The Quickest Way to Becoming an Exceptional Fighter

I sat down together with Omar Bouiche, professional MMA coach who's been traveling the world and training with some of the best martial arts experts out there and now coaches some of the best fighters in Europe at Pancrase Gym Sweden.
00:00 Intro
00:22 What makes an exceptional fighter
01:15 What makes a good student
01:53 Why is wrestling so important for MMA
02:55 Do you recognize promising fighters from the beginning
03:33 Does hard work beat talent
04:38 Is it OK to be afraid before a fight
05:29 Is it OK to lose your first fight
06:13 Should you focus on winning
06:55 Do you need to be aggressive to become a fighter
08:40 What's your main discovery of your martial arts journey
10:30 The importance of focusing on basics
11:15 Similarities between weapon fighting and hand-to-hand combat
12:50 Omar's thoughts on traditional martial arts
13:23 Was there a moment where martial arts clicked for you
14:55 The genius behind Rickson Gracie
15:28 How to avoid overtraining in MMA
16:43 Talking about Aikido
Check out how my one week of training like a pro MMA fighter went here: • I Trained with Pro MMA...
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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey KZbin channel!
My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.
Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.
After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my KZbin channel called "Martial Arts Journey".
Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.
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If you want to support my journey, you can make a donation to my PayPal at [e-mail]
SUBSCRIBE to see when the next videos will come out:
► bit.ly/1KPZpv0
Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:
► • Aikido vs MMA - REAL ...
If you want to support me and this channel on a regular basis check my Patreon page:
► / rokasleo
#mma #mixedmartialarts #mmamotivation

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Check out how my one week of training like a pro MMA fighter went here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX-yia1qoL59bNk

[@GhostWriter_369]

Thank you..💜

[@GhostWriter_369]

Thanks a lot for the beautiful videos💜

[@jaypenn5117]

The coach seems like a great person.

[@ives3572]

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.” - Tim Notke

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Nice one

[@GhostWriter_369]

Yeah..💜🕊

[@seanbarker9272]

John Connor says it in terminator 2 as well 👍👍

[@Damels2001]

Kevin Durant

[@akaizenmind8440]

'A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter'- golden perspective!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

I like that phrase a lot too!

[@GhostWriter_369]

Hell yesss..🔥

[@GhostWriter_369]

@@MartialArtsJourney Me too..💜🕊

[@noerknown]

I joined a local Buhurt club (MMA but with medieval armor and weapons) and the concept of knowing what you're doing and why, hits home. You lose 2/3 of your vision, your hearing is nearly gone, and you can't really feel much from all the armor and the helmet you're wearing. You need to have this out of body awareness almost, that requires you understand your own position, moves and can anticipate your opponent's. It's an incredible rush, that's for sure.

[@nchawkin]

Really enjoyed getting to know Omar. “Wrestling is the oldest sport” “High % approach”

[@ricksterdrummer2170]

One could say wrestling was around before it was even a sport. haha

[@rageius]

Really helpful. I just started boxing again on the other side of 20. Going for golden gloves this time. Your humility makes your channel so amazing and useful for us. Thanks for your work

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thanks!

[@tomo2807]

Talent vs hard work conversation is exceptionally important for combat sports and even more for grappling as you can't get lucky and accidentally do anything, the complex language of fighting demands dedication and effort, and the only way to improve is to get humbled so talent means less

[@belalabusultan5911]

some hunting dogs were trained to hunt lions and bears. bears and lions have tremendous talent, but the dogs have good training and hard work.

[@hourglas]

Talent is just how quickly one can learn, adapt and apply. So with Talent you can learn in a 6 months what took someone else 2+years. However, they stop taking it seriously after those few months. While someone else keeps puting in work for another decade. Talent eventually falls behind from lack of passion/discipline. However, when talent works hard you get not just good but trully amazing people.

[@ceeeceee8753]

@@hourglas Makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

[@googlegmail9888]

@@hourglasso iq??

[@hourglas]

@@googlegmail9888 yes but no. Someone can still start off with high IQ. That being talent, but through experience one can increase their IQ. So it's just another factor. Talent is alot more how efficiently one can learn. Like having an exp buff.

[@jacksmith4460]

Omar is a G , what a lovely bloke

[@myname-mz3lo]

interviewing famous mma coaches would make an amazing series . they are the people that make champions and they should be famous

[@dirtpoorchris]

0-1 is better than 0-0

[@myname-mz3lo]

pluss noone should be counting streaks if it isnt pro fighting . thats why they only start counting when you become pro. i also believe that someone that has never lost as amateur will become too confident and will get beaten as a pro

[@Mr_blueridge21]

May have been my favorite interview so far. Love tuning in to your journey, rokas!

[@dirtpoorchris]

Tactical aggression and social aggression are 2 completely different things. For a small man to beat a big man he needs much much much tactical aggression to keep the big guy busy until they lose.

