IN THE OLD DAYS, a Hollywood hero would sock the villain in the jaw and then help him to his feet … only to sock him to the ground once more. How exhausting! Boy, the amount of energy expended to stand a guy up, wind up and throw a couple more punches seemed counterproductive. But that’s Hollywood for you. Doesn’t it seem much more productive to deliver a punch, wait for the guy to fall, pounce on top of him and make sure he stays down? Well, that’s my way of getting the job done, anyway.

Besides the Hollywood “champions,” there were other stand-up fighters of note. Guys like Chuck Norris, Bob Wall, Ed Parker, Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis were also getting the job done on their feet. When Norris moved into movies, he made millions with his dazzling kicks. Even Jean-Claude Van Damme scored some success, as well as Steven Seagal and Charlie’s Angels. These guys (and gals) were throwing kicks and punches, and the trend was alive and well in Hollywood.

And then came Royce. Thanks to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Brazilian ground fighter Royce Gracie broke the mold of what works in a fight. He introduced the gentle art of jiu-jitsu to millions who had never seen such a display of technical fighting gating, especially when a guy was on his back the entire match. One by one, the stand-up fighters took notice of the new way of winning a fight, and they began to adapt. Conversely, today’s ground fighters realize the necessity to be versatile and are or have developed their stand-up striking skills. Hence, mixed martial arts. Most professionals and amateurs — grapplers or stand-up fighters — understand the importance of a ground defensive/offensive game, as well as a strong stand-up game, if they want to be successful in professional or amateur combat.

Not Everyone Has Adapted Still, after hundreds of live broadcast of fight shows, the average mixed martial arts fighter does not have an abundant repertoire. There are hundreds of techniques and technical combinations available to achieve a submission, and the average fighter may not be exposed to all of them. For reference on the number of techniques out there, check out Gene LeBell's Encyclopedia of Finishing Holds. That will keep you busy for a while! But it is true. The techniques may be there, but not everyone is there yet. For example, the majority of collegiate wrestlers don’t have much knowledge about submission wrestling or finishing holds. Many of the judo players are fantastic at throws and sweeps, but because of modern rules, don’t have many submission or finishing holds under their belts. Even some of the jiu-jitsu players have been stubborn about learning more than a couple of arm bar combinations or several chokes. And the more advanced black belts haven’t had the exposure from other styles to modernize their techniques. Others, to be sure, have arrived. Several Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools have developed their own version of sambo techniques, but it wasn’t until the Russian sambo techniques of Europe were introduced into the United States that the submission fighting skills of the wrestlers, judokas and jiu-jitsu players began to advance.

It’s unfair to place the entire blame on the fighters. Some fight trainers and coaches don’t have the knowledge or the technical skills to pass on to the fighters, nor do they know where to go to get that knowledge. In defense of the trainers, their knowledge of cardio, nutrition and weight training is the best, but their knowledge about technical submissions and transitional forms to achieve quicker submissions is sometimes in the dark ages....(Read full article PDF file)