Here’s one I didn’t see coming: Steven Seagal training Anderson Silva for his upcoming fight against Chael Sonnen…
If, like me, your first reaction is “Whuh?!”, here’s the video:
Seagal seems to be showing some aikido, mixed in with a bunch of other stuff. Some of it looks pretty cool, other techniques seem kind of hard to pull off. That said, if anybody can pull it off in the UFC Octagon, it’s Anderson Silva. He’s so incredibly unorthodox, he manages to land some really weird stuff on his opponents. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he looks outside of the standard MMA curriculum and into more traditional arts for inspiration.
However, I’m waiting for another video to come out where Anderson says it was just a joke Seagal and him wanted to play on Sonnen… So who knows?
If it is true, then it confirms something I said last year:
MMA has come full circle and is becoming a martial art in and of itself. Having discarded (and at first ridiculed) so much of the traditional arts they drew from in the beginning, it’s only normal that they come back to them once they realize they’re reinventing the wheel when they try to let their curriculum evolve and mature. That’s not a dig at MMA, on the contrary. I think it’s part of the natural cycle in fighting systems, martial arts and combat sports. It’s a bit ironic to see it happening but it’s going to be fun to see where the sport goes in the future.
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Bob Patterson says
I always liked watching Silva fight. I’m not sure what to make of him training with the Lord of Pasta. Perhaps they will come out with their own line of spaghetti sauce…
Wim says
Who knows? The mind boggles at the possibilities… :-)
Bob Patterson says
I always liked watching Silva fight. I’m not sure what to make of him training with the Lord of Pasta. Perhaps they will come out with their own line of spaghetti sauce…
Wim says
Who knows? The mind boggles at the possibilities… :-)
Rick Matz says
Say what you want about Seagal; he still moves as smooth as glass.
Rick Matz says
Say what you want about Seagal; he still moves as smooth as glass.
Danny Young says
Whatever the truth maybe, I know it is popular among many MA circles to piss on Mr. Segal whenever possible. I think it is very disrespectful, and just reveals the shallowness of the accuser.
Danny Young says
Whatever the truth maybe, I know it is popular among many MA circles to piss on Mr. Segal whenever possible. I think it is very disrespectful, and just reveals the shallowness of the accuser.
Matt says
Very interesting! Despite all of the…nonsense…surrounding seagal, he does have some sharp aikido.
Matt says
Very interesting! Despite all of the…nonsense…surrounding seagal, he does have some sharp aikido.
John W. Zimmer says
One thing Segal and I agree about it Silva. I love watching Silva because he is a master in the fights I’ve seen – doing what it takes to get the win.
I don’t know what to make of Segal but ever since he stated he could take any karate guy back in the 80’s (paraphrasing) and then did not take up the challengers (in BB mag) because he would have to kill them… I’ve mostly discounted him as an overblown ego with some talent probably.
Glad you have pointed out an area of agreement Wim. :)
Wim says
It’s alwyas great to see eye to eye, John. :-)
John W. Zimmer says
One thing Segal and I agree about it Silva. I love watching Silva because he is a master in the fights I’ve seen – doing what it takes to get the win.
I don’t know what to make of Segal but ever since he stated he could take any karate guy back in the 80’s (paraphrasing) and then did not take up the challengers (in BB mag) because he would have to kill them… I’ve mostly discounted him as an overblown ego with some talent probably.
Glad you have pointed out an area of agreement Wim. :)
Wim says
It’s alwyas great to see eye to eye, John. :-)
jeremy says
No matter what anybody wants to think about Segal, it is very true that he has an over inflated ego, and is very over weight…but he is one of the best at Akido, having been the only eastern practitioner to actually teach Akido in JApan says something about the man. And watch the training video…watch him put Silva on the ground…Don’t ever discoutn traditional martial arts…they may not be geared towards the ring, but they DO work. As for the overweight..well any physics student or teacher will tell you that If Force = Mass x accelertion then someone who moves as fast as Segal does, will have very devastating strikes with his weight behind them. I love seeing this video, it gives me a new respect for Silva as a martial artist, not just a fighter, and that is a rare thing in MMA these days, a humble man in a sport full of ego maniacs, and a man trying to bring martial arts back to the octagon. Anyone who remembers the beginnings of UFC will remember that back then there were no rules, and Traditional Martial Arts ruled the ring…as the rules started to get stricter and stricter, we saw the traditional styles fade away. As far as segal saying he could take ANY Karate practitioner, I’m not sure he could do that, but I do believe he would fair pretty damn well against most of them.