IMPACT MMA TURNS 2

On 2 June 2012, it became officially 2 years since the first training session was held on the mats at Impact MMA. We’ve come a very very long way.

Today, we boast a stable of competitive local fighters unlike any other in Singapore. Bruce, Royston, Garie, Garrick, Juan, Brenden, Cain all fought under the Singapore/Impact MMA flag and were victorious. Our only non-Singaporean fighter, Professor Leke has put up some tremendous shows in the MMA ring. We’ve been blessed with success in the Muay Thai ring, Sanda Platforms and the BJJ mats. With the dedication of coaches, staff, trainees we can only expect much more to come.

Of course, there were setbacks that came with the success, like Bruce tearing his hamstring during his Dare FC fight, Juan getting an injury just a few weeks before his One FC debut. But we bounce back. We come back stronger. We never give up.

There are so many people to thank, and I like to do it personally rather than make a show of it. So many people had to play their part, and play it right, to make Impact MMA what it is today. The trainers and staff, for their dedication and skill, the members who supported us and forgave our mistakes (your loyalty is not forgotten), the many treasured guests that visited and spent some time teaching and training with us.

We are not resting on our laurels. We are constantly seeking to upgrade, improve, strengthen. While things have gone largely smoothly, we’ve made mistakes and we learn. Success comes with it’s own issues and we are working to solve them. I know the gym is a little more crowded nowadays, so we are in the midst of opening up more classes on Saturdays and Sundays. We’re also working to bring in some exciting names to contribute and share their knowledge. We now working relationships with sports doctors, physiotherapists, conditioning experts, F&B establishments where our members get discounts or privileges. We’re working everyday to make it better and better to be a member of Impact MMA and we’re not going to stop.

Thank you all for playing your part in bringing us to where we are today. We’ve only just begun.

CAGE FIGHTING IS GOOD FOR YOU

Training like an MMA fighter could be the best fitness approach for anyone, whether you intend to ever step into a ring or not.

Bruce, 36, works the pads while Prof Leke, 35, looks on

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters are ripped. They don’t just look good. They are the epitome of functional fitness, i.e fitness which can be used. They don’t have big bulging bodybuilder type muscles, but they have muscles which are extremely strong and which can be used in functional movements. Looking around our gym at Impact, many of us marvel at the impressive physiques on the fighters, especially considering many of them the mid to late thirties.

When it comes to fitness and conditioning, MMA fighters are on a whole new level. Dr Carlson Colker, a renown sports physician who has advised and trained superstar and elite athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and Andre Agassi, Olympic athletes and MMA fighters, told Sports Illustrated:

“”If you’re going to measure every parameter [endurance, flexibility, coordination, strength], without a doubt, MMA fighters are the most accomplished athletes out there…It’s not even close.”

The idea that fitness is central to fighting was openly preached by the father of modern MMA, the great Bruce Lee. Just like modern MMA fighters, Lee trained in various forms of martial arts ranging from Judo, boxing, wrestling and Wing Chun and eventually rejected the idea that training in just one style would be sufficient to be a complete fighter. Bruce Lee was revolutionary in his focus on physical conditioning. Bruce Lee said that physical conditioning is a must for all martial artists.

Essentially, MMA is several different sports rolled into one. The physical demands required for ground fighting are very different from those of takedowns and also very different from those of punching or kicking.  In MMA, you need to push and pull, you need to have explosive movements and you also need isometric strength, you have a lot of twisting motions, hip movements, movements which are both under resistance and fast movements without resistance. Like Dr Colker says, every parameter of physical conditioning is required.

Training in MMA therefore puts you through all these motions. MMA fighters end up having supremely functional strength and conditioning.

At Impact MMA, we often see seasoned athletes like triathletes, rugby players, competitive soccer players and even some physical trainers try MMA training and discover that there are big gaping areas in their spectrum of fitness attributes which are lacking. Most of these sportsmen tend to be strong in a few areas, but weak in others. MMA tests and develops the whole lot.

The style of training in our gym involves a wide array of exercises. You have a range of body weight exercises, and exercises with equipment such as weights, kettlebells, battling ropes, tornado balls, medicine balls, various punching bags etc. The format of training could be described as a variant of high intensity interval training, with intense bouts of training interspersed with brief breaks. Impact MMA’s head MMA coach Bruce Loh says that a typical 90 minute session might involve about 45 minutes of pure physical conditioning with the rest of the time focusing on fighting technique and strategies.

