The Flog!

In a previous article I talked about How To Do Kata Gatame – Shoulder Lock or Hold/Arm Triangle. This article will cover the first Escape from Kata Gatame, a seemingly easy manoeuvre which very few people attempt. 

Assume someone has you in Kata Gatame:

1) Grasp your own trapped arm, with your free hand, at or above the elbow. (Note: you may have to suffer a few seconds with the hold/choke.)

2) Still grasping your arm, push against your opponent’s body with your trapped arm. Simultaneously, bend your knees and “walk” yourself away from your opponent. You will not be moving him if his hold on you is strong, but you will be able to move yourself a bit. This will enable you to generate some space between your trapped arm, your neck, and his shoulder, giving you the opportunity to breathe a little easier and work toward the next part of the escape. In addition, your walking away from him will cause his body to flatten out making it even more difficult for him to continue the ground hold.

3) Now that you have created the small gap between your arm and his trapezoid and shoulder, while continuing to push against your opponent with your previously trapped arm, use your free arm to grab your opponent’s elbow (the elbow of the arm which is under your neck). Vigorously and quickly pull it over your own head to escape. 

4) After you have removed his arm from around your neck, roll into your own ground hold or arm bar (our video shows waki gatame – armpit arm lock).

Click here to see the video of How to Escape from Kata Gatame – Shoulder Lock or Hold/Arm Triangle – Escape #1.

Click here to see the video of Escape #2 from Kata Gatame

ayjay

December 11, 2009

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 followed the antics of Zak Jensen, the problems of Matt Mitrione continuing from last week, and the two fighters who were picked by Evans for the elimination bout.

Jensen succeeded in alienating at least one other person in the house and having all the others laugh at him. In addition, he seemed to lack the ability to interact socially with the other men. Evans said the only things that Jensen had going for him were his size and that he’s a wrestler. He was terrible at training practice and, during one session while doing groundwork, was choked out by a teammate.

Amazingly, Jensen was kept on his back and someone slapped his chest in an attempt bring him to. If you know there is no spinal cord injury, basic first aid would have him turned onto his side with the bottom arm extended and the upper leg over the bottom.

Mitrione complained at great length about his shoulder, wanting to ice it after a training session. Evans kept after him about whether it was injured or was just sore.  Mitrione also wanted a cortisone injection in the shoulder. We saw him throw a football and then promptly complain about his shoulder during training. Some of the teammates suggested that Mitrione wanted to wait as long as possible before his elimination fight and the constant complaining about his shoulder would delay his being named to fight.

Jackson appeared depressed and self-involved about the losses his team had experienced. Going into this episode, his team had yet to win a fight, having lost four in a row.

Rashad Evans picked Justin Wren from his team to fight against Wes Sims from Jackson’s. Wren is a young guy, one of the shortest at 6’3″, with a very strong background in wrestling at the high school and university levels. During a year off to recuperate after an injury, he moved on to MMA. He currently trains with Travis Lutter, but plans to move to Las Vegas to work with Frank Mir. Evans thought that Wren was superior to Sims in all areas.

Sims is much taller (6’10″) and has a six inch reach advantage over Wren. He had planned on professional wrestling until Mark Coleman introduced him to MMA. In 2003 while in the UFC, he lost two matches to Frank Mir. He is far more experienced than Wren with over thirty professional matches, winning twenty-two. Kimbo Slice said that Sims wouldn’t tap out – he’d have to be knocked out or hurt.

Sims’s plan was to “stay long and fight tall”. He told the camera that he was going to crush Wren.

Dana White said he knew very little about Wren, but based on size, thought Sims had the advantage.

Although they are close in weight, with about a ten pound difference, Sims towered over Wren. At the sound of the bell, though, Wren was the aggressor, rushing Sims to push him against the fence. Sims stomped on Wren’s feet and applied a knee. In response, Wren took Sims down. Sims seemed to crumple. Wren immediately had full mount, then moved to the side and placed Sims in a ground hold – kata gatame , shoulder lock or hold or arm triangle. (The following video shows the transition from kesa gatame to kata gatame and might be of interest – kesa to kata.) Sims did not fight the hold at all. Herb Dean went over to him and moved Sims’ left arm to determine whether he was conscious. After a few seconds the arm dropped slowly to his side and he was out.

Once again Jackson did not go to his team member in the octagon. In fact, he left the ring area and went to the locker room to discuss the issues of losing all the matches.

