Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
Well I could go on.
The weight limits negate any real evidence of how well a style prepares a fighter because he is fighting a man at or close to his own weight and height.
The introduction of rounds eliminated the continuity of the bouts.
The bouts are far, far more focused on ground wrestling.
More rules have been introduced such as no kicking a man in the head when he's down, no strikes to the groin, etc. (Look at how Gracie vs Shamrock ended).
The fighters are younger and stronger.
The goal of putting style vs style has changed.
The atmosphere has dramatically changed. Fighters are relaxed now because they feel no urgency to win. It used to be that when Big John yelled" Let's get it on", the fighters wanted to immediately get in and get out. Fights weren't lasting 10 minutes(excluding Gracie). Guy came in with their best foot forward and gave their all. You rarely see that now. They pace themselves as if it were a boxing match until it goes to the ground or someone gets rocked.
Some fighters had begun getting in incredible shape very fast. I don't know how thorough these events test for steroids or other enhancers, but they've already caught Josh Barnett once. There are a few out there that fit the criteria still.
But hey, it is what it is. What is it that you disagree about, Judo Jibboo?  |
Yes, there are plenty of changes since the beginning that were detrimental as far as realism goes, mostly due in one way or another to making it more "palatable" in general. I have to say that the weight class thing could be argued either way though, putting two guys in a ring with all other things being relatively equal, that
highlights the style's attributes. If a 300 pound bjjer fell on top of a boxer and smothered him, that wouldn't really discredit boxing as a preparation for confrontation.
So my disagreement would be that some possitive things have come out of it too
! As the Gracies are so fond of chanting, it proved that your game is not complete if you have not prepared in one way or another for a grappler. As a result fighters have become more aware of threats from outside their own styles. I find that particularly important because i see it as one of the major pitfalls of the martial arts that typically you only get to fight people who have been trained to react the same way you have.
Fighters cross-train and have a much bigger box of tools at their disposal during a fight.
Yeesh, i dunno, the differences seem so significant i guess i wasn't prepared to answer this question
In general the fighters are smarter, more well rounded, and more dynamic, beyond that i'll have to get back to you.