We often see impressive examples of fat loss. “Fat” loss and not “weight” loss.  The intense style of training promotes the loss of fat and the retention and growth of muscle. The loss of fat is counterbalanced by the maintenance or growth in lean mass and so the weight loss, if any, may not be dramatic if the individual is not carrying ample excess fat to start with. What is dramatic is the change in body shapes. As the fat melts away from the sprawls, tabatas, pad work, grappling drills etc, one sees a lean, toned physique emerge. For individuals carrying ample excess fat, we do see quite dramatic weight and fat loss. We have individuals, like Glenn Ang, 22, who have dropped in excess of 30kg over a 6 month period, while at the same time increasing their functional strength. We’ve seen scrawny underweight individuals pile on slabs of muscle to become athletic machines and competitive MMA fighters.

MMA is often described as “no holds barred” or “anything goes”. That’s what happens in the cage in a fight. You, and your body, must be prepared for all sorts of positions and situations, and you must be able to execute moves while under constant pressure and attack. Resistive forces come from all directions and you need to react and counteract these forces at a high intensity. Whether you ever intend to step into a cage to fight or not, train along side these ultimate warriors, and you too will end up having the most complete and functional physical conditioning ever while having a whole lot of fun!

Royston doing Medicine Ball Throwdowns, a highly explosive and demanding exercise

Leke vs. Ludakris at DARE Championship 17 March 2012!

Leke vs. Ludakris

Leke is fighting swedish MMA fighter Kristoffer Persson at Dare FC this Saturday. Leke accepted the fight even though his opponent will weigh in at 75kg when Leke’s preferred weight class is below 66kg. But Leke showed absolutely no fear in taking on this larger and more experienced opponent. His is truly the spirit of a warrior. GO LEKE!!!!

LEKE is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion who grew up fighting for his life in the slums of Rio De Janeiro but now fights because he wants to and because he is very good at it.

LUDAKRIS is a Muay Thai fighter from Sweden who trains with the legendary Ole Laursen at Legacy Gym and should have a significant size advantage going into this fight but Leke, who is based in Singapore, knows no fear.

The winner of this fight will proceed to the QuarterFinal level of the DARE Championship and be one step closer to becoming one of the first DARE Champions and the receivers of the One Million Dollar Grand Bonus.

ONE MILLION DOLLARS. IN A CAGE. GAME ON.

LUDAKRIS – Kristoffer is a Muay Thai fighter from Sweden who made his MMA debut in Pattaya last year, defeating a Filipino fighter under semi pro rules.

He travelled to China to face one of the best fighters there last April and put in a good performance before being submitted in the second round.

He also has plenty of BJJ experience and has been based in Boracay where he will have been training with Ole Laursen every day as the K-1 and Muay Thai veteran prepared for back to back MMA fights this year.

He trains out of Legacy Gym in Boracay. For more information please visit: http://www.legacygym.com.

LEKE – Alexsandro had a hard upbringing and the Brazilian is as tough as they come. He only moved into MMA last year but already has a perfect 3-0 record with all his fights finishing early in the opening round.

He is naturally a featherweight but has no problem taking on much bigger opponents, or even fighting twice in a night. Last time out he took on an opponent who was 20 kgs bigger than him and submitted him in under 30 seconds.

Leke trains out of and represents Impact MMA in Singapore.

For more information please visit: http://www.impactmma.com.sg

Here are the thoughts of veteran MMA journalist James Goyder,

“Leke seems to have an old school vale tudo attitude to fighting, he will take on anyone, any time no matter how much bigger they are or how many times he has already fought that night.

He is a BJJ black belt and if he can get this fight to the ground he is almost guaranteed to win, Kris needs to keep it standing and use his size and reach to punish the Brazilian in the stand up exchanges.

I don’t see this fight making it out of the opening round.” He said.

Bruce Vs. Diyor at DARE Chamionship in Bangkok 17 March 2012

Change of opponent.

BRUCE Vs. DIYOR… This is gonna be a good one!!

DIYOR VS BRUCE

DARE 2/2012 FLYWEIGHT FIGHT

DARE is proud to present a highly anticipated Flyweight fight (57 kilos/ 125lbs) between DIYOR – Shodiyor Jurabekov and BRUCE – Bruce Loh, taking place at DARE 2/2012 on March 17th 2012.

DARE 2/2012 is broadcasted LIVE on www.darelive.tv and on www.gfl.tv for just 9,99 USD.

DIYOR – Shodiyor Jurabekov VS BRUCE – Bruce Loh.

