MMA Archives - Australia's Youth Self Defence Karate

Learn the Winning Secrets of Georges St-Pierre

April 30, 2011 By Sensei Matt Klein

Georges St. Pierre showed us what it takes to be a champion

Tomorrow Georges St-Pierre (GSP) defends his UFC Welterweight Championship for the sixth time. Regardless of the outcome GSP is and will continue to be known as one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists on the planet. What can he teach us that can help us be our best? Here are some of his top secrets. Learn them and you may someday follow in his footsteps.

Focus—GSP is a master of Zen-like focus

When asked about fighting UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, St-Pierre said “I don’t even think about this right now,” at a press conference before his fight with Jake Shields on the 30th of April. “I never thought about it. I always live in the present moment, and my biggest problem is Jake Shields”. It is a characteristic of all great champions to focus on the task at hand, and never overlook the current challenge.

Fear—GSP lets fear drive him to victory

“I’m always scared,” said St-Pierre. “I’m scared to lose. I’m scared to let my training partners down by losing”. I’m scared that I’ll make a mistake and I’ll lose”, he said recently in an interview with UFC Australia Magazine. This fear drives him to bring his best to the cage. It also illustrates that it is natural to be afraid.

Work ethic is the key

GSP has one of the toughest work ethics in the business. He is known as the world’s hardest working fighter for a reason. Having grown up on a farm outside Quebec, Canada, GSP knows hard work. His father set an example as a very hard worker that GSP was determined to follow. GSP wants success bad enough to put in hours upon hours of work in the gym.

Thirst for knowledge

GSP stops at nothing to learn what it takes to stay on top. He has trained with the best including boxing trainer Freddie Roach, MMA legend Greg Jackson, trainer Firas Zahabi, New Zealand grappling expert John Danaher, Muay Thai trainer Phil Nurse, and BJJ expert Renzo Gracie. St-Pierre has black belts in BJJ, Kyokushin karate, and Jackson’s Gaidojutsu. He has even trained with the Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team.

“I always train with better wrestlers than me, better boxers than me, better jujitsu guys than me,” Georges St-Pierre says. “When you train with people who are better than you, it keeps challenging you”. This thirst for knowledge has taken GSP all over the world in an effort to train with the best.

Respect for his teachers

GSP shows the utmost respect for his coaches, according to sources close to him. He listens intently to what he is taught, absorbs it, then drills it over and over until he is ready to use it. The mark of a great champion is this ability to respect the judgement and experience of the teacher and take on their advice. This respect carries over to his opponents, as we saw above.

“There isn’t a better style — that’s a lie. There is better person but not a better style,” said GSP. This shows his respect for all martial arts.

Rituals are important

GSP is known to post photos of himself on the wall of his dressing room before fights. He wrote on the photo before the last fight, “On the 27th of March in New Jersey, I will beat Dan Hardy and remain the champion”. He has done this before every fight.

Visualization works

Fans saw how important visualization was during the 29-year-old’s tenure as coach on “The Ultimate Fighter 12”. Many thought it was an act when he made his understudies role play the next day’s fight activities, even going as far as arranging an entrance walk while team-mates cheered. GSP did the exact same thing just hours before the biggest fight of his career.

Goal is to reach the top

Underlying each of the secrets listed here is his desire to be the best. It drives him in every way, from his work ethics, respect, focus, and fear. What does it take to be a UFC Champion? “A desire to turn your name into a legacy,” says George St. Pierre

GSP is up-front about his goal; to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He is nearly there.

Inspired by MMA: The Sensei is Still Learning

April 21, 2011 By Sensei Matt Klein

Royce Gracie showed the MMA world the power of jujitsu in the first of the Ultimate Fighting Competitions

Royce Gracie started it all in MMA.

In the mid 1990’s I sat gobsmacked as a 180-pound jujitsu expert named Royce Gracie outlasted and outmaneuvered hulking 250-pound men and won the Ultimate Fight Competition (UFC), the first of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) tournaments. I was inspired.

Very soon after, I found myself in jujitsu classes being manhandled on the mat by guys much smaller than me. Even as an ex-high school wrestler, on the ground I was putty in their hands. I saw firsthand how skill and technique trump size and power in this great equaliser of martial arts combat, jujitsu. I was sold.

By 2000 we were teaching chokes, arm bars, and takedowns in our schools in Sydney, and in time added over 150 grappling and jujitsu techniques to our syllabus. Boxing and kickboxing techniques also featured heavily in our training along with traditional American Kenpo Karate.

