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Aficionados get big kick out of Ultimate Fighting
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Wednesday, March 03, 2004 | Dan Gigler

Posted on 03/03/2004 9:55:00 AM PST by Willie Green

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:35:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Webster's New College Dictionary defines 'submit' as 1. To surrender or yield oneself to the will or authority of another. 2. To subject to a condition or process. 3. To commit to the consideration or judgment of another.

In Bill Vucick's world, the definition of submit can be slightly more graphic: straddling an opponent who is flat on his back, unloading rounds of punches to his face until it bleeds like well-tenderized raw chuck.


(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: agonyofdefeat; agressicion; darwin; fitness; pain; selfdefense; sports; violence
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1 posted on 03/03/2004 9:55:01 AM PST by Willie Green
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To: Willie Green
Classified as a "mixed martial art," Ultimate combines elements of Jiu-jitsu, judo, tae kwon do, wrestling, boxing and kick boxing.

Wonder if the military has any training like that.

2 posted on 03/03/2004 9:58:16 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (You can see it coming like a train on a track.)
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To: Willie Green
This sport is big in Hawaii. My aunt and uncle go all the time. It's true that it is safer than boxing. Boxing Gloves are more about protecting your own hands than the other guy's face.
3 posted on 03/03/2004 10:00:51 AM PST by Callahan
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To: Willie Green
I attended UFC 5. One of the best sporting events I have ever attended.
4 posted on 03/03/2004 10:00:58 AM PST by Phantom Lord (Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Grappling techniques are pretty useless in a military or street context. While you are rolling around on the ground the other guy's buddy will shoot you.
5 posted on 03/03/2004 10:02:29 AM PST by Callahan
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To: Willie Green
I loved the UFC, back when I used to watch it. I saw all the early matched, up until UFC IX I think. Anyways, having been a high-school wrestler, I always knew that "grappling" was a superior fighting technique to most of the flashy martial arts you'd see on TV or the movies. The UFC came around and validated it to pretty much everyone. Now most (advanced)Martial Arts classes teach grappling techniques too.

There were some fantastic matches, big guys taken out by little guys, or where the guy who looks like he was losing all of a sudden gets the other guy in some funky hold and makes him tap out.. great stuff man.

SHAME ON YOU Willie Green for bringing up this neanderthal subject on such an intellectual website :)

6 posted on 03/03/2004 10:07:01 AM PST by Paradox (Cogito ergo Dumb.)
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To: Willie Green
It's called Vale Tu Do (sp?), which means "anything goes". That's one fighting style. The other that became famous because of UFC is Brazilian Jujitsu. If you watch Royce Gracie in UFC 4 you'll see why.
7 posted on 03/03/2004 10:07:04 AM PST by Sir Gawain (The AWB is my litmus test for Bush)
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To: Phantom Lord
One of the best sporting events I have ever attended.

I'm pretty sure I'd rather be a spectator than one of the participants.

8 posted on 03/03/2004 10:07:11 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Paradox
Yes, grappling is superior....in a one on one fight.
9 posted on 03/03/2004 10:08:12 AM PST by Sir Gawain (The AWB is my litmus test for Bush)
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To: Callahan
One of the guys who did well in one of the UFC tournaments was trained in some type of fighting style that he learned and was utilized by the Russian army.
10 posted on 03/03/2004 10:09:11 AM PST by Freedom of Speech Wins
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To: Sir Gawain
Yes, grappling is superior....in a one on one fight.

Yep, thats what I meant. Most of the fights I ever had were such things, one on one I mean. On the streets though, you gotta hit and run. Sh*t, to be honest, if it comes down to multiple attackers, my martial art of choice would be "aim well, pull trigger"...

11 posted on 03/03/2004 10:13:29 AM PST by Paradox (Cogito ergo Dumb.)
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To: Sir Gawain
I had a wreslter friend who was attack by 3 gang members - it was some sort of initiation thing. He took them all out. Just because someone specializes in grappling doesn't mean they can hit and kick hard too and from his account his grappling skills proved quite useful in this incident.
12 posted on 03/03/2004 10:13:52 AM PST by Avenger
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To: Willie Green
It's all about submission holds.
13 posted on 03/03/2004 10:17:47 AM PST by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: Sir Gawain
Gracie is insane.
14 posted on 03/03/2004 10:18:58 AM PST by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: Callahan
Grappling techniques are pretty useless in a military or street context...

That's true, some martial artists like Brazilian Jujitsu may dismiss the claim...but, HEY! Combat works...weeds/willows 'em out....It always depends the variables "the situation..the distance..the ground...etc."