[@ceeeceee8753]

Loved this interview!

[@crisgallardo8512]

I realized that alot of grappling styles are very similar and on some aspects are alike ever since have jui jitsu partners wrestling and even judo practioners as well

[@suciumarioDIY]

a really good disscussion , thanks

[@loudcryofthe4thangel]

What a great episode! I’m sad it was so short.. and man, where’s the episodes on your new aikido insights??? I’m dying to see that stuff, don’t make us wait too long ;) Principles are the same generally in all sports but application different in every martial art.

[@gregmccormack5709]

Very cool perspectives to hear. Great Vid

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thanks!

[@GhostWriter_369]

Thanks a lot for the beautiful videos💜

[@MartialArtsJourney]

🙏

[@unclecow]

really good stuff

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@davidtice4972]

When he said wrestling he really meant grappling in general plus high school type wrestling.

[@googlegmail9888]

Yup folk style is the best for bjj, mixes EVERYTHING.

[@angelarballo4478]

No, I'm almost certain he meant wrestling. He mentioned every type of grappling except BJJ, Jiu Jitsu, and submission wrestling. He's talking about controlling a fight tactically, not even necessarily looking for the finish. Specifically, he mentioned level changing in reference to grappling. Just like he outright dismissed kicking when talking about boxing, he meant wrestling when he said wrestling. Level changing, takedowns (which is why I think he included Judo), and control are the basis for emphasizing wrestling over submission styles, at least in the beginning. Submission grappling arts are notorious for taking forever to master, whereas wrestling for MMA can easily help you to compete even against a higher level guy sooner if you know how to mix in the striking. Then, it can also transition more easily into submission grappling than going in naked. Wrestling and boxing are just better beginner arts compared to others. Like he said, boxing helps with footwork, and wrestling helps with level changes.

[@myname-mz3lo]

he literally said that he meant all grappling sports when he says wrestling ... at least watch it before commenting@@angelarballo4478

[@joey8701]

So I am not trained in boxing but I want to go into Muay Thai. Would it be better if I took boxing first? I know the basic strikes already jab, cross, uppercut, hook.... I'm just not good with the defense and the footwork.

[@adielwilson8749]

Footwork really is the best defense. Even in fencing where there are a lot for parrys and blocks but the best thing is to move and if they're still in range block. Blocks are a last resort

[@bjorndag2497]

coach seems like a goo,d honest,and clever trainer an man

[@jaymp4031]

Joined mma I’m thinking abt taking it serious so I came to this video

[@myname-mz3lo]

hope you kept at it . the begining is hard but once you have the basics and start sparring and rolling it becomes really fun

[@SThrillz]

Working hard to improve your skills is the only thing that can be considered a talent.

[@pichinpichi]

There is an interesting connection when Omar talks about weapon fighting and Aikido. Christopher Heins kzbin.info argues and I'm going to agree with him that Aikido makes much more sense when there are weapons involved. An interesting thing is what Omat said, that weapons and their perspective can improve unarmed combat, especially in defense.

[@theChotkiyOne]

Are you interested in investigating panantukan? It's not related, but somehow resembles wing chun

[@wildys6]

love the video but my god does my stereo headset not do me any favors with this audio :-:

[@sliderx1897]

There is no switch. U may have lightbulb moments based around a certain concept but thats called learning.

[@davidtice4972]

Hace mas él que quiere que él que puede.

[@eastafrika728]

I prefer the Judo, all I had to do was add it to my brutal Dutch Muay Thai

[@belalabusultan5911]

if I would summurize Omar Bouiche's idea it would be like: "all strikes follow the same principles, and all grappling follow the same principles, and the technique varies very little from one martial art to another." which does sound true to me ... I mean, all techniques evolve in two ways: 1) Flashy moves, that are easier to show, easier to impress, and easier to teach. 2) practical moves, that actually wins fights, and save lives in army, police, or self defense. if you teach noncombat boxing for few genrations, the moves will be wider, flashier, and the gloves might be abandoned. if you teach Kung Fu moves for combat only, no forms, then in few generations you'll have similar moves to what MMA is like now, and all the flashy moves will disappear.

[@gabrielcarneiro9948]

Rokas... What age did you stoped Aikido and started BJJ?

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Around 28 I think

[@fetube7750]

change the direction of audio pls, so i as the viewer can hear you left and him right

[@dirtpoorchris]

BJJ is TANGLING and forcing your opponent to stop. Wrestling is just when hips and head and spine fight for position on the matt. At least that's how I look at it.

[@myname-mz3lo]

wrestling is about takedowns and bjj is about submissions . you cant do mma without doing both well

[@RottemEyez]

Chocolate

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Chocolate? 😂 What am I missing?

[@BrandonWilliams-wf6hg]

I always eat a piece of chocolate for good luck

[@zerte4197]

The quickest way but the video is 18min long xD

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha