Ring and Cage.MMA's concept.

Bloody Elbow "Joe Silva Wants A Smaller UFC Cage"

I was reading this article at Bloody Elbow and it prompted me to salvage an old forum post.

Combat sports have always existed in the ring. MMA's cage is a recent deviation in that long history. But what have we taken from the ring? What do we love about the ring?

The ring is smaller than Zuffa's cage, and strikers have used the extra space to innovate combinations, chase strategies, etc. Why did Mirko CroCop fail in the cage? It's the effect of the cage's structure and scale. A big cage makes for more running in circles and less throwing of combinations. I'm not saying it doesn't take skill to win in the cage, but which gets more love from me? Of course, the surface which "combinations and chase strategy." There's more history, skill and maturation.

There are some things I prefer about the cage. In the ring, many fights are interrupted when the fighters reach the edge of the ring and either become entangled in the ropes or are restarted the referee. The cage generally means less need for referee intervention.

Knee strikes have a long history in fight sports. So why are knees to downed opponents banned in the unified rules? This is just my speculation, but I think it's the effect of the American commissions. The U.S. is known for its strong wrestling tradition, and knees to the head on the ground are risky for wrestlers.

There are fighters who wow us with soccer kicks and stops. I think it's hard to make casual fans understand that these techniques are safer than they look. We'll have to wait for people's understanding to catch up before these types of moves are allowed in the cage.

Elbow strikes have a long history, too. Why not adopt them in Japan? I think it's because the Japanese casual audience doesn't like to see blood.

I always wonder how much Vaseline being applied to the face really helps prevent cuts from elbow strikes. Because that's surely the purpose, but at the same time, the Vaseline may help nullify a submission fighter's game. I'm not sure if Vaseline is the best answer or not. On the other hand, Japanese organizations don't use Vaseline on the face. The reason is easy to understand: they've already banned elbows, and the lack of Vaseline ostensibly increases the chances for submissions.

What I think people need to understand is that some fights have to be stopped because of cuts. When you watch Muay Thai or kickboxing (which include elbows), you can see that fighters are proud to earn a TKO victory by cut. Evaluating elbows in MMA is difficult, though, since they're so easy to land on the ground. That's why I think the UFC allows the blood to pool, rather than opting for more early cut stoppages. It should be changed in the future, though.

original forum post 08/03/2008

I welcome your ideas about MMA rules and skill sets.

Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Bloody Elbow) for English editing.

SKILL MMA gain ground to Picasa

I lost Flickr password.So SKILL MMA photo section move to Picasa.I add description soon.So be wait.

For people interest new set,I add Shooto Revolutionary Exchanges 3.

Watch SKILL MMA's photo gallery

Breakdown of Escudero vs Miller at UFC 103 (with some Jordan Breen)

After UFC 103, HumungusMMA asked me on twitter about Efrain Escudero vs Cole Miller.

@shiroobi what did you think of Escudero's head movement? 1 foot away from all of Miller's punches.

Of course, Escudero avoided almost every strike by Miller. Escudero was very conscious of Miller's reach, and was able to move his head just off the end of Miller's hand when he struck.

@humungusMMA It's more about length matter I think because Escudero keep length Miller can't hit left jab,When Miller comin Escudero counter.

Cole Miller seemed to think he should be putting Escudero up against the cage, and cornering him with his reach, but in reality, Escudero didn't have any problems with being there, because he had enough space and head movement to stay off the end of his punches. Escudero's head movement allowed him to come forward, making Miller move back and reset his distance, so he could use his reach. However, because he couldn't strike as well he stepped back and reset, Escudero was able to counter.

When Escudero succeeded in countering Miller, he chased him to now allow Miller to regain distance and used his reach. Miller couldn't strike while going backwards, and Escudero kept coming forward, and knocked him out.

HumungusMMA, is this a better answer for you?

I run a site called "SKILL MMA", but regrettably, I haven't done much evaluation of skills in MMA. Hopefully this satisfies you, and you can understand why I run a site with such a name.

* * *

After wrote this, I asked Jordan Breen to brush up the English writing and asked his opinion.

Shiroobi: How you think about content? Is there any chance of improve or any fault?

Jordan: I like it a lot. The one thing I'd point out though is that the punch Escudero clobbered him with coming forward, he actually shortened the punch, which very few guys in MMA can do properly. Most guys would've thrown a lunging, retarded punch, and it would've flown over Miller's shoulder or something. Escudero shortened his right hand coming forward and smashed him right on the chin.

Jordan: Same way Kongo caught Cain coming in. Most guys can't cut their punches short and drive them like that, it's actually fairly high level stuff you don't get in MMA too much.

Jordan: Most MMA guys, running forward at an opponent, would've thrown their punch far forward, and it would've either completely missed, or not had any power on it because it would been an arm lunge.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English and giving a thoughtful view.

