Leo Fong teaching at his annual seminar for the University of Pennsylvania Kempo club.

Mixed Martial Arts has become the newest craze in our martial arts landscape, much like the Ninja craze of the 80’s. The audience response is much more intense than that of the Ninja craze of the 80’s. Having attended many of the film festivals in the 80’s such as the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Milan Film Festival in Italy and The American Film Market in Santa Monica, the impact the Ninja craze in the 80’s was reflected in the profitability of that genre in the movie business. If you had a Ninja picture or even one that closely resemble a ninja, you had very little problem selling it and making a hefty profit. Mixed Martial Arts has created a craze but of a different kind. The very fact that two contestants in a caged area can bring serious hurt to each other is appealing to a specific demographic. I am a fan of MMA because I want to see what the fighters did that may help me to develop better defensive, offensive and counter offensive skills. One of the things I noticed is that most of the competitors are skillful grapplers, especially in the early days of the sport. This is understandable in that most competitors came from wrestling and jiu jitsu backgrounds. As I watched those early fights, one question emerged in my mind, “what if you had hitting skills and kept distance and refused to let the grappler enter your zone?” When hitters like Chuck Liddell, Rampage Jackson and Kimbo Slice entered the scene and start knocking out grapplers and kickers with punches; not only did they confirmed my suspicion but validate what I had always believed, that a great hitter with a knowledge of the grappler’s mind can win by a knockout.

I believe that as MMA continue to move forward eventually those with winning skills will be good hitters and punchers. Even those who reputed to have a boxing background have not been able to exhibit the kind of fluidity and Zen like expression as seen is professional boxers. Of course I realize that MMA involved several different ranges of fighting, whereas a professional boxer has only to deal with boxing and boxing rules.

This brings me to my favorite technique; The Left Jab or Front Hand Jab. I fell in love with the Left Jab when I first joined my college boxing team over 62 years ago, when my boxing coach Kirby “KO” Donoho demonstrated to me the importance of developing this punch. In many sparring sessions with him, he would invariably set me up with his body jab to the solar plexus and follow up with a left hook to the jaw. The way he executed the jab was very deceptive. He would look you straight in the face throw the jab as if it was headed for your face and at the last second bend and strike. Even if you block the punch with an elbow, the left hook was on its way before you could defend against it.

If more MMA fighters work on refining and sharpening the Left Jab or Front Hand Jab, they would be much more formidable. The Jab is one of the best if not the best punch in fighting. I say this because a Jab can be annoying as a fly at a barbeque or it can sting like a bee. Boxing legends like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Joey Maxim, Larry Holmes, Bernard Hopkins and Gene Tunney were proficient in utilizing the Jab. The latest boxing sensation Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik, whose left jab is the key punch that paves the way for his powerful right cross. The Jab is one punch when executed correctly will not leave you open for a counter punch. The Jab can be used as a defensive weapon, it can be utilized as a counter punch or a punch to set-up for other more lethal attacks. The Jab can be used to open up a tight defense or it can take the power out of an aggressive attack. However, the Jab cannot be mastered in five easy lessons. It takes a lot of repetitious practice to perfect the punch. Mastering the Jab requires good body mechanics, emotional content, relaxed-concentration, footwork, timing, speed, non-telegraphic moves and etc. Once mastered an opponent will have a tough time getting past your zone. I welcome any comments on this.

For additional information for seminars, books and DVD’s contact Leo T. Fong at leotfong@aol.com.