When I was a teenager, I had basically three interests: 1) Starcraft (ever since I was 12-13) 2) Poker (since I was 17) 3) MMA (since I was 14-15, trained first time when I was 16).
Anyway, after I quit playing Sc2 professionally, I quickly found myself missing some kind of competitive outlet. A new MMA gym had opened up near me like 2-3 months prior, and I'd been going on and off... but around July last year I decided to get a lot more serious.
I'd been out with an injury for like 1-2 months and at the time I was about 90kg, 180~ cm. So I started training 5 days a week, 3~ hours a day... And yesterday I had my first fight, weighing in at around 77 kg.
I blunk
The event is hosted by Top FC which is Korea's second biggest MMA organization behind Road FC (who also has their own amateur divsion, called Central League I think), and uses the moniker "Top FC Khan Amateur League". This was its 4th iteration.
The rules are quite friendly: - 2x 3 minute rounds - Headgear, 14 oz gloves*, shinguards - No heelhooks, no knees or elbows to the head but OK to the body.
Rest is the same as pro mma, but referees try to stop fights much faster if a submission is on, to avoid serious injuries in an amateur event.
* They told us last minute that from now on we'd be able to opt for MMA gloves if we wanted to but I dont think anyone did since it was a last minute change and everyone had been sparring with bigger gloves.
ONE MORE REP YOU CAN DO IT... More seriously, rules meeting
The gameplan
When I first came to this gym, I had a little bit of grappling skill, but my striking was HORRIBLE. I'm still not a really competent striker (but I'd say I'm one of the best 3 or so regular students in terms of ground grappling --- then there's obviously the coaches and a couple of higher level guys who are a bunch better too), but I've made improvements. My cardio is also excellent since I train for so long every day and I run in addition to that.
So to summarize: striking relatively poor, grappling relatively good, cardio good. I also don't have much power in my strikes, which I need to work on.
I've got really long arms and legs for my size, and since my most glaring weakness striking wise is exchanges in the pocket, the gameplan my coaches made for me was as follows: - Stay on the outside, use a lot of circling, use your jab and kicks to maintain distance. - When he closes, clinch!
Oh and I've got a bit of a tendency to be too timid when sparring, and walk back too much, so I've been trying to work on that, alongside a gameplan that can work around that.
The opponent
Before the fight I didn't know much about him, except that he's a striker. Oh and that he looks a lot like Reis :D After the fight I talked to him tho and found out he's 32 (I thiiiiink, maybe 31? cant remember), been training for a similiar time to me (a little less in mma, but he's done some boxing before), and funnily enough the dude is friends with one of the guys that trains where I train (neither of us had any idea about this until we talked tho).
The Fight
I'm in the red
The Aftermath
In case you want to watch the fight before you read this, I'll spoiler it. + Show Spoiler +
So I lost, but I'm actually pretty happy with how I did. Before the fight I wasnt at all sure if I would want to do this again, whereas now I'm 100% sure I do.
The biggest thing I take away from this is a newfound appreciation for gameplans - watching the fight back I can really tell where I followed the gameplan and did well, and where I strayed and did worse.
Here's some things that went right/wrong:
Right: - Clinch was good, he didn't know how to shoulder out of the thai plum. I should have tried for it a bit more probably. - I kept distance... decently, not as well as in practice but decently. Front kick worked well.
Wrong: - My coach has been trying to get me to take smaller steps when I punch, and I think I fell back into stepping too far with my jab, and stranding my back leg a little. - I completely forgot to even try the main takedown I practiced from the clinch :D Instead I went for a silly un-practiced trip. - Didn't jab enough! - I think I tensed my shoulders a bit, because my arms gassed really hard in round 2, which I've never had happen before. - Forgot to slow down my breathing when on the outside. - When backstepping I only single stepped too much! I actually worked hard on making sure I always 2 stepped when I was training since there's a huge difference between backstep-circle and backstep, backstep, circle. - The first low kick I throw, you can see it lands really slow. It's because when I stepped forward for my jab, I didn't follow it with my right leg properly.
Things I learned: - I've never trained in a ring before, our gym has a cage! In round 2 when we are at the ropes, and I'm defending the takedown... I kind of froze because I had no idea how much pressure I could put on the ropes without falling haha. Also arms were so tired. - When you are on your back and wearing headgear, the nose-guard blocks your downward vision, I couldnt see his legs haha. I wanted to do a situp sweep but I couldn't tell where the fuck his legs were. I definitely didn't roll enough with headgear. - Too compartmentalized sparring. Because my standup is weak, I think I did a bit too much pure striking sparring... I think this is maybe why my arms got so tired. Next time I'll work more full MMA sparring. - Nutshots are very painful.
I'm also gonna add some muscle for next time, I've been cutting for a long time just to get rid of all the fat, now its time to build up a bit
Oh and I guess you could put lack of combination punching in there somewhere, but it was actually part of the gameplan to not do that, since it necessitates remaining in the pocket a bit and we wanted to avoid that as much as possible. But in terms of training its definitely on the to do list hehe
Ah and headmovement! It's something I definitely want to work a lot on. I only really used any headmovement once in the fight haha
Various other things: - One guy broke or separated his knee, didnt see how it happened but he had to be carried out on a stretcher. Looked reallly painful - One of my team mates (the guy just above me in the pic below) is a beast. He looks like he's asleep in there then BOOM cracking thunder, boom submission. So relaxed haha.
What is it about Starcraft that attracts people, the likes of Jinro, so far outside the usual mold most humans are made of? I was floored with surprise watching this..
Im very happy you got to do this Jinro, you went further than i could, its one thing i regret. I stopped at just grappling matches, never committed to doing the MMA thing even though i was loving the training, i never took that extra step, lazyness i guess, i love video games too much lol. I hope you keep blogging us with your progress, i really enjoyed reading/watching this and glad you didn't get hurt!
On April 27 2014 11:38 Artanis[Xp] wrote: Awesome. The hit in the jinro seemed like it really hurt . I've never been a fan of MMA but I watched the whole vid. Keep it up.
Thankfully I was wearing a cup, so it wasnt the kind of pain you get when you get hit clean... It basically went like "FUCK this hurts, no its ok, no wait, no... yes, hurts like shit, ok lets wait a bit more".
Gratz man for getting out there and doing it. It's a fucking rush like none other I've experienced in life, I just recently got back into the gym to get started preparing for my next fight.
On April 27 2014 11:56 NotSorry wrote: Gratz man for getting out there and doing it. It's a fucking rush like none other I've experienced in life, I just recently got back into the gym to get started preparing for my next fight.
Yeah I spent the rest of the day feeling completely amazing haha
Before the fight, I had a jammed up finger and a bit of a bruised rib... After the fight? Took me like 10 hours before I even felt like I had any bruises. Adrenaline is crazy.
On April 27 2014 11:38 Artanis[Xp] wrote: Awesome. The hit in the jinro seemed like it really hurt . I've never been a fan of MMA but I watched the whole vid. Keep it up.
Thankfully I was wearing a cup, so it wasnt the kind of pain you get when you get hit clean... It basically went like "FUCK this hurts, no its ok, no wait, no... yes, hurts like shit, ok lets wait a bit more".
I could almost feel your pain just from watching the video haha!
Also, one small point: It might help to indicate which one of the two you are for next time. At first I couldn't tell until I looked at the hair length as you can't see the faces very clearly with those things on.
On April 27 2014 11:38 Artanis[Xp] wrote: Awesome. The hit in the jinro seemed like it really hurt . I've never been a fan of MMA but I watched the whole vid. Keep it up.