Judo Fly to the wolrd (How BJJ born)

Today, judo -- and by extension, Brazilian jiu-jitsu -- are international sports. But, at first, judo only existed in Japan. Today, I introduce three individuals who brought judo abroad. These are the first steps of oriental grappling going worldwide, clearly effecting MMA's establishment.


Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma)

Mitsuyo Maeda (Conde Koma) is known as the father of jiu-jitsu. He as born in the prefecture of Aomori at 1878, and joined the Kodokan at nine years old. To pay the costs of staying in America, he took prizefights against boxers, kenpo practitioners and pro wrestlers. If any opponent beat him, they won 1000 U.S. dollars.

His prizefighting tour eventually landed him in Brazil, where he met businessman and politician Gastao Gracie, the son of a Scottish immigrant. Gracie wanted Maeda to use jiu-jitsu to teach his son Carlos discipline. Carlos would show these grappling skills to his younger brother, Helio, who would modify and improve parts of jiu-jitsu, renaming the art "Gracie jiu-jitsu."

Some 30 years ago, the heavy rain of Belem destroyed Maeda's grave. Maeda's friend Sakaeoti, and Yoshizo Machida -- the father of Lyoto -- collected the bones of "Conda Koma", cleaned them, and with the support of Kokushikan University, rebuilt a new tomb for him.


Masahiko Kimura

Masahiko Kimura as born in prefecture of Kumamoto at 1917.He start Judo at 10years old. Originally, Kimura wanted to be a part of the pro judo circuit and won the tournament, but pro judo was a financial failure. As a result, Kimura started to compete in pro wrestling. While working and teaching judo in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Kimura's colleague Yukio Kato was choked out by Helio Gracie, who had honed his grappling under his brother Carlos. Kimura worried about judo's popularity decreasing due to the event, leading to him fighting Helio at Maracana Stadium.

When Kimura arrived at the stadium, he found a coffin, which Helio had said was for him. However, Kimura defeated Gracie after 13 minutes, throwing him with an osoto gari, before attacking him with an ude garami, forcing Carlos Gracie to stop the bout, knowing his brother would not submit. Because of this bout, the ude garami was called the "Kimura lock".

Almost 50 years later, Kazushi Sakuraba would become the first man in modern MMA to defeat the second generation of Gracie family. Sakuraba beat both Royler and Renzo Gracie with the famous Kimura lock.

Kimura is also known as a teacher of Yoshinori Nishi and the late Ryusuke Moriyama, who were instrumental in forming Japan's biggest network of MMA gyms, Wajutsu Keishukai .


Yukio Tani

Yukio Tani as born in prefecture of Kumamoto at 1880.At the age of 19, Japanese jiu-jitsu practitioner Yukio Tani flew to London to serve as an instructor in Bartitsu, a hybrid martial art devised by British entrepreneur and self-defense pioneer E.W. Barton Wright. The martial art inspired famous author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his celebrated Sherlock Holmes character as a student of Bartitsu.

Unfortunately, Bartitsu was a financial failure. However, Tani stayed in London, and joined up with show business promoter William Bankier. Tani started to compete in jacket (gi) challenge matches at London's music halls. A challenger would be paid a British pound for every minute he lasted with Tani, up to 15 minutes, and 100 pounds if he could defeat Tani.

Judo school taught by Tani still exist in London.It named Budokwai.

Big thanks to Jordan Breen for English support and Editing.

Watch exterior of Japanese MMA Gym at SKILL MMA

SKILL MMA Picasa have largest Japanese MMA gym's exterior photo series.It is most popular photo series at SKILL MMA Picasa.Now I add link to gym's web and who is head for gym for SKILL MMA 's flickr.

Today I add google street view for this database.Thank for technology, That make SKILL MMA's database part make stronger.For Google street view you can click to gym's name link and you can access gym's web.


Watch map directly
Kiguchi Dojo
Gym's head Noriaki Kiguchi


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GRABAKA
Gym's head Sanae Kikuta


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J-Rock Work Out Studio (Yoshida Dojo's MMA gym)
Gym's head ?


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Tokyo Yellow Mans
Gym's head Noboru Asahi


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Wajyutsu Keisyukai A-3
Gym's head Hirokazu Nishimura


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Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro
Gym's head Toshihiro Suda


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P's Lab Yokohama
Gym's head ?

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Akimoto Dojo Jungle Junction
Gym's head Jin Akimoto


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Cobra-Kai
Gym's head Yoshitomi "Dokonjonosuke" Mishima


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Shooting Gym Osaka
Gym's head Takashi Nakakura


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NEX
Gym's head Hiroshi Umemura


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Paraestra Sapporo
Gym's head Minoru Tawaraya