is better than leaving you guys hanging.
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