lynn

.....I have been training the MMA Fighters at American Kickboxing Academy for the last 6 years. AKA's stable of fighters are of the best in the world. The fighters are Mike Swick, Bobby Southworth, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Mike VanArsdale, Paul Buentello, Trevor Prangley,Phil Baroni and Mike Kyle. These guys are are great and suggested I get on my space. I told them you don't get it... I need my own space, not Myspace.com! What have I got myself into? More work I'm sure................................................... ............................................................ ...................................................... .....I am currently at the Staples Center in L.A.... Mike "Quick" Swick did it again on the quicker end of the first round.... Joe Riggs is a great young fighter who will get past this, and become better! This is a sport and we are all like a family. There is a huge support network here............... .....Swick fought the way we had rehearsed for 8 weeks, day in, dayout and saturdays... there were no surprises tonight! Joe did what we expected...This was a good win for Swick! ............................................................ ..................................................... .....After the Swick fight I grabbed a seat to watch the anticipated Gracie vs. Hughes fight. I sat and reflected on Swick's fight watching the restless crowd. I thought of how much this sport has evolved in such a short time. These are the real proving grounds. A very young wise man once said of the traditionalists of his time,"Hack away at the un-essentials and only use what works." This kid's name was Bruce Lee. An innovator and philosopher of NHB, years ahead of his time... Many fighting systems were exposed, people want to know what works, the truth... Along came the Gracies, people said hey this stuff really works...Got Juijitsu? The Gracies dominated! "No Holds Barred", "Mixed Martial Arts", were starting to gather a cult following....It's 05-27-06,... Fast forward to tonight! Matt Hughes (new school) vs. Royce Gracie (old school).............................. ,........................................................... ..................................................... .....Royce Gracie is making his entrance in to the Staples arena, epic music is now playing, with his notorious family in tow. This is a chilling entrance, Royce enters the Octagon, his patented gameface on now ready to take on all comers in honor of his family and the Gracie Juijitsu name! I turned to my friend to tell him we are about see a part of history unfold here! .....Up on the big screens are glimpses of the proud Godfather to it all,Helio..... Helio is surrounded and guarded by family and friends. He sits awaiting, convincingly, Royce will be victorious. Royce rolls his shoulders, somewhat disjointedly, stands tall, lean, stern and intent, NO GI. ............................................................ ..................................................... .....The cage door is closed and the battle begins, alot of respect at first, from both sides, a few kicks and punches thrown. Hughes presses hard, sensing an opportunity to pounce, unleashes an aggressive, quick, superman punch to close the gap to a clinch, lands a huge knee to Royce's stomach.... Both fighters struggle for posistion, Royce is up against the cage with Hughes working to take Royce down. It's now on the ground, the crowd is going crazy... Hughes has the advantage, taking Royce's back. Royce defends and has Hughes in his guard. The crowd senses something coming from Royce, could it be? Hughes gets around Royce's guard and gets side control, dropping a few elbows and punches... Hughes secures an armlock, but fails to lock it out........., Royce almost looks double jointed evading this maneuver. Royce continues to inch his arm back to freedom... Once again Hughes gets Royce's back, this time he sinks his hooks in, Royce is flattened out on his stomach... Hughes is now locked down on Royce, raining down blows and elbows to Royces face and sides of the head. ....."Big John McCarthy", has actually witnessed 8-10 unanswered blows from Hughes, Royce trys to evade and does'nt stop moving but McCarthy has seen enough of the Hughes onslaught. ............................................................ .................................................... .....Royce sits up, McCarthy is holding Royce's head in his arms and whispers something into Royce's ear...The arena quiets down for a brief moment...The fight was inside of one round. John did wait to call it... It was hard to watch the expression on Helios face........................................................ ................................................... ............................................................ .................................................... .....The Gracies created this hybrid of Japanese Juijitsu, called Brazillian Juijitsu. All based on levereage and their imagination, allowing Helio at 140 lbs. to take on all comers in his youth, fighting challenge after challenge relying on his technique. ............................................................ .................................................... .....The Gracies created what we have today. They dominated this sport for years, wrote volumes on Brazilian Juijitsu. Triggered another martial wave, inspiring millions. Royce and his corner were not able to find a solution.......................... ............................................................ .................................................... .....Royce was probably several moves ahead of Hughes at any moment in the brief fight... But the rain of blows, posistion and the contol factor was too much, after all it is a sport right!, with time limits! Fight again another day!.......................................... ............................................................ ..................................................... .....I wanted Royce to find a way as he had done so many times before. He and the Gracie clan are looked up to by so many... They helped the world catch up on the Brazilian Jujitsu learning curve. I never saw him ever give up! He is a fighter, and fighters will fight to the end!........................................................ ................... .....Today's athlete must do it all, and be great at it all, to rise to the top... Leverage and imagination can move worlds... It seems so ironic yet complimentary that Royce and his family has used, and taught the same holds to millions. I guess when we live by the sword, we also die by the sword... Hughes wanted to prove something tonight, and that was, you must evolve, be a well rounded fighter to consistiently win and dominate. .....The formula for fighters today should be, always fight from your strengths, to thier weakenesses, just as the Gracies had demonstrated and taught us years ago... The best of life to the Gracies always... Thank You!.................................................... ............................................................ ..................................................... .....In a couple of hours it will be my birthday so I don't think i'll be training anyone, but you never know, someone might call! See you at UFC 61........Train Smart!............... Lynn Wyatt Schutz ...Chief MMA coach@AKA