It was apparent for most of us when Don Frye stepped into the octagon at UFC 8 that a new era had begun. Before then, Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Submission Fighting reigned supreme. Frye brought in the skills of a seasoned boxer, wrestler, and judoka. Although he was a small man, at just over two hundred pounds, he dispatched his opponents with relative ease. This paved the way for what was to come in the future for mixed martial arts contests in America.
Crosstraining among the various arts was not born in the UFC. In fact, it had been going on for many years. Martial artists such as Bruce Lee and Jim Arvanitis were preaching the values of cross training to an American public long before it was generally accepted. Bruce Lee put it best in his book, "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do", when he stated "One can function freely and totally if he is 'beyond system.' The man who is really serious, with the urge to find out what truth is, has no style at all. He lives only in what is." In this statement, Lee describes the essence of crosstraining in a nutshell. To be free from all boundaries within your training is to be a more complete and well-rounded martial artist.
There have been accounts of cross training dating back to the early 20th century. Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestler Ad Santel made a trip to Japan and gained victory over several of the Kodokan's top judoka during jacketed wrestling matches. It was said that the Japanese were so impressed with Santel's knowledge of grappling and submission that they offered to exchange techniques with him. This opened the door to the mixing of Catchwrestling and Judo. Santel later went on to train one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Lou Thesz.
Jon Bluming, from Holland, was a terror on the Judo mats as well as in the Karate dojo. He spent several years training at the Kodokan with Judo greats like Donn Draeger (USA), Akio Kaminaga (Japan), and Isao Inakuma (Japan). His Karate training was done in Mas Oyama's Kyokushin Kai style. Bluming believed in the ability to be well rounded. He mixed his striking and grappling styles together to form a complete system of fighting. Bluming stresses the values of crosstraining to his students by preparing them to engage in both grappling and striking situations.
While this article tells of a few martial artists who adopted crosstraining, it doesn't even scratch the surface of the many nameless practitioners that put their sweat on the mats every day. The line of the future in martial arts has been drawn. Where there used to be the question of what style you train in, it is now the question of how many styles do you train in. It is up to the individual practitioner to discover which styles mix best for their purpose. The main idea is to find a combination that works best for you. You must be comfortable with your training. Martial arts are as much about training the mind as it is training the body. Realize this, and you are on your way to a better experience within your chosen arts.
Writer: Steve Loftin (31Jan02)
