Cerebral Striker

I am Lucas Rosa, a graduate of Wheaton College (MA) and in 2018 I was fortunate enough to be awarded a Watson Fellowship. As a Watson Fellow, I am one of a very select 40 people in the country to be on a funded yearlong adventure abroad, one where I will explore a topic and project that I am passionate about. My Project “Mixed Martial Arts: A Philosophical Perspective” aims to look at MMA from an intellectual perspective. I will explore the ways this discipline factors into cultures, the misconceptions about it, and how people garner meaning from it. This is my blog; entry number twelve. 

There is something truly intellectually challenging about practicing martial arts. My training this past year has, in many ways, been a kind of training of the mind. I have grown to appreciate the significance of the brain-body connection and now further respect the mental dexterity and the cerebral adaptability it takes to excel in striking and MMA. Part of this has to do with fact that MMA is a kind of combination.

At its base MMA is generally a combination of three elements of fighting/hand-to-hand combat: Takedowns, Grappling and Striking. When put together this becomes the combat sport of MMA, one we all know from the popular pro league the UFC as well as some other prominent promotions. 

A well-rounded martial artist is skilled in all three elements. Striking, such as in boxing and karate, utilizes punches, kicks, knees, or/and elbows. Good striking requires precise movements, power, and speed. Takedowns, seen in wrestling and judo etc, are throws and trips designed to get your opponent on the ground. Grappling, typified in jiu-jitsu, is perhaps the most technical aspect. Usually done when both opponents are on the ground, grappling is for escaping dangerous positions, or submitting opponents by joint manipulations or chokes. Some fighters specialize in one or two styles; others aim to be well-rounded.

The remarkable thing about MMA is that in its quest to figure out which martial art was “The Best” something much more beautiful and organic happened; the elements of martial arts begin to blend into a new sport. It is a discipline with simultaneously operating elements, and multiple styles within each of those elements. While taking into account styles there are also considerations of distancing, offensive/defensive strategy, conditioning, spacial awareness, pattern recognition, and to some degree anatomy/physics. For a competitor of martial arts there is an overload of data to both observe and analyze, all with high, potentially physically damaging stakes.

Mixed martial artists are burdened with the task of navigating this kind of physically exhausting and mentally puzzling labyrinth. While other sports may have the kind of complexity and variance of MMA, few demand such a heavy understanding of so many different aspects from one sole individual.

It can be potentially one of the most mentally strenuous and taxing activities, requiring a deep comprehensive understanding of dozens of factors at once,  like that of a head coach in other sports. This is all said as I bracket its pure intellectual challenges (this is not to mention many of the other salient aspects of MMA, like the mental toughness, willpower, and commitment it requires).

As the name implies, the best mixed martial artists are those that are authentically artistic in their hand-to-hand combat; while being extraordinary humans in their brain’s conceptual ability to adapt while processing and reacting in real time.

I had always liked martial arts because it allowed a physical medium to challenge and exhibit what I thought was my best trait, my willpower, or as I often called it: heart. I never really questioned just how intellectual the martial arts were, it sort of seemed apparent to me. It was not until my later years in high school that I saw that idea was not perhaps as pervasive as I thought; it seems silly to look back on, but I never really thought much about people questioning the worth and meaning of martial arts overall. Of course after studying philosophy these abstract questions became more prominent, but even before then I was hearing misguided comments. People telling me they thought it was mindless brawling, or that I was too smart for MMA, if I respected myself intellectually I would not do it.

It troubled me firstly because it seemed to ignore the fact that people are existentially complex, and can therefore have seemingly contradictory passions and traits that are in fact consistent with who they are; but more than that I began to realize that there was a lack of appreciation or understanding for just how cerebral martial arts were. I appreciate this though, because it ultimately made me hyper-focus on the idea of martial arts as this intellectual endeavour;  an idea which has caused me to excel in athletics, have a deeper appreciation for my passion, and ultimately helped guide me to this Watson Fellowship.

I focused and saw the ways that wrestling  required the kind of flow and fluidity akin to a ballet dancer, and jujitsu seemed to be this game of high level human chess. The entire foundation of martial arts seemed to be built on a system of knowledge sharing and knowledge seeking. To best excel as a martial artist one has to be a lover of wisdom; a humble knowledge seeker. One must exercise a kind of Socratic wisdom: That is, the understanding of the limits of one’s own knowledge, while not presuming to know things without truly and wholly understanding them first.

It was a part of the sport I began to emphasize for myself, because not only was it pertinent to who I was as a writer and philosopher, but because it was and will continue to be an extremely significant part of improving as a martial artist.

My older brother (and UFC fighter) Charles never liked academics in the way that I did. I firmly believe there are different kinds of “smart” though, so while my interest of metaphysics is not a topic that gets much discussion in my family, I do know they are extremely “street smart” and intellectual in different ways. On the jiujitsu mats I see a kind of student come out of my older brother.

