Has The UFC Changed The Way You Train?

[MJS]

Way back in 1993, we saw the birth of the UFC. IMO, that was the eye opener for many people, as we shortly thereafter, saw everyone jetting to Cali. to train with the Gracie family. We soon saw a number of schools, now offering BJJ in addition to their regular programs. We also saw an explosion of grappling schools opening up.

Now, of course, this is not a bad thing. I will never forget the day, a friend of mine, who remains a close friend and training partner, asked me during one of our workouts, if I wanted to do some grappling. Of course, never really doing this before, I said yes. Needless to say, I was hooked and still look forward to rolling.

I also think that in addition to the grappling aspect, the area of aliveness and training with a resisting partner, was also exposed to many that neglected that area.

My question is: Has the UFC altered the way you train today? Have you added in any aspects, training concepts, etc., that the fighters use?

This thread is not intended to be a my art vs your art thread, but instead, to talk about how, if at all, the UFC has helped you in your training.

Mike

 

[charyuop]

I guess the question here is more if you do MMA. If you train a MA, you learn THAT MA, so if in that MA there is not excessive training in grappling you will not train that. A MA won't change because the way UFC shows an alternative way of fighting. So if you do Karate or Shaolin kung fu and you look for some BJJ in it you won't find it.
Then the question in my opinion is how many people started MMA training after UFC?

 

[Andrew Green]

Not neccessarily, you can alter your training methods within the system you do train. Unless you believe a art cannot evolve and grow, but not everyone will agree to that.

There is no reason why sports science cannot be applied to training in any martial art.

Here is a example, stick fighting. Perhaps you realise that sparring is important and that things don't always work as advertised. So you alter your stick fighting to involve more sparring, this changes the way you approach certain drills as you realise that they are not as effective as they should be.

You are still stickfighting though, Perhaps still even performing all the traditional drills, perhaps having modified them a little based on experience of what works and what doesn't, but you are not training MMA.

 

[matt.m]

I took judo and hapkido during that time period. I also competed in greco roman and freestyle wrestling. So no, the UFC has not changed my view or the way I train in the MA's. To me hapkido and Tae Kwon Do are enough of a toolbox. I also have my dan in judo.

I look at it like this, if I got beat after having the plethora of tools I do then I deserved to lose.

 

[matt.m]

Not neccessarily, you can alter your training methods within the system you do train. Unless you believe a art cannot evolve and grow, but not everyone will agree to that.

There is no reason why sports science cannot be applied to training in any martial art.

Here is a example, stick fighting. Perhaps you realise that sparring is important and that things don't always work as advertised. So you alter your stick fighting to involve more sparring, this changes the way you approach certain drills as you realise that they are not as effective as they should be.

You are still stickfighting though, Perhaps still even performing all the traditional drills, perhaps having modified them a little based on experience of what works and what doesn't, but you are not training MMA.

Very well said Andrew. You are a good rep. for the MMA on this board indeed. I would give you rep for this but can't, says I have to spread around.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

I started studying with the Gracies in Torrance before the onset of the UFC...when Challenge matches were on the mats in the studio, and not in the ring. Prior to that, I also recieved black belts in Judo and Japanese Jujutsu, so was familiar with many of the finishing positions (i.e., sankaku jime), but lacked the BJJ-type transitions and positional dominance.

The UFC has not changed my training methods. It HAS made me a little sad...now any kid owning a checkers board picks up some watered down BJJ moves coupled with some wrestling, combine it with some steroids and ground-&-pound, and consider themselves chess masters; the technical quality of the vast majority of players is so bad, I don't even know what to say about it. But as long as the players feel they can compensate for crap technbique with pure muscle (oh, how I miss the days of smaller groups, when you could count on one of the brothers using pure, clean technique to cause great pain to one of the big guys muscling his way through moves...just to make a point).

