Measuring and motivation

    What is really good people??!! This was on my mind and I couldn't quite hash it out in my manic brain so I decided to try to do it here. The question is how do you measure success and if you do so by comparison to others, at what point does that become detrimental. When it comes to fighting we are often compared to or making comparisons to other fighters. We as a combat community often take cues from those that innovate with a spectacular knockout or technique in competition.

Soon after Anderson Silva used a front kick/teep to the jaw of Vitor Belfort the front kick to the face became a regular staple of mma fighters much the way people are using Saenchai's cartwheel kick regularly now. These moments how we grow in skill and community as well as evolve our independent artforms on an international scale. As fans we compare fighters and accomplishments to determine who is the best. As fighters we see others in positions either better or worse than our own. With the right training, mindstate, diet, recovery, coaches, training partners, will, promoters, and a dash of luck you can be one of the few fighters that reach the pinnacle of your sport. Clearly it won't happen for everyone. So when we look at this on a more personal level, how can you compare yourself to someone else that has everything you believe you are missing? The simple answer is that you cannot. The better answer is to try and have a different perspective. The phrase quality over quantity comes to mind first. I will forever believe that you must be great at the tools available to you. It means to buy in on the things you are good at and double down on them while adding other skills to compliment that base. If all you have is a jab, then work extensively on that while learning the technique of the cross. Step by step increase your base tools and expand. Your contemporary could have been blessed with athleticism that you do not have. Either you live in mediocrity or you work hard on your personal gifts to find your greatness. As fighters and martial artists the fastest way to get to place of non-growth is not using what we lack as motivation. As fighters we are sort of bound by the idea that we can beat whomever is in front of us. It is often said that if you don't believe that, you should not be competing. I believe this as well. The very idea that someone is considered better than you, can do more, or accomplishing more should be a clear motivation to get focused on your craft. As a human being you can toil at a job for years and never get that promotion, even worse you can watch the new guy get it in a year. Life is not fair. It is irrelevant, do not get stuck on fairness but do get stuck on forward momentum. Don't just stay in your lane, if you want a clearer path then you must build more lanes. If you do this, nothing can get in your way.

Peace, 

L

Can u make the cut?

I find it really interesting that one of the most dangerous aspects of combat sports hardly ever gets any attention. I'm talking about weight cutting. For some this is one way to get an edge on their opponents. By cutting large amounts of weight before the weigh in(generally held the day before), the fighter can put the weight back on in the hours leading up to the fight sometimes in excess of twenty pounds. In a lot if cases it offers a large weight advantage over opponents that might be closer to their natural weight. I have mixed feelings on this issue as it can be very dangerous if done incorrectly and as of now no steps have been put in place to regulate it. There's also another aspect of this, there are fighters attempting to cut sometimes 30lbs and knowingly missing the weight cut, then by rule if the opponent still accepts the fight(and they will if they want to get paid) they lose a percentage of the purse but still get to fight and in most cases, win. They already know they can't make the cut but instead of moving up to a more suitable weight class, they'd rather lose 10% of their winnings to fight someone smaller. I've seen some real mismatches. A few months back i got a call to corner a fighter that was coming from out of town and needed a good corner. A natural 155 pounder it was his first venture up to 170lbs. just to get a fight and get his name out there. After i held some pads for him i was surprised and just knew he would do well. Fast forward fifteen minutes and i'm walking him out of the cage his head red and swollen with a few knots. His opponent was a giant at least 20lbs heavier. It was blatantly obvious that this was set up to pad his record. My guy didn't stand a chance with the weight difference. It was so bad that the announcers first words were "you look like you're in a different weight class, how much weight did you cut?" To which the giant replied "none at all, this is my natural weight"(devilish laughter included). What a joke.
Beyond getting an unfair advantage their is a huge safety issue. Some competitors don't cut weight the right way. Depriving oneself of proper nutrition leading up to a fight goes directly against the efforts being made in training. Dehydration is not proper weight cutting. It might be okay for 5 lbs or so, but trying to get off ten plus pounds in a day or two could have you hold up in the locker room with an IV in your arm. Instead of being sharp in the fight you run the risk of being slower and weak. Also, being more easily damaged from shots to the head is a possibility as well. When you're dehydrating yourself you're also drying up some of your brain fluid which makes it easier to get that brain rattling around when hit with even light punches. Making weight should be a combination of good diet and hard work in the gym leading up to the last week and the day of the weigh ins. A gradual cut is more beneficial to a fighter effectiveness in the fight. I understand the strategy for it but if you claim to be that awesome of a fighter then do as the old adage says "pick on somebody your own size". At least someone close to your size, I mean jumping around after beating somebody with a twenty pound weight disadvantage is not a good look in my humble opinion. I had heard in the past there was talk about making a same day weigh in so that fighters don't get away with being ridiculously larger than their opponent. Maybe we'll see less of these size mismatches and fighters gassing out early if this is implemented. Either way til that happens watch for the circus fights and make sure you're cutting properly.

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