Zippy

All martial arts can be divided into two groups, depending on movement.

There are the fast steppers, and the shufflers. I don't mean this as an insult.

Boxers are shufflers. Two guys walk up to each other and smack. From out-of-range to in-range is a matter of inches. They don't run or sprint. They shuffle.

Judo is like that, too. Two guys walk up, and grab each other. They then push and pull and throw each other about. Greco-Roman wrestling is the same.

Freestyle wrestling can be different. They often like to maintain a little more distance and then explode forward for a takedown. Jiu-Jitsu also has zip-forward movement.

Most others are variations on these two basic types.

A major exception is old-style Japanese Karate. Karate fighters like to stay well outside of any attack range. To then launch their own attack they surge forward rapidly covering several meters of distance in an instant. After launching a strike or two or three they rapidly retreat out of range.

This is how they fight in their tournaments, and in sparring training. When a Karate guy fights in mma, the commentators always go on and on about their speed and amazing footwork.

This was key to Lyoto Machida's 16-0 record as the Light Heavyweight UFC Champion. He is a good fighter, but not great. In his three fights since then he has only won once.

George St. Pierre might just be the best fighter ever in the UFC. He is also a Karate guy, but is not so obvious about it. He usually fights inches outside of his opponent's danger zone, moving in and out quickly to deliver boxing-like attacks. Karate movement with boxing strikes.

He goes in and out with hands held high for defense. Machida keeps his too low for safety. He also uses his movement mostly as a defensive measure, whilst St. Pierre uses it to press forward.

George St. Pierre is currently the UFC Welterweight Champion. His record is 22-2, and hasn't lost since 2007. He has also beaten both the guys who defeated him in rematches.

There are lots of people who move well. It is clearly a major part of the game. I can't think of a single current mma champion who is a shuffler. None as good as the two examples I've given.

It's funny. People clearly recognize how important movement is. They go to boxing coaches to improve hand skills, wrestling coaches to practice takedowns, and Jiu-Jitsu schools to work on submissions. Never heard of any going to a Karate dojo to work on distance and movement.

They should.