Yea i heard the same thing from my old coach,about the history of lower level MMA and the development of the amateur scene of the sport.
Like you said it makes sense, it is just the execution of developing the skills and connecting them. That is a larger problem and requires a system approach to really develop the picture of what a fighter should be doing. At my old gym they had Striking classes and MMA classes which was the class to put all the pieces together. which is a good approach it worked (Carlos Condit taught on of my first classes there and taught me how to apply a key lock).
What i am talking about though is an entire system approach to fighting that trains specific responses to problems that arise in combat. Watch Herol Graham for example he has answers to moves and anticipates what si coming which is how he fights successfully with his style. That takes a vision by his coach of a finished product. Vs what i saw a lot which is large gyms where the striking was divided up between hitting pads and sparring where one student holds pads, then switch, spar a guy for a round switch, and then do some conditioning. That type of training docent produce the same skill level and will not be able to replicate the mastery that a system approach could do.
It is really tough though to implement that approach for green fighters. When you look at the average person (inc. ammys) in a combat sport gym, alot of them started late (in their 20s) with no athletic background; Maybe they lifting weights and playing sports recreationally, and thats about it. So for these guys (I started out this way as well), the systematic approach is pretty difficult to implement. Competitors who have been training since adolescence say competitive wrestler are the minority usually. I'd even wager to say dealing with an aggressive winning approach takes time for them to build up. I know because I was like this, and while I've developed immensely since competing, it took time for me to cultivate that mindset.
Novice fights are definitely very athletically feuled and aggressive, its very common to see little to no technique due to nerves, adrenaline, etc. so coaches want to implenent the most simple and barebones technique and tactics so their fighters will have something to fall on once everything goes out the window. At that stage focusing on something like 1,2, slip, leg kick, pivot out, 1,6 is just too much for them to comprehend.
When i started competing (MT), the barebones for us was:
- combinations - 2 combos: 1 as offesne, and 1 as my defense to interupt opponent's own combo. It was basically 1,2,3,kick w/h level change variations
- retaliate ASAP (ideally with a combo, and never letting more than 3 strikes get on me)
- press forward for ring control
- clinching - barebones double collar control, pummelling to get there. Single collar work was a bit advanced since alot of gyms lacked in clinching so it worked well to our advantage
And we drilled it to death pretty much, 4-6 days a week 3h a day.
Now if we focused on dealing with alot of scenarios I don't think I'd be able to implement the game plan and probably would shut down. I have personal gravitation to parrying so naturally that came into my game plan aside from the basics I've mentioned. It was good for dealing with kicks for me. It should be noted my first exibition alot went out the window, but the core still remained since thats all we did, and given the limited time put into camp (8-12 weeks) there is only so much I could do to make it instunctual.
I've noticed a transitional approach with competitors:
- Novice - learn to fight, harvest aggression and winning at all cost approach. Little technique is shown. Very brawl-like
- Intermediate - build up on novice, but start to get creative, and fighters begin to be able to think cognitively.
- Experienced - top of the game, and creativity and multi-stage set ups start to show
Guys who have been doing combat sports for a long time, but started competing late will probably be able to use the systematic approach better eg. trained for 6-10 years, but started to compete this year. But, we don't know how they will fare once the nerves, adrenaline, dealing with a crowd, will factor. I feel it would be alot easier with an individual style compared to MMA where there is alot of material to cover and more tailored based on their strengths (striker / grappler)
So while I do like to see a systematic approach built in, I think with a lack of time to make it instinctual, its probably better in the intermediate to later stages.
