Critique Thread

Just was thinking about a few videos knocking around, and the Competition and Test video threads, so I figured I'd do a Video Critique thread.
Any style, any format, just be ready for feedback.

I'll post some striking and grappling first.
My striking is a mishmash of stuff I saw once and liked, so don't expect any of that "fundamentals" silliness.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uifpcRgv3BI&NR=1"]YouTube- Keith and Erik MMA[/ame]

BJJ rules, so I had to pass up some heel hooks, toeholds, neck cranks, and scissor takedowns.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7kryT8Kmx8"]YouTube- Erik at Tennessee State BJJ Championships 2010[/ame]

EDIT: I'm in shorts in the first one, blue in the second. Totally forgot to indicate.

 

Ratty - is there a reason for the dangly left arm during the striking? (genuine question, not being funny)

 

Honestly? I wanted to see if I could get away with it. That and I wanted to have head movement first and cover second.

 

Do you think you did? Apart from having no guard, I'd also say you seem quite slow to react at points, and although you said you don't care about fundamentals, the lack of them is making your strikes and defence pretty sloppy.

I can't comment on the ground game though, so I'll leave that to someone more experienced than me!

 

Not to be mean, but you are incredibly flat footed!

It's quite clear that the both of you aren't striking with intent, which makes it hard to comment upon (but my god, these hooks!), and your defence looks pretty sloppy. Chin needs to be tucked in.

Oh, did I mention, footwork...

I guess, it's good that you are trying to switch stance, but errr... not crossing your feet when you walk around would be a start...

Having said all that.... nice flexibility, and good controlled high kicks... higher than I can kick, certainly.

Won't comment on your grappling, you look far more experienced than me.

 

Pretty much what Body Sushi said, though I would add that I giggled out loud for a while at the "fundamentals silliness" so thanks for that.

 

you have no fundamentals

 

Me being completely mauled by my friend James:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-KogHAQWlo"]YouTube- jval_sbow01.wmv[/ame]

And since my favourite kind of criticism is self-criticism...

James clearly pummeled me. He's a black belt in Brazilian jiujutsu, trains in boxing, and works out constantly. I'm... none of those things. And it shows. I got intimidated and taken to school.

I pawed the jab a lot. My advancing footwork fell apart, so I was stepping forward into my cross (and took several stiff crosses in my bread basket for my trouble). I turtled up in the corner and got whaled on. And my footwork was a bit flat too.

I'm not entirely unhappy with the quality of my slipping and weaving. Mostly unhappy, but not entirely. Largely it came down to inexperience and nerves. Oh, and conditioning. Lots of conditioning.

At one point, I remember James punching me in the (prominent) gut and me letting out a sort of pathetic "ooooAAHHH!!" noise. Very undignified.

All that said, getting in the ring and getting dismantled is better than not getting in there in the first place.


Stuart

 

Hubris. Though most of my brain (the bits that didn't have a glove stuffed in them) was pretty sure that this bout was never going well.

 

Ratty-

Im in a hotel and the internet here is HORRID so I could only watch the first half of your first clip, but my advice is kinda stance-specific. If you are going to use a guard like that, Id recommend leaning a bit more forward. I know that seems counter-productive and goes against your instinct because youre so vulnerable, but if you do this, it is much easier to slip punches and lean away from strikes.

For instance, at :15 and :24 you are leaning far right and back, which doesnt allow you to move your head much when he comes in with a jab. Add that to the fact that (as mentioned already) your footwork isnt exactly amazing, and you'll find it hard to move out of the way.

You could try vertical jabs with that stance and could try leading with rear crosses while stepping left and following with a lead hook and another rear cross. Also, instead of letting your lead hand hang down, try putting it across your stomach horizontally with your rear elbow almost resting on your left glove (does that make sense?).

This way, you can use your left elbow to stop strikes to your left midsection (and possibly damaging your opponents hand/foot so be careful) while covering your gut with your forearm.

Your right hand can then move from covering the right side of your head from lead hooks and kicks to in front of your face/against your left shoulder to help guard jabs and crosses if they get through your shoulder.

Anyways, haha sorry, but this is my new favorite stance and Ive been working on it alot in the passed year and have come to find that these things helped me out tremendously.