The entire system of martial arts is a kind of formalized education: there are classes, which in structure remind me of academic courses. Many martial arts gyms are often referred to as academies, with many of the head instructors often being called “professor”. Getting a true black belt in BJJ often takes as much commitment and time as getting a PhD. The parallels to me seem endless and something I could write about at great length.

Transitioning Styles

In the past I had trained in the elements of takedowns and grappling with wrestling and Jiujitsu respectively. Part of the reason why I chose to pursue a focus on striking for my Watson Fellowship was because it was an element of martial arts which I had not had as much formal training in.

Part of what I did not expect was that aspect of adaptability and “mixed” to come into play  with striking in such a “heavy-handed” kind of way (pun intended). The ability to transition from style to style, while maintaining personally useful aspects, was a mental puzzle. It was perhaps one of the single most challenging aspects of the Watson, to constantly break in and out of habits. I was repeatedly training and retraining my brain to establish certain connections to the body while trying to tailor my reactions and build over muscle memory.

The Stance and Kicks:
One’s stance when striking is foundational and often the first thing I noticed as I headed into each style. Whenever one uses a style with a new stance it can be challenging because one’s stance is the ultimate kind of home base to return to during training. Without being at ease in a particular stance, there is no position of familiarity to reference back to; the entire style seems unfamiliar and foreign.

The styles I mainly trained in of Bokator, Muay Thai, and Dutch Kickboxing have radically different stances. Bokator was once used in an ancient way by those observing the survival movements of animals in the jungle, so at times it can be based off of various animal styles. Bokator’s stance is often somewhat crouched down with a heavy knee-bend and has defensive movements that are almost dance-like in nature.

This wide stance can be tough to maintain but opens up a lot of potential for dynamic and almost cinematic-style martial arts techniques due to the explosiveness. On some of the more self-defense oriented techniques the stance is supposed to more like relaxed standing to have the element of surprise. Much of the striking is based off of one inch power, having relaxed strikes that tighten at the last possible moment.

Meanwhile Muay Thai has a stance that is almost the polar opposite of Bokator. This transition was perhaps the hardest for this very reason. Muay Thai has a very upright stance with the feet far closer together.

It generally has a heavy focus on moving forward and staying close to your opponent. Much of the Muay Thai teep (a kind of front kick used for distancing and damage) is based on being able to throw the kick from this stance very rigidly, without moving the foot that is not actually lifting to kick.  Muay Thai is often maniacal about their body kicks, kicks are done in heavy rapid repetition and very often use the arms to swing and give the kick added momentum.

Dutch kickboxing has a somewhat wide slightly sideward stance, but one that aims to keep you balanced and centered as you step. The stance allows room for more dynamic   light movement, and more than anything allows for hip movement.

Hip movement is fundamental in kickboxing as it allows for angular, rotational, powerful striking. The stance is perfect for dictating distancing as well as making the transfer between offensive and defensive techniques seamless and cohesive.

The Approach:

It is often enlightening to know what each each style is aiming to accomplish conceptually; this knowledge often informs why the techniques are the way that they are.

In Bokator they sometimes are training to match the ancient animal styles and for performance art of Bokator demonstrations. They use Bokator demonstrations in an attempt to grow Bokator’s popularity worldwide at international competitions. These more culturally oriented motivations gives some of the techniques an almost dance like feel. However Bokator also intends to be used for self-defense and defense against multiple attackers, which accounts for Bokator’s training in sword/knife weaponry, explosive movement (like jumps and rolls), as well as emphasis on other elements of martial arts like grappling or takedowns.

Much of these techniques look almost showy and cinematic as a result, a marvel to observe when done properly. Because it has such a long and far reaching history, the techniques it yields are extremely numerous and cover a wide range of martial arts elements, as well as some weapon use and defense.

Muay Thai is hyper-focused on the knee and kick to the body (the rib cage area). In traditional Muay Thai matches the point system is based heavily on landing and countering with body kicks as well as trips. Defensive blocking is thus often reduced to keeping your hands up and checking an opponents kick (basically blocking their kick to your body using your own leg). Clinching is practiced in order to best sweep without wrongly doing a trip.

Strikes with the hands and low kicks do not necessarily do much to earn points in Muay Thai, and because of this are sort of put as secondary techniques. This is not to say that they are disregarded, but they are not emphasized, and it has some influence on other techniques that are used. For example, because hand strikes don’t do much in terms of points, they only encourage a non-point strike that has the potential to end the match- like heavy elbows. Heavier strikes with the immediate potential of knockout, and the rapid point-earning leg kicks to the body, are more “worth” throwing in a Muay Thai fight. So that is what the style demands.