All roads lead to the present.

Australia’s first Ultimate Fighting Competition, UFC 110 in Sydney’s Acer Arena, sold out in less than a day. UFC 127, also at the Acer Arena, sold out in 30 minutes. I attended both events and was extremely impressed by the level of competition and fan engagement. What impressed me most was the overall skill of the fighters. Since the first UFC, stand-up fighters have turned the tables by mastering enough skills on the ground to neutralise the grapplers. By 2011 the best fighters in the UFC were all-rounders. Once again, I was inspired.

We recently introduced MMA classes. Not if, but when MMA becomes mainstream in Australia as it has in the US, we will be ready. We will ride this tsunami, not be overcome by it.

The lesson in this.

Keep your eyes open to what is happening around you. Be open to change. This world is changing more rapidly than we can comprehend. Stay tuned and never stop learning new things about your chosen field. You never know when it will come in handy.

Are you inspired by what is happening in MMA? Are you still learning?

Kids MMA: Yes or No?

September 25, 2010 By Sensei Matt Klein

Kids fighting in an MMA match

Debate: MMA for Kids

Mixed martial arts for kids is a hot debate now. MMA is a combination of grappling arts like Brazilian jujitsu, judo, wrestling and stand-up arts like Muay Thai, kickboxing, and karate. In an MMA match the goal is to knock out your opponent or make them submit. Bouts are fought in a cage. There are states in the U.S. that allow kids to fight in the cage, even at seven or eight years old. Videos of fights between kids under the age of ten without any head protection have appeared on YouTube, and with a drunk crowd going crazy in the background. In one video an eight year-old lifts another high off the ground and pile-drives him right down on his head and neck. Gyms around the U.S. are teaching MMA classes to kids as young as five.

The question is, should children be allowed to take part in this popular but potentially dangerous sport? If so, at what age is it safe to start?

The Pros of Kids Mixed Martial Arts

Kids have been doing amateur boxing for years, which involves repeated blows to the head, even though they wear headgear.

Kids play rugby, ice hockey, and gridiron, and some get concussions, even with headgear.

Other sports like motocross, snowboarding, gymnastics, or skateboarding have a higher injury record. Oddly enough, cheer-leading is one of the most dangerous activities in the world.

The lower knockout rates in MMA compared to boxing may help prevent brain injury in MMA events.

Cardiovascular fitness is enhanced through aerobics exercise, including jumping rope, sparring in the ring or running. Muscular conditioning is improved through calisthenics like push-ups and pull-ups or weight training, although weight training is not recommended for youngsters.

For self-defence skills MMA is one of the best things your child can learn. The combination of stand-up and ground fighting prepares the student for a real fight better than anything else.

Children don’t have to compete in MMA while learning it. Brazilian jujitsu and grappling competitions are held regularly and allow children to compete safely.

The Cons of Kids Mixed Martial Arts

Taking repeated blows to the head before a child’s brain is fully developed can cause problems. Even with headgear it is dangerous. Kids should not be punching each other in the face with full power.

Young children are rewarded for punching, kicking, twisting the limbs, and physically attacking one another. By regularly physically hurting others, a child can become more desensitised to their pain.

Severe dieting to make weight limits is not good for the body, especially for kids.

Some parents might make their kids fight whether they want to or not, if it were legal. Who will protect children from ignorant parents that wish to live vicariously through their kids?

If you start a fight career at nine years old, what condition will your body be in after ten years of being punched, choked, ground-and-pounded, having your joints hyper-extended and knocked out? Isn’t that when you should be starting your career, not finishing it?

A common criticism is that important things like respect, self-discipline, and courtesy are not being taught in mixed martial arts classes.

Is there a compromise?

A compromise is to teach MMA techniques and let kids practice it, but not fight competitively until they are at least 16 or 17. When the student turns 18, they can make their own decision.

Kids should be taught under the supervision of an experienced instructor who controls sparring or grappling (rolling) very closely. Any type of practice for competition or actual competition should have strict safety precautions.

Respect for others, self-discipline, and courtesy should be taught just like in traditional martial arts.

While training, the following rules should be enforced.

The important thing is that you and your child are comfortable and that the children are training in a safe environment under quality instructors.

Our martial arts for kids program in Sydney recently added teens MMA classes at selected locations. We went ahead with this due to popular demand. It is the fastest growing sport in the world, you cannot deny it. We have been teaching grappling and elements of Brazilian jujitsu since before 2000, so it was a natural to include it in our program.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

This is an original article by Sensei Matt Klein.