The Art of the Head Kick
Posted by Barry Laminack
In every sport there is one move that doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's a thing of beauty that electrifies the fans and reminds us why we love sports. In basketball it's the cross over that makes the opponent lose balance and fall down. In baseball it's stealing home. In football it's the spin move that makes the defender miss completely, and in soccer it's the bicycle kick goal.
In MMA, and in my opinion, it's the head kick. Last night as I watched George Roop introduce his shin to Chan Sung Jung's (aka The Korean Zombie) jaw line I was reminded of the beautiful brutality of mixed martial arts. What made Roops kick so beautiful and so perfect is that it was a true KO, not a blow that simply stunned Jung. Jung was out before he hit the mat. Roop didn't even need to follow up the kick with some ground and pound, though he did start to make his way over to where the Korean Zombie laid motionless on the mat, blood trickling down his face. To his credit, Roop's follow up was half hearted as he new it was the formality of the fight that required him to follow up the kick. He pursued Jung to the mat, but referee Tom Johnson beat him there and had already called the fight.
I swear I heard angels sing when the kick landed.
I'm by no means an expert on the head kick (or fighting for that matter), the following is more of an observation than a teaching moment. I'm still a clear belt in Muay Thai so don't take this as advice or that I'm trying to teach you how to throw a head kick. If you want that join a gym; or save your money and read this. Yes, that's right, somebody actually wrote a post on ehow.com explaing how to finish an MMA fight with a head kick. It kind of reads like an infomercial. They said everything short of "Follow those 6 steps and BAM, instant fame." It doesn't say who wrote the article, but I think I have an idea who wrote it:
"You think anybody want's a round house kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys?"
Dissecting the Beauty
What follows are my general observations of the move.
Degree of Difficulty
So what makes the head kick such a thing of beauty? Well for starters it's the longest strike to land, so the degree of difficulty is very high. The shin and head are the two body parts furthest apart from each other in a fight. This distance means that the strike takes longer to develop and thus is easier to see coming (in theory anyway). I've not seen any statistics but on a level playing field, I would venture to guess that the head kick would be the strike that is blocked the most, percentage wise anyways.
The Setup
The second element that makes up the art of the head kick is the set up. Rarely can a fighter land a head kick with out setting it up first. Remember earlier when I mentioned the crossover move in basketball. Setting up the head kick is very similar. The crossover works because the offensie payer gets his opponent thinking he is going one way, and as they both start to lean in the same direction, he shifts the ball and his balance the other way, creating an opening to blow by the defender and drive the hoop. It works because the opponent is trying to defend the area of the court where he thinks the player is going to be.
The same is true with setting up the head kick. The setup creates the opening and opportunity to land the kick, so whether it's being set up with kicks to the body or set up with the hands, the key is to create the opening. Skilled fighters can also set it up by changing direction mid kick (I've actually had this done to me by Daniel Kim during training...talk about feeling stupid). Another way of setting up the kick is with the eyes. Something as simple as looking at the leg or ribs can create just enough deception to get the other fighter focused on defending that area, just like the cross over.
Speed and Power
The third thing that makes the head kick so beautiful is the speed (and subsequent force) that is generated by the kick. With a further distance to travel, the kick has more time to build up more speed. If combined with proper technique (i.e hip rotation et al) the leg becomes a long, boney flesh missile with enough speed and power to end the fight.
I'm glad that head kick KO's are rare. I mean, I would hate to see 4 out of 5 fights end with a head kick KO, that would get really boring. Yeah, I know, that's dumb. It would be like watching fights in heaven to see 4 out of 5 fights end with a head kick KO, I just needed a way to open up my conclusion, and that was the first thing that came to mind. Seriously though, there are so many things that have to happen in order to score a head kick knock out; that's what makes it so raw, so violent, so beautiful and so perfect.
UFC 119 – What was the point?
Posted by Barry Laminack
My apologies for not having posted in a while. As you may or may not know, I own TheCageDoor.net, so I've been a bit consumed with several task that have required my full attention. Enough about me, let's talk about UFC 119.