Thankfully I was wearing a cup, so it wasnt the kind of pain you get when you get hit clean... It basically went like "FUCK this hurts, no its ok, no wait, no... yes, hurts like shit, ok lets wait a bit more".
Are those kind of hits a regular thing? Seemed like everyone just waited it out and continued the match with no penalty or anything.
Good for you Jinro, glad to see you keep competing at something. Looked like he had some decent striking, definitely mixed it up a good bit. You did well in the clinch though, even if the ground game didn't turn out exactly like you were hoping.
On April 27 2014 11:38 Artanis[Xp] wrote: Awesome. The hit in the jinro seemed like it really hurt . I've never been a fan of MMA but I watched the whole vid. Keep it up.
Thankfully I was wearing a cup, so it wasnt the kind of pain you get when you get hit clean... It basically went like "FUCK this hurts, no its ok, no wait, no... yes, hurts like shit, ok lets wait a bit more".
Are those kind of hits a regular thing? Seemed like everyone just waited it out and continued the match with no penalty or anything.
Happens, it was for sure not intentional.
On April 27 2014 12:16 UndoneJin wrote: Good for you Jinro, glad to see you keep competing at something. Looked like he had some decent striking, definitely mixed it up a good bit. You did well in the clinch though, even if the ground game didn't turn out exactly like you were hoping.
Good luck next time, keep working hard!
I thought his spinning back lowkick or whatever it actually was at 1:24ish? was really cool.
wow that nutshot looked super painful D: Also those blows to the head when you were on the ground, do hits like that knock out your concentration for a while? like huh what am i doing wtf just happened. How do you keep ur mind on ur gameplan when that kinda stuff happens. Also this might be silly (i know nothing about fighting) is it ever useful to just like roll away when on ur the ground maybe surprise him and put some distance between u two for u to get back up? Also once ur on the ground how do u get up O_O looked nearly impossible. Definitely post more vids in the future i wanna see you win!
Damnit Jinro you are so badass, I thought this would be about you watching your first MMA fight for some reason since the Jones vs Teixeira fight was today. Keep it up man, such a competitive spirit!
I havent competed in fighting for a long time but I find it fun to try and analyse anything.
0:48 never turn your back to your opponent except for specific techniques such as a spinning back kick. Even then many people say don't do that.
Your opponent clearly has some TKD skills, pretend he is a siege tank and you are in minimum range.
3:09 think about your clinch grip, your opponent is getting out of it by bucking like a horse.
3:45 you didnt see that coming youtube slomo speed is so useful.
5:17 you're scared, your shoulders hunch over into a standing fetal position of fear. think about a jab here. because he is doing a weird tkd technique where you extend your forward hand while side kicking his torso is exposed. fuck it, throw your shoulder into him and take him to the ground if that's allowed in your rules.
5:35 if that actually connected, nice hit
Later he takes you down in the same way, and if the gloves were off the fight would end there. Practice that part of your fighting.
On April 27 2014 13:39 Shock710 wrote: wow that nutshot looked super painful D: Also those blows to the head when you were on the ground, do hits like that knock out your concentration for a while? like huh what am i doing wtf just happened. How do you keep ur mind on ur gameplan when that kinda stuff happens. Also this might be silly (i know nothing about fighting) is it ever useful to just like roll away when on ur the ground maybe surprise him and put some distance between u two for u to get back up? Also once ur on the ground how do u get up O_O looked nearly impossible. Definitely post more vids in the future i wanna see you win!
Ground shots arent as bad as they look. Shots standing are much more powerful.
And getting up, its a little trickier with upkicks banned but the reason it looked so hard was 1) I was so tired in my arms 2) I couldnt see properly because of the headgear. You see me reach for his legs a few times but I actually was reaching completely blind, the noseguard was blocking my vision of everything below his hips. Very confusing haha
On April 27 2014 14:11 Thaniri wrote: I havent competed in fighting for a long time but I find it fun to try and analyse anything.
0:48 never turn your back to your opponent except for specific techniques such as a spinning back kick. Even then many people say don't do that.
Your opponent clearly has some TKD skills, pretend he is a siege tank and you are in minimum range.
3:09 think about your clinch grip, your opponent is getting out of it by bucking like a horse.
3:45 you didnt see that coming youtube slomo speed is so useful.
5:17 you're scared, your shoulders hunch over into a standing fetal position of fear. think about a jab here. because he is doing a weird tkd technique where you extend your forward hand while side kicking his torso is exposed. fuck it, throw your shoulder into him and take him to the ground if that's allowed in your rules.
5:35 if that actually connected, nice hit
Later he takes you down in the same way, and if the gloves were off the fight would end there. Practice that part of your fighting.
5 17 is actually me going into a horrible habit of thinking im floyd mayweather and can shoulder roll punches. 5 35 im not sure how well it connected, my headgear sort of blocked my view. You can see me try to get it back in place right after.
3 45 actually happens a ton to me when sparring and im tired anf go for that horribly executed trip with no setup haha
Im usually pretty good at defending takedowns actually (singles and doubles, worse vs clinch tds as you saw), I have excellent balance. My takedowns are super shit tho.
I feel like my biggest problem with takedowns is timing and I feel slow when I try them which is probably related. Imma work that part hard next few months.
You didnt get to see it but my double leg is truly horrible xD
wow that was awesome! I noticed your hand speed in comparison to your opponents seemed a whole lot slower. I don't know how important striking is in MMA fighting but it seemed almost like you weren't used to the weight of the gloves (14oz is training glove weight right?) and your hands just couldn't fly as fast as you wanted it to. 5/5 looking forward to the next blog!
Watching the match: I was fascinated by the footwork. I was a fencer for ~10 years, and I had been told the movement is similar in boxing, and I saw it here too. I guess all combat sports have a premium on fluid motion and quick reactions and therefore gravitate to the most efficient motions
I probably ought to refrain from commenting on your performance since this is the first MMA match I've ever watched, I'm sure you're getting lots of actually accurate feedback from people who know the sport
Hey Jinro, just want to say I really like your passion for things. Many people here are all talk and really don't get much done.
You really follow your passion and I think that's really cool. I hope you keep doing well in the future. Please keep us updated, hope to see you win some nice fights in good time! Cheers!
On April 27 2014 15:50 Liquid`Jinro wrote: Its funny you say that, one of my coaches always tells me I move too fencing like which works better for boxing than mma.
It's because the bladed stance of boxing/fencing leaves you too vulnerable for takedowns.
On April 27 2014 15:57 FiWiFaKi wrote: Many people here are all talk and really don't get much done.
Truth. So badass seeing someone actually get in the ring. Puts all the keyboard warriors into perspecitve. Jinro tru warrior.
I'd love to get into shape enough for this. I got plenty of friends who train, several of whom have had local fights, so i've really got no fucking excuse.
On April 27 2014 16:11 NukeD wrote: You are kind of slow :/
Yeah its definitely one of my weakest attributes, exacerbated by being a bit tense.
On April 27 2014 15:57 FiWiFaKi wrote: Hey Jinro, just want to say I really like your passion for things. Many people here are all talk and really don't get much done.
You really follow your passion and I think that's really cool. I hope you keep doing well in the future. Please keep us updated, hope to see you win some nice fights in good time! Cheers!
Thanks, actually getting to do this whole starcraft thing sort of gave me a more "fuck it, lets do it" attitude haha
I rememeber some time way back I was playing SC2 and I was in diamond league. I was just playing some ladder games and then I go into this ZvT. It was on that map that had like 4 bases in the corners. And each base was close by ground to another base and close by air to another. I think the tileset was like pale cave tiles or something like that. I notice my opponent's name was "Jinro" and I was like "fake Jinro?" to which my opponent replied something about it being a new account. Then he proceeded to rape me with hellions. A couple of days later, I checked his profile and he had a bunch of custom games against Korean players and shit, the ones you were playing against on stream and I was like "holy shit I played Jinro in a ladder game" I think the tourney you were playing was the one where you got that really big nuke against Choya or something. Maybe that wasn't it, I don't remember. Man, this memory seems like it was an eternity ago.
