Fightland: JOANNA CHAMPION'S STRIKING CLINIC

[dtrick924]

Fightland: JOANNA CHAMPION'S STRIKING CLINIC

 

 

Joanna Champion's Muay Thai pedigree has been prattled on about at great length in the media, but fighters with a ton of accolades in Muay Thai and kickboxing have often looked nothing like quality strikers in MMA. Often guys have excelled in the clinch and with long kicks in Muay Thai, and when they come to MMA and meet quality grapplers, they can't risk using either of those weapons. 

 

 

We were discussing Joanna's loss to Duannapa Mor. Rattana Bundit at World Muay Thai Angels in another thread and how styles, rules and judging make fights.

[Finn Cartlidge]

She's not scared of someone shooting in on her, that's why her striking excels. Similar to Jose Aldo, although he doesn't have a background in striking, his striking is better than most mma guys, his take-down defence is so good that he can throw whatever he likes without worrying.

I think JWP spoke about this before, when he trained sparred mma his striking was crap, he was scared to throw anything. Though I wonder what it would've been like if he wasn't scared - just had a f*ck it mentality, you can try take me down, but I'ma land a few too; although this can only take you so far until you need some solid grappling skills.

So in my opinion it comes from confidence and grappling skills, I think Jessica was scared of getting hit by Joanna and Joanna wasn't scared of anything.

PS. I wrote that before I read it 'cause I already had an opinion on it, after reading it this guy said some stupid sh*t 'In kickboxing, the body jab is almost worthless.'   I don't think it's useless at all lol, I've seen it used in the exactly the same way he's described its use for mma.

' she has opted for the Fedor Emelianenko kick,' I know people like to refer to kicks punches and sh*t like they belong to someone, but in reality this is used so much in kickboxing/thai/mma it's just a variation, and I read a post stating, there's no right way to throw a leg kick; it's correct because it depends what you're trying to achieve with it.

He also criticises her for dropping her hands to sprawl in case someone throws a boxing combo after, and to be honest, as she wants to strike she probably would like someone to throw a boxing combo, perfect opportunity for a solid kick counter. 

I know I'm being a boner about it but I struggled reading that article, truly painful in some sections.

[WaffleNinja]

That was a pretty awesome fight. I cant wait to see a 5 round rematch with Gadelha.

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

She has opted for the Fedor Emelianenko kick,' I know people like to refer to kicks punches and sh*t like they belong to someone, but in reality this is used so much in kickboxing/thai/mma it's just a variation, and I read a post stating, there's no right way to throw a leg kick; it's correct because it depends what you're trying to achieve with it.

 

I think Jack Slack is kind of awesome, some of the best MMA writing in general. He draws from lots of historical source, puts things in wide context, etc. But his treatment of Joanna is a little over the top. I think UFC people are kind of drunk on her success, a lot of it coming from her fighting somewhat physically smaller opponents without much striking skill. I'll completely agree that the Fedor kick analysis was an example of this over analysis:

"Jedrzejczyk has to consider that a caught low kick, even perfectly landed, is bad news for her. Consequently she has opted for the Fedor Emelianenko kick, almost upwards and forwards more than it is about turning the hip over."

The impression he gives is that she had some how adopted this kick as some kind of MMA compromise to avoid being taken down. But this is the same same kick she used, very ineffectively, against Duannapa in Thailand, in a Muay Thai fight. She's a low-kicker, she's not avoiding the takedown by adopting a special kick.

I don't know, people get carried away.

[Micc]

Haha yeah I feel USA is kinda getting into a Joanna-hype, but I'm sooo happy for her, that she has her time to shine! 

She puts a lot of hard work into it, so I'm totally up for letting her enjoy the Joanna-Champion-hype. The article was okay for me, good read, with lots of references, but in the end only she and her team know her real abilities and work on them. 

I'm happy and proud that a small girl from a small city in Poland has such a big fist and big personality, that she can make UFC and the US-American fans worship her :D :D

I'm also looking forward to her history in the UFC and how far she will take it.. But for now, I hope she enjoys this moment of stardom to the fullest!

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Haha yeah I feel USA is kinda getting into a Joanna-hype, but I'm sooo happy for her, that she has her time to shine! 

 

Do completely agree, great to see. Everyone expected JoJo to be the Muay Thai breakthough fighter. I was really pulling for her, loved her attitude in the house, admittedly a highly edited version of reality. In a strange way Joanna has become the anti-JoJo, fulfilling the promise. I wonder if they will ever fight? Jojo's strength appears to be knee fighting and it's unsure if Joanna Champion can defend that. But Jojo seems a very forwards and back fighter, something Joanna might eat up. Still, a fight I've love to see one day, if only for the world of female Muay Thai.

[Micc]

Joanna's style is much more aggressive than JoJo's, as far as I have seen it. So I think she will deal with knees and with everything that JoJo might want to throw at her. I also liked JoJo in the house, but I heard Joanna talking about JoJo having some private stuff to deal with during the UFC Fight Night Cracow, and it seemed like she was concerned for her, so maybe they are friends?

At this moment, I don't see anyone in the strawweight division who might have what it takes to beat her in the Octagon. She will have a perfect game plan ready and will stick to it - this is what I'm amazed at, she really sticks to the game plan.

But I really love hearing and watching videos of other fighters react to her. The straw-weight division seems also split - some think she's one-dimensional, some think she's great. Sooo...I think the UFC strawweights should lift their training to a whole new level, if they want to be Joanna-ready. They are amazing athletes anyway and I'm happy that WMMA is becoming a choice of proffesion for young girls who are into martial arts! :) So many great athletes to look up to!

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

I heard Joanna talking about JoJo having some private stuff to deal with during the UFC Fight Night Cracow...

 

I think I had read that two things had happened. The first that Jojo had been in a romantic relationship with her trainer for a long time, and that this ended. And also that Jojo had experienced something that sounded inappropriate during her training camp just before Cracow. This is just from memory, not sure I got all that right.

[Micc]

I think I had read that two things had happened. The first that Jojo had been in a romantic relationship with her trainer for a long time, and that this ended. And also that Jojo had experienced something that sounded inappropriate during her training camp just before Cracow. This is just from memory, not sure I got all that right.

I stumbled across this MMA Hour with JoJo just now, where she talks about it. 

I don't know how to embed videos, so here's the link

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Pretty awesome political cartoon of Jedrzejczyk from her FB page.

[Micc]

Kevin, why is it political? I don't quite get it :( I get that it's funny, but why political?

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

Kevin, why is it political? I don't quite get it :( I get that it's funny, but why political?

 

To me it is done in the aesthetic of political cartoons. But I also think it has a political tinge in that westerners, and I am one, see all those constants and just give up, but it's asking for kind of humanization, treating her as a person. What is ironic about it is that she's depicted as a non-person, a robot, which is how UFC fans try to depict her, describing her in extra-human or sub-human terms: a force of nature, a beast, so technical, a machine. Fight fantasy has a whole sci-fi, geekdom feel about it, nerdy dudes buying PPV, and in video game mode mentally. It's funny, and meaningful, to ask that people spell your name right. But hey, that's what came to mind for me. I think it's brilliant.