It Always Ends On The Ground ...

[gobbledonk]

I occasionally like to watch various martial arts vids on youtube - not UFC/MMA, but Muay Thai and various 'Brand X vs Brand Y' vids. Most of pretty tragic - its either two kids who clearly dont know a great deal, or two guys in a ring with gloves and various rules. I dont know what the background to this vid is, but they dont seem to be wearing mouthgards or even a cup, and it looks pretty full on for something that appears to be going down in a dojo in broad daylight:

 

 

I'm not going to make any armchair prognosticatations re 'Brand A vs Brand B' - I think it comes down to the individuals not any 'style' - but the karateka seems to abandon his technique in favour of some wild haymakers awfully quickly while his opponent maintains the same form for the duration of their 'standing' battle. Forgetting that, it ends on the ground in the usual 'brawn vs brawn' struggle I see again and again in real fights - another excellent reason to walk away from any potential encounter in the street. I dont know how close anyone else has been to the ground in a Bangkok Soi, but from the mess it makes of my shoes I have no particular desire to have my face ground into it.

[baa99]

... not always.

 

[gobbledonk]

I like this guy's honesty and willingness to put things to the test, even if he had to restrict his strikes to slaps and go up against larger, younger guys who clearly know what they are about. So many instructors would demonstrate a set of pre-ordained defences and leave it at that - Mr Izzo knows how quickly that can fall in a hole.