In addition, as opposed to really only needing to watch out for Portugese-speaking surfers with cauliflower ears (whom you immediately start talking shop with while offering to buy a beer), the pool of possible real challenges I face in the parking lot at the club has grown to include almost anybody. I used to only have to CMA about possible weapons; now, some young brat-punk kid may have more tie on the rolling mats than I, and put me to sleep in my own backyard. This, after there was a time in which that was MY territory.

Back to my couch and a nap, while they train with the vigor of youth,

Dave

 

[bushidomartialarts]

ufc hasn't really changed my training methods, but it has changed the feel of the student base. of course, when ufc started i didnt' own a school, but i was training.

my traditional school is missing most of those 19-14 year old hotheads who joined up to prove how badassed they were. now, i'm not knocking those guys -- i was one when i started. if ufc was around back then, i probably would have joined a bjj school.

but those guys go to the muay thai/bjj school down the road, which means my students are more congruent with my approach to training. so i think that's a good thing. there's a solid choice for guys who want to bang, and they get exactly what they want. and nobody scares away the 40 year olds or the moms anymore.

 

[searcher]

I would say that it has, but not in the way most think. It has changed mine since so many people out in society have been training in MMA. They have not necessarily been competing, but have at least been training in some type of MMA. I have trained in submission since I was a child, so it has not made me look for that type of training. The change is from having so many people on the street making petty little challenges and wanting to show their "skills" off. Now in a fight you have to be aware that someone might try to go to the ground with you.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

that's an intersting thought, but i'm not sure i agree. most people i tusseled with back when i worked security jobs would talk about how much mma training they'd had and then turn out to be bunnies.

it's like when we were kids and that one dude in class would keep bragging about how he trained in ninjutsu. of course all he'd ever done was watch a couple cartoons.....

wannabes are all over the place. mma is just the new thing. in a year or two they'll be bragging about all the krav maga they got from their roomate who used to date this israeli chick.

that said, you're absolutely right that folk fight more sophisticatedly now than they did a few years back. personally, i blame the matrix.

 

[The Kidd]

I think it has included more things into my training, being into Tae Kwon Do I know have expanded into more grappling and submissions to be more well rounded. I also have encorporated more physical training techniques that you see in MMA training to help me be a better physically fit MA.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

...in a year or two they'll be bragging about all the krav maga they got from their roomate who used to date this israeli chick....

BWA-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!

I literally guffawaed out loud when I read this. Written like an oldster who has been around the block, and met the weenies on it.

Well said, my friend. Well said.

Dave

 

[PeaceWarrior]

In a word, No. I consider UFC outside my realm of interest in the MA.

 

[Xue Sheng]

that's an intersting thought, but i'm not sure i agree. most people i tusseled with back when i worked security jobs would talk about how much mma training they'd had and then turn out to be bunnies.

it's like when we were kids and that one dude in class would keep bragging about how he trained in ninjutsu. of course all he'd ever done was watch a couple cartoons.....

wannabes are all over the place. mma is just the new thing. in a year or two they'll be bragging about all the krav maga they got from their roomate who used to date this israeli chick.

that said, you're absolutely right that folk fight more sophisticatedly now than they did a few years back. personally, i blame the matrix.

First a comment about bushidomartialarts post

:lol: :lfao: :matrix: artyon:

Form one old ex-security guy to another - Yup you pretty much hit the nail on the head there.


Now to answer the question "Has The UFC Changed The Way You Train?"

no

 

[MJS]

I guess the question here is more if you do MMA. If you train a MA, you learn THAT MA, so if in that MA there is not excessive training in grappling you will not train that. A MA won't change because the way UFC shows an alternative way of fighting. So if you do Karate or Shaolin kung fu and you look for some BJJ in it you won't find it.
Then the question in my opinion is how many people started MMA training after UFC?

Andrew pretty much summed it up, but I'll comment anyways. The point of the thread, was geared more towards folks that do not train MMA, not ones that already do train it. If someone happens to start training at a MMA gym because of the UFC, thats fine. However, I've borrowed methods of punching and kicking and added them to my Kenpo. I do this just for my own personal training. When I'm teaching someone Kenpo, I teach them Kenpo, not MMA style fighting.