These two already met once, at an MMA event in Malaysia last year, in a fight which turned out to be the fight of the night that evening. Bruce won a decision that time but it was a back and forth war and Diyor showed some impressive skills. When Bruce’s original opponent pulled out of the fight with an injury Diyor wasted no time in demanding a rematch because he wants revenge for that razor thin decision loss.

The winner of this fight will proceed to the Quarter final level of DARE Championship and a step closer of being in the group of the first DARE Champions and the receivers of the Million Dollar Grand Bonus.

ONE MILLION DOLLARS. IN A CAGE. GAME ON.

DIYOR – Diyor, from Uzbekistan, is only 19 years old but has a red mix black belt in Jeet Kun Do, the martial art made famous by Bruce Lee. He also has experience in Judo, Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai and his skill set translates extremely well into mixed martial arts. He took on Bruce in his professional MMA debut and gave an extremely good account of himself that night, going the full three rounds with a much more experienced opponent.

DIYOR trains out of the Muay Fit, Malaysia. For more information about Muay Fit, please visit:

muayfit.com

BRUCE – Bruce Loh has been on the scene for a long time and is a very well known figure in Singapore. He is a veteran of numerous Muay Thai and BJJ tournaments and competitions and is a very well rounded fighter although he seems to be at his most comfortable when the fight goes to the floor. It will be interesting to see whether, with so much boxing and Muay Thai experience, he is prepared to stand and bang against an opponent who has a reputation as being a knock out artist.

Bruce Loh represents Impact MMA in Singapore. For more information about Impact MMA, please visit:

www.impactmma.com.sg

Here are the thoughts of veteran MMA journalist James Goyder,

“This fight is probably the best I’ve ever seen taking place at the Malaysian MMA scene. It was very even and you could see that both fighters were at a very good level. I thought Bruce had done enough to take the decision because he had a lot of submission attempts but I honestly wasn’t sure who had won until it was announced. Bruce has got a good level of Muay Thai and BJJ but Diyor also seemed surprisingly strong in every area, he had no obvious weaknesses and I expect this fight to be just as close as the first one was.” He said.

DARE 2/2012 is the fourth event put on by the DARE promotion and takes place at Club Insomnia Bangkok on March 17th. The first fight will get underway at 4pm local time and the entire event is being streamed live on the internet at www.darelive.tv and at www.gfl.tv for just $9.99.

Get all the updates and ROCK with DARE on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DARE/200087416727252?sk=app_207826805972013

Twitter: @DareFightSports

Competitions and results

Impact MMA’s fighters and competitors have consistently produced awesome results in all competitions, be it MMA, Muay Thai, BJJ, Sanshou etc. The constant stream of victories and inspiring performances are a testament to the dedication and quality of the competitors, trainers and staff at Impact MMA. We promise to continue to produce the highest level of competitors.

Competition: October 2010: Raphael Lim represents Impact MMA at the Bangkok Open at white belt/under 64kg

Results: Gold medal in both Gi and No-Gi category

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: Jan 2011. Beginners no-gi tournament for players with less than 6 months experience. 4 schools participated.

Results: Impact wins 3 gold medals in out of 4 weight categories!

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: May 2011. Amas Muay Thai event. Impact sends in 3 fighters.

Results: 3 Gold medals!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: July 2011: National Sanda Championship

Results: Out of 5 fights, our guys won 3 and drew 1. Although the draw was highly contentious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: October 2011: Impact MMA BJJ Open. What an event, every single BJJ school in Singapore was represented. Only white belt categories were officially competed (only categories where we had 4 or more registered contesteants). The house was PACKED and response was overwhelming.

Results: Impact was the best performing gym with 3 golds and a silver out of the 7 categories.

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: November 2011: Fightnight 2 MMA. Impact sends 3 fighters to the MMA event in KL, Bruce Loh, Royston Wee and Prof Leke Machado.

Results: 3 for 3 again! 3 dominant victories by all our fighters.

Competition: Dec 2011: MFC Fightnight 3 MMA. Impact sends 5 fighters to the MMA event in KL, Bruce Loh, Prof Leke Machado, Royston Wee, Garrick Seah and Garie Tang.

There were 6 fights for the 5 fighters. Prof Leke is taking on 2 fights on the night, and his 2nd fight is against an opponent 85kg (Leke was fighting at 69kg!). Royston was also fighting an opponent who did not make weight and was 4kg heavier than him.

