The First Snowfall

Snow!  As I write this, the first snowfall of the year is descending upon Bend.  At times falling vertically, but generally driven half horizontally by the wind.  It has been at least 10 years since I saw my last inaugural snowfall in Alaska.  It’s beautiful, and looking out my window at 3700 feet, I feel like I’m enshrouded by cloud.  This is a real storm, with low visibility and no end in sight to the sky sugar from on high. 

I watched the Ultimate Fighter 4 finale last night with Rick.  There were some really great moments of action, and I felt heavy pangs of compassion for some of the fighters.  Thales Leites showed incredible heart against Martin Kampmann, who was content to manage his distance and pick his shots to win the decision.  Durring grappling matches, I have been as tired as Leites was in the Octagon, but never had anyone punching or kicking me with full power.  Which is one good reason why I don’t do MMA.  Watching Pete Sell and Scott Smith throw down with everything hanging out was exciting, and having them high five after furious exchanges transported me back a few hundred thousand years in my own evolutionary history, prompting an occasional “OOOOGAHHHHHH!”  from my lips and chest thumping throughout the bout. 

For those that didn’t see it, Sell landed a well timed and full powered body shot to Smith’s right floating rib, causing him to double over in pain.  As Sell rushed in to finish him off, Smith reacted with one last power punch which connected with Sell’s jaw perfectly.  Knockout.  And Smith followed up with one more punch before collapsing on the mat, unable to breathe.  Two warriors, two friends, and one hell of a fight.  Rarely has the line between winner and loser been so thin. 

Travis Lutter was also unstoppable, quickly submitting Patrick Cote by armlock.  Very advanced jiu-jitsu by Lutter, going with the flow between two possible submissions (triangle and armlock from the dominant back mount).  Although Cote looked as though he had prepared very well in the pre fight video, I doubt he had ever felt the pressure of someone like Travis Lutter.  Long limbed and with a musculature that indicates tremendous isometric strength, Lutter is a force.  You don’t have to be fancy to be effective.  Basics.  Pressure.  Timing.  And sticking to your strengths.  Lots of lessons in that match.

I was also happy that Matt Serra got the nod in his match against Chris Lytle.  Matt was more aggressive, and the tendency in MMA to play an avoidance/neutralizing/stalling tactic is unappealling to this connoisseur.  I saw it developing early on in the submission grappling world, where wrestlers would enter tournaments, rack up takedowns, then retreat from the groundfight.  Outpointing someone for the win is one way to do it, but my personal style is to finish the fight decisively.  Opinions and styles differ, and for some a win is a win.  But I feel it makes the competitive training model a bit weaker when interjected into the larger perspective of Budo and overall self defense development.  The UFC as a sport is continuing to evolve away from it’s raw vale tudo (anything goes) roots.  But I love it anyway.