If someone does an art that has little to no grappling in it, and they were inspired by the UFC to start adding in some grappling, that is what I'm looking to hear about.

Mike

 

[MJS]

The UFC has not changed my training methods. It HAS made me a little sad...now any kid owning a checkers board picks up some watered down BJJ moves coupled with some wrestling, combine it with some steroids and ground-&-pound, and consider themselves chess masters; the technical quality of the vast majority of players is so bad, I don't even know what to say about it. But as long as the players feel they can compensate for crap technbique with pure muscle (oh, how I miss the days of smaller groups, when you could count on one of the brothers using pure, clean technique to cause great pain to one of the big guys muscling his way through moves...just to make a point).

I agree! I certainly don't think that people, although they do, should substitute quality training by watching the latest UFC installment.

I hear ya on the technique..nothing can be substituted for that. Solid technique and position is the way to go IMO.

Mike

 

[searcher]

Today I ran into a guy that would fit bushidomartialarts post, somewhat. This guy was trained by his father who learned every bit of his "martial arts" from a book. None of them have ever stepped into a school other than the one they have opened up in a neighboring town. The father drew his inspiration from watching the UFC. He tries to self-teach himself everything. I have been wanting for a long time to scrap with these guys. They are the ones that talk themselves up a bunch.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Way back in 1993, we saw the birth of the UFC. IMO, that was the eye opener for many people, as we shortly thereafter, saw everyone jetting to Cali. to train with the Gracie family. We soon saw a number of schools, now offering BJJ in addition to their regular programs. We also saw an explosion of grappling schools opening up.

Now, of course, this is not a bad thing. I will never forget the day, a friend of mine, who remains a close friend and training partner, asked me during one of our workouts, if I wanted to do some grappling. Of course, never really doing this before, I said yes. Needless to say, I was hooked and still look forward to rolling.

I also think that in addition to the grappling aspect, the area of aliveness and training with a resisting partner, was also exposed to many that neglected that area.

My question is: Has the UFC altered the way you train today? Have you added in any aspects, training concepts, etc., that the fighters use?

This thread is not intended to be a my art vs your art thread, but instead, to talk about how, if at all, the UFC has helped you in your training.

Mike

As I was hitting others and being hit with sticks and training knives back in the mid 80's, it has not really changed my training. I enjoy the fights. I give the guys in the UFC lots of props for being top notch atheletes.

 

[Robert Lee]

If you look at the UFC today compared to when it first started. You see no 1 art will do the job. The ufc opened eyes to training 1 what you learn and 2 what you need. Stand up clinch and ground has to be looked at to round your training off on a stronger note. A person does not need a large tool box of tools to be a good fighter. A small set works very well aginst most people. Its good to train the other aspects for traing But on a personal side you are training for your needs what ever that may be. I believe the ufc helped expose a weakness in over looked training methods And several arts have certion tools that help in the different areas They were just over looked more Because stand up was the main routine Being promoted for sometime. BJJ people are seeing its bad habits now also. But it is still a good art. We just can not stay in the same box and fail to see whats out there with out an open mind.

 

[The Kidd]

If you look at the UFC today compared to when it first started. You see no 1 art will do the job. The ufc opened eyes to training 1 what you learn and 2 what you need. Stand up clinch and ground has to be looked at to round your training off on a stronger note. A person does not need a large tool box of tools to be a good fighter. A small set works very well aginst most people. Its good to train the other aspects for traing But on a personal side you are training for your needs what ever that may be. I believe the ufc helped expose a weakness in over looked training methods And several arts have certion tools that help in the different areas They were just over looked more Because stand up was the main routine Being promoted for sometime. BJJ people are seeing its bad habits now also. But it is still a good art. We just can not stay in the same box and fail to see whats out there with out an open mind.

Well said, could not have said it better!

 

[Cthulhu]

Hasn't changed a dang thing for my training. UFC is a sport. I've never trained for competition.

Cthulhu