The underlying essentials never change: Obviously the sport of mixed martial arts is radically different from grappling. Yet there is a definite sense in which the basic demands of all combat sports are the same – only the means of expressing them are different. I find it helps athletes who are making the crossover to teach them in terms of those shared foundational principles so that the many SHARED elements of the different sports are emphasized rather than the many DIFFERENCES. It does not matter whether we are punching, kicking, clinching, performing takedowns or grappling on the floor – gaining angle on my opponent towards his back will constitute advantage. By constantly emphasizing that concept in grappling training, it becomes easy to teach applications of the same principle to that athlete in the new context of striking. Here, just days before his MMA debut in Thailand, Garry Tonon works to find and exploit advantageous angle to punch, just as he did for years to enter into submissions- different context – same principle
