Lessons from Fedor Emelianenko's loss

Those of you who know Fedor Emelianenko (mixed martial arts) know that he suffered a tremendous upset loss Saturday to Fabricio Werdum.

After apparently knocking Fabricio down, Fedor rushed Fabricio in an attempt to end the fight quickly. Instead, 69 seconds into the fight, Fedor tapped out, the victim of a triangle choke.

True, this is a sport contest, but some key features stand out.

Ground fighting, as popularized by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, stresses dealing with an opponent on the ground and ending the fight there by submitting him. This was in response to martial artists who relied on striking (boxing) skills to defeat an opponent.

Fedor rushed his attack and played right into his opponent's hands. He engaged his opponent without having control, trusting that his superior skills would allow him to gain control. And, yeah, Fedor was trying to beat the hell out of Fabricio while he was on his back, and true, Fabricio did look like he might have been stunned. But Fedor was not in control of Fabricio. It would have been one thing if Fedor had been knocked to the ground and was countering his opponent's attack. But it was just the opposite.

Any time I'm separated from my opponent, I'm not in control of him. I might be able to influence what he does, depending on how close we are. But then I'm relying on his reactions to my actions. No, the type of control I'm talking about is me physically having a hand on my opponent.

Yes, in RyuTe^®, we frequently take opponents to the ground (I am drawing a distinction between "taking someone to the ground" and "knocking someone on their rear"). But only when we're in complete control of the opponent. Either through a wrist lock, an arm bar, or through control of the head, etc. Why leave something to chance?

I don't know what philosophies are stressed in BJJ schools and others that teach ground fighting. But if your opponent ends up on the ground while you're still standing, you might think twice about jumping on him and relying on your considerable skills to take control. You just might end up like Fedor, only with no referee to end the match!