The Evolution Of Martial Arts

As UFC 111 approaches and George St. Pierre, perhaps the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world, prepares to defend his welterweight title, martial artistry at its highest form is front and center. St. Pierre, who studied Japanese Jiu Jitsu and Karate as a young man before turning his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling, can win fights from any position. His physical strength, flexibility and cardiovascular capacity give him the ability to turn his knowledge into action in the ring. His hard work and constant determination to improve make it impossible for any opponent to truly know what they are getting into when they sign to fight him. With his willingness to seek out the best in every discipline and absorb their instruction down the tiniest detail, it's doubtful the 28 year old St. Pierre has reached his peak. Only a rumored hiatus from MMA to pursue Olympic wrestling dreams could derail his ascension into untouchable status.

It's fitting that during the countdown to UFC 111, St. Pierre's opponent, percieved brawler Dan Hardy, is seen doing kung fu forms at the Shaolin temple. Neither Hardy's perfomances in the ring nor his introductions give any glimpse of this background. GSP even goes so far in interviews to say Hardy is not a true maritlal artist. If Hardy, a man who spent his early life from the age of six studying Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu uses no perceptable technique from these disciplines when fighting the best in the world, something is amiss. Hardy's reliance on boxing and Muay Thai while striking and clear abandoning of much of his previous training is remeniscent of the collective sigh of the mystic grand masters whose worlds came crashing down the minute Royce Gracie stepped into a cage. The veil has been lifted. Some things work, and some don't. Let the days of the Tai Chi master who is so dangerous he could kill you with one finger be gone forever.

The savant like performance of Jon "Bones" Jones at the first UFC on Versus event has perhaps given us a glimpse into the next evolutionary step. At just 22 years of age, Jones is an incredibly long light heavyweight wrestler whose ability to utilize judo throws without the gi is unrivaled (apologies to Karo Parisyan) in mixed martial arts. So effective are Jones' throws that he took down Greco and Muay Thai standout Brandon Vera at will, something the great Randy Couture was not able to do. The Greg Jackson trained Jones has an ever growing arsenal of strikes delivered beautifully by arms and legs that go on for days. It was an elbow that literally crushed the face of Vera before the referee stepped in to give Jones his tenth victory against one disqualification loss in a fight where he was destroying wrestler Matt Hamill. If a talented wrestler can train MMA for a couple of years and dominate on talent, hard work and well roundedness, it is scary to think where the sport will be in a short time.

Traditional martial arts of all kind have great value when used to teach discipline, respect and as a way to get in shape. Instilling a false sense of security by handing out black belts to six year olds and convincing them they can defend themselves is a disservice to martial arts and its practitioners. Thank goodness for MMA, GSP, Dan Hardy and Jon "Bones" Jones, for proving Jackie Chan is not the toughest man on earth and no one should be scared of that six year old black belt walking down the street in their gi.