How aptly titled. It is indeed a love affair that i had with submission grappling. I remember watching professional wrestling shows when i was growing up and i was never into the larger than life antics of wrestlers like Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior. Instead i was obsessed with the technical style of mat technicians like Chris Benoit and Bret Hart. I soon realize that the so called technical style has its roots in submission grappling and that these moves can be very lethal when applied with malicious intent. When professional wrestlers uses a side headlock, a neck crank or an armbar, its simply rest time for both wrestlers, but when a professional fighter applied the same moves, the results could be very different. Then i chance upon an MMA show and find that the display of striking and submission holds really interests me alot. I then started sourcing out MMA shows from the UFC and PRIDE and gradually amassed quite a collection of MMA media.

There was this one time during my national service; i was posted to a service unit and was an auto tech. Myself and a couple of other technicians were fooling around during lunch time and then out of no where one of my fellow NSF grabs me from behind in a rear naked choke, sinking it in so deep that i simply felt the world fading to black! He immediately releases the hold and i turn around to look at him but i was not angry at him, in fact i was intrigued by how easily i was put to sleep. At that moment i told myself, if i ever get the chance, i would want to learn this move. Ten years down the road, i am currently training with one of the top MMA gyms in the region, Evolve MMA under a great submission grappling instructor, Ben Iams and i learnt not just the rear naked choke but also other holds like the kimura, the americana, the heel hook, the knee bar, the armbar, the triangle and many other holds that can potentially injured anyone. The one thing though that Ben always instill in us is the safety aspect; that we are here to train and learn and not maim each other. Never in my life did i ever thought that i will join a MMA gym and actually learn submission grappling techniques. Though i am not really proficient in the techniques, i do believe that practice makes perfect. I have an unofficial mentor in Mike Thompson, one of the student training at Evolve who is a BJJ brown belt and he often teaches me the basics like how to go for a takedown or how to escape mount whenever he have time to spare after classes. Ben and Mike always emphasize to me how important the basics are and if you do not have a solid foundation, you actually have nothing at all.

It’s ironic how i started out in Evolve MMA wanting to just train in mixed martial arts after watching MMA shows and ended up training in submission grappling. To me the art of submission grappling is so fascinating, every single joint in the human body can be manipulated to cause pain to a person. I walk away from every lesson feeling sore and tired, sometimes with injuries but i always went home thinking about what Ben will teach us in the next lesson. One of my other gym instructor, Chatri spoke to me the only day on how i should take up another art, Muay Thai or BJJ to make me a more complete fighter. I am leaning towards BJJ since there are students telling me that after training in BJJ, it will bring my submission grappling (aka no gi grappling) to another level. Whether or not i gradually take up BJJ is another story altogether but for now, my love affairs with the art of submission grappling continues..