Before I get to my list of observations, I have just one question. What wast the point of UFC 119? I remember the good ol' days when a UFC PPV had meaning. When champions were decided and match-ups were made to set up future title fights. In the case UFC 119 was pointless, unless the point was to weed out a bunch of fighters who no longer deserved an opportunity to fight in the UFC (and to make the fans pay for the privilege of seeing that take place). I think (and lets hope) that UFC 119 was the exception and note the norm. For the most part, Zuffa does a great job of giving us our monies worth, but UFC 119 missed the mark.
Sean Sherk has naked pictures of Cecil Peoples
Just after the fight ended, I turned to Joe [Trevino] and said, "It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Sherk retire right there in the ring." He looked that bad. So imagine my surprise when they announced he had won a split decision. Sherk lost that fight...badly. I don't know what fight Peoples and Trowbridge were watching but it wasn't even close, and it definitely wasn't a split decision in Sherk's favor.
Melvin Guillard needed to do more
I understand that it's better to win ugly than to not win at all, but I think Melvin needed a few more exciting and flashy wins to really hold the attention of the powers that be in the UFC. I think it was a bad match-up for him style wise and he did the best he could do with it. I just think this might have added a few more rungs on the ladder that he'll have to climb to the top. Instead of getting Sherk next, don't be surprised if he has to fight Thiago Taverez.
CroCop is done, again
I think people forgot that CroCop was one loss away from being cut by the UFC in his last fight. Was this the one? I'm not sure, I read some where that he had it put into his contract that he couldn't be cut if he lost. Pretty smart move on his part, but who does he fight now? Who ever he fights, it should be on an under-card because he's not the same fighter he used to be. He also needs to fix the "tell" he has. If you have a chance to go back and watch he fight, you'll notice that CroCop slightly raises his lead leg before he strikes.
Mir has a long way to go
It took him 2+ boring rounds to finish a fighter well past his prime. How bad was it for Mir? So bad that even though he had the only knockout of the night, he did not get knockout of the night honors (or money). Needless to say, D-Dub (Dana White) and Zuffa are not fond of Mir right now.
I am officially a Meathead
Matt Mitrione is fun to root for. I don't think he'll ever be a top tier heavyweight, but that doesn't mean he won't get a title shot. I think everybody knows that if he can continue to get the fans behind him, he'll get a shot at a title. How can you NOT like a dude who fires his agent on national TV. Check out this great interview he did with Ariel Helwani. I must say I was stunned when he said that he made $5,000 in sponsorship money. I know guys here in Houston who get more than that for their local, non-televised fights.
If there’s one thing I know…
Posted by Barry Laminack
...it's that I don't know anything.
I've been doing more predictions as of late. It's the nature of the beast when you are involved in the MMA media. Last week I went 1-2. Not a great week but I've also had times when I would go 2-1 so it all evens out. Let's face it, picking MMA fights is like picking the results of a coin toss. You have a 50/50 chance even if you guess, so you really can't look terrible picking fights.
The lesson that I learned after last week actually started the week of Strikeforce. If you watched me on Houston MMA Now, then you know I didn't want to pick a winner in the Chad Cook vs Artenas Young fight because I felt like it was a "pick 'em" fight. I reasoned that Young had the advantage in the stand-up and Cook had the advantage on the ground. I made the statement that if the fight stayed standing, Young would win and if it went to the ground Cook would win.
My co-hosts Mike Calimbas and Richard Burmaster would not let me get away with that so they forced me to pick a winner. In fact, Rich asked, "Do you think Young can stop the take downs of Cook?"
My response was, "no."
His reply? "Well then, I guess you're picking Cook."
"Well, I guess I am." I admitted.
Young would go on to win that fight by doing what he needed to to stuff most of Cook's take downs and escape any danger on the ground.
Fast forward to last week. When I was doing my write up for the Bellator 27 card in San Anotnio, the hardest bout for me to predict was Andrew Craig vs Rodrigo Pinheiro. As I went over the fight in my head, trying to figure out what I thought was going to happen, I found myself leaning toward Pinheiro, even though I felt that Craig was the better all around fighter. I went with Pinheiro as my pick to win for one simple reason, he was vastly superior on the ground against Craig, or so I thought.
