It's official, my deadlines are done and I'm back in business. I returned just in time to begin a series on my favorite fighter of all time and arguably the most complete fighter to date, Fedor Emelianenko. Weighing in at about 3000 words with a ton of gifs, pics and videos, this is probably the most in depth assessment of Fedor's striking that exists, and it still is far from comprehensive!
Cheers for the support and for everything,
Jack
Photo: Esther Lin
Fedor Emelianenko's storied career is coming to a close, and perhaps it is for the best. Watching the 230lbs Russian trade wild swings with Bigfoot Silva was a sad affair. Fedor has declined, and noticeably so, and is not utilizing the full skill set he owns anymore. It is safe to assume that on any given day, Fedor Emelianenko could knock any man in the world unconscious - such is the nature of his ungodly punching power. Unfortunately, this is not what made Fedor great. Fedor's career was never about the chance of a knockout and it was never about his punch - he garnered only a handful of KO victories up until his meeting with Sylvia (the start of his decline into a one dimensional brawler). Fedor's strength lay in having the best rounded game at heavyweight, and being close to the best in all disciplines, not in any one attribute.
Emelianenko came to dominance under the banner of the greatest fighting spectacle on earth - the PRIDE Fighting Championships. Having posted a phenomenal record against mixed competition in the lesser Japanese promotion RINGS, Fedor was brought in to act as a 'gimme' to then number 2 heavyweight Heath Herring. In his destruction of Herring, followed by his humiliation of Nogueira from the latter's vaunted guard, Fedor showed a viciousness and science in ground and pound that has not been seen since. Following a streak of victories over legitimate threats, Fedor was finally matched against the other member of PRIDE's heavyweight trinity - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopovic. Fedor really turned heads by beating the Croation kickboxing monster senseless on the feet.
Fedor's arsenal of techniques was enormous, and this may be the last chance we have to discuss them while he is in the news. So to make it easier on the brain this series will be divided into three parts - Stand up, Ground and Pound, and Grappling. In Ground and Pound we will look at the techniques that made Fedor so dangerous in even the best guards developed to date, while in Grappling we will discuss Fedor's takedowns, trips, and submissions. In this article however, we will discuss my forte, stand up technique.
We will look in some depth at Emelianenko's utilization of:
- Russian Hooks
- Hand Traps
- Off Balancing
- Body Work
- Kicks
No comments:
Post a Comment