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FIRST THINGS FIRST
One of MMA’s best fighters ever competes this weekend for perhaps the last time. Jon Jones is fighting Stipe Miocic. Today we’re going to analyze how he capture the fascination of an entire sport en route to stealing the throne.
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Table of Contents
DISTANCE AND CREATIVITY ARE THE SHARPEST WEAPONS:
Notes From The Fundamentals Of The Gentle Way
One who aims high for the future must not be concerned with present loss or gain. The most important object in judo training is to develop speed and free movement of the body.
One of the most overlooked philosophers of the 20th century is judo’s founder, Jigoro Kano. After codifying his martial art, he took the time to publish the thoughts, principles, and philosophies that birthed judo. Most notably is guiding light of the art, “seiryoku zenyo”, or, maximum efficiency. This simple maxim moved judo away from other fighting systems that asked for acrobatic jumps, spinning kicks, and other, energy intensive means of disarming opponents.
Maximum efficiency is the first principle of judo. It is the foundation of the sport’s techniques. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to achieve against resisting opponents. The way we learn to achieve maximum efficiency is through what Kano called the most important part of training, developing a quick, freely moving body. This is broadly known as tai-sabaki, roughly translated as whole body movement, or repositioning.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen an athlete use repositioning to achieve maximum efficiency through high amplitude grappling better than the man headlining this week’s UFC fight. The former light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones.
Jones’s run to the title was arguably the most dominating display of fighting that you’ll ever see. He was originally billed as a wrestler and he blazed into the UFC with looping punches that led into a wild variety of takedowns that blurred the lines between freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, and judo. His creativity was only matched by his opponent’s confusion.
Today I want to look at Jones’s run to the title to show what I mean about repositioning, body movement, and why Jones’s principle driven grappling was as efficient as it was destructive.