For Pete's sake, learn how to punch!!

Hey folks,

This is me coming live and direct. Well, as much as one can from behind a screen :) Anyhow, after watching another display of flailing in a MMA match, I have to make this suggestion: LEARN HOW TO PUNCH! I hear a lot of mma guys talking about how mma is so much more complete than any other form of combat sport. On a technical level, I must agree. However, the level of proficiency, and the perfomance wave-length are NOWHERE close. Think of it this way, the most "exciting" matches in UFC are just really awkward kickboxing bouts.

While I commend the courage that it takes, and the dedication required to do mma, I am UNDER-whelmed by the skill of those who call themselves strikers. The match that brought MMA into the collective main stream was Forrest Griffin versus Stephan Bonner. While I appreciate the fact that they showed a lot of guts and determination, their technical skills left something to be desired.

I think that for those who train in mma, they need to learn to improve their technical proficiency by leaps and bounds. Chuck Liddell, the most " lethal striker in the UFC" throws the most attrocious over-hand right, I have ever seen by a professional. I mean for goodness sakes, he looks to land it on the forehead. Try that without gloves Mr. Liddell, and I assure you that your hands would only be good for thumbing through your significantly loaded bank statements :) What I mean is that damage to your hand would finish your career. The first time that Chuck faced a competent striker, Quinton Jackson, he was embarassed in both of their meetings. QJ is NOT a great striker at all, he just knows how to deliever crisp, straight punches. You would think more folks would see that.

Anyhow, I think that most martial artists should seriously consider taking some boxing lessons. I can already hear the excuses though. "I dont want my face to get messed up. I dont want brain damage." Blah! Blah! Blah! There is padding out there to protect your gray matter, and sparring in boxing doesnt require hard punches to the head. You can learn a lot by actually striking lightly with your sparring partners. If you dont believe me, look at the way the Thai boxers train in Thailand. They go NUTS on the bag, and easy on each other.

Anyhow, I think it would behoove you to learn boxing if you havent. Learn to box for boxing's sake, not for any other reason. It will help you to learn the nuances of striking with the fist that you may not know about because you focus on the entire body. After that, you can learn to apply the same principles of boxing while adding all of the other handstrikes that make martial arts so different from the western fighing systems. That is my rant for the day, and now I am going to watch an mma class for the laughs.