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Lyoto Machida – Karate Fighter in the UFC

June 14, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: MMA,Martial Arts,Recent Events,TV Shows,karate

Get it while it’s up – Lyoto Machida vs Sugar Rashad Evans – http://www.mma-core.com/videos/_Lyoto_Machida_vs_Rashad_Evans_UFC_98?vid=10005048&tid=100

Sometimes these fights are taken down due to legal purposes, but if you check it out asap you’ll get to see one of the greatest demonstrations of karate in The Octogan ever recorded.

I know the last post was about MMA too, but I figured this was worth mentioning. If you haven’t been following, Lyoto Machida is a Shotokan stylist who has been making waves in the UFC. Machida is an extremely well rounded karate fighter who also holds a black belt in BJJ (click here for his dvd set).

I wasn’t paying close attention to Machida’s progress until I read an excellent analysis of his role in the UFC over at Way of Least Resistance. Dan goes into much deeper detail than I intend to about Machida’s overall fighting style and how it is being received.

For me personally, I didn’t expect to see much of a difference between Machida and other UFC fighters. I figured his background was being hyped up, but that his overall approach would be the same as everyone elses. After seeing the fight video I can tell you my mind has been changed.

Machida uses some classic karate strategies that thrilled me when I saw them in action. His stancing, control of distance, timing, and techniques were beautifully karate. At one point (around 6:20) he throws a perfect straight punch that had trademark retraction, leaving the bulk of the force in Rashad and knocking him for a loop.

Evans, who has never before lost a fight in the UFC, was completely baffled at trying to find range. His techniques whiffed because Machida placed his body in a forward zenkutsu style stance, which oriented his head differently to his front leg than what boxers are accostomed to.

Machida’s kicks came with exceptionally small telegraphing. In the UFC, Muay Thai kicking has become prevelant and that usually entails front foot movement and hip opening for huge amounts of power. Without that telegraph, Machida was able to land big kicks.

So is Karate the Ultimate Style Again?

I think a lot of karate people are getting excited about Machida, which is annoying a lot of MMA people (and rightfully so in some cases). Lyoto is an exceptional fighter with great all around experience and it is my hope that he is respected as an individual rather than a cardboard cut-out of karate. I happen to know that a lot of karate people do not train the way he does, and would be trying to ride serious coattails by suggesting Machida is a representative of what all karateka can do.

That being said, the people that are downplaying Machida’s style are drinking a little bit of haterade. There is definite karate in Lyoto and it is proving to be extremely effective.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 and is filed under MMA, Martial Arts, Recent Events, TV Shows, karate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • swash
    @shoshin913: I totally agree with you with the Karate basics as being framework to actual fighting. When I said point-system Karate, I actually meant the traditional point-karate, not the WKF style. And I believe that's what Machida practices. I actually hate seeing young Karatekas in WKF-style tournament turn their backs on the enemy when they get a point and shout their lungs out like they won a lottery. They don't teach that in traditional Karate. And they claim to be the expert in Karate when they can't even perform a basic Kata properly. It's sad though coz as you have mentioned, many Karate schools nowadays don't teach the traditional Karate. Most schools nowadays skip the basics and go directly to point-system fighting.
  • shoshin913
    Not sure what background people have here but perfect Zenkutsu Dachi is only for basics (kihon) and is a framework for actual fighting. The stances are just tools to teach you the proper way to keep balance and transfer power in your strikes, they are not suppose to be perfect form in actual fighting. This is the misconception that people have that Karate doesn't work or is out dated. They think that you have to have perfect stances and use these hard blocks for it to be Karate but I see MMA fighters who have no background in Karate and when they throw a straight punch (Choku Zuki) they are in a pretty good front stance ( Zenkutsu Dachi ) because it is just good mechanics. That is what Karate teaches good mechanics. Where does point fighting originate from? Traditional Karate! You cannot have point fighting unless the traditional Karate was there first. Real Karate tournaments have kata comps so all those stances and blocks are used. They may not be used literally in fighting but again Karate is a framework for you to build a fighting style you can adapt for yourself not a set rigid rule of block punch in perfect Karate stances. They only do that for lower ranks to teach them good mechanics, technique and how to generate power but most people do not take their Karate far enough. Black belt is where you start to really learn! Lyoto Machida is a traditional Shotokan Karate fighter who has taken it to the level of being extremely effective. The higher level Karateka know this but the masses who either have poor teachers or only focus on tournament point sparing loose sight of what real Shotokan is and that is a fighting art. It does have its holes as far as groundwork goes but the framework is there for an excellent striking art. Not all Shotokan people are good fighters either so please don’t take my going on as being this is the style that turns Clark Kent into Superman. It is all up to the individual. Just like a pro football training camp. The average guy can go through a pro football and yes defiantly improve their skills but that doesn’t mean they can play at pro football level.
  • nameless one
    as far as Machida's typical stance goes... zenkutsu-dachi has the rear leg locked. Machida has his rear leg slightly bent, which would be the fudo-dachi.
  • What a useful post here. Very informative for me..TQ friends...

    Cheers,
    sweethomeimprove.com
  • swash
    Just found out about Machida recently, after reading so many article about him and his traditional Shotokan karate. I thought they were all just hype coz i never really thought that Shotokan karate could have its place in MMA. Ive always thought that the only good point a Shotokan karateka could use in MMA is its speed and accuracy, but not its power and stamina. I practice shotokan for almost 20 years, and I used to be a big fan of MMA. I am still a fan, but rarely have the time to watch coz of work. But after watching Machida's 3 recent fights (ortiz, silva and evans), it made me really proud that i did Shotokan karate.

