Shaolin monks...the tough ones.

[imp]

I don't think you can legitimately answer this one with a single name (because individual humans are very different and there are too many unpredictable variables.)

Taking the debate in a slightly different direction, I've been thinking about what 'type' of person was likely the biggest badass in history.

Throughout human history, only two 'types' of people have been purely and wholly dedicated to fighting and killing from birth. They did nothing else in their lives, thought of nothing else, and spent literally all their lives getting better at it. They were highly educated, trained harder and longer than anyone else in history, had the best weapons and technology available and believed that they were the best of the best. In fact, their social class existed only to make war.

Ladies and gents, I give you:

- the feudal Japanese Samurai, and
- the 12th Century Egyptian Mamluk slave soldiers

Look them up. Would be interested in people's views ........

Interesting as that might be this does not involve weapons.

Lets just stick to hands and feet..no armour either!

[bradlee180]

Yeah, why are there no Shaolin Monks in the UFC?



Everybody knows that the Shaolin Monks are the undisputed Masters of Martial Arts of the Far East; not even the Muay Thailanders can f*<k with the Shaolin Monks and their dragon brands on their inner forearms, yet none are in the UFC ?!

Why not?!

the bradguy never seen a holy-man that didn't have some clandestine agenda involving money.

Do the Shaolin Monks think the UFC's not good enough for them, do the Monks think that they're better than other people, do the Monks think that their poop don't stink?!



Certainly the Monks are bad@$$, nobody disputes that...

but still...

Put-up or shut-up, in the cage, Shaolin Monks...if you've got the stones for it...


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[bradlee180]

Shaolin Monk is damn near super-human....
...or sub-human at least.



Can sleep outside in Winter at 40 below with only a bedsheet for warmth.
Can take full-power shots to the testicles with no apparent damage.
Can mentally adjust their own heartbeats and body-temperature.

Shaolin Monk possesses unbelievable resilience and endurance.
I can't see BJ Penn beating this kind of disciplined force of nature...

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[Andre]

Which leads us to why Kung fu hasnt a place in UFC. Because it cant compete with more modern blends of Mixed martial arts, neither can straight Karate or Takwondo or any other other strictly traditional "Arts". Bits from each of them could be used at times though.
Ego is what the main fight is all about in varying styles.
Real Monks shouldn't have one of those at all.

[bradlee180]

Which leads us to why Kung fu hasnt a place in UFC. Because it cant compete with more modern blends of Mixed martial arts, neither can straight Karate or Takwondo or any other other strictly traditional "Arts". Bits from each of them could be used at times though.
Ego is what the main fight is all about in varying styles.
Real Monks shouldn't have one of those at all.

MMA began with multitudes of various, esoteric, traditional martial arts systems.

During the past 19 years under stringent battle-test conditions in the Octagon and in the MMA ring, most systems have been eliminated from MMA leaving 4 basic styles currently in MMA:
Muay Thai.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Boxing.
Wrestling.

However, Karate came back, baby, with Machida! And with St.Pierre too!

Why not Kung Fu?
Why can't Shaolin Kung Fu be successful in the Octagon?
It's about the fighter, not the style.
A gifted exponent can make lots of things work.


Cung Le is bad@$$ with the Sanshou.
Le has practiced other systems, but he's still primarily a Kung Fu guy, and his Kung Fu is very good.



I mean, Frank Shamrock sure got Kung Fu'ed by Cung Le.
Frank's arm bone was all jacked-up.

If Cung Le can have success in MMA with his Kung Fu, then why can't a Shaolin Monk who's got a lifelong dedication and discipline to it? And holy men LOVE money.

I'm not sure if a Shaolin Monk could be a Draw at the gate/UFC ppv sales though.
The financial bottom line is what matters most to the UFC which is why an unproven novice like Lesnar got the fast track to the main event: because he was already a proven, bankable ppv Draw in Pro-Wrestling.

The UFC did everything they could to prevent Machida with his Karate from getting a Title-shot because they knew he would probably win the Title, but he'd be bad business for the UFC as Lyoto's a non-draw...

[Andre]

Yeah you can go in there and wear your Gi of preference in respect of your original style but really you are going to be drawing on other styles to survive.

Be great to see a Shaolin style in there one day, they have a ground game and a grappling game as well as the rest so why not.

[bradlee180]

Hmmmmm, after a good night's sleep, I'm having second thoughts...

I'd lay a 100 to 1 that a Shaolin Monk would get UFC'd and UFC'd badly in about 30 seconds even against a Lightweight gatekeeper like Joe Daddy.

I'd hate to imagine what a bigger, much-nastier guy like Wanderlei The Axe Murderer Silva would do to a Shaolin Monk.
I think even Carano could kick their robed @$$e$.

Walkin' on rice paper without leaving a mark ain't gonna help their sacred @$$e$ in the cage.

I bet even Joe Calzaghe, without cross-training, could take any of them.

Then they could spend some serious time meditating on how come they got their @$$e$ handed to them so bad and so quickly by the MMA barbarians.



Sometime the truth hurts...

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