Just MY experience though... Im tall and lean so what works for me might not work for you. Good luck.

 

to ap Oweyn:

Well, when you are being overclassed, the gaps in your game become pretty evident... But you didn't fare all that badly...

Footwork... not bad really... pretty decent fundamentals... I think you're being quite harsh on yourself by calling yourself 'flat footed'. Would be interesting to see what it becomes like after a couple of 3 mins rounds.

The one thing I noticed though is that your guard is quite low and -more importantly- that your right hand comes back very low when you retract your jab. Your mate didn't really exploit it, perhaps because you're not often in range when throwing the jab.

And heck! He was throwing well solid body shots! certainly wasn't takin it easy on you! I'd certainly groan if one of these hit me...

 

That's great feedback, Body Sushi. Thanks!

Yeah, I'm not surprised to hear about the guard. And the dropping on the retraction. Partly a failure to ingrain that boxing guard. And partly fatigue. Not fatigue from activity really. That was the first thing we'd done. More like... adrenaline fatigue. Does that make sense? The stress of feeling outclassed making you sluggish?

This was some years ago. So psychoanalyzing myself that far back in the rear view mirror is probably a bad idea.

In any event, the facts are easier because they're on video. I dropped my hands. Keeping my hands up and my elbows in tighter might have saved me a gut shot or two. And learning to be less gunshy is mostly a matter of exposure. That's what I appreciate about that kind of training. You're not contending solely with technique. You're contending with getting settled into the bedlam, so you're not too busy freaking out to actually fight back.


Stuart

 

Ratty, if I may, your striking is worse than A GODDAMN WING CHUNNER.

I hope this sheds some light on just how ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS it is.

I hope you are not planning on competing in MMA anytime soon because if any novice striker can stuff a takedown decently enough you are going to get KTFO really, really, really fast.

Using "mishmash of stuff you liked" and "ignoring all that silly fundamentals" is a great way to stifle your improvement in striking. If you're only doing grappling competitions then what I'm saying doesn't matter but you said you wanted to compete in MMA, so I'm being brutally honest with you. Your striking sucks, and by NOT training properly in the basics, it's going to suck even more in a real fight because you're not only doing well.. anything (it's not even brawling), but you're doing things counter-productive that even someone with instinctive, brawling/street-fighting swing-for-the-fences mentality (e.g. no formal training, only aggression and hard punches) will be able to exploit and knock your head off.

 

STOP IT. RIGHT NOW. Ratty doesn't need you to give him false confidence/hope/motivation. He doesn't have "good, controlled high kicks" or anything else for that matter.

What he needs to do is get himself to a good MT/KB/Boxing gym if he's serious about MMA.

 

Actually I did have a fight. I lost in the 3rd round to a body knee. I got punched in the face a lot. This was well before I even started goofing around with striking. Really, did you guys think I was serious about not caring about fundamentals? That comment was a joke. I may not have any, but it's not because I don't think they're important, it's because I don't strike. xD
And yeah, if I were more serious about MMA I'd be doing actual striking at an actual striking school.

Anyway, could you be more specific Infrazael? Or is it basically what Sushi said with more intent?

 

Well, it's just hard to comment on your striking Ratty, because you seemed to be pulling your punches and kicks (to the point where it looked like a game of tag at times).

 

1) keep your guard up. After watching the vid I came to the conclusion that all it would take would be a fake to the side with your hand up to draw attention then one hell of a cross and that'd be it. Make sure to keep your guard up when kicking. Firstly you fling your arms before you kick. This isn't so much telegraphing as putting an ad in the paper about your intentions.

2) don't lead with your shoulder so much. Something bad will happen to it/you. Every time you throw with your shoulder you're off balance

3) you really really should get some instruction from any decent striking art. I can't comment on your ground game, but a decent striker could take your head off if he wanted to.

4) footwork and general response time. You're too slow to react, both to defending yourself and to seeing openings he might be giving you and rushing them. Your kicks have promise, but you need to work on getting them in and out faster. Every second a foot is off the ground, you're weakened.


Sorry if this comes across as overly critical, but that's what I saw.