Anyways I just wanted to say that I was a fan always when you were playing SC2 and, for a first fight, that looked pretty damn good. Good luck man, that shit looks like so much fun! Jinro hwaiting~
Congrats on going through with it, not many people actually pull the trigger on stuff like this. Your opponent is pretty jacked, was he a lot shorter? Could you take advantage of a reach advantage generally?
Idk, judge for yourself from these official weighin pics:
He didnt feel that much bigger
Oh and since this was my first time, and I didnt want any extra stress about weight, I made sure I was at 77 kg 1 week before the event. So basically on day of event I woke up at 76 kg and had breakfast... whereas my opponent since he's a bit more muscular than me probably skipped breakfast and weighed in closer to 77.5 limit than me.
Dont think it mattered tho. But since its gonna be a few months before next match I plan on starting a bit of a bulk, since I'm down to very little fat.
On April 27 2014 20:42 B.I.G. wrote: So your korean is good enough now the follow the kind of technical instructions your trainer gives? Sounds awesome
For grappling, I can understand really well because I understand grappling concepts already quite a bit, and I've picked up so many new korean grappling related terms.
Striking is really un-intuitive to me so it's a lot harder for me to pick up. The coaches of this gym are pro fighters and THEIR coach speaks really good english so every now and then I'll get some concepts that I didn't quite catch, explained by him, which helps a lot.
On April 27 2014 11:15 Physician wrote: What is it about Starcraft that attracts people, the likes of Jinro, so far outside the usual mold most humans are made of? I was floored with surprise watching this..
There's actually several of us with MMA or other backgrounds in martial arts here man. It's not just watching or betting on fights. Quite a few of us from not just the BW days but apparently the SC 2 days as well. Including guys who managed teams.
trying grappling with boxing gloves must be a nightmare :s
holy shit man fighting mma... i wouldnt be able to sleep for two days after a fight. i would have liked to see more of your grappling, maybe next time. keep it up-
p.s: i fucking hate when the other guys corners start to scream.... im like "fuck man pls shut up, im trying to think"
On April 27 2014 22:50 B.I.G. wrote: Is it that hard to learn the language? You've been there for quite some time now right?
I've never studied except for some minor studying on my own, and while playing SC I actually didn't use korean as much day to day as you'd think. Then switched to poker... not really a social job.
I'd say the majority of my Korean improvement has occured from 1) Non-korean friends and koreans with good english moving away (TLO, hayder, huk, hero, supernova, mc etc - 1 year ago), 2) my girlfriend (met her like 1.5 years ago) 3) MMA since almost nobody there speaks english (starting 1 year ago)
I'm not happy with my korean level, but I have improved a lot in the last year which is nice, still really tough to get the finer points of striking instruction.
My hearing is also, like it's not bad it's just not great, especially in a pretty loud enviornment it gets tough to understand sometimes.
Watched the fight and I thinks it´s awesome that you something new to dedicate yourself to. I myself trained a lot of kick and thaiboxing for two years ago but I never really enjoyed MMA when I tried it. Feels really scary to wrestle and different kind of armlocks and stuff like that.
Keep it up and most important. Post more matches. Gets me back to conitnue with the kick and thai boxing .
I kind of like the no heel hook rule. As Paul Harris has routinely showed, you can cause so much damage so quickly... it hurts my knee just thinking about it tbh.
But then again I guess I'm kind of a hypocrite because I'd like to see soccer kicks and stomps to the head of a downed opponent brought back.
very cool man keep it up. one thing i want to say is when your on the ground use your hips more to get him off you and dont drop your hands when kicking but everything else looked good for your first fight very cool man, again keep it up your a boss.
Yeah when i both pictures of the fighters to me before the fight there looked like one winner. Your very toned up and have probably no fat on you, however you have no muscle either so i doubt you have much punching power. Build up for next fight is the key. Your range is your biggest strength by a mile, if i was styling you as a fighting it would defiantly be kick heavy but of course it is also down to the fighter. So of course it's up to you, but damn you need to abuse that range! Clearly the knees you got in the clinches were forceful so it shows your legs are powerful already as that guy was big. Would need to see a second fight though to see what you can give but would love to see you utilize that size/reach you have.
Also looked like such a miss match in weight...looked like you were fighting a heavyweight :s
Now to talk about your striking for a bit! It seems like the biggest gains you'll find in your striking, both in landing techniques successfully and landing them with power, will come from improved footwork. Your feet were sort of all over the place in that fight and it seemed to leave you off balance frequently when you wanted to throw something. There are some freaks out there who are able to generate tremendous power from only their arms, but for most of us mere mortals, it has to come from the hips and that usually requires your feet to be in a stable position. Obviously it's critical for throwing crisp kicks as well.
Really weird how you use boxing gloves for matches. We use those for training as well, but you can't really do anything on the ground with it. The force is the same as mma gloves anyways, its just easier to hit with and a bit easier to bruise. Meanwhile it becomes an easily stalemate on the ground, because you on the bottom can't really do anything when covered with enormous gloves (which looked like was the case towards the end of both rounds in your fight).
Looked good though, even if you got your ass (and nuts) kicked
I am not sure how useful low kick are in a MMA setting, I am coming from Kickboxing but generally speaking I think that low kicks can be extremely useful when executed correctly.
also when you try to block low kicks with your shins always make sure that you turn your knee outwards and dont stiffen up your leg too much. in the video of the fight you were pointing your knee straight ahead which can lead to some painful hit on your muscles in your lower leg area
even with the leg protection you guys were using with some training you can make someone unable to walk with 4-5 well placed low kicks
On April 28 2014 05:12 thebigdonkey wrote: Congrats on the fight!
Now to talk about your striking for a bit! It seems like the biggest gains you'll find in your striking, both in landing techniques successfully and landing them with power, will come from improved footwork. Your feet were sort of all over the place in that fight and it seemed to leave you off balance frequently when you wanted to throw something. There are some freaks out there who are able to generate tremendous power from only their arms, but for most of us mere mortals, it has to come from the hips and that usually requires your feet to be in a stable position. Obviously it's critical for throwing crisp kicks as well.
I agree completely, and I noticed it a lot too when watching.
It was an interesting feeling how once I got in there, so many things that weren't deeply enough ingrained yet (like recently I'd been working on not stranding my back leg when jabbing sijce it leaves me with no follow up) just disappears.
On April 28 2014 05:57 Excludos wrote: Really weird how you use boxing gloves for matches. We use those for training as well, but you can't really do anything on the ground with it. The force is the same as mma gloves anyways, its just easier to hit with and a bit easier to bruise. Meanwhile it becomes an easily stalemate on the ground, because you on the bottom can't really do anything when covered with enormous gloves (which looked like was the case towards the end of both rounds in your fight).
Looked good though, even if you got your ass (and nuts) kicked
Not that bad really, there were a lot of submissions on the card I think... maybe like 25 to 30%?
They changed the rules to allow first timers to use mma gloves if both agreed but dont think anyone did as it was a last minute change (my crazy team mate opted for yes despite not having trained in mma gloves and having a muay thai background lol).
I think one reason is that mma gloves are small enough to more easily cause cuts and such to your face.
