Worst MMA idea ever…or not?
By Jim Murphy August 24th, 2008At least for this week….the ECW “Three Way Dance” comes to MMA:
In the never-ending quest to push the envelope in the sport of mixed martial arts, a pair of Virginia men think they’ve found the next big thing.
It is called San Do, a Japanese discipline in which three fighters compete in the ring at the same time. It will be making its area debut tonight at the Norfolk Masonic Lodge, on Granby Street.
“It’s the last man standing,” promoter Rick Anderton said. “Did you ever see, ‘The good, the bad and the ugly?’”
Anderton, from Dublin, Va., put on a show in Radford in June. He and partner Barry Taylor, a Norfolk lawyer, worked with state boxing commissioner Dave Holland to develop rules and regulations for the sport.
“I was a little skeptical myself, but to honest with you it went really well,” said Holland, who attended the Radford show.
Bouts are held in a 12-sided ring with walls slanted at a 45 degree angle. Contestants square off for three, 3-minute rounds. When three competitors are in the ring, no ground fighting is allowed - only punches, kicks and throws. Points are scored by striking. If one competitor is knocked out, the remaining two fight by professional mixed martial arts rules.
“It’s mostly stand-up fighting, and it’s a lot of action,” said Jerry Beasley, a Radford University professor and founder of the school’s Karate College. “You can’t start fighting just one guy. You have to be prepared on both sides.
“It’s wild. As soon as they start getting some better quality athletes, they’ll really have something.”
Taylor said “highly-skilled” fighters for the seven-bout card will be coming from as far as Texas.
The show is being taped for broadcast this fall.
“We like to say it’s the next evolution,” Taylor said.
Bouts begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the door.
The initial take here at SAVSCI was that this is a hoax and we’re still not 100% convinced that its on the up-and-up. For the sake of argument lets assume that it is.
First of all, the athletic commission in Virginia should be ashamed of themselves for sanctioning this farce. Maybe if we take our proposal for MMA in an exploding no ropes barbed wire death match ring a la Japan’s FMW promotion to the Virginia Commission that they’ll “rubber stamp” it?
Secondly, the promoters should be ashamed of themselves as well. They obviously don’t care about the sport at all–the last thing MMA needs is anything to make it seem less legitimate, and a match format right out of pro wrestling doesn’t help. Might as well throw in tag team competition while you’re at it. No reason to stop there–why not a bullrope match, throw some tables and chairs in the ring. And have the winner of each event wrestle a bear–a live bear, or maybe just a dude in a bear suit.
To the best of our knowledge here at SAVSCI there is no Japanese fighting style called SanDo. The writer could have messed up San Shou, which is a Chinese discipline that involves takedowns but no grappling.
And to the huckster who came up with this idea–a mutation of the sport–and a bad one at that–does not the “next evolution” make.
Just a bad, bad, bad idea….assuming its not a hoax which we’re still keeping our fingers crossed that it is.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Must be a hoax, cause it is correct in saying San DO is not a discipline. Maybe they meant Jeung San Do, but that is more along the lines of religious significance.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
That’s hilarious! I’m with you in not being sure that it isn’t a hoax. I actually hope it’s a hoax, because if it’s not it would definitely be the worst MMA idea ever.
Although, speaking of ideas that could possibly be the worst of all time, I wouldn’t mind seeing a 30 man MMA battle royale. That probably wouldn’t singlehandedly destroy the sport right?
September 6th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Wow Jim, those are pretty strong words considering you haven’t seen one of our matches. Multiple opponent fighting is trained in many traditional dojos. We are just the first to bring this type of training to a professional platform. We are not trying to hold true to MMA ideals, this is a new sport. Please recall that many people thought the UFC was crazy when it first came out. Change is often frightening, but don’t worry, you, like everyone else, will get over the fear after you gain some comfort in the fact that we are running very professional, exciting fights. I don’t expect you to understand, you have no frame of reference. Shoot me an email and I will give you a ticket for a November fight to see the next evolution in fighting…..SAN DO !!!!
September 6th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
James–I’ll definitely email you and by no means meant to be insulting. I’m nothing if not open minded–I was dead set against women’s MMA until I saw the Julie Kedzie/Gina Carano match on EliteXC’s first Showtime card and now I’m probably the biggest proponent of it.
I did check with a few of the martial arts experts on our staff, and none were familiar with San Do. I typically defer to their expertise in these matters.
I’ll be very interested to see it and if I can work out the logistics will definitely come check it out. As far as what you’re doing, I have no problem with any change in the sport as long as its done professionally and mindful of the safety and welfare of the fighters. In theory, the more outlets in which fighters can work the better–be it against one or two opponents. As you’re no doubt well aware, there’s plenty of hucksters looking to make a quick buck with MMA with little thought given to the quality of their product or the well being of the fighters involved. From the tenor of your reply, you don’t strike me as having illegitimate motives. In other words, my bad for rushing to judgment and I look forward to learning more about San Do.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Jim, I actually fought in the last San-do event. I fought in the middle weight class. I had a great time and I was impressed with the professionalism of the promoters, producers and pretty much everyone that was involved. I will be fighting again in November and I look forward to it! It was exciting to see the traditional side of Martial Arts brought back into a professional format. I fight out of Nashville Tennessee at the U.S. Jujitsu and Karate center where traditional Martial Arts are emphasized.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Jim:
We, at San-Do, strive to make this new mma event as professional, safe and competitive as possible. Not one fighter that has participated in any event that we have held has had one negative thing to say about San-Do. In fact, every fighter has asked to participate again. We have taken every measure to ensure the safety of the fighters. We conducted test fights before the public version of San-Do was debuted. After the test fights, there were adjustments made to the rules to make fighter safety a priority. We also strive to make this a professional sport for highly skilled martial artists. The fighters wear gi s and show great respect for each other. They bow in respect to each other before each fight and they come away from each fight having bowed at the end. There has not been a harsh word exchanged between any of the participants. In short, this is a highly controlled event. It is not hype, but rather serious sportsman competition. Every martial arts student, if taught by a solid sensei, is taught to defend against multiple opponents, we just provide an avenue for them to practice that aspect of their training. We hope that you’ll refrain from judging San-Do until you’ve seen it either in person or on film. We appreciate your interest in our sport! Hope to see you at our next event as our guest for you and your guest to view San-Do before being too harshly critical. Thanks!
September 13th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Attended match in Radford June 28. I will say that it has interesting potential, as martial artists are continually training to face more than one adversary. That being said, it also opens the door to strikes behind the opponent that can cause permanent damage. Going against 2 opponents on the street, anything goes as that boils down to survival of the quickest. In the ring, however, catching a straight left behind the head of an inferior opponent can be MMA’s worst financial nightmare. Strict rules and judging could bring this sport justice, and I will be interested to see how & if it evolves. The Radford match is supposed to be televised so we were told at the time, is that still in place? Dr. Beasley, thanks for the instruction & see you once again next June.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I was a spectator at the Virginia show. At first, I’ll admit I was a little more than just intrigued at the idea of 3 fighters in the ring. I thought it could really only spell trouble. However, I was very pleasantly surprised at the excitement and intensity of the fights. Also the fighters were very respectful of each other and the sport. It wasn’t a “bar room brawl” kind of fight. There was a lot of technique being used! It was refreshing to see more than just “ground and pound”!
I enjoyed it very much, look forward to the next show and would recommend it to fight fans every where!
September 24th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Thanks for the recent comments. The next San-Do event will be November 8, 2008, at the Norfolk Masonic Temple. Rules have been amended to address the issues of behind the back strikes. It is our desire to have an active sport while at the same time protecting the fighters from injury to the extent possible.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I know a local fighter who participated and won his match. He said it was retarded, strikes to the back of the head and base of the spine were the norm and the refs sucked.
Matches go like so: Basically 3 guys get in the ring.. stare at each other.. one guy gets bored and commits to an attack on party A and party B then punches committed fighter into oblivion while he’s occupied. Then party A and B fight it out as per usual.