Evans caught up with him and told Jackson that he was being himself – selfish.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 15, 2009

The Ultimate Fighting Challenge 103 UFC 103 – Franklin versus Belfort was last Saturday night. In order to generate revenue, or interest people in more PPV, some of the preliminary fights were broadcast on Spike from 9 to 10 p.m. The first thirty seconds or so of the first fight consisted of some of the funniest television we’ve watched in a while (excluding The Big Bang Theory). The fight was between Drew McFedries and Tomasz Drwal, middleweights. As they began the match, the beginning few seconds of audio and video looped for the next 30 or so seconds. Granted, we missed the actual fighting, but it was funny nonetheless.

What we did see were low leg kicks by Drwal and a take down by Drwal with his landing on top. McFedries stood up with Drwal on his back. Drwal applied knees to McFedries hamstrings and head. Both fighters were striking heavily and McFedries looked exhausted afterward.

Just before the buzzer, Drwal achieved another take down and had one hook in, while on McFedries’ back.

Round 2 had Drwal’s strikes connecting. He then took McFedries down again, moving from side mount, to the back. He then applied a rear naked choke (hadaka jime) for tapout.

Efrain Escudero, winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, was up next against Cole Miller. The announcers talked about Escudero’s problems making weight and that his health might be a concern. Also Escudero has been seriously injured and has not been fighting since last December.

Although Miller is four inches taller than Escudero and has a two inch reach advantage and tried to use both to his advantage, Escudero was in control from the beginning. Escudero caught Miller’s leg after an attempted kick, threw a couple of punches and let Miller up.

Escudero then took Miller down with a big slam and let him up again. He threw a series of punches, all of which hit their target, left, right, another big right and Miller went down. Two other strikes while Miller was on the ground and the referee stopped the match.

Welterweights Rick Story and Brian Foster were up next. This match had lots of action from both men, with strong, fast striking, and action on the ground. Story took Foster down early on, picking him up and throwing him. While on the ground, Story used his elbows for ground and pound. He moved from side control to half guard while Foster never ceased moving on the bottom, even throwing elbows from below.

When standing again, Story took Foster down again. As Foster rose to his feet, Story landed some punches. Foster threw an upper cut. Story’s nose seemed to have been broken at some point in this exchange.

Round 2 had Foster attempting a head kick. Story took Foster down and was in guard and then half guard. While Foster had Story’s leg trapped, Story accomplished a solid kata gatame (arm triangle), even without having his legs free, which turned into a choke, causing Foster to tap out. Really amazing technique. Fight of the Night.  Submission of the Night.

Southpaws Jim Miller and Steve Lopez, both lightweights, were next to fight. Round one went to Miller: he connected with strikes and leg kicks, attempted a take down, which Lopez avoided by sprawling, and then tried a front hadaka jime.  Miller tried various other techniques when in Lopez’s guard, including wrapping Lopez’s own arm around Lopez’s neck, not a technique you see often, but very effective at trapping your opponent’s arm and aiding in a choke if you’ve got it right.

Round 2 had Lopez fighting far better, looking more confident and relaxed until he threw out his left shoulder, a horrible sight. Referee stoppage by verbal submission.

As for the main card, the fights were varied, but mostly standing. Josh Koscheck demolished Frank Trigg in the first round by a looping right, a shot to the chin and multiple strikes when he was on the floor. TKO referee stoppage in round 1. 

Tyson Griffin threw many leg kicks and strikes in his match against Hermes Franca. As the match went on, Griffin would come in for a quick strike and/or kick and then go out again such that Franca could not tag him. A couple of times Franca tried to grab Griffin’s leg in order to have him close enough to strike.

Round 2 had Franca coming in strongly and both men were trading strikes and leg kicks. Franca then grabbed Griffin’s leg and held on, trying to strike. Griffin approached Franca at angles and threw jabs, leg kicks and upper cuts.  One strike to Franca’s chin caused him to hit the ground. Griffin followed up with multiples strikes. TKO in Griffin’s favour.

Martin Kampmann fought Paul Daley in a short match that had Daley in control most of the time. Daley used lots of combinations, with the most deadly being his left hooks, which were solid and heavy. Kampmann managed to grab Daley and push him to the fence at one point. He then applied knees until Daley escaped.

Daley then rocked Kampmann with another left hook, which he immediately followed up with multiple strikes. TKO referee stoppage.

The match between Mirko Cro Cop versus Junior Dos Santos was a co-main event. Cro Cop is a kickboxer with devastating kicks, but his record in the octagon is mediocre. During  this bout, he threw very few kicks, probably no more than five, and threw few punches. Although the men injured one another with cuts above the eyes and Dos Santos with a mouse below the left eye, Dos Santos seemed to be picking Cro Cop apart, connecting with fast strikes. Cro Cop would grab Dos Santos around the neck and push him away, probably to set him up for kicks, but they didn’t come. A take down attempt early in the match by Cro Cop failed with his landing on the bottom and both men getting up right away.