On April 28 2014 07:34 Skilledblob wrote: I am not sure how useful low kick are in a MMA setting, I am coming from Kickboxing but generally speaking I think that low kicks can be extremely useful when executed correctly.
also when you try to block low kicks with your shins always make sure that you turn your knee outwards and dont stiffen up your leg too much. in the video of the fight you were pointing your knee straight ahead which can lead to some painful hit on your muscles in your lower leg area
even with the leg protection you guys were using with some training you can make someone unable to walk with 4-5 well placed low kicks
Lowkicks are awesome and I didnt throw as many as I was supposed to. I dont know if you noticed but it was another victim of footwork where I ended up with my rear leg too far back and no power. My opponents low kick were nice tho.
Thx for the checking tip, I was aware of the pointing knee thing but didnt have the presence of mind to execute it ij the moment.
On April 28 2014 04:48 Pandemona wrote: Yeah when i both pictures of the fighters to me before the fight there looked like one winner. Your very toned up and have probably no fat on you, however you have no muscle either so i doubt you have much punching power. Build up for next fight is the key. Your range is your biggest strength by a mile, if i was styling you as a fighting it would defiantly be kick heavy but of course it is also down to the fighter. So of course it's up to you, but damn you need to abuse that range! Clearly the knees you got in the clinches were forceful so it shows your legs are powerful already as that guy was big. Would need to see a second fight though to see what you can give but would love to see you utilize that size/reach you have.
Also looked like such a miss match in weight...looked like you were fighting a heavyweight :s
I think most of my lack of power comes from my bad footwork and being a bit too tense. Muscle doesnt add that much to your punching power, but I still want to add some for grappling primarily.
And trust me, he's nowhere near a heavy weight, thank god haha
The tall guy in my corner is 110 kg and I've sparred a bunch with him... his jab feels like this guys power punches almost (and this guy hit reasonably hard too).
On April 28 2014 03:02 starslayer wrote: very cool man keep it up. one thing i want to say is when your on the ground use your hips more to get him off you and dont drop your hands when kicking but everything else looked good for your first fight very cool man, again keep it up your a boss.
Yeah I saw I dropped my right hand even when jabbing once or twice. I didnt know that was a habit I had actually.
The hips thing was just me being too tired, I felt like I haf nothing in my arms at all.
I don't know if it was the gloves or not, but your clinches need to be way closer, can't have the guy wiggling around while you have him on that easy clinch. Really nice job though! Grappling becomes easier once you switch out from the boxing gloves to the 6oz mma gloves with open fingers.
Top FC usually hosts one of these events every 2-3 months.
There's another org that does amateur events, Road FC, but my gym are partnered with Korean Top Team, and they run/are part of running Top FC so I think I can only do Top FC events.
Hey Jinro that was pretty awesome. Good job. I don't think I'd have the balls to actually fight for fear of getting hurt.
I think if you would have continued going for Muay Thai clinches as you did at the start you would have destroyed him. He had no idea what to do against it as you said yourself. After finding a weakness that early I think you really had a lot of time to exploit it further.
Also you never talked about your ground game. It seemed like you knew what you were doing from your back somewhat but I was wondering if you had practiced your top game. He was standing pretty straight up so I think you could have dove at him a few times for some easy takedown points and if you had anything to follow up on the ground even better. You had a good reach advantage so he would be pretty helpless if you could posture up for some ground and pound.
Also I totally agree with you gaining some muscle mass. He was so much larger than you around the chest and lats that he had a huge strength advantage in clinches. Would also make your striking more intimidating even if your technique isn't the greatest.
I think if you would have continued going for Muay Thai clinches as you did at the start you would have destroyed him. He had no idea what to do against it as you said yourself. After finding a weakness that early I think you really had a lot of time to exploit it further.
Yeah, after I watched the video I immediately thought "huh, guess I should have done more of that" :D While fighting it was all pretty blank tho, just tried to remember to remember to avoid some of my common pitfalls. Bet it gets easier to think on your feet with more experience.
Also you never talked about your ground game. It seemed like you knew what you were doing from your back somewhat but I was wondering if you had practiced your top game. He was standing pretty straight up so I think you could have dove at him a few times for some easy takedown points and if you had anything to follow up on the ground even better. You had a good reach advantage so he would be pretty helpless if you could posture up for some ground and pound.
I was supposed to be using a different clinch grip and work takedowns from there (one underhook and wrist control, knees then single and repeat if stuffed), but I blanked on it in the fight for some reason. My top position is OK. On the plus side: + I transition very smoothly between side/mount + I'm good at passing (by MMA standards)
Downside: - I don't have that good top pressure, so I think my full mount is a little meh vs explosive people.
Overall I just sort of blanked a bit on takedowns.
On April 28 2014 11:11 Disregard wrote: Are you fluent in Korean Jinro?
I think he looked bigger in the pic at first but really it's because his limbs are shorter than yours.
One thing I noticed in the comparison pic was that he likes to stand more sideways, whereas your body is mostly facing forward.
I wanted to mention aikido. I don't know what its place in MMA is, or even how practical it is, but maybe you could use some of those principles for takedowns. Your arms are really long, so maybe those types of takedowns would come easier for you? Also it might fit in with your gameplan of staying back and using your range. When they close, you could attempt one of these maneuvers.
I think if you can just pick up a bit of speed, a lot of your problems will go away. Fighting!
A lesser man wouldn't have even posted after losing, but your mentality is impressive. Good luck, JINRO FIGHTING (literally XD )
BTW I've been in many street fights, never did any fighting for sport. A good friend of mine is an MMa fighter, thinking I should jump in the ring myself one of these days. You've inspired me good sir.
I've actually only lost 1 street fight, I got hit from behind and the punch landed right in my temple, I got hit by a guy who was easily 250+ lbs. I never saw it coming. My head hit the bar and I went nighty night. I was fighting someone else when this happened. Every time I've 1v1'd, I was the last man standing, although it has cost me a few teeth. Funny thing is, I've never started a fight, and I've found most guys are cowards. I'd say I've been in about 8 fights that started with someone trying to sucker punch me. The only time it worked was that time I got hit from behind.
Oh, and about your arms getting tired, there are some good exercises that can help with that, I can't remember what the actual name of this type of exercising is called, but basically you hold your arms over your head for as long as you can. Then try and spar/do pushups, ect. Just make sure you don't do it more than once or twice a week, give your arms time to recover each time.
Rope climbing and swimming without using your feet are great as well. (I was in the Army for a little while, did a lot of crazy workouts) Another tip is get used to adrenaline rushes, so you can learn to keep your head clear when it happens. A brisk slap in the face is usually enough to trigger one. Have a training partner do this before you spar. (you'll know when it's in your system because you should get some trembling in your hands when you try to hold them still, as well as you will kind of "feel" all of your senses being heightened and your reactions get much faster) I've also found that when taking someone down from a clinch or just picking them up and slamming them, it helps to let your self be really angry for that moment (just make sure you don't lose your head) I usually let out a growl when I slam someone and then immediately go back into "thinking mode" So much of winning a fight is about not making mistakes, recognizing and taking advantage of their mistakes and weakness, and knowing when to go all in (letting all your rage out and finishing them off) It's a lot like starcraft in the mental regard, however, I feel I can access all my strength easier when I'm a little bit pissed off, when you are trying to pick up and control the movement of 200lbs, you need all the power you can muster.
last thing, you seem to be throwing a lot of kicks off balance. This is something I've always been quick to punish, stick to low kicks to the legs to control distance until you get more comfortable with high kicks.When they try and kick I can usually just jab them or land a cross to the head before the kick lands, removing any power behind their kick, (it also never hurts to make them a little gunshy about trying to kick you in the head) I don't know if its legal, but a trick I've used a few times is to step forward onto their front foot and punching them in the face. Their reaction is always to try and step back and you stopping that can throw them off balance and give you an easy power shot to the head because their arms will usually flail a little as they try and balance after leaning back but not being able to step back. I step in their forward foot with my left foot and punch with my right (I'm right handed)
How the hell are you supposed to fight in the ground with those gloves lol. Thought you'd be more eager to take the fight to the ground as you said your opponent had boxing background and you're decent grappler. However, I don't really know how MMA-groundfight works as I've only done BJJ so far, atleast bottom guard isn't nearly as good position when your opponent is allowed to hit you :D
Nice one man. Next time you're fighting I'll see if I can come (I assume it's on weekends usually?).
