The Jiu-Jitsu Fighter: 5/17/09

5/20/09

UFC Undisputed 2009 Game Review

I don't know if anyone else has picked up UFC Undisputed 2009 for their game system, but if you are a fan you need to pick this game up. I didn't want to give a rousing review of the entire game, but rather the phenomenal way that the Jiu-Jitsu is presented in the game. On its own, the stand-up fighting is basically a button masher. My four year old daughter can knock you out when she plays as Chuck Liddell, Literally. If you never take it to the ground I could see where the game would get seriously mundane, but get that solid take down and the ground control becomes a thing of technique and patience. Hum, sound familiar to a Jiu-Jitsu fighter? You can't just hit a button and pass someone's guard, you have to use one of your analog sticks along with a small combo of other buttons to gain a dominate position. THQ must have done a lot of research as well. I really like that if your fighter isn't supposed to be somewhere they don't let them go there, the progression of changing positions is all there. Take for instance if you are in a fighter's closed guard, you break the guard, then go for the pass to either one side or the other. If you wind up in side control and move your analog stick back to the direction of the fighter's guard, it won't let you go back. In a real fight you wouldn't go back into half guard or full guard, so it shouldn't happen in the game. The ease of the ground control is very realistic. Fighters get out of submissions if their stamina is high, like at the beginning of the fight. Submissions in general are difficult to finish, but in truth I would want it that way. In previous UFC games like Sudden Impact if you went to the ground all you had to do was hit two buttons together and you would throw on a submission. If the other fighter didn't hit the exact two buttons that you did, they couldn't defend the submission, and so the fight could last a matter of 30 seconds. Now I know that this happens in real life, but sometimes fantasy is better when it lasts longer.

The game is rated T for Teen. I would not recommend it for anyone who has kids that don't already watch UFC. The blood isn't too bad, but the cuts look very realistic. Just saving you a little Q&A with the little ones. The other aspect of the game I really like is the Classic Fights mode. You have to recreate the outcome of the fight, which sounds easy, but in truth is very challenging. I tried the Diego V. Karo fight that went Unanimous Decision in the 3rd and wound up knocking Karo out in the second. You have to know how to set the pace or perfect the move, which gives you more of a challenge than just beating up your friends on line.

Anyway, I recommend this game and am looking forward to many blisters on thumbs in the coming weeks!

5/19/09

Submissions From Bottom Side Side-control

I remember the first time my instructor showed me how to do a Kimura from under side, side-control. This was the first submission I learned from a bottom position where I didn't have dominate positioning. At the time it was somewhat difficult to wrap my brain around how something like that could even work.

As time went on, I learned more and more of these types of submissions. Some of them worked well, while others seemed impossible to get on someone with any real grappling experience.

What I find now is that many times I'm not finishing the submission from underside, but rather utilizing the attack to force my opponent to give up a dominate position. The inherent problem with these bottom side submissions is obviously a lack of dominate position and ability to fully control your opponent. Now, this in and of itself doesn't necessarily mean these submissions are invalid. It just means that, as it is with any submission, one has to fully understand the technique in order to properly execute it.

We practiced the techniques in the video on Sunday and Monday, as well as some counters and recounters. I think it's extremely important to understand how to counter a technique in order to truly understand how it works.