Round three had Cro Cop as the aggressor, but Dos Santos in control. Dos Santos toppled Cro Cop with huge knees to the body and head (eleven in all). One shot went to Cro Cop’s left eye and Cro Cop tapped verbally.

Mike Goldberg made a comment during this bout concerning Dos Santos which I have to reiterate: “The young, hungry competitor, eight and one overall…” Our reaction was: “The young, hungry competitor ate and won overall…”

The remaining co-main event was between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. Franklin was in the center of the octagon and Belfort circled.  Franklin tried a leg kick, but Belfort caught it. He then attempted a left hook and leg kick. His straight rights were not connecting. Belfort kept watching and following Franklin, waiting for the right moment. Belfort eventually threw a big looping left punch and dropped Franklin. He immediately followed up with several shots to the head of Franklin.  Knock Out of the Night.

ayjay

September 21, 2009

p.s. As an aside, I’m grateful that Franklin’s sleazy commercial is no longer being shown (the one in which his “student” rolls her eyes at him).

UFC 98 Evans vs Machida had knockouts and tap outs galore.

Sean Sherk fought Frank Edgar for Fight of the Night. Edgar had excellent stamina, moved constantly, attacked with combinations, threw high kicks, feinted punches, and avoided most of Sherk’s punches. Round 1 went to Edgar. Sherk was flat-footed and just followed Edgar around the octagon. Edgar had a five inch reach advantage on Sherk and it was very obvious: Sherk had a hard time connecting. Edgar moved in to attack and then sidled out of the way.

Round 2 had Sherk connecting more, but mostly one-off punches. Edgar had more combos and, again, moved constantly. It was very much a boxing match with few kicks and few takedowns.

Round 3 began by a take down from Sherk in response to punches from Edgar. Edgar got to his feet and had Sherk frustrated again as he missed lots of his strikes. Sherk attempted a take down and ended up with Edgar pulling guard and applying a guillotine right at the bell.

Unanimous decision in Edgar’s favour. Fight of the Night. 

The match between Chael Sonnen and Dan Miller covered loads of ground techniques as Miller spent every opportunity trying submissions. I assume this was because Sonnen loses by submission; however, since Miller was on the bottom when on the ground and the submissions weren’t working, Miller was pummelled for three rounds. Sonnen got out of a very tight guillotine at the beginning of the first round, took Miller down heavily in round 2, applied big punches and elbows, took Miller down again in round 3, and just controlled the match. Miller tried guillotine chokes and other submissions, but Sonnen was victorious. Unanimous decision in Sonnen’s favour.

Drew McFedries came out against Xavier Foupa-Pokam with a knockout at 37 seconds of round 1. Both these men are known for their knockout power and McFedries proved it here. Xavier was out on his feet from the third punch and then another ten or eleven connected before the referee stopped the match. Xavier followed McFedries around the octagon, literally hanging on to his leg, but he was out of it. TKO referee stoppage.

Kryzsztof Soszynski fought against Andre Gusmao in a preliminary bout. Gusmao used some inside leg kicks, one of which caused Soszynski to drop to one knee. Soszynski, in turn, used combos and, for a guy who loves arm bars, threw a straight punch and flattened Gusmao. Knockout.

The co-main event between the Matts – Hughes versus Serra  – came up next. There was non-stop mention of their hate for each other, et cetera, ad nauseum. Hughes wanted to shut Serra up and Serra wanted to do the same. I guess this makes for good television. They didn’t touch gloves and came out aggressively, such that Serra inadvertently headbutted Hughes (or Hughes munched his chin into Serra’s head) and had Hughes on the run for several minutes. Even at the break, Hughes asked his corner if he’d been knocked down. Despite the headbutt, Hughes controlled the round with a strong takedown and choke attempt from grapevine.

Round 2 had Serra connecting with strong punches, but a takedown by Hughes, with his ending in Serra’s guard, had Hughes pounding Serra and controlling him for most of the round. Serra was on the bottom waiting for the right moment or technique and was dominated.

Round 3 had submission attempts by Serra after another take down by Hughes. Serra trapped Hughes’s arm for an oma plata which didn’t quite work and then tried it on the other arm. He then tried a triangle. Standing again, Serra did a take down. Ground and pound followed as well as an attempt at a kimura. Ridiculously, after all the trash talking, they hugged after the match. Unanimous decision in Hughes’s favour.