I've been meaning to get into martial arts all my life but never really did. There's a few places in my city (Jecheon, small city) but the MMA place is a little far but I think if I were to improve my cardio then I should start becoming more active.
Congratulations on your fight Jinro, you put up a good fight. Its a pity you lost but at least now you know on what to improve for your next confrontation. Keep at it and you'll win next time!
Hope you get a chance to train with Yoon Heo (he taught BJJ at my university club for a while) who fights in Road FC :D I believe he trains with Korean Team Mad in Busan and fights at 155 lbs.
I used to box growing up so my only suggestion would be to keep your elbows in tighter to your body when you want to throw a punch. This helps with shoulder exhaustion. It's not exactly ideal in defending some other techniques that MMA offers, but it's a easy and effective way to get more 'pop' on your punches while at the same time reducing exhaustion.
Congrats man, having fought several times myself I can tell you it takes a man to step in and do it at any level. Keep it up, I wish you the best of luck any much success!
On April 29 2014 06:34 Ctone23 wrote: Hey Jinro, nice fight!
I used to box growing up so my only suggestion would be to keep your elbows in tighter to your body when you want to throw a punch. This helps with shoulder exhaustion. It's not exactly ideal in defending some other techniques that MMA offers, but it's a easy and effective way to get more 'pop' on your punches while at the same time reducing exhaustion.
Keep up the awesome work!!
Thx, I didnt realize I was still letting them flare.
Hey Jinro, that was quite a decent fight for your first fight tbh! Just a small tip on getting hit in the crotch, jump and land on your heels a couple of times. It really helps. Source: I've gotten hit a lot in the crotch during TKD fights.
I also saw you turn around your body, with your back in front of him. Look out for that, he can just freely attack you that way.
And when you get kicked in your balls, don't sit on the ground or on your knees, but stay up and stretch your legs, that way it goes away faster. Those breaks aren't during the fight, so try to avoid taking to long breaks, and keep your body comfortable.
I really like you set up this blog, with video's and pictures. Keep sharing.
In about a year i will do a fight aswell, but not in MMA, but in kickboxing. Training in the Netherlands, Enschede now for K1 Aerts Dojo. That's why I'm very interested in reading your experiences. Keep sharing bro.
Totalbiscuit could have casted that :D "and in the blue trunks we have...." Wow Jinro, living out your dreams. That is a cool way to live your life :D GL with the MMA, the video looks awesome
Jinro, for what my advice is worth, try to relax a bit more. You are way too jumpy, and it is really affecting both your balance and the power of your strikes, as well as your reaction speed. One other thing I noticed that you are to quick to jab and jump out again. Keep at it. My martial arts experience is limited to aikido (seven years now), but one of my teachers is an ex-boxer (the guy is 65, has two hip protheses and is still going), and one advice he gave me was to keep moving forward (i.e. attack) because if you keep moving backward, your opponent just won't stop coming.
Respect though. As much as I love martial arts, I would never have the guts to step inside a ring. I hate hurting people too much for that, and I hate getting hurt myself.
Edit: on this picture, you can clearly see the difference between you and your opponent. Your opponent's weight is balanced over his two legs while your weight seems to be primarily on your front leg. It's apparent from the video as well. Try to keep your weight balanced (don't lean forward so much!), it will increase your movement and reaction speed.
Yeah, that other guy looked really huge in that picture lol. Once I say the side to side comparisons I realized he wasn't that big. I've had a large interest in MMA for years now but never went into it myself, don't think I could handle it physically. How long did you train in BJJ before you fought though? I know you have talked about it for awhile. Just wondering because having your first fight in less than a year of training is pretty rare. I think it usually takes 1-2 years before most people are prepared to actually get in there against someone.
Regardless it seems like it is a good outlet for it. Maybe it mimics SC that way. Like the way you look at losses, sc players look at losses being more valuable than wins because they teach them what they need to work on to not lose again. Maybe all that SC is paying off for you now since you already got a good mentality for the sport. Do you plan on fighting more in the future?
On May 01 2014 05:07 maartendq wrote: Jinro, for what my advice is worth, try to relax a bit more. You are way too jumpy, and it is really affecting both your balance and the power of your strikes, as well as your reaction speed. One other thing I noticed that you are to quick to jab and jump out again. Keep at it. My martial arts experience is limited to aikido (seven years now), but one of my teachers is an ex-boxer (the guy is 65, has two hip protheses and is still going), and one advice he gave me was to keep moving forward (i.e. attack) because if you keep moving backward, your opponent just won't stop coming.
Respect though. As much as I love martial arts, I would never have the guts to step inside a ring. I hate hurting people too much for that, and I hate getting hurt myself.
Edit: on this picture, you can clearly see the difference between you and your opponent. Your opponent's weight is balanced over his two legs while your weight seems to be primarily on your front leg. It's apparent from the video as well. Try to keep your weight balanced (don't lean forward so much!), it will increase your movement and reaction speed.
Just relax!
My coaches teach a front leg heavy style for MMA, but I'm probably overcompensating a bit hehe (my natural inclination is to be very backfoot heavy).
Moving forward, they tell me the same thing, that I'm too defensive. Working on it ~~
I dont think your picture showed up, btw? "On this picture" then blank space :p
On May 01 2014 05:32 Enki wrote: Yeah, that other guy looked really huge in that picture lol. Once I say the side to side comparisons I realized he wasn't that big. I've had a large interest in MMA for years now but never went into it myself, don't think I could handle it physically. How long did you train in BJJ before you fought though? I know you have talked about it for awhile. Just wondering because having your first fight in less than a year of training is pretty rare. I think it usually takes 1-2 years before most people are prepared to actually get in there against someone.
Regardless it seems like it is a good outlet for it. Maybe it mimics SC that way. Like the way you look at losses, sc players look at losses being more valuable than wins because they teach them what they need to work on to not lose again. Maybe all that SC is paying off for you now since you already got a good mentality for the sport. Do you plan on fighting more in the future?
I think his pic is more of a close up haha. He was very similar in size, just more compact... I'm 180cm but my reach is 185 cm and my legs are obviously very long as well, so at a similar weight class I'm gonna be a lot leaner than someone like him with shorter arms and legs.
My training history is something like this:
2005~2006 (I was 16~17)~ Start MMA, train a couple of months and go back to playing SC. Repeat this on and off for next couple of years (very infrequent training due to SC/Poker being a priority and not having the dedication to travel 1 hour to get to the gym every day... also a few injuries: hyperextended elbow, had to walk with crutches for a month or two after I accidently rolled the wrong way vs a toe hold, skin infection etc). Didn't learn a ton from these days since it was so infrequent, but there's a few things I still use today like standing kimura counter vs back takes, some toe hold stuff etc. I'd say in 2 years time I probably had like 3 months worth of training.
2012 I think? I was 23 or so... Joined a BJJ gym here in Korea, I trained like 3 days a week maybe for 4-6 months. Quit because I wanted to focus more on poker.
2013 february... Found a new MMA gym had opened up next to where I lived, started going 3~ times a week for a couple of months. Noticed my ankle was hurting a lot and stopped going for 2 months to let it heal... Kept feeling sore, so around end of June or beginning of July I said fuck this and started training again.... At which point the soreness promptly went away haha.