Results: 6 out of 6 dominant wins! 5 submissions (all rear naked chokes) and 1 TKO. Impact MMA’s perfect run in MMA competitions continue!

 

 

 

 

 

Competition: Jan 2012: Ultimate Beatdown MMA . Impact sends 3 fighters for their debut fights to the MMA event in JB: Cain Ng, Brenden Sim and Juan Wenjie.

Juan started the night off with a TKO (ref stoppage) in the 1st round after some nasty ground and pound. Brenden was the 1st main event of the night where he showed the power of BJJ and winning by RNC in the 1st round. Cain’s fight was the final main event where his opponent put up a good fight even on the ground. Cain fought back to win by RNC.

Results: ‎3 out of 3 wins for Impact MMA at Ultimate Beatdown!  Impact MMA remains undefeated in MMA bouts at 12 wins and 0 losses!!!

ITEMS FOR SALE @ IMPACT MMA

This gallery contains 27 photos.

FOR SALE AT IMPACT MMA All items for sale at Impact MMA, Shenton Way. All items are brand new and genuine and going cheap! While stocks last. Top King Boxing Head Guard (Full coverage) Provides full coverage to the head/cheeks. … Continue reading →

Mixed Martial Arts – How safe is MMA?

Abbott’s vicious right hands slammed on the head of the fallen Matua. Immediately the unconscious Matua’s body contorted in frightening convulsions. This was in UFC 6, in modern MMA’s early days. MMA has come a very very long way…

So is MMA a “safe sport”?

No doubt, MMA is a combat sport. It certainly has risks. The question is, how does MMA compare with other combat sports like boxing, Muay Thai etc.

Visually, MMA does look very dangerous. In particular, the “Ground & Pound” aspect of the game looks uniquely violent.  The science however, suggests otherwise.

MMA is probably one of the safest full contact sports out there today. MMA is much safer than even boxing in terms of the risk of serious injury.

MMA trainer Rudy Lindsey, himself a father explains:

“A lot of people are worried about the kids safety. Mixed martial arts are safer than football or baseball. There is less severe injuries in mixed martial arts fighting than most contact sports.“[1]

MMA champions last pretty long, many of the best have held belts well into their 30′s and even 40′s. (Randy Couture, Chuck Lidell, Anderson Silva,  Matt Sera, Sean Sherk, Fedor, Dan Henderson, Takanori Gomi, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Lyoto Machida, Matt Hughes etc…)

I think the following factors explain MMA’s surprisingly good safety record:

1.   MMA allows for tapping-out or submitting, and this is a very common method of ending matches.

The submission, using locks and chokes, is central to MMA. In a submission, a losing fighter can concede by “tapping out” to stop the match before he gets hurt. In boxing, a fighter must inevitably get hurt before the match can be stopped early.

“There is zero shame in tapping out. In American culture it’s, ‘I quit,’ but in Japan and Brazilian jujitsu, it’s not quitting. You were bested and will live to fight another day.””

                   (creativeloafing.com article, 21 February 2007[3])

And from Dana White:

“And the difference with the tap out is that if I get you into a submission and you’re in a bad place – you can tap out with honour. It’s acceptable in this sport. In the Roberto Duran v Sugar Ray Leonard boxing fight, when Duran said ‘no mas’- he was ridiculed for the rest of his career…”

(Guardian Unlimited, 25 April 2007)

Johnson v Jeffries - classic boxing knockout

2.     MMA referees will stop matches, the moment one party is unable to put up a reasonable defence or once one party is so dominant that the other is at risk of injury.

In a boxing or kickboxing match, if a fighter takes a hit and gets knocked down and is unable to defend himself, the fighter gets 8-10 seconds to recover and try to resume fighting.

In MMA, once a fighter is unable to defend himself, the match is stopped immediately. No further hits will be sustained.

Barry Jordan, a neurologist and ringside physician, said, ”If a boxer is sustaining enough punishment to have to count to eight to assess his condition, then he’s probably suffered enough punishment to stop the fight.”[2]

3.                  Strikes in MMA are directed at all parts of the body. In boxing, strikes are largely directed at the head.