The competitive matches of dutch kickboxing are often a bit shorter, making it more like the fight equivalent of a sprint. Partly because of this and partly because of the hip movement they use, most of the strikes have an emphasis on power. This is why there is such a huge focus on the mechanics and angles of each techniques. The dutch especially emphasize the angular low and high kick as well as fluid punch combinations. Unlike Muay Thai, Dutch kickboxing does not focus as much on clinching because it is composed almost solely of striking, but heavy cohesive striking. Kickboxing focuses more on basic combinations than any kind of jumping attacks, teeps, or elbows. Because of the fact that Dutch kickboxers have to worry about a lot of diverse but damaging strikes they also defend in a way that is more protective against multiple techniques and combinations. Using the hands, elbows, and legs, to block and often misdirect the opponent’s strikes, kickboxers are constantly setting themselves up for the next move.

The Skills & Training Method: 

The training methods were very private, unique and conceptual in Cambodia. Grandmaster San Kim Sean would spend a long time explaining techniques before actually showing them, because he wanted understanding rather than just repetition. He wanted me to cultivate skills of patience, balance, muscle control, and one inch power. I would do unusual drills like balance on wooden stumps and spend hours trying to isolate a muscle to improve muscle control. There were drills of jumping high over chairs and landing softly, as well as hitting pads from a relaxed stance for one-inch power. He would also have me meditate and do visualisation training in which I would train with my eyes closed or imagine the techniques in my head from different angles, cultivating a kind of spacial awareness or intelligence.

A lot of the training was relaxed but very conceptual. The morning classes were more individual whereas the night classes were more regimented towards teaching the cultural aspects of Bokator, like the weaponry and animal styles. It often challenged me to explore aspects of training which seemed to be my over-arching weaknesses such as pliability and patience. It was a very calm approach to training that taugh me patience.

Muay Thai training was physically demanding. I trained in the outdoor heat for two long hours, twice a day, and during my fight training would often have to do three mile runs before each session. On a few occasions was surprised with ten mile runs followed by having to chug blended eggs for protein. There was a constant worry of dehydration and overtraining, it was a  tough balance between following their traditional training methods and staying healthy. It was tough to condition the body to handle the climate. Muay Thai emphasises immense repetition which builds great muscle memory. It focuses on a singular rapid techniques consistently more than a conceptual approach. I would rotate between hitting the bag, having to do ten kicks on the pads rapidly in a row…then twenty…then thirty. The training demanded you grow used to kicking repeatedly in quick sequences. I became great at jump roping, used to training in the heat, and began to realize the simple benefit of repetition. Despite how traditional parts of Muay Thai are, it is scientific in the sense that it builds muscle memory through repetition in a way that simply helps enforce a brain-body connection. 

Dutch Kickboxing has a very deliberate sense of training. The training is meant to be hard and emphasize mechanics, but not consume your whole day in length. Sparring and holding pads was a key method of training and one that helped me to recognize striking patterns and become familiar with striking in combinations. While Dutch kickboxing emphasizes toughness and power it also acknowledges that overtraining can cause extreme diminishing returns and potentially mess up a fighters mechanics by repeatedly practicing in a sloppy or unenthusiastic way. Kyoku Gym encourages the idea that you should always want to go to training, you should never get to a point where you are dreading going. Some of its specific techniques are just a smart approach as well, as it uses the brain’s tendency for pattern recognition against itself by creating striking patterns before quickly breaking from them and thus tricking your opponent.

To transition physically between these stances, techniques, methods of power, and transition conceptually between these approaches and methods of training, was simply difficult. I sometimes would carry over the wrong aspects of a certain style which, when applied to another style of fighting, may not simply fit in cohesively with the rest. It is like trying to take a shark, a thriving predator in the sea, and putting it in a forest to hunt.

 

The benefits of learning all the techniques are numerous though. After working out how best to blend the styles to fit my needs, I now have a very dynamic knowledge with a lot of potential tools. The speed of Muay Thai with the added power of Kickboxing is lethal, and the unpredictability of many of the flashy and unique Bokator techniques makes for a grouping which can potentially be used to confuse and overwhelm opponents.

A Future Approach to Striking

A lot of what I experienced so far has made me interested in the idea that mixed martial arts may benefit from a more established and focused approach to creating muscle memory. From my experiences training on this Watson I have really come to appreciate just how important a deliberate and repeated focus on a technique can be. Repetition and mechanics (layered over a conceptual approach of wondering what a given technique trying to actually accomplish) can be hugely important. I think it can take a lot of repetition of a technique, in a deliberate way, for your brain to make the connection that it will not injure itself doing such a technique. Your brain limits you sometimes because it does not want your body to harm itself. I think establishing new neural-pathways through repetition, to get your brain to better understand your body’s new limits and functions, is the absolute key to MMA.

Training is not just about testing your mental toughness and body, but instead quite literally training your brain, the organ that it is, to better understand its own capabilities. As scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of our own brain, they discover just how important creating new neural-pathways can be in all facets of life, and I think the same applies to athletics. It is important not to over-intellectualize any given discipline, but I think introducing such a pointed and methodical approach to something that already regards the mental components as such a priority, would be a good thing. In my opinion, a major emphasis on the brain-body connection is important to the future development of striking and potentially MMA.