Anyway, got serious in July and have been training about 5 days a week since then, only missing classes when I'm travelling or injured. I think I was asked if I wanted to do an amateur match for the first time around.... November? But the timing was bad since I was going to sweden.
I'm not sure what the average time people train before taking fights is in MMA, but my understanding is that in Amateur boxing, something like 6 months of dedicated training is pretty normal before your first match? Not sure tho.
On May 01 2014 01:32 mr_tolkien wrote: Will you attempt to go pro someday ? Are will you keep MMA as a hobby ?
We'll see, I'm not 'all-in' on MMA or anything, I'm just gonna continue fighting every couple of months and try my best to get good. If I get good enough, yeah I'd give it a try for sure.
I've been doing training for about 6 years, though most of the time was on boxing. Amateur boxing fights I'm a solid 13-0 so far. Though even though I have been winning in a sense I'm waiting for that first loss. It's something to get out of the way and it really puts things into perspective. You learn 2x or if not more from losing than winning. Keep your head up and learn from this. If you had won, maybe get a lucky strike or get a takedown and submission you wouldn't really focus on what went wrong because you just know what went right, you won the fight. We're no professionals, we love winning and sometimes get blinded by it. I hope you take this loss with a smile and learn/grow. As a boxer and being pretty solid in striking. Best advice I can give is to visualize the fight and how you want it to go.
On May 02 2014 02:14 dgwow wrote: Question : Does having a StarCraft background help you in making quick decisions in MMA?
I can answer that for you: no. xD Why would it? You don't make "quick decisions" in MMA like in sc2. You don't get to sit and think "Hmm. If I do this now, then he would have to respond by doing this". You rely on your training, go for any opening you can find, and follow the plan you made before the match. Trust me, the last one is by far the hardest. Even in UFC fighters tend to forget it when fatigue starts taking over.
What an amazing article. I am so glad to see you doing this!!! :D:D:D That video made me wince a bit, mostly cause I know you. Usually I don't blink when I watch MMA but I had to cower a bit thinking you were hurt. Haha. Glad you had fun. #FIGHTING!
Freaking unbelieveble. Great so see you are doing what you are passionate about. You are an inspiration to all of us. Keep up the good work and keep us in the loop.
On May 01 2014 01:32 mr_tolkien wrote: Will you attempt to go pro someday ? Are will you keep MMA as a hobby ?
As an extention to this question, i would like to ask what you do for a living in Korea? We rarely hear what retired progamers do afterwards, and often times the ones we know about are doing something "in the business", such as casting. You on the other hand seems to be doing something completely different.
I had no idea you had been practicing MMA for so long! Seems like a very nice organization with good rules and a controlled fight. I hope you keep us updated in the future!
On May 01 2014 01:32 mr_tolkien wrote: Will you attempt to go pro someday ? Are will you keep MMA as a hobby ?
As an extention to this question, i would like to ask what you do for a living in Korea? We rarely hear what retired progamers do afterwards, and often times the ones we know about are doing something "in the business", such as casting. You on the other hand seems to be doing something completely different.
Nice man! I too enjoy and want to begin training in MMA, I have been messing around with BJJ, but have not officially gone to a class yet, but like you said the reflections are an interesting note to take, like you said you should have gone for the Take down which he is a striker so that would have been better, but perhaps that is why he kept his hands very low ( waist) in order to counter that. Btw how are those gloves for grappling? O.o
On May 01 2014 01:32 mr_tolkien wrote: Will you attempt to go pro someday ? Are will you keep MMA as a hobby ?
As an extention to this question, i would like to ask what you do for a living in Korea? We rarely hear what retired progamers do afterwards, and often times the ones we know about are doing something "in the business", such as casting. You on the other hand seems to be doing something completely different.
Poker~_~
Do you blog/post something about your poker career? Would be interesting to see the approach to the game from a former esport pro. There is something symbiotic about starcraft and poker...just look at Elky and Grrr. And respect for fighting MMA, that takes some serious cojones ( which i don't have).
On May 03 2014 00:53 NNLBboy wrote: Nice man! I too enjoy and want to begin training in MMA, I have been messing around with BJJ, but have not officially gone to a class yet, but like you said the reflections are an interesting note to take, like you said you should have gone for the Take down which he is a striker so that would have been better, but perhaps that is why he kept his hands very low ( waist) in order to counter that. Btw how are those gloves for grappling? O.o
Not as bad as they look.
Btw, most BJJ and MMA gyms are very easy going, you should just 'get it over with' and go to a class. It's gonna be way less intimidating than you think.
I'm only really good at muay thai and boxing, so I'll just comment on that.
- Hands need to be higher. Amateur fighters tend to rely too much on the headgear and it becomes a habit for them to keep their hands lower than they should be, which can and will be very dangerous. - Great control with the Thai Plum. The knees were good, but lacked a bit of power because you didn't put enough weight and momentum into it. Instead of trying to have your knee reach the opponent, focus on dragging the opponent down the moment you bring your knee up. Aiming for the solar plexus is easier that way. On the other hand you could always just aim for the liver. - The opponent was open to body shots, and repeated hooks to the body might have made him drop his guard for a right hand to the face. - When going for the overhand right (I believe you did it in one of the early exchanges) you should plant your feet to bring in a whole lot more power to the strike. The strike is like a baseball pitch though, so you need to time it well or you'll get countered badly. - Relatively good head movement and defense, but you need to work more on checking low kicks too. - Good front kicks to the body. If your legs are flexible enough, you can try faking with a front body kick and go for the face. - When you throw your jab, you should bring it straight back on shoulder level so that it's ready to defend any counter attacks to the vulnerable part of your head. You had very good timing on your jab though, and should've tried doubling up on it when circling around. - Try drilling basic combinations like the 1-2, double jab hook, 1-2 uppercut, jab clinch then knee, 1-2 low kick (Solid Snake style) etc. and techniques like the switch kick to the body - To put more weight onto your low kicks, bend your other knee outwards while you throw your kick (it's a muay thai technique). It really really hurts the opponent's outer thigh. - Inside low kicks can disrupt an opponent's rhythm pretty well, but you have to watch out for punches from the enemy while you do it, which is why it's recommended to do it after a jab or hook or combination punch.
That's about all I can say really.
You put up a good fight, and with more experience you'll learn how and when to relax your shoulders, control your breathing etc. so just keep at it.
- Hands need to be higher. Amateur fighters tend to rely too much on the headgear and it becomes a habit for them to keep their hands lower than they should be, which can and will be very dangerous.
I tend to keep my hands too low even without headgear hehe, bad habit.
- When going for the overhand right (I believe you did it in one of the early exchanges) you should plant your feet to bring in a whole lot more power to the strike. The strike is like a baseball pitch though, so you need to time it well or you'll get countered badly.
I think I know what part of the fight you mean. It was part of the gameplan to use it as a counter but he wasn't as aggressive as I thought he would be so I got impatient/nervous (I guess that's the word, basically jumped the gun).
- Good front kicks to the body. If your legs are flexible enough, you can try faking with a front body kick and go for the face.
I'm not sure if it's flexible enough to have real power, but I'm working on leg and hip flexibility now so hopefully by next fight I'll have it as an option
Just saw the video casted by TB that was awesome. As i said earlier in the thread nice job with the fight, would love to have a couple of vlogs showing how you're training and how an amateur MMA club works.
They're in the same weight class, so it should be fairly close in weight. Jinro at 76 kg, cHuklldlll at 77.5ish kg. And Jinro said earlier he's been cutting up until now, and plans to start putting muscle back on.
