Crocop vs Gonzaga analysis
Good analysis from the sherdog forums. Bar room brawling my ass.I've watched this fight over and over again, using the pause control to break down the details of the action between them, and it's pretty obvious (to me, anyway) that Gonzaga's stance, the way he moved, the way he cleared Cro Cop's lead hand and performed a right cross and finally threw a round kick were uncannily similar to the ways I have been practicing and teaching these alignments, tactics, and body dynamics for many years. The details are clearly spelled out on my films from NHB1 (2000) up until the present.
When you watch this fight, take note of:
1) Gonzaga's stance, the width and the length. It's one that facilitates probing with that lead leg and moving it outside of Cro Cop's right lead leg. This is something you should always do when fighting a southpaw. (If you're fighting an orthodox fighter and you're an orthodox fighter yourself, you always step inside a lead leg). This kind of stance allows you forward, backward and lateral movement.
2) Again because he's fighting a south paw fighter, Gonzaga's head is carried more towards the left leg, which allows him not only to post on that leg quickly if he needs to throw a right punch or a right kick, but also to move to the left away from Cro Cop's deadly left leg. Moreover, by angulating so as to lean off to the left with the head and the body, the right leg round kick has to travel less distance to the target. And if your opponent is following your head--as invariably he will--this position allows you to blindside him with the kick. If you were standing directly in front, you've either got to be super-flexible or you've got to move the body through a longer development. And he's more likely to see it coming.
3) The shoulder to knee relationship. This allows Gonzaga to change level easily, as well as to be on his man quicker. He's not lined up shoulder to hip like Cro Cop. Cro Cop is upright, almost vertical, and he's got a very short and narrow stance. This will facilitate his kick if the guy's lined up to it. But he can't work out how to get Gonzaga. In fact, sometimes he ends up crossing his legs. He's always out of position for a punch or a kick. And when he makes the kick against Gonzaga, he's only got one choice of kick, and that's to the body, because Gonzaga is using a high guard with his shoulders slightly up. Gonzaga knows that kick is coming, and he catches it. Because Cro Cop is out of position, the kick isn't coming in at full power.
4) Notice also how Gonzaga's shoulders are slightly raised, which protects him as I mentioned above. It also frees the shoulder when you're transferring the momentum from the lower body into the punch. And you'll see when he punches, he dips that left shoulder. That will give him the angulation and extra length on the shot.
5) When Gonzaga takes Cro Cop to the ground, Gonzaga is happy to be in Cro Cop's guard because he knows like Fedor or Mark Coleman that you can stay there and simply dish out the punishment, provided the guy can't get control of your head or work up your body to control your arms for chokes or locks. And he gradually moves Cro Cop toward the fence--note the foot splayed out to give him stability and that little bit of drive.
6) When the two are stood up again, it isn't long before Gonzaga sees his opportunity and takes Cro Cop out with a round kick to the head. Now if you look at this kick, Gonzaga has moved to the outside of Cro Cop's right lead leg, he's got his left foot turned slightly out to create his angle and set his body up to be moving in that direction, rather than keeping the left toe straight where it's going to put too much torque on the knee and the hip when he throws the kick. He's posted on his left leg and prior to throwing the kick, he's raised his right arm for the pull which is going to initiate the rotation of the upper body to provide the twist that will transfer the momentum of the upper body into the hips and the kicking leg. If you look at the aerial shot, you'll see this quite clearly.
Also note that the kicking foot is still on the ground when he's winding the kick up. So it's going to come round like a crocodile tail. And when that momentum is transferred from the upper body into the hip, pelvis and knee, the foot is still dragging behind. And then the shin and foot are THROWN into the target. It's like throwing a stone with your foot. The leg ISN'T cocked separate to the main action. The joints above get ahead of the joints below and pass their impulse of momentum onto the lower moving part, until finally the momentum reaches the part you want to use to hit with. It's a total body movement.
And you'll note that when he's delivering the kick, he comes up on the ball of the left foot. Being on the ball of the foot will also facilitate the extensor reflex: by pressing on the ball of the foot those muscles responsible for working against gravity will provide you with what the Chinese call 'upright energy'. This makes the live and dynamic axis possible, where sitting on a flat foot won't. It will also give Gonzaga a little extra height, as well as allow any rotation which takes place as a result of the body torque to happen freely, without too much friction against the ground causing a brake the way a flat foot would. Those who know my kick know that I sometimes use that post foot to add a little 'startle' jump to suddenly and explosively shift that extra body weight into the target. That requires special timing and a lot of practice.
For those guys who are big guys and haven't got that much flexibility, or even small guys, this is a great way to kick. You're throwing the leg, not lifting it.
The kicking leg most certainly isn't cocked or chambered in isolation or in advance of the rest of the body movement. You'll notice that when he's standing, there is some bend in the leg already because he's got a comparatively lower stance than Cro Cop. So whatever bend is in that leg to begin with, which is augmented by the body action in which the pelvis and knee violently lead the foot, that bend is driven out and through the target. Whatever fold is in that leg, it's driven out by the rest of the body. The leg isn't snapped and retracted like a karate kick; it's slammed through the target.
And notice that neither this kick nor the earlier, middle-range kick, compromised Gonzaga's position. On the first kick, when it missed, he recovered immediately, and on the second kick after actually knocking out Cro Cop, he was still in a good position to instantly pounce on him and set about him with his hands until the ref stepped in. All too many karate kicks compromise the position at the end. It's not a good trade-off. And one of the reasons for that is because the fight doesn't have to continue; the fight is stopped for the kick to be judged whether it was a scoring blow. We never find out what would have happened next.
One thing's for sure. This is not a precision kick. It's a power kick and the accuracy is dependent upon timing, alignment, and experience of delivering the kick against men who are fighting back. It isn't a precision controlled kick as in Shotokan karate. This kick isn't intended to be controlled, it's intended to hit and to hit hard. And wherever it hits, it's either going to cause a knockout, do damage, or at worst seriously get the guy's attention.
Now I've worked at this kick for a long time. I've got a whole DVD on it. And it's nice to see it used so beautifully, against one of the world's greatest fighters, and most certainly one of the world's greatest kickers. Gabriel Gonzaga and his team obviously figured out Cro Cop, but Cro Cop didn't figure out how he could be countered. He didn't expect Gonzaga to keep moving to his left. He had no way of dealing with it. But he'd better get a way, because everybody's now picked up on how to beat Cro Cop. He's got to widen his stance, because it's the narrow stance that allows the guy moving around to cut the angle on you.
posted by Edward @ 11:36 AM
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