The role of leg locks in modern no gi competition with Matt Kwan. Get email notifications of new articles, videos and new grappling instructionals at www.grapplearts.com/newsletter
Are calf raises a central part of jujitsu guys getting large calfs? Big fan of your work Stephan and I think these interviews you do with people are a great idea. Much respect, from Australia.
I competed in a tournament that had Abu Dabi rules: 3min sub 3min points with gi. I would have won my match if it was reversed because I dominated the first 3min until my opponent flipped me over and just sat on top. I couldn't move at all until my opponent attempted an armbar. I risked escaping bottom by limp arming, stood, and was about to go for the kill..."TIME!" I looked at the clock and was shocked/disappointed in myself for not finishing.
I believe that was the haggler and Sugar Ray Leonard fight 2. It is a good comparison. Sugar Ray was a flashy pointy fighter. Haggler was a beast. Sugar Ray came out of retirement to fight Hagler (current Champion) after a lost. Haggler couldn't finish. Sugar was positionally dominant and flashy which deterred the judges from seeing Hagglers clean shots back. Till this day I'm irritated about that fight. It started a whole new trend of point fighting in boxing (Floyd Mayweather), knockouts started taking second. Tyson came back with knockouts, but flashy and positional dominance is what fighters train to do nowadays. They let the knockout come to them. Very rarely do fighters train to knock out opponents. The biggest knockout artist to ever live was Rocky Marc. because he trained to knock out opponents versus positional dominance. In correlation, No Gi trains to knock out opponents, which means it takes a bit more risk to perform (you give up positional dominance for the knockout). You force the issue. Gi trains for positional dominance. I think in a street fight positional dominance is more important because it takes distance and position into consideration. Sorry, long winded, Great Show! How do you feel about children participating in No-Gi leg locks? Can it hurt their self-defense training?
Never forget the champ! However, Ali never forced the issue. He was a counter puncher. He wanted to catch them with them unaware (Phantom Punch). He wasn't training to knockout, he was training for positional dominance and flash, (Rope a dope). Ali, in his prime, has said that a match between him and Rocky would be a toss up. Rocky was the only fighter that Ali ever talked about with great reverence. After the Fraiser 2 fight, I felt like Ali was never the same after Fraiser tagged him. If Rocky tagged him with one of his flying hooks, I think Ali would have seen doubles. I wish boxing would bring back the flying hook. It reminds me of the Blitz in Karate. The kid Michael Page has been using a flying blitz that reminds me of Rocky's flying hooks. Timed right there is a ton of power behind it, but it is a risky play. What's fun about No-gi, is that it is all so risky, which makes it entertaining to watch.
Introducing kids to leg locks is important just so that they understand controlling the lower half of the body, but 100% agree with the necessity of kids (and beginners) learning the fundamentals like guard passing and positional dominance..