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
180cm = ~ 71 inches = 5'11"
185 cm = ~ 73 inches
That's a pretty large reach(although average for a UFC fighter of this height supposedly) and slightly above average height. The other dude is much less lanky. Look at this picture, particularly how far down their sides their elbows are. Some of it is due to posture, but Jinro is just much lankier.
He is approximately 168 pounds. From limited personal experience, don't do a martial art(although hopefully you already know this). Pick a legimate one. Also don't pick a crazy one off of the bat, like Krav Maga. Expect to be bad(awful) when you start, obviously.
On April 27 2014 11:56 NotSorry wrote: Gratz man for getting out there and doing it. It's a fucking rush like none other I've experienced in life, I just recently got back into the gym to get started preparing for my next fight.
Yeah I spent the rest of the day feeling completely amazing haha
Before the fight, I had a jammed up finger and a bit of a bruised rib... After the fight? Took me like 10 hours before I even felt like I had any bruises. Adrenaline is crazy.
LOL reminded me of Jon Jones when he broke his toe and didn't even realize it until the fight was over.
--- Damn Jinro is a boss! Starcraft tourneys and now MMA matches! I did Muay Thai mainly when I was in Korea, but no matches. I did BJJ for a bit, but mainly Muay Thai.
On May 06 2014 11:15 Aveng3r wrote: LOL at the tragic death of sc2 and day9
This summer I plan to get into some form of fighting technique, is there any advice you would give to a total beginner?
Also I know this is lazy of me to ask since I could look up the conversion but what do you weigh in pounds?
If you end up with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: RELAX. That's the #1 thing beginners don't do, they panic or go full force and then you feel like puking after 2 minutes.
Just relax In the beginning you are going to get tapped out nonstop even if you use 100% of your strength anyway, so just relax.
If some kind of striking: don't look away from your opponent. Almost everyone starts off ducking by tilting their head down... = no balance.
And most of all just go do it, the biggest barrier to entry is mental.
Oh and I probably weighed in around 168-170. My normal walk around weight is maybe 170 to 175 in the past 6 months... I used to be more like 185 about a year ago tho, but much less in shape.
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
180cm = ~ 71 inches = 5'11"
185 cm = ~ 73 inches
That's a pretty large reach(although average for a UFC fighter of this height supposedly) and slightly above average height. The other dude is much less lanky. Look at this picture, particularly how far down their sides their elbows are. Some of it is due to posture, but Jinro is just much lankier.
Yeah I checked my numbers compared to the fightnomics stats and was surprised my reach is only about average for welterweights. Tbh I dont know if I buy that, reach and height numbers seem to be pretty inaccurately reported a lot of the time hehe. But it does make sense that fighters would be above average reach to start with, compared to the rest of the population.
Also, I dont have very wide shoulders, so more of my reach is pure arm length vs if someone has a massive torso their reach isn't that great since a lot of it is just their wide shoulders, which isn't useful for actually, you know, reaching.
from what i read, asian people tend to have relatively shorter limbs and stockier build. They evolved to survive cold climate so having a small surface area to volume ratio saves heat. On the other end of the spectrum, hispanic and blacks are the opposite and tend to have very long limbs, (e.g sonny liston 184 cm height 213 cm reach, but he was an extreme case, muhammad ali 191 height 203 reach) this might be a factor for why they tend to dominate boxing. (probably mostly cultural/economic factors though)
You are somewhat in the middle of that but i wouldn't be surprised if you think you are relatively lankier having a lot to do with hanging around shorter/less lanky people and also losing a lot of weight. its not surprisingly to see the ufc average has higher reach to height ratio. Having longer arms and broader shoulders is probably great for both striking and wrestling.
Jinro, when you started was it with BJJ? If so, just how bad were you at it? I tried it out at my university last year but had a complete lack of understanding of even the basics. Combining that with some opponents grinding faces when rolling I stopped, but might start again. Were you ever that bad, or did you have some sort of natural inclination for it?
You're probably right about fighters being above average reach. Fighting probably naturally selects for those with longer reach.
On April 27 2014 11:15 Physician wrote: What is it about Starcraft that attracts people, the likes of Jinro, so far outside the usual mold most humans are made of? I was floored with surprise watching this..
Same here. I know it was on his list of things he wanted to do as he stated, it is still mind boggling to casually go from playing a computer game to doing something on the opposite spectrum of physicality. Anyways, I hope he succeeds in whatever he wants to do.
On May 07 2014 05:23 Slayer91 wrote: from what i read, asian people tend to have relatively shorter limbs and stockier build. They evolved to survive cold climate so having a small surface area to volume ratio saves heat. On the other end of the spectrum, hispanic and blacks are the opposite and tend to have very long limbs, (e.g sonny liston 184 cm height 213 cm reach, but he was an extreme case, muhammad ali 191 height 203 reach) this might be a factor for why they tend to dominate boxing. (probably mostly cultural/economic factors though)
You are somewhat in the middle of that but i wouldn't be surprised if you think you are relatively lankier having a lot to do with hanging around shorter/less lanky people and also losing a lot of weight. its not surprisingly to see the ufc average has higher reach to height ratio. Having longer arms and broader shoulders is probably great for both striking and wrestling.
Yeah for sure some of it is that Koreans are way more proportional (medium length legs, torso, arms). But I've been told I have 'monkey arms' by non koreans too haha
On May 07 2014 05:27 WarSame wrote: Jinro, when you started was it with BJJ? If so, just how bad were you at it? I tried it out at my university last year but had a complete lack of understanding of even the basics. Combining that with some opponents grinding faces when rolling I stopped, but might start again. Were you ever that bad, or did you have some sort of natural inclination for it?
You're probably right about fighters being above average reach. Fighting probably naturally selects for those with longer reach.
I just watched some basic instructionals (because like most swedish people I'm obsessed with knowing how to do everything before I actually even try it :d), but it didn't do all that much for me I think.
I have SOME natural inclination towards grappling, like it suits my mentality, but nothing special. Basically everyone is going to feel like they have no idea what they are doing in the beginning, even if they spent hours preparing or had the sickest natural talent.
This makes me think of Josh Waitzkin. He was a chess prodigy as a child, winning his first national chess championship at 9 year old. After losing his passion for chess, he went on to become a world champion in Tai Chi!
On May 08 2014 01:54 Penguinator wrote: This makes me think of Josh Waitzkin. He was a chess prodigy as a child, winning his first national chess championship at 9 year old. After losing his passion for chess, he went on to become a world champion in Tai Chi!
He has a really awesome life story, although didn't like his book that much. Not because it wasn't interesting but because I felt like it was sold as 'The Art of Learning', but was really just a bunch of stories from his life.
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
180cm = ~ 71 inches = 5'11"
185 cm = ~ 73 inches
That's a pretty large reach(although average for a UFC fighter of this height supposedly) and slightly above average height. The other dude is much less lanky. Look at this picture, particularly how far down their sides their elbows are. Some of it is due to posture, but Jinro is just much lankier.
Yeah I checked my numbers compared to the fightnomics stats and was surprised my reach is only about average for welterweights. Tbh I dont know if I buy that, reach and height numbers seem to be pretty inaccurately reported a lot of the time hehe. But it does make sense that fighters would be above average reach to start with, compared to the rest of the population.
Also, I dont have very wide shoulders, so more of my reach is pure arm length vs if someone has a massive torso their reach isn't that great since a lot of it is just their wide shoulders, which isn't useful for actually, you know, reaching.
Could somebody please explain the meaning of "reach" in this context to me, thanks!