The other co-main event was next with Rashad Evans against Lyoto Machida. In our boathold we had four people, three of whom picked Machida to win. I’m for the underdog, so I went for Evans. I find Machida’s fighting style, although extremely technical and effective, to be mostly boring. He moves in for the quick attack and then out again, standing with his upper body leaning away from his opponent. It makes him a far more elusive target, but doesn’t make for a fun fight. (To be fair, I do prefer ground techniques, none of which we saw here; I’m also not technically inclined, so the art of finding the right instant to go in is beyond me.) Evans and Machida spent a good deal of the match tapping gloves; in fact, the first two minutes of the first round was just that. This was so boring that, despite writing notes during the match, I had a difficult time keeping the eyes open. Machida was first to connect with a head kick causing Evans to wobble. Later in the round, Machida’s strike took Evans to the ground and Machida jumped on him.

Round 2 had the men at the fence with Machida using combos and Evans countering. Machida then punched Evans multiple times, such that Evans crumpled with his head flopping to the side. Machida is now the UFC light heavyweight champion. The guys on the boat called this the Knockout of the Night, although Soszynski’s was pretty good. The tapping of the gloves and non-connecting for long stretches makes this NOT the fight of the night.

Another preliminary match was between Brock Larson and Mike Pyle. This match contained the Technique of the Night with Larson doing a lovely kata gatame (arm triangle choke) on Pyle, not something one often sees in the UFC.

Canadian Tim Hague, a heavyweight at 265, but spry on his feet, won his match with Pat Barry. He got Barry in a guillotine and rolled over, staying attached, and ending with Barry on the bottom, legs trapped, neck in guillotine. Tap out. Spry indeed.

UFC 98 Evans vs Machida had a good range of techniques and knockouts, a variety of styles and other than the tapping of the gloves in the Evans/Machida fight (reminiscent of Wladimir  Klischko, I think), a good night.

ayjay

May 24, 2009

P.S. Right now, Machida is considered the most effective fighter in the UFC, not having lost any round and not having been taken down by anyone. My gut feeling is that, as with learning how to counter the Gracies, people will learn how to fight Machida’s style. We’ll see people taking karate or some other kicking martial art and having their coaches work out ways to counter Machida’s karate. ayjay, May 25, 2009

For the second UFC event in a week (and this one was free!), we had some really good fights.

Anthony Johnson dominated Luigi Fioravanti with some nice kicks and then a shot to the head which rocked Fioravanti. Johnson kept at him and followed up with another shot. When Fioravanti went down, Johnson followed up with multiple punches, resulting in referee stoppage in the first round. In the post-fight interview, Johnson was modest about his abilities and the win. A very nice change from most other winners.

Josh Neer won his match in the second round against Mac Danzig, despite a cut over his eye. The fight was interesting from standing and the ground with both guys applying strong punches and kicks.  Neer won by arm bar while in the bottom position of the guard. Neer comes from the Nate Diaz school of showboating.

Cain Velasquez won his match against Denis Stojnic. Velasquez is taller, but weighs a bit less than his heavyweight opponent.  Stojnic managed a few good outside leg kicks, but didn’t get in to punch, probably due to Velasquez’s three inch reach advantage. Stojnic was carrying far too much weight. He also needs to step laterally: he stood directly in front of Velasquez, making himself a good target.

In the second round, Velasquez had side control and applied elbows. The referee stopped the match as Stojnic was outclassed. A very one-sided fight. Velasquez was not happy with his performance. Humility in the octagon right after Neer’s showboating.

In the match between Matts Grice and Veach, we had Grice trying all kinds of techniques, including kata gatame and a guillotine choke. Grice lost top mount and when both men were on their feet, Veach punched him. Grice landed on his back and Veach went after him, applying multiple punches. The referee stopped the fight, but Grice said he was fine.

In the Joe Lauzon/Jeremy Stephens fight, we had Joe Lauzon fighting like GSP last week, and B. J. Penn on a good night: he controlled Stephens from the top, changing position from full mount to side to whatever he wanted; from the bottom, he did whatever he wanted as well. The fight contained two juji gatames (one was the deciding factor in the win by Lauzon), a fireman’s carry takedown, a small foot sweep, guard, butterfly guard, half guard, full mount, side mount, strikes, whatever anyone could want. The final juji had Stephens attempting to roll out of it and Lauzon hanging on. Technique of the night. Fight of the night.

ayjay

February 10, 2009