    Machida's not using the traditional Shotokan as what many believes or thinks (i.e., endless stradle-leg stance punching, katas, Sanbom kumite, outside/inside blocks etc..). It's his Shotokan point-system karate that he's been using effectively. Of course its also because of his additional knowledge in BJJ, judo, sumo, muay that makes him really effective but i would say that 70% of his moves are Shotokan point-system karate. His stance, the way he positions his hands for reverse and lunge punch, the way he uses sweeps (no they are NOT judo) while attacking, his floating round-house kicks, the way he raises his legs first before flipping it for a round-house kick (less telegraphing), the way he closes in and grabs the opponent after missing a punch and does a sweep and quick takedown (again its not judo, they do that all the time in point-system karate to get a full-point), the way he lunges for a quick straight and backs out laterally, and so on.. I could go on and on. Any karateka who've been doing point-system karate could instantly recognize them.

    Most of his kills are either boxing or muay (and bjj when in ground), but most of his strikes that lead to his kills are definitely Shotokan point-system karate. Most evident is his first knockdown of Rashad. His takedowns and kicks of tito are definitely karate. His first two knockouts of thiago are all straight punches of karate.
  • I am a big fan of Machida's, mostly because I like the idea that there is still room to expirement with regards to what a "Mixed Martial Arts" recipe looks like. As someone said earlier, over the last 10 years or so, MMA has really become somewhat formulaic. Take equal parts Muay Thai, BJJ and Wrestling. Add a dash of something else for flavor. While there are exceptions to this, MT, BJJ and Wrestling are the core arts for the majority of fighters. It's nice to see that someone can apply a completely different striking art effectively.

    On the other hand, as we congratulate Machida for his ability to apply Shotokan Karate in the cage, I want to point out that he is also a black belt in BJJ and a very good wrestler. I say this not to take anything away from him or Shotokan Karate, but only to emphasize that if you really want to be a well rounded fighter, you have to be able to fight at all ranges of combat. And most arts, whether traditional or not, don't address all ranges of combat.
  • Yea I definitely made sure to point out in my post above that BJJ is a big factor in Machida's style and that he uses a very well-rounded mindset.
  • I think the forward/backward stance that Machida uses does flumox the UFC fighters as you say, because he imposes his timing and distancing on them. He uses a great adaption of shotokan in the octagon.
  • This is an interesting point. I think that Machida has the additional advantage of being unique in the UFC. If I'm preparing to fight a strong wrestler, I will train with other strong wrestlers so that I can develop a workable strategy. There aren't any really strong Shotokan competitors around with whom to spar... at least at that level of competition. He's unique. So, you can try to bring in a Shotokan guy, but then add a skilled Shotokan karateka who is also a strong submission grappler... and a BJJ black belt, and an elite sumo wrestler.

    He definitely flumoxes his opponents, but it's the entire package that does so. I am a big fan, and hope that things in MMA open back up to other unique individuals who have trained hard to perfect their craft.
  • Thanks for your kind comments about my article. You make some excellent observations I wished I'd made!
  • Branden
    Bring back the Cobra Kai.......Ugh, Joe Rogan....just shhh I'm trying to watch a good fight!
  • Yea that was a lame comment. Thanks for trivializing Machida boys.
  • Something classical is something that at the core remains relevant through changing times and circumstances.
  • Thrilling fight. With the poor quality of karate these days, it's easy to forget that it was a respected and feared martial art at one time. It's become so watered down, I don't even know I could call most karate a sport anymore. These days, kids are more likely to be in karate because the afterschool programs at most dojos/dojang are cheaper than hiring babysitters.

    I hope this is the shot in the arm needed to restore karate to its former place of honor among the martial arts.

    As Machida said, "KARATE'S BACK!"
  • Karate is his foundation art and he has not given it up. What he has done is to integrate it into MMA. Now I wonder who will be the next person to try that with their traditional style?

    I'm a contrarian so it pleases me to see someone messing up the new tradition of MMA with something from the past. Is he pure Shotokan? Hardly. But he's certainly used parts of it and also trains in other arts, too.

    -B
  • Yea it would be neat to see someone bring in taekwondo kicks successfully, or the lightning fast hand strikes in kung fu. But they better be ready the way machida is!
  • Lyoto is definitly showing some classical karate in his fighting style. However, I dont think it is true to call him a Karate fighter, but a martial artists with a karate background, who has trained in other arts to compliment his overall fighting system. My two cents of his style can be found
    HERE.
  • Just a reader
    Just wanted to offer a correction: Evans has actually lost many rounds in the UFC. It is Lyoto Machida who has never lost a round, and also remains undefeated.
  • excellent correction. I went back and listened again and you are right.
  • I'm not sure about the link you posted, but I posted a legitimate source the day after this fight on my blog, and I watched it from that link, so I know it works (or worked, I guess). This is the link I had (password 53733): http://smotri.com/video/view/?id=v98121311b1

    Aaanyway, it was a pretty cool fight to see. I have always thought Machida is an interesting fighter to watch, despite what many people say about his "boring" methods--you know, that whole "strategy" thing :P. His kicks are good, and he fights "southpaw" which is the way I fight (despite being right handed), and he combines sweeps with his striking that messes people up quite well. I can't wait to see what comes of this guy!
  • Thanks Noah, but I'm seeing "Video has not been approved by a moderator and you cannot view it" when I follow your link. do I have to create a profile or something on that site to check it out?
  • Well shoot! I guess they must have taken it down. Sorry about that!
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