Back to the Basics Its the nature of most sports that there are subtleties that are best

understood by those whove trained in them. MMA is no different, but the gap between the action and spectator comprehension is a little big larger due to a few factors. Newer fans often have no idea of whats going on in the clinch or on the ground, and their perspective of the stand-up fight is often skewed by either the sport of boxing or watching martial arts movies. This article hopes to clear up some of the confusion. The Stand-Up Game: The range for the MMA stand-up game is a bit farther out than your typical boxing match due to the added weapon of kicks, and the added danger of the takedown. Fighters may also keep their hands lower in order to catch kicks to the leg and body, or to stop a takedown attempt. Of course, they may also keep their hands low because theyre sloppy strikers, but this is not universal. You will see more blocking with the forearms in MMA as opposed to bobbing and weaving; this is because of the danger of ducking into a kick or a knee, or being pulled down into a front headlock position. Kicks are often aimed at the legs, initially. This is an effective technique that can hamper an opponents mobility, and even end the fight if enough damage is caused to the nerves and muscles in the thigh. Kicks to the kneecap are infrequent, but dont have the devastating effect of breaking the leg that the movies would have you believe. The most common kicks are round kicks (turning kicks in Taekwondo parlance) because of how easy and versatile they are. Front kicks and spinning thrust kicks are also used, but flying kicks and other fancy maneuvers are rarer than a California Condor. The fancier a technique is, the harder it is to pull off. Due to the increased range, MMA fighters tend to throw more long hooks than boxers do. When in close, they will usually clinch instead of playing the head-movement game that is sometimes found in boxing. The jab is still a very important weapon, and can be used as a range-finder and to set up other strikes. The hallmark of a good striker is the ability to utilize the jab intelligently. One last note: there is a difference between boxing and hitting. There are some sluggers in MMA, but the science of boxing is far more than the ability to knock someone out with your hands. A fighter who is able to hit his opponent without getting hit himself is showing much more skill than a fighter who wades in at his opponent, brawling it out. The Clinch Game: There are two basic types of clinch seen in MMA- the collar tie and the underhook. The collar is when one fighter grabs another behind the neck or head, while facing them. The underhook is a sort of half-hug where one fighter sneaks his arm underneath his opponents armpit. The most common way the collar tie is used in MMA is to hold the opponent while striking them, either for dirty boxing, which is holding with one hand and punching with the other, or from the plum or Thai clinch, where a fighter grabs his opponent with both arms in a double collar tie, and executes knees from the clinch. The underhook is used primarily for grappling goals. Ideally, fighters tend to strive for a double underhook, which gives them very good control over their opponents body and, in turn, makes the under-hooker hard to take down. Often, fighters in the clinch will be jockeying for this position. The clinch is a physically exhausting period of the fight, as each fighter is trying to achieve an optimum position against the resistance of the other.

The Ground Game: Though the clinch game is probably the least appreciated aspect of MMA, its far easier to explain and simplify than the ground game. The ground game alone has been compared to chess, a game where six different kinds of pieces all move in different ways, and forethought is needed at even the most basic levels. The ground game in MMA may be even more complex. An understanding of the basic grappling/ground positions provides a good start. Often, when one fighter takes another to the ground, he ends up in his opponents guard, where the bottom man has his legs wrapped around his opponent. From here, the fighter on the bottom can actually beat the fighter on top either by sweeping or reversing them, or by submitting them (get them to give up) with an arm lock or a choke. The most common techniques from the bottom are the guillotine choke, where the bottom man gets his opponent in a front headlock and pulls up on their head while pushing their body away with his legs; the arm bar, where the bottom man traps one of his opponents arms, throws his leg in front of his opponents face, and locks out the elbow by using his hips as a fulcrum; the Kimura, a type of shoulder lock where the bottom man bends his opponents arm and forces it up his own back; and the Triangle Choke, where the bottom man uses his legs to trap his opponents head and one arm, cutting off the blood from his brain. The top fighter has few real submissions open to him, including a few leg locks that put pressure on the knees and ankles, but most fighters chose to strike with punches, hammerfists (hitting with the pinkie-portion of the fist), and elbow strikes if theyre legal. This ground striking is commonly called ground and pound. They may try to finish the opponent with strikes, but many will try to pass the guard and get out from between their opponents legs. Sometimes they will end up in half guard, where the bottom man has both his legs around one of the top fighters legs, but most often they will try to get to side control, a position where the fighters are chest-to-chest, and perpendicular. From here, the bottom man will try to get back to guard, but the top man has good options for both ground and pound, as well as some submissions (usually Kimuras). The top player may also try to get to mount, a position where hes sitting on top of his opponent, by stepping or driving one of his legs across his opponents waist. Again, the bottom fighter usually tries to get back to guard from here, while the top fighter is in great position to drop some ground and pound strikes, and perhaps attempt a submission, most commonly an arm bar. Sometimes, the bottom man will roll to his stomach from here in an effort to avoid strikes. This is usually a bad idea, because hes giving his back to the top man, whos now in back mount position. From here, the bottom man has virtually zero offense, but the top man can punch the sides of his head, or lock up a submission, almost always the rear naked choke. To summarize, guard is the optimum bottom position, the guy on top wants to get out of the guard, and the guy on top usually has more control and offensive options in the form of both strikes and submissions. Fouls: While it looks a lot like a street fight, there are many rules in place to protect the fighters safety. The most commonly banned techniques include biting, eye gouging, groin strikes, hair pulling, pinching/twisting the skin, and strikes to the spine and back of the head. Many organizations have also placed restrictions on elbow strikes to the head, and in the US its illegal to kick, stomp, or knee the head of a fighter whos touching the ground with anything other than his feet.

MMA is a complex game, combining elements of kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, Judo, Jiujitsu, and submission grappling with unique, sport-specific attacks and situations. To the untrained eye, it can at first appear bizarre and confusing, but with some understanding of the different aspects of the MMA game, a fans appreciation for the depth of the sport can increase substantially. This article covers just the bare basics of MMA. Its my hope that newer fans will explore the strategies and techniques of MMA in more depth independently.