TRADITIONAL TO MIXED!

OBSERVATIONS ON THE JOURNEY FROM TKD TO MMA COURTESY OF ANTHONY “SHOWTIME” PETTIS

- ROBERT W. YOUNG

MOST The martial art has no use in the cage, they insist. Its kicks are useless, they argue. The leg techniques may be fast, but they lack knockout power, they complain. Those fighters clearly don’t know Anthony Pettis. Recently signed by the Professional Fighters League, he has an extensive background in the Korean art as taught by the American Taekwondo Association, and he never shies away from telling people the source of the spectacular kicks he uses to win in the cage.

Back in the mid-1980s, I lived in Pusan, South Korea, for the purpose of furthering my martial arts education. One day, our instructor entered the dojang and asked if there were any particular techniques we wanted to learn. Hmm …

The week before, I’d gone to the theater to watch the latest Jackie Chan movie. It showed our hero running, leaping, bouncing off a wall and then roundhousing a baddie in the head. I thought, That’s a cool kick, but I’d never be able to do it!

Well, in reply to the instructor’s question, I raised my hand and did my best to explain the scene from the movie. Somehow he deciphered my undoubtedly mangled Korean and proceeded to replicate the move. My classmates all approved of my suggestion, so he devoted the whole training session to the kick.

Afterward, I walked to the subway station to go home, thinking, That’s definitely a cool kick, but it would never work in real life!

Fast-forward to century 21. In a sea of often-indistinguishable MMA fighters, we find Anthony Pettis, a martial artist who’s unwittingly on a mission to prove me wrong. One of his trademark moves is the “showtime kick,” and it’s exactly the same as the technique that master taught us 40 years ago in Korea. Who would have guessed?