As it turns out, Andrew did what he needed to do to survive on the ground (In fact, from what i've read and heard, he more than held his own) and like Young weeks before him, did what he needed to do as a fighter to control the fight and keep himself in a position to score points, land strikes and eventually win the fight in the area where he was more skilled, striking.
So what did I learn from all of this? Simple. Just because one fighter is more highly skilled in a particular discipline versus his opponent doesn't make him the better fighter overall and definitely doesn't mean he's going to win because of that single advantage. It simply means he has the edge over his opponent in that skill set. If his is not as skilled in the many other aspects of MMA, then chances are he's not going to win the fight. After all, they (meaning me) don't call it "the complete science" for nothing, right?
The Soto Lessons
Posted by Barry Laminack
If you didn't watch the Sept 2, 2010 Joe Warren vs Joe Soto title fight on Bellator , then you missed what coaches call "a teaching moment". Actually, you missed several of them.
First some highlights from the fight:
So, what lessons can be learned from this?
1. Never Panic - For the first 5 minutes, Joe Warren looked more like "the saddest man on the planet" as opposed to his self appointed nickname "the baddest man on the planet". When a fighter turns his back on his opponent like Warren repeatedly did, that's a pretty good indication that he's close to mailing it in. The one thing that Warren didn't do was panic. Sure, he was getting picked apart on his way to losing a 10-8 round, but he remained calm and continued to try and execute his game plan (for better or for worse). Often times you see a fighter throw the game plan out the window once he gets into trouble, but Warren stayed the course and continued to try and look for a way inside on Soto. This would prove to be the right move as he was able to move inside of Soto's jab in early in the second and land a stiff straight right that would prove to be the beginning of the end for Soto.
2. Never Showboat - There is no doubt that Soto was getting the better of Warren for the first 5 minutes, but if there was some doubt, Joe Soto was doing his best to erase it. Several times through out the course of the round after he would land a shot he'd back up and hold his hands up shoulder high as if to say "you guys see that, how awesome was that!?!?". He probably waisted a good 30 seconds in total that could have been used closing the show.
3. A.B.C. - Soto should have heeded the advice of the age old sales adage ABC or "Always Be Closing". In sales the goal is closing the sale, so every thing the salesman does is meant to bring them one step closer to getting the sale. They don't spend time on events that do not contribute to the close. Rather than going for the close when he had a chance in the first, Soto chose to stay back and continue to try and land shots on Warren one at a time and showboat. Instead of making sure the crowd saw how awesome Soto was doing, he would have been better served attacking Warren and following his jab with several more punches and sealing the deal. By celebrating rather than closing, Soto cost himself the fight.
One Scene – One Goal
Posted by Barry Laminack
The Houston MMA community has always been known as fighters (for obvious reasons). As the scene has grown up it has also grown closer, and now we join together once again to help raise money in the fight against breast cancer! This fall I am forming a team from within the Houston MMA community that will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Houston Race for the Cure®. You don’t have to be an MMA fighter to join, you just have to want to help!
It is my hope that we can achieve a goal of raising $750 for the fight against breast cancer. I have formed a team called "Houston MMA" that will participate in the Race for the Cure on October 2, 2010.
You can join the team online here - http://rfch.convio.net/goto/HoustonMMA. Once you join the Houston MMA team, you can set your goal that will contribute to the team goal of $750. It doesn't matter if you're running with the team (Team Houston MMA), donating or just showing support; just be involved, stay active and continue to support us.
How You can Help
- Join the team - http://rfch.convio.net/goto/HoustonMMA (click on the "Join Team" link on the page)
- Make a donation toward the team goal ($750) – http://bit.ly/9hNtaO
-Make a donation toward my goal ($250) - http://bit.ly/9wntEF
-Suggest this page to your friends using the icons below, or simply post the links that I have provided above (and below) on your Facebook profile, your MySpace page and also via Twitter.
-Show your support for the team and the Houston MMA community by making the following picture you profile pic on Facebook and Twitter:
(image url - http://www.thecompletescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/FB_pro_pic1.png )
Join us in the fight!
