My review of the ADCC tourney in LA
Folks,
I am just piping in with my thoughts on the ADCC tournament. For those of you who dont know, the ADCC submission tourney took place in Long Beach over Memorial Day weekend. It is a tournament in which most of the world's top jujitsuka, judoka, sambo players, and wrestlers get together and show their stuff. And man, let me tell you, there stuff is REALLY good. But you can read a lot about the matches themselves. Roger, Jacare, Marcello, Kyra, and all of the other champions all put on an excellent show. But that is NOT what I want to talk about.
I want to take a moment to talk about the fans and the spectators of the event. Most of the attendees were fans of not just the grappling styles of martial arts, but of Mixed Martial Arts competitions as well. Now, almost all of the fans were behaving well, but when I looked around I saw a sad commonality. Most of them were young men, muscular and tatooed. Now, there is nothing wrong with muscles and tatoos. Most of them held traditional martial arts in contempt, and their irreverance for the old ways was obvious. I see the subculture of MMA as it continues to develop, and I don't think that it will last, if it stays on this path.
There is still WAY to much "tough guyism" in the sport for it to last and mature. I saw some genius wearing a T-shirt that had in large white lettters " Represent Motherf**ker." I mean for real folks, what is the purpose of a shirt like that? Does it make you a tough guy? Does it make people think that you are tough? Is that what you were looking for? Why? What ever happened to walking quietly and carrying a big stick? Is this the kind of shirt that any decent parent will allow their kids to wear? Of course not. In the world of MMA there is no fixed component that extols the virtues of respect, or confidence , or discipline. Most people involved in the non-traditional grappling arts seem to be much more concerned with," does it work in a fight?" Now combat efficiency is what all martial arts should strive for, but it should not be the main marketing push. I saw students of schools with their respective school shirts prowling around like young caged lions, just dying to show their best stuff. This is not the way to get MMA and the submission grappling subculture the respect that it deserves. Word of advice my friends, continue to train, but leave the attitudes at home.
I am just piping in with my thoughts on the ADCC tournament. For those of you who dont know, the ADCC submission tourney took place in Long Beach over Memorial Day weekend. It is a tournament in which most of the world's top jujitsuka, judoka, sambo players, and wrestlers get together and show their stuff. And man, let me tell you, there stuff is REALLY good. But you can read a lot about the matches themselves. Roger, Jacare, Marcello, Kyra, and all of the other champions all put on an excellent show. But that is NOT what I want to talk about.
I want to take a moment to talk about the fans and the spectators of the event. Most of the attendees were fans of not just the grappling styles of martial arts, but of Mixed Martial Arts competitions as well. Now, almost all of the fans were behaving well, but when I looked around I saw a sad commonality. Most of them were young men, muscular and tatooed. Now, there is nothing wrong with muscles and tatoos. Most of them held traditional martial arts in contempt, and their irreverance for the old ways was obvious. I see the subculture of MMA as it continues to develop, and I don't think that it will last, if it stays on this path.
There is still WAY to much "tough guyism" in the sport for it to last and mature. I saw some genius wearing a T-shirt that had in large white lettters " Represent Motherf**ker." I mean for real folks, what is the purpose of a shirt like that? Does it make you a tough guy? Does it make people think that you are tough? Is that what you were looking for? Why? What ever happened to walking quietly and carrying a big stick? Is this the kind of shirt that any decent parent will allow their kids to wear? Of course not. In the world of MMA there is no fixed component that extols the virtues of respect, or confidence , or discipline. Most people involved in the non-traditional grappling arts seem to be much more concerned with," does it work in a fight?" Now combat efficiency is what all martial arts should strive for, but it should not be the main marketing push. I saw students of schools with their respective school shirts prowling around like young caged lions, just dying to show their best stuff. This is not the way to get MMA and the submission grappling subculture the respect that it deserves. Word of advice my friends, continue to train, but leave the attitudes at home.
posted by Anthony, freestyle kenpo teacher | 10:10 AM
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