I want to talk about flexibility and adaptability in a fight .It is a problem I see consistently be it in an amateur’s first fight or even in a UFC fight. What do I mean by it?
Have you guys ever watched a fight and almost knew what the next move of a fighter was going to do? I mean after two minutes into the first round , you already knew he was going to throw that one two combination and shoot in for a double leg .Let’s take it one further , you know the saying if it’s not broke , don’t fix it ! If the one –two combination is working for you and your hitting your opponent by all means do it until the end of the fight, yet the problem occurs when the opponent is effectively using it against you .You see it all the time, the fighter throws the one, two and his opponent counters with a hook and then he throws it again and he gets countered again .You would think at some point that the fighter would change tactics but sadly it doesn’t happen.
Bruce lee once said “be like water my friends “ .Water takes the shape of whatever container it gets put into , you put water into a bowl , it takes the shape of the bowl , you put it into a glass , it takes the shape of the glass .
A fighter has to take the shape of water, you have to be able to adapt to anything at any time .If you’re getting beat standing up, take it to the ground , if you’re getting beat on the ground , keep it standing up , if he’s beating you in the clinch then by all means get out of the clinch .If your original two takedown defenses aren’t working , get creative and try to stop it somehow .Insanity is trying the same things over and over again and expecting different results .Yesterday I rolled with a white belt and he would constantly sit in my guard and I would constantly lock in that triangle .He asked me what he was doing wrong and I told him to try something different , he then proceeded to sit in my guard and try a different guard pass , Funny but wrong , he should have adapted and refused to sit in my guard . He was so focused on the guard pass that he failed to realize the problem was him being in my guard and as a fighter It is extremely easy to lose sight about this so I want you guys to remember that while you are training and something isn’t working, adapt and try something else .Trust me it’s a lot easier to adapt in training then it is in a fight.