“At first, MMA looks more dangerous than boxing. Kicks, chokes, elbows, knees, those little gloves? When a fighter knocks his opponent down, he doesn’t go to a neutral corner, he attacks. But …With boxing, the goal in mind is to punch your opponent in the head as much as possible,”… “The accumulation of those blows is devastating. With MMA, you can win in a plethora of ways, and fighters don’t take a fraction of the blows to the head. You might go through a whole MMA fight without getting hit one time.”-Ross Kellin, gym owner

(creativeloafing.com article, 21 February 2007)

“In the UFC you and I can fight, and I can beat you and win, and never punch you in the head once. We can go right to the ground, start grappling, and pull off a submission. It’s not 25, 30 minutes of blows to the head non-stop. The misconception is, God look at these guys can kick, knee, punch, elbow, slam to the ground, this has to be more violent and dangerous. It’s not true.”

(Dana White, Guardian Unlimited, 25 April 2007)

The medical report “A neurologist’s reflections on boxing” by Unterharnscheidt F identified the number of blows received as one of 3 factors affecting the extent of brain damage suffered by boxers.

Boxers take up to 500 hits to the head per 12 bout fight. By comparison, an MMA fighter was estimated to take less than 20 hits to the head. That is 25 less head strikes!

And from a 2005 Time Magazine article:

“It’s probably safer than boxing in terms of the chances of injury,” says David Holland of Virginia’s Professional Boxing and Wrestling Program, reflecting the UFC’s argument that the sport’s blows are more evenly distributed, whereas boxing focuses on debilitating punches to the head.“

Fatalities?
In a 12 March 2007 article by Scrippsnew.com, it was pointed out that since 1997, at least 12 boxers have died in the U.S. from boxing related injuries and opined that boxing was deadlier than MMA, it adds:

 “…Reno, Nev. brain surgeon Dr. Joe Walker says that while injuries of all kinds from mixed martial arts fights are about three times that of boxing, knockout rates are half. Based on his knowledge of the physiology of brain injury, Walker guesses the relative safety might arise from mixed martial arts being about more than simply hitting an opponent’s melon over and over.”They’re able to hit other things, there are fewer rounds, and it’s not all about hitting…”

Boxing has a relatively low fatality rate, estimated at 76 deaths per million. Since 1998 there have been over 70 boxing related deaths worldwide. In sanctioned MMA events, there have only been 2!

Safer than American Football?

Herschel Walker, who won a Heisman Trophy (a prestigious trophy for the most outstanding collegiate player) and ran for more than 13,000 yards in 15 years in professional football said in a USA Today article:

“People shy away from it because they think it’s a brutal, brutal sport, and I’ve said, ‘Guys, MMA is safer than football and boxing,… And people tell me they don’t believe it. Am I not the most credible person to give you the answer to that?“

David Zinczenko, editor in chief of Men’s Health and editorial director of Women’s Health  explained in a NY Times opinion piece:

“… In fact, fighters who suffer knockouts are suspended and barred even from sparring for three months; in the N.F.L. and N.H.L., we cheer when a player leaves the game on a stretcher and returns the next week — and even louder if he comes back the next period.”

Photo by Martin Rhodes under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license

What do the experts say?

We already quoted Dr. Joe Walker above.

Nick Lembo of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board which sanctions both boxing and MMA matches, says:

“In MMA, you’re going to see there’s more violence in their advertising and marketing, and to the casual observer it does seem more primitive and more violent…But in terms of serious injuries, it seems safer than boxing.”

A study by Bledsloe et al, ” Incidence of Injury in Professional Mixed Martial Arts Competitions”, published in 2006 by the prestigious Johns Hopkins physicians  concluded:

“The injury rate in MMA competitions is compatible with other combat sports involving striking. The lower knockout rates in MMA compared to boxing may help prevent brain injury in MMA events.“

Another Johns Hopkins study 2 years later by Ngai et al, “Injury trends in sanctioned mixed martial arts competition: a 5-year review from 2002 to 2007” concluded:

“Injury rates in regulated professional MMA competition are similar to other combat sports; the overall risk of critical sports-related injury seems to be low. “

The studies both found that relatively minor injuries like cuts, sprains and strains are common, but the critical injuries were not.

I leave this argument, quoting from AOL Sports Journalist Michael David Smith’s blog(after he concludes that MMA is safer than boxing):

 “Both sports can be brutal, but in terms of safety, if a father is going to encourage his son to get involved in either boxing or mixed martial arts, he’d be much better off choosing the latter.”

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Disclaimer: I’m not medically trained, or an expert of any sort. These are just my thoughts and I am most certainly open to hearing comments and opinions.

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[1] http://www.carthagepress.com/articles/2007/05/21/sports/01fighting.txt

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[2] NY Times, 23 Feb 2000 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2D91330F930A15751C0A9669C8B63

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