grace in mma

[danfaggella]

this is something i rarely see, and i think it may be because:

A) BJJ/MT are primary martial arts on the mma scene, neither of which has graceful delicate flowing technique like that seen in aikido/hapkido.

B) grace is not practical.

I love to see demonstrations of easy, flowing, graceful technique, but i never see it in mma, why is that?

thanks

[mixwell]

My guess is that in Aikido for example it takes such precision and I think it would be difficult.. Personally I don't think its practical. I would like to see an Aikido practicioner go up against an mma guy and see what would happen.. I always wondered how Aikido would stand up in mma..

[JkD187]

aikido would do absolutely nothing and ur on some serious drugs if anyone tries to argue with that. As for grace its very hard to throw stand up punches and kicks when your in the spotlight like that,everyones eyes are on you and they are cheering for you, its very hard to stay relaxed, however an example of beautiful and gracefull standup would be georges st.pierre

[cakegirl]

Genki Sudo is pretty graceful, and manages to dance at the same time he's fighting...

[pstevens]

Grace is subjective... That said, there is grace in all martial arts and MMA. A good takedown, hold down or throw is graceful in MMA.

[covaliufan]

this is something i rarely see, and i think it may be because:

A) BJJ/MT are primary martial arts on the mma scene, neither of which has graceful delicate flowing technique like that seen in aikido/hapkido.

B) grace is not practical.

I love to see demonstrations of easy, flowing, graceful technique, but i never see it in mma, why is that?

thanks

Uhh, you realize that in bjj, muay thai, and mma the people are actually fighting each other? A lot of grappling and striking techniques look unbelievably graceful when you're simply demonstrating them, only to come out much rougher in actual competition.

[danfaggella]

they are FIGHTING?

SERIOUSLY?

enough sarcasm,

I just don't see graceful smooth takedowns, they all seem very spontanious and rough around the edges. I never see judo takedowns done, like a like leg sweep or a nice hip spring or something. You also never see someone use aikido to use someones own momentum to topple them. I just see a point in MMA fights where i can say "jeez, that was pretty." sometimes in wrestling i would see a perfect technical move, done smoothly and accurately and i would comment on it, but in mma it seems more rigid.

comments?

[covaliufan]

Yeah, here's a comment: you're either not watching enough fights, or don't know what to look for. Want one example? Go watch Randleman vs. Fedor to see the most beautiful suplex of your life.

[danfaggella]

That was a pretty good fight, and though the suplex was brute is was one of the most "holy shit that was nice" moments i've seen in MMA. Didnt randleman loose by a keylock or something in that fight? its a shame, i thought the other guy died. I dont think it was fedor by the way, i think it was the guy who faught nakamura (or whatever his name is, he is hidehiko yoshida's top student) in the last pride event. I think his name is ivonavich or something.

[covaliufan]

No, it was Fedor. He won in the first round by kimura.

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=1500

Your complaint about mma is basically boundless. You're going about things backwards, starting with a pre-defined idea of what "grace" is and then trying to find it in mma rather than observing mma and seeing what technical excellence and flair is to be found there.

You might as well complain that mma isn't as graceful or beautiful as capoeira; when the goals, rules, and methods of two activities are different, naturally different standards apply. The practices and goals of aikido and hapkido have almost nothing in common with mma; why should they then look the same?

The strangest thing about this discussion is that despite the bass-ackwards way you've gone about this, there's actually no lack of graceful strikes, take downs, and submissions in mma.

[sapatiero]

A couple of experienced grapplers who're both taking risks. Now that can be graceful (with or without a gi). A couple of examples would be the early Pride fight between Sakuraba & Vernon Tiger White, or the Pride BJJ demo with Rickson & Royler. I know that wasn't a fight, but it sure was graceful.

Sometimes I think striking can take some of the gracefulness away. But then I'm a biased BJJ practioner who can't strike!

[medic06]

real fights are ugly because the energy expended is chaotic. Graceful Aikido throws look that way because the UKI gives nice clean energy in a slow rhythm so the the timing is right for a graceful throw.

[danfaggella]

and the opponent is willing to be thrown in the demonstration, while in a fight it is allot more adrenaline-based fury.

[medic06]

EXACTLY!