Does one man validate your style?
After the recent success of Michael Venom Page (MVP) at Bellator 200 I have seen lots of “points fighters” post up how great the style is. Now the art of nearly hitting someone has gained some credibility. (Humour before anyone spits their dummy out). MVP put on a masterclass of arrogance and movement. His distance and timing was impeccable, his demeanor not so much. David Rickels his opponent had no idea how to deal with the problem and was physically and mentally beaten down eventually giving up. Like Machida before him and Cung le before that going all the way back to Royce Gracie at UFC 1, he presented a problem of style the other person couldn’t answer.
I remember when Machida came on the scene and used Trad Karate timing and counter striking it phased people and he was very impressive. All of a sudden Karateka all over the world were shouting out the mantra, “See, I told you we were deadly”.
Same with the now infamous Anderson Silva front kick. Boom! It really was a thing of beauty.
I felt for David, I really did. I remember many years ago sparring with a middleweight multiple world champion points fighter. At the time I was about 16 ½ stone and all about the full-contact. He was so fast, his reactions and strikes were lighting, and he would cover the distance, play a tune on my face and then bounce back out of range where I was left swinging at fresh air. It was like fighting smoke, only this smoke left a mark. His mobility was something I struggled to counter and it was an ego-crushing day.
But does studying Jeet Kune Do mean you are as badass as Bruce Lee or if you train Brazilian Ju Jitsu you are as awesome as Rickson Gracie?
My guess is no, my guess is you were blessed with average capabilities and physical traits but train hard to make them the best that you can.
These guys are different, they are freaks of nature. They have been endowed with natural talents that far supersede you or I, gifts they have then put into whichever art they chose to study.
The truth is MVP and his like are so physically gifted and so athletic naturally that they would almost certainly excel at any physical task given to them. The style then becomes irrelevant as that is just the springboard for the individual. Like all that went before him, people will figure his movement out and solve the problem but hopefully not for a while as he is a fantastic fighter and very exciting to watch.
Whatever you train and however you train it, you cannot take the credit for someone else’s success, but you can let it inspire you and hopefully be the inspiration for someone else.
We are all travelling up the same mountain, just using different paths to get there. Happy training.
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