MMA - mixed martial arts training

When I am not writing about mma, I am trying to train in mma. Due to my advanced age (27), training gets longer and longer as well as more painful. In the states we are competitive. However, we are competitive for specific reasons. Here (in the USA) rivalries usually break down like this, you are either "Gracie" (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu based), or you are "Shamrock" (Striking and wrestling/grappling based). While this is a broad generalization, That is usually how it works.

With this all said, no one really acknowledges this fact. I came across this bizarre phenomenon purely by accident. I was at the gym lifting weights trying to keep back the effects of aging. Being an underpaid mma writer/videographer, I was wearing some assorted fight shirt that was donated to me from one fight team or another, possibly even my own.

While I am not psychic, I can tell when I am being watched, when I was done re-stacking my weights, A muscular ("roid head") was eyeing my shirt.

"You train?" he asked. Normally I would have some smart ass reply, but on this day I wasn‘t feeling too chatty. "Usually" was my reply. "oh, is that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?" he asked pointing to the picture on my back of two guys grappling. "Yep, it keeps me busy." is all I had the patience to say . I could tell he wanted me to ask if he trained but I wanted to hear him say it. " I train a little, pankration, like Ken Shamrock".

You see, in the states, people are fanatic about taking sides. It is an all or nothing attitude. I could have told him I have trained with Lions Den guys as well, but in his mind, I was a sworn enemy and not to be trusted. Disputes that happened 10 years ago still have an effect on how we train in the states today.

If an American tells you everyone trains together and that there is no segregation or polarization, he is like most Americans, LYING TO YOU. Team pride and unit cohesiveness is paramount to a training regime. One needs a team and one needs an antagonist to pit himself against. While none of this rivalry ever gets blatantly physical (except of course for sparring) , it does lend to a good spot of ribbing every now and then.

Rivalry is good as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. Bjj or wrestling, it doesn’t matter as long as progress is being made in the sport. One needs opposition, it’s the nature of the sport.