Kevin Leavitt

THis is a very interesting clip. There are several ways I think you can look at this. Marcelo Garcia is one of the best grapplers in the world right now. I would have expected him to do better actually. So, I think on one hand it gives merit to this other guy that clearly can hold his own standing against one of the best grapplers in the world.

That said, on the other hand, Marcelo in the end was still able to take him down and establish control on him, with a few exceptions where i'd say the other guy off balanced him, yet unfortunately, he never kept control of him. I think this is more of a byproduct of how he probably trains which is simply to use power to off balance versus gain control of the fight. Whereas Marcelo clearly has a paradigm of gain control and takedown to the ground. So, which is more important in a fight? hard to say really, I think a combination of off balancing and control need to be met in order to claim success.

It is clear to me that Marcelo understands his game and works to stay on the outside of him and use speed and timing to gain control. He also changes levels which is how he primarily gains control of him using double and single leg grabs. Clearly this is not considered within the realm of IS. However, it does work and it does overcome the guys IS game.

However, Marcelo doesn't completely dominate him either does he. So it is an interesting paradox to watch.

So which is more important to fighting? Well, I think it is clear that timing, speed, and agility count fo alot in a fight. If you subscribe to OODA as a process that accurately describes fighting, then I'd say it counts for alot, and that is clear in how Marcelo is able to stay on the outside of the fight and then quickly move in, change levels, and techniques to defeat his game.

However, what happens when you don't have speed, timing, and agility on your side? Well I think that the things the other guys matters a whole lot. You need structure and frame to overcome those things and I think he does it quite well.

I can't say for sure if Marcelo can do that too as I have never seen him do it. But, Marcelo is young, in shape, at the top of his game, and clearly he has a strategy that works for him in sport fighting.

Again, the parameters and conditions are limited, but this is even more unconstrained than the other two examples as you have two guys with two different backgrounds and skill sets trying to impose their strategies on each other.

I think this makes for a more interesting and productive environment and one in which you can have a fairly authentic dialogue about what works and doesn't work. Essentially the "group think" or "sensei worship" is removed and training and feedback can occur more spontaneously.

I must assume that Marcelo was spending time with this guy because he felt it was worth his while. It will be interesting to see how he adapts/adopts things into his training as he gets older and is no longer at the top of his athletic game.