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
180cm = ~ 71 inches = 5'11"
185 cm = ~ 73 inches
That's a pretty large reach(although average for a UFC fighter of this height supposedly) and slightly above average height. The other dude is much less lanky. Look at this picture, particularly how far down their sides their elbows are. Some of it is due to posture, but Jinro is just much lankier.
Yeah I checked my numbers compared to the fightnomics stats and was surprised my reach is only about average for welterweights. Tbh I dont know if I buy that, reach and height numbers seem to be pretty inaccurately reported a lot of the time hehe. But it does make sense that fighters would be above average reach to start with, compared to the rest of the population.
Also, I dont have very wide shoulders, so more of my reach is pure arm length vs if someone has a massive torso their reach isn't that great since a lot of it is just their wide shoulders, which isn't useful for actually, you know, reaching.
Could somebody please explain the meaning of "reach" in this context to me, thanks!
Its literally how far you can reach with your hands. Fighters with longer hands can "reach" further. Its a good thing to have longer reach as if both fighters did the exact same jab/punch, one would hit and the other wouldn't.
On May 06 2014 03:11 thezanursic wrote: Hope this doesn't come off as mean, but your opponent seemed like he had some mass on you. Are you planning on gaining some more weight?
No of course it's not mean And yes, what WarSame below said is correct. It's also a bit deceptive, I have VERY long legs and long arms. Opponent had a much more compact build for his height.
(For reference I'm 180cm, and my reach is something like 185 cm which is quite long, not sure how long my legs are but significantly longer legs than torso)
180cm = ~ 71 inches = 5'11"
185 cm = ~ 73 inches
That's a pretty large reach(although average for a UFC fighter of this height supposedly) and slightly above average height. The other dude is much less lanky. Look at this picture, particularly how far down their sides their elbows are. Some of it is due to posture, but Jinro is just much lankier.
Yeah I checked my numbers compared to the fightnomics stats and was surprised my reach is only about average for welterweights. Tbh I dont know if I buy that, reach and height numbers seem to be pretty inaccurately reported a lot of the time hehe. But it does make sense that fighters would be above average reach to start with, compared to the rest of the population.
Also, I dont have very wide shoulders, so more of my reach is pure arm length vs if someone has a massive torso their reach isn't that great since a lot of it is just their wide shoulders, which isn't useful for actually, you know, reaching.
Could somebody please explain the meaning of "reach" in this context to me, thanks!
Basically it's your wingspan. So you measure the distance between your fingers, with arms outstretched to your sides.
Don't feel bad at all about being so tense for your first match. I'm sure your coaches expected it to happen. I know you already noticed but I wanted to say that I think part of why your hand drops when you punch seems to be due to bad technique when you punch. Whenever you are training or hitting a bag always try to keep it in the back of your head that when you throw one hand the other one is to keep the guy from hitting you. Also, I don't think you need more muscle to generate more power in your punches, just practice technique. If you happen to get into a similar situation again where you are down and can't up kick, perhaps just ready yourself to attack from guard. I don't know how big Koreans are on wrestling but I would recommend finding a wrestling club or perhaps someone at your mma gym to roll with a bit. It will give you one of the best work outs you can possibly get and you'll learn a lot more about grappling and even foot work.
Good luck with your next match and sorry my post is so jumbled. Late night posts FTL.
On April 27 2014 10:49 Liquid`Jinro wrote: - One of my team mates (the guy just above me in the pic below) is a beast. He looks like he's asleep in there then BOOM cracking thunder, boom submission. So relaxed haha.
No need to point him out, we can clearly guess lol.
On May 10 2014 15:20 Scorcher2k wrote: Don't feel bad at all about being so tense for your first match. I'm sure your coaches expected it to happen. I know you already noticed but I wanted to say that I think part of why your hand drops when you punch seems to be due to bad technique when you punch. Whenever you are training or hitting a bag always try to keep it in the back of your head that when you throw one hand the other one is to keep the guy from hitting you. Also, I don't think you need more muscle to generate more power in your punches, just practice technique. If you happen to get into a similar situation again where you are down and can't up kick, perhaps just ready yourself to attack from guard. I don't know how big Koreans are on wrestling but I would recommend finding a wrestling club or perhaps someone at your mma gym to roll with a bit. It will give you one of the best work outs you can possibly get and you'll learn a lot more about grappling and even foot work.
Good luck with your next match and sorry my post is so jumbled. Late night posts FTL.
We train wrestling at a minimum twice a week, and they have some very good wrestlers training there at times (for a while one of the best lighter weight wrestlers in korea was training there regularly, he was a god damn monster, so fun to watch him move and so strong. .. he lost his first amateur mma match because he got a dq for slamming someone I think... but from what I heard it was a really nitty enforcement of that rule since the guy was barely off the ground).
I want more muscle because my goal is to be welterweight sized (with a day before weigh in), and I want more explosion in my legs and more strength when clinching.
On May 10 2014 15:20 Scorcher2k wrote: Don't feel bad at all about being so tense for your first match. I'm sure your coaches expected it to happen. I know you already noticed but I wanted to say that I think part of why your hand drops when you punch seems to be due to bad technique when you punch. Whenever you are training or hitting a bag always try to keep it in the back of your head that when you throw one hand the other one is to keep the guy from hitting you. Also, I don't think you need more muscle to generate more power in your punches, just practice technique. If you happen to get into a similar situation again where you are down and can't up kick, perhaps just ready yourself to attack from guard. I don't know how big Koreans are on wrestling but I would recommend finding a wrestling club or perhaps someone at your mma gym to roll with a bit. It will give you one of the best work outs you can possibly get and you'll learn a lot more about grappling and even foot work.
Good luck with your next match and sorry my post is so jumbled. Late night posts FTL.
We train wrestling at a minimum twice a week, and they have some very good wrestlers training there at times (for a while one of the best lighter weight wrestlers in korea was training there regularly, he was a god damn monster, so fun to watch him move and so strong. .. he lost his first amateur mma match because he got a dq for slamming someone I think... but from what I heard it was a really nitty enforcement of that rule since the guy was barely off the ground).
I want more muscle because my goal is to be welterweight sized (with a day before weigh in), and I want more explosion in my legs and more strength when clinching.
You can't bring them off the ground? What exactly is the rule? Seems odd that you couldn't slam someone at all when they award points for slams in amateur Greco Roman matches. I mean I remember seeing and being part of my fair share of some really hard slams when I was doing Greco Roman.
No, you cant slam someone to get out of holds. You can throw someone obviously, but if someone has a triangle or armbar you cant slam your way out. From what I was told (I wasnt there), he powered out of an armbar and it ended up being ruled a slam somehow.
On April 27 2014 10:49 Liquid`Jinro wrote: - One of my team mates (the guy just above me in the pic below) is a beast. He looks like he's asleep in there then BOOM cracking thunder, boom submission. So relaxed haha.
No need to point him out, we can clearly guess lol.
Haha, seems everyone recognized him as being a badass. The best guy in that pic is probably the guy in the red hoodie tho, he's really good (like a level above everyone else aside from the coaches).
Next event is June 21st I believe. I'm not sure I can make it, I'm moving to a new apartment in either June or July, so we'll see which month that ends up happening in and how busy I'll actually be. Otherwise I think August will be next.
On May 12 2014 16:26 Liquid`Jinro wrote: I've honestly got no clue how big he is...
You know he had a match vs Liquid`Raszi right? (Raszi won by headkick KO)
Yeah, I saw it. Raszi had great leg kicks. Elky fought well considering, but it seemed like Raszi was sandbagging before the fight which made it even more awesome because I thought Elky was going to destroy him with better cardio.
EPT
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. I've never been a fan of MMA but I watched the whole vid. Keep it up.
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[![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/LastRomantic/Reach/001.jpg)
