<Snip> > > Curtis, my neighbor (30 something guy) has trained in > Muay Thai for several years. He works out a lot in his > garage. I asked him to demonstrate some Muay Thai > moves on me a while back. I'm an old judo guy so i do > know somethings on the mat. My experience was like > yours. That behind the neck lock-up is incredibly > powerful. >
Peter, I was wondering when you would join in! Yeah, I was blown away by the Muay Thai clinch's control even without eating knees which is how Rich Franklin experienced it a few UFC's back. I dig their low kicks too. Judo is such a great tough sport. I did a lot of Judo in my first school. Learning to fall in a relaxed state while being thrown was a religious quest for me. One class I asked my teacher to throw me 25 times in a row so I could begin to stay conscious enough to "experience" the throw. It really helped. I learned how to slide my hand on their GI as I was flying over them to slow down my impact. But even with that it is really hard on your body to get thrown. Not to mention all the nasty ways to accelerate a throw that would pop up with certain sadistic partners! Like my TM intensive days, I am really happy to have experienced it, and really happy I am not into it like that now. The discussion with Off really brings me back to all those debates when UFC 2 blew the lid off. Those were exciting times when a little Gracie ground game could give you a huge advantage in a classically trained Jiu jitsu or Judo dojo. Now the sport is at such a high level. Last year I hit the mat with a purple belt Gracie fighter who I used to train with in the mid 90's. Very quickly it became obvious that the world had passed me by, his skill level was so radically different, I couldn't do a single thing to slow down the inevitable. What a brilliant system of body chess! But I have fallen off the board and I can't get up! When he described all his injuries and how messed up his fingers are I remembered why I had accepted my fate and hung up my GI. These days IFC is on cable, the UFC reality show has fights every week, and the day after UFC you can catch the fights online for free. It is really blowing up as a sport. But 70 UFCs ago Royce Gracie changed the way I viewed martial arts forever. And I sure wasn't the only one! > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. > Make Yahoo! your homepage. > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs >
