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“Use the techniques!” I would often say that as a joke when I first started BJJ. I was watching one of the earlier UFC’s with Jim Brown, and the way he would refer to the Gracie’s use of jiu jitsu, I thought was hilarious – “Use the techniques…” He would say it in a way that made you think that a) only ground fighting used “techniques” and b) that the use of “techniques” was being…
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I am certainly not new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). I was first introduced to the sport in the fall of 2005 at my university in Fairfax, VA where I took it as a one credit course. Six months after that one credit class I started training properly (2-3 times per week) under Toni Passos. I trained with Toni for 2 years, earning my blue belt in that time before graduating from George Mason and…
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For the past three years that I have been back in Pakistan, there is one period each year that I dread but am equally fascinated with. This period is hell on earth, also known as the Pakistani summer. With temperatures reaching past 50 centigrade (122 F), doing anything, let alone training in a sport like MMA, becomes very difficult. Compounding this misery is the fact that Pakistan has been going through a major power crisis…
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Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan will be experimenting with a new ranking and development system over the next year. If successful we will be rolling out an enforcing this system from the bottom up by next year and making any changes based on feedback from the MMA community. The ranking and development system will identify and appropriately place fighters in respective skill level divisions. It will build fighters up, step by step so that when they…
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MMA is a rising sport in Pakistan and like most other combat sports it suffers from the immediate bias of being too animalistic. There is a common problem of judging a book by its cover, and so MMA is judged by cage and blood. When I started training in Synergy DHA under Bashir Ahmad, the most common reaction I received from my peers and family was “ O my GOD! Why would anyone want to…
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Over the years, for most extremely successful companies, it is common that the product and company name often merge into one. A prevalent example here is Mobil oil (a brand of engine oil) but most mechanics call it Mobil oil no matter the brand of engine oil they are using due to its popularity. Same is the case with MMA and UFC, a lot of people have it mixed up and it often causes major…
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Ever since the introduction of MMA in Pakistan, one question frequently asked was “Where can I watch MMA?” In the past few months, there has been significant hype regarding MMA on Pakistan’s premier sports channel, Geo Super, mainly due to the mysterious commercial with no other details other than “watch real fighters”. Yes, I am talking about the UFC footage shown in a tiny clip since November 2012 and finally we found out what it…
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“Training is 90% physical and 10% mental, fighting is 10% physical and 90% mental” – Rich Franklin These words could not be any truer. People seem to forget where the impetus to fight comes from. Fighting can be surmised to be at its most bare, an expression of rage or passion, defending oneself or one’s family, a sinister desire to take with force from others what is not theirs, to right a wrong and to…
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Read The Beginning – II, here. I arrived on December 2nd to Pakistan. Coincidentally, that same day a Pakistan Television press conference about a company called “Fite Selektor” was released on Youtube, stating that MMA was coming to Pakistan and this Dubai based Dutch company was going to hold an event to kick it off. “Fite Selektor” is another story in and of itself, but it really made me believe that I was doing the…
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Read The Beginning – I, here. In December 2007, I was back in Pakistan for my sister’s wedding. It was during that time you could say PAKMMA was born. A few months prior to leaving I had this desire to get Pakistanis educated about MMA. I just wanted to get the word out and have them share the fun. So I made a myspace page, which I never really kept up. When I arrived in…
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