Ok, I'm back, as I promised I would be!
I'm no less swamped, mind you. But I am pushing through to make a blog post!
Now, I know you're all think "great, let's get to the talk about wrestling!" But I would first like to take a moment to say that this very morning I attended my first kickboxing class. It's the same class that VeVe attends, and she brought me there to give it a shot. I have several years of karate and capoeira under my belt from a long time ago, so that was fairly helpful to keep me afloat. But the instructor is incredibly smart and patient, plus the class is small, so everything was very nice. I'd be up for trying some more.
Why does this matter here in this blog? Well, I'll tell you:
Just recently we filmed "Wrestling vs Striking: VeVe vs Orlandoe," which was a special request match style that harkens back to the very early days of UFC. That was when practitioners of specific martial arts faced off against each other, seeing which style worked best under the given circumstances. So, in this recent Wrestle vs Strike match-up, VeVe represented submission wrestling, and Orlandoe represented a freeform striking style. Here's how that was laid out:
In the first round, Orlandoe was allowed to use both strikes and grappling submissions (chokes and jointlocks) to try to get VeVe to tap out. VeVe, however, was only allowed to wrestle and use grappling submissions. We allowed all sorts of strikes to the body - knees, kicks, elbows, punches, open-hand strikes (slaps) - but for safety's sake, we only allowed open-hand slaps to the face. No strikes at all to the back of the head, and, of course, no headbutts.
For the second round, we made the fighting styles even more different; now, Orlandoe could only strike while VeVe continued to only attempt grappling submissions.
Sounds fun, but it is awfully difficult to get someone to submit from body strikes and face slaps alone. However, this rules set does encourage a lot of strikes to be thrown! In both rounds, though, VeVe eat quite a number of Orlandoe's kicks and punches.
A winner was determined after the first two rounds. As a penalty, the loser had to allow the winner to perform her favorite move on her, unresisted. This led to a very dramatic and powerful scene between VeVe and Orlandoe, as the move-of-choice created a good deal of very real, palpable distress for the receiver. With the winner not letting up until she forced the loser to answer a particular question.
Sorry to be vague, but I don't want to throw a spoiler! But, indeed, the match is very strongly punctuated by that "Punishment" scene.
What followed was a third round - a "bonus round." The ladies swept themselves up, made change of attire, and racked up for another round. This time, the rules were the same as in round 1, except that any striking submissions would be worth 2 points instead of 1.
Round 3 was filmed with our old, usual standard definition camera - did I mention we've been filming this month with a new HD camera? More on that later. Anyway, this round had more moody lighting, both ladies wore black, and the sweat level increased quite a bit, inexplicably. Round 3 stands alone very well, which was actually the intention from the start. It is of course related to the first 2 rounds, but the first 2 rounds existed as their own, separate contest, especially with the Punishment round being dealt out. Anyway, hats off to VeVe and Orlandoe for powering through a long, hard, multi-faceted match!
So, I just spent a lot of time talking about just ONE of the several shoots from this month.
But how does this relate to my doing kickboxing this morning?
Well, following this Wrestling vs Striking shoot, which was our second example of the genre (the first being Wrestle vs Strike: VeVe vs Shauna Ryanne), VeVe and I were discussing a mixed match of wrestling vs striking.
The biggest question there, though, is who does the wrestling and who does the striking? In a mixed match, the choice of who strikes whom is an important matter to consider. Choosing one way or the other can mean a lot for the viewing audience. Does the man get hit or does the woman get hit?
For the record, this would most like be a wrestle + strike vs wrestle only match (like VeVe's & Orlandoe's Round 1).
So with all of this striking and kicking going on recently, and these ponderings about mixed quasi-MMA match videos, I decided I was feeling good enough to dust off my kicks and punches and get to training them again. Stay tuned.... who knows who'll be swinging at whom next!
I'm no less swamped, mind you. But I am pushing through to make a blog post!
Now, I know you're all think "great, let's get to the talk about wrestling!" But I would first like to take a moment to say that this very morning I attended my first kickboxing class. It's the same class that VeVe attends, and she brought me there to give it a shot. I have several years of karate and capoeira under my belt from a long time ago, so that was fairly helpful to keep me afloat. But the instructor is incredibly smart and patient, plus the class is small, so everything was very nice. I'd be up for trying some more.
Why does this matter here in this blog? Well, I'll tell you:
In the first round, Orlandoe was allowed to use both strikes and grappling submissions (chokes and jointlocks) to try to get VeVe to tap out. VeVe, however, was only allowed to wrestle and use grappling submissions. We allowed all sorts of strikes to the body - knees, kicks, elbows, punches, open-hand strikes (slaps) - but for safety's sake, we only allowed open-hand slaps to the face. No strikes at all to the back of the head, and, of course, no headbutts.
Sounds fun, but it is awfully difficult to get someone to submit from body strikes and face slaps alone. However, this rules set does encourage a lot of strikes to be thrown! In both rounds, though, VeVe eat quite a number of Orlandoe's kicks and punches.
A winner was determined after the first two rounds. As a penalty, the loser had to allow the winner to perform her favorite move on her, unresisted. This led to a very dramatic and powerful scene between VeVe and Orlandoe, as the move-of-choice created a good deal of very real, palpable distress for the receiver. With the winner not letting up until she forced the loser to answer a particular question.
Sorry to be vague, but I don't want to throw a spoiler! But, indeed, the match is very strongly punctuated by that "Punishment" scene.
What followed was a third round - a "bonus round." The ladies swept themselves up, made change of attire, and racked up for another round. This time, the rules were the same as in round 1, except that any striking submissions would be worth 2 points instead of 1.
So, I just spent a lot of time talking about just ONE of the several shoots from this month.
But how does this relate to my doing kickboxing this morning?
Well, following this Wrestling vs Striking shoot, which was our second example of the genre (the first being Wrestle vs Strike: VeVe vs Shauna Ryanne), VeVe and I were discussing a mixed match of wrestling vs striking.
The biggest question there, though, is who does the wrestling and who does the striking? In a mixed match, the choice of who strikes whom is an important matter to consider. Choosing one way or the other can mean a lot for the viewing audience. Does the man get hit or does the woman get hit?
For the record, this would most like be a wrestle + strike vs wrestle only match (like VeVe's & Orlandoe's Round 1).
So with all of this striking and kicking going on recently, and these ponderings about mixed quasi-MMA match videos, I decided I was feeling good enough to dust off my kicks and punches and get to training them again. Stay tuned.... who knows who'll be swinging at whom next!