Please join me in showing the rest of the city, the state and the nation what Houston MMA is all about and what I’ve known for well over a year now: that Houston MMA is made up of good people doing great things.
Thank you in advance for your time and support.
Quick Links:
The Complete Science, Defined
Posted by Barry Laminack
com·plete [kuhm-pleet] adjective, verb, -plet·ed, -plet·ing.
1. having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire;full
The debate between boxing fans and MMA fans over whose sport is the superior combat sport has raged on for years now. It developed over time as MMA started to make its way into the main stream of the world of sports, and particularly since MMA started stealing fans (such as myself) away from boxing. I submit to you that all of the debate after all of these years has been a complete waste of time.
To compare boxing to mixed martial arts really isn’t fair to boxing. The two sports are apples and oranges as far as comparisons go. Comparing boxing to MMA would be equivalent to comparing running to basketball. Running is a single component (or skill) in the complex game of basketball. Just because one can run fast doesn’t mean he or she is going to be a great basketball player. They still need to know how to dribble, jump, shoot and defend. Would being a really fast runner help make them be a better basketball player? Sure it would. It would allow them to get up and down the floor faster on a fast break and would allow them to get back on defense more quickly. However, in the long run, if the only thing they are good at is running then they won’t last very long in basketball. They still need to have other skills to be able to compete.
Some may be quick to point out that the crossover can happen using other sports, and perhaps they would use somebody like Willie Gault as an example. After all, he was able to make the transition from being a world class sprinter to being a really good wide receiver in the NFL. While this may be true, there are certain football skills that he did NOT need to have in order to compete at that level. He did not need to be able to throw the ball, block, or kick field goals. As long as he could catch and run he could excel at the sport. So how would this comparison work? How about a boxer becoming a kick boxer? He can punch and he can kick just like Gault could run and catch, yet he still doesn't poses the myriad of other skills needed to compete in MMA.
Every skill that is learned in boxing can be used and translated into MMA. The same is not true in reverse. I could go with the obvious arguments that have been used millions of times like the need to defend take downs or kicks, or the need for a good guard or how even the most basic of skills needed to defend or apply submissions are a must now a days, but that’s not really necessary. Just look at something as simple as wrist control. Boxers don’t have to worry about learning the skill because it’s not a part of their sport. When a boxer is against the ropes (or has his opponents against the ropes) there are some basic thoughts going through his mind, but I assure you wrist control is not one of them. How would they react once this fundamental skill is used to neutralize their hands when pressed against the cage? Another case in point, the foot stomp.
Just because a fighter is a fantastic boxer doesn’t mean it’s going to translate into him (or her) being a superior mixed martial artist. Just like being a fast runner doesn’t mean that runner is going to be a great (or even average) basketball player.
People seem to forget about the first “M” in MMA. The sport of mixed martial arts is not simply another form of fighting as the boxing pundits would have you believe; rather MMA isevery form of fighting. There is no other combat sport in the world that can compare to MMA because every other combat sport in the world is simply a subset of the sport of mixed martial arts. For both sports to trash talk each other is not only irresponsible, it’s a complete waste of time. You rarely hear of MMA fans trash talking the other major disciplines of the sport such as BJJ, wrestling, muay thai or Judo; so why do so about boxing. At the same time, boxing fans need to come to terms with the fact that their sport is a great sport (one I still enjoy watching) but it simply cannot compare to the completeness of the fighting that mixed martial arts offers.
If boxing is to continue to be referred to as the sweet science, then it seems only fair that MMA should hence forth be referred to as the complete science.
Welcome to The Complete Science
Posted by Barry Laminack
Welcome to The Complete Science, my little link in the caged fence of online MMA blogs. I'll be sharing with you my ideas, opinions and other thoughts on the world of Mixed Martial Arts and I hope you'll respond and provide feed back as well. I'm really open to discussion and dialogue, so feel free to comment early and often.
I live and work in Houston so I'll spend just as much time discussing the Houston (and possible Texas) MMA scene as I will the national scene, but I'll also be mixing in some general MMA talk as well.
If you're looking for anything in particular, drop me a line and let me know at barry@thecompletescience.com
Glad you're hear and thanks for coming!
Barry Laminack
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