Before the advent of professional Mixed Martial Arts competition, there was a lot of debate about whether a karate expert could defeat a wrestler in a fight. The Ultimate Fighting Championship proved the importance of wrestling, but now that all professional fighters can wrestle, superior striking skills can make the difference between victory and defeat. Karate training is one way to obtain these skills.
Karate and Wrestling
Before the Ultimate Fighting Championship brought different fighting styles together, there was no easy way to compare wrestling with karate. Wrestling competitions did not allow striking, and karate competitions did not allow throws. Any debate on the relative strengths of karate and wrestling was pure speculation. It is still the case that karate techniques cannot be used in a pure wrestling context and vice versa. However, wrestling has become a major component of Mixed Martial Arts, and the top professional fighters are all accomplished grapplers. When both fighters are skilled at wrestling, the victor is likely to be determined by other skills, such as punching and kicking. In this context, karate can be used to improve a wrestler's skills by giving him tools with which to defeat another wrestler.
What Karate Can Do For a Wrestler
In a pure wrestling match, it is not dangerous to get close to the opponent, because he cannot strike you as you approach. However, in a Mixed Martial Arts match, the opponent can score a knockout with a punch or kick as you try to close in for a wrestling throw or submission hold. If you also have training in a striking art such as karate, you can safely close in to your preferred range to apply a wrestling technique, because you will understand how to block or avoid a punch or kick. You can also use a karate strike to finish the fight if you get an opportunity.
Lyoto Machida
Lyoto Machida is a karate fighter who has had success in Mixed Martial Arts competition. Lyoto is the son of Yoshizo Machida, a master of Shotokan karate who lives in Brazil. Machida still identifies himself as a karate exponent, but he has modified his style from traditional Shotokan. Machida understands both striking and grappling. Because he can neutralize his opponent's grappling skills, he often has the opportunity to apply his karate skills to win the fight. Most Mixed Martial Arts competitors study boxing and muay thai to learn how to strike, so Machida's base in traditional karate gives him a skillset that is unfamiliar to many of his opponents.
Machida vs Couture
The bout between Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture is an example of how karate skills can tip the balance in a fight between two skilled grapplers. Randy Couture is a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter with a background in wrestling. When Machida met Couture at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 129, Machida was able to neutralize Couture's wrestling skills and win by knockout with a crane-style kick, a traditional karate technique no one expected to see in this type of competition. While wrestling is still seen as the single most important skill for Mixed Martial Arts, karate can be a useful and unexpected supplement.
References
- Black Belt Magazine; Can a Karate Fighter Beat a Wrestler: Ray Snow; October, 1993
- Sherdog: Karate is the Best Base for Strikers Due to Wrestling
- Lyoto Machida: Lyoto Machida Bio
- UFC: Randy Couture Fighter Profile
- Bleach Report; UFC Results, Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida, Fight Ends Remarkable Career; May, 2011
Member Comments