15 posted on 03/03/2004 10:19:42 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :)
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To: Willie Green
I saw the first 3 or 4 of these things, back in the days when it was possible to pirate PPV shows on satellite. I remember the first match I saw was some 400 lb sumo wrestler going up against this normal-sized Savate practioner. The wrestler charged at him a couple times while the Savate dude eluded him like a bullfighter, and on the 3rd charge was met with a Savate-kick right to his fat face .....which then exploded in blood. Fight over.

The Savate guy ended up in the finals against a UFC legend (and winner of most of their tourneys) Royce Gracie. A Brazilian practitioner of Jujitsu and weighing in at only 185, Gracie was probably the best martial artist I've ever seen. .....completely neutralizing the strengths of guys much larger than himself using primarily grappling techniques. It was amazing to watch.

16 posted on 03/03/2004 10:21:27 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: Callahan
It was Pryor's fight now to win. As he entered the 25-by-25-foot room, his eyes swept from left to right. Bedrolls littered the floor, and two fighters at the rear of the room took aim through windows at other Americans entering the compound. Both swung toward Pryor, Kalashnikovs in their hands. Pryor fired, the rounds striking so dead-center that the men's beards fluttered.

As he reloaded, Pryor felt a foot brush up against his boot. At first, he thought it was another American. It wasn't. An al-Qaeda fighter struck Pryor hard from behind. The blow, possibly from a wooden board, dislocated Pryor's shoulder and broke his collarbone.

The fighter jumped on Pryor's back and clawed at his face, tearing off his night-vision goggles.

Pryor had only a single thought: You're not going to kill me. "That's how I attack things," he says later.

With one good arm, Pryor grabbed his enemy by the hair. But the man's weight, combined with the 80 pounds of Army gear that Pryor wore, caused the two to fall. They landed on Pryor's left elbow, and the impact jammed his shoulder back into its socket.

Now he could fight with both hands. In a few desperate seconds, Pryor broke the man's neck and finished him with a 9mm pistol.

Worked pretty good for him. I don't really have any experience, but my understanding is you don't plan on rolling with the guy for minutes/hours- take him down, choke him out, or break part of him.

From my limited experience in "stand up" martial arts, I think the techniques in grappling/fist & foot MAs both assume a) surprise, and b) unfamiliarity on the part of your opponent with what you intend to do.

In everything from boxing, to MuayThai, to no holds barred, the competitors dance around for a while, feeling each other out- trying to get shots in w/out taking one themselves.

In a self defense situation, I would think you'd commit with maximum energy right off the bat- Hit first, hit often...and cheat!

my $.02 from a guy with yellow belts from four different schools *grin*

17 posted on 03/03/2004 10:22:21 AM PST by fourdeuce82d
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To: Paradox
"aim well, pull trigger"...

the only effective gun control...any other measure leaves the populace @ risk.

18 posted on 03/03/2004 10:24:42 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :)
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To: Callahan
Grappling techniques are pretty useless in a military or street context. While you are rolling around on the ground the other guy's buddy will shoot you.

If there are multiple attackers and they have guns, the ultimate defense is to avoid the situation proactively, if that fails run away as fast as you can, and if that is impossible, have your own gun. There is no martial art that handles the situation you describe so it is not really fair to criticize grappling for this reason.

I do think that the UFC has gravitated to grappling for two principal reasons: (1) it is fairly easy to take an opponent off balance and take a one-on-one fight to the ground--once there, grapplers tend to prevail; and (2) the rules ban some of the more effective martial arts techniques from other disciplines like eye-gouges, throat strikes and the like. Eye gouges in particular make closing and taking a fight to the ground a very risky proposition. But in the UFC, grapplers don't have to weigh that risk.

Mind you, I think these are good rules. But they tilt the balance in favor of grapplers. Other than lock two guys in the octagon until one of the two is unconscious, dead or sumbits with no rules, there is no way to judge the 'ultimate' empty-hand fighting technique for street combat. Any rules will always favor one approach or the other.

19 posted on 03/03/2004 10:34:08 AM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: ModelBreaker
(1) it is fairly easy to take an opponent off balance and take a one-on-one fight to the ground--once there, grapplers tend to prevail; and (2) the rules ban some of the more effective martial arts techniques from other disciplines like eye-gouges, throat strikes and the like.

I think one reason grappling prevails is that, for the longest time, it has been the most underrated fighting style, except for those "in the know". In other parts of the world, with far less rules in no holds barred fights, grappling STILL tends to dominate. Its just a damn good system, in a one-on-one fight. What often happens though is that grappling is used primarily, grapplers in this arena can stay away from most hits. However, while moving around and grappling, if they see an "in", they will take it, and strike (punch, chop, kick), often with devastating effect.

I saw one fight where the guys were grappling on the floor, the guy on top got up for a second, charges back, RIGHT INTO THE KICK of the guy on the floor. Almost killed him.

20 posted on 03/03/2004 11:22:20 AM PST by Paradox (Cogito ergo Dumb.)
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