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fighters they produced ( including myself ) all did well in com- fighting but also for lifes journey in every way , as a person.

petitions , whether they were mma or traditional competitions

. I started to realize that all techniques can be valid and effecti- Of course there are schools that focus more on money and bu-

ve in the right circumstances , and under different circumstan- siness and lose sight of the art itself , but dont blame the style,

ces would not be valid or effective at all. blame the practitioner . Its not the style but the man/woman

behind it that makes it work.

Now in 2014, Im seeing some fighters without not only the

fundamentals that traditional martial arts teaches us, but I Of course I havent even gotten into the street aspect , where

dont see the RESPECT , which is the core of traditional trai- weapons and multiple attackers are entered into the picture

ning . Is who wins or loses more important than our spiritual . Now kickboxing or grappling might be the mistake of a li-

, mental , & physical growth ? After all, what is mma without fetime and I personally preferr a Kung Fu/Kali/JKD approach ,

traditional techniques? whichwould apply the use of eye jabs , throat, knee and groin

attacks and of course, the use of my own weapons. Since the

The great thing about mma is it challenges and promotes the circumstances have now changed , so must my techniques

evolution of martial arts , so new techniques and training me- and responses.

thods are constantly being born all the time . My perspective

is , traditional martial arts builds a core of fundamental me- With no rules or refs a practitioner must display much more

chanics, conditioning , and values that is ever important in a caution , respect and humility to avoid and survive such en-

society with so many social issues . counters as much as possible . Make no mistake without mma

Once this is established progressive training can be very valua- traditional martial arts would still exist , however would mma

ble to the growth of a practitioner . exist without traditional arts?

I believe this not only for social reasons, but I have found that

fighters with the old fundamental training already accompli-

shed , usually do better in the ring and have a better unders-

tanding of human body mechanics , as a science.

Look at most of our long time UFC champs , I mean the ones
who won over and over again , consistantly for a long period of
time . Anderson Sylva was a traditional Muay Thai practitioner
as well as traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu . Randy Couture was a
traditional Boxer and Greco Roman wrestler. Chuck Liddell was
traditional Kenpo.

The Gracies were traditional BJJ. Lyoto Machida was a traditio-
nal Japanese style created by his own father.

Instead of thinking why not both , people tend to seperate , be
open to all forms of training , they all have value not only for

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