Coach Sonnon's San Shou Championships Video

[Scott Sonnon]

Sonnon San Shou Highlight Video (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/sonnonsanshouchamp.wmv) (about 43MB)

[Jarlo Ilano]

Those throws were beautiful, hips deep with wonderful rotation!

And that hook at the end was nasty, you know he didn't see it at all!

I don't see how you can't love this stuff!

Great performance Scott!!!

[Coach Tran]

Thanks for sharing your clip, Coach Sonnon. Great work on both sides. The man that Coach Sonnon fought against should get the same respect for his performance. Because without him giving his best, Coach could not have seek his best. In anycase, I hope you have the same sucess in BJJ, Coach.

[Joseph David]

Coach,
I really enjoyed the clip. It was very evedent that you had superior agility over your opponent. I noticed toward the end he was fatigued and frustrated by you outclassing him with great takedowns. And That KO hook, I played it three times and still couldn't see it. Amazing :!:

[cbeltrante]

Scott,

Nice fight and video footage, when can we expect to see you in the UFC 8) ???

Take care,
Chris

[Jake Shannon]

Sweet!

[Chuck Kechter]

Very, very cool! Echoing what has been said before... Nice throws, pretty, pretty hook... Great job!

Thanks for sharing it!

[sambosteve]

Awsome fight!

[sambosteve]

ooopppss...double post - but still very awsome!

[Robert V]

Nice, left hook and very impressive throws. You never looked tired!

[Scott Sonnon]

Robert,

I had been initially told that it would be a tournament of 3-4 fights, so I prepared my conditioning to go 24 minutes (12 rounds) of burst-recover-burst through density training with ballistic Clubbell swinging, hill sprints down and up performing my fighting combos (tough!), rope jumping in transitional stances and of course, shadow boxing, light sparring and occassionally heavy sparring.

When I was given only 3 rounds to fight, even though it was against a pro, it was a relief! :lol:

Gas is about two things: being more prepared than the challenges you'll face, and relaxing whenever possible, nothing superfluous.

[Robert V]

You are right about the "gas". Few get that the toughest part of a fight is the training. I commend you, bro!

[Scott Sonnon]

Thanks Robert. From you, that means a great deal to me.

[sames]

Conditioning looked to be an even bigger issue in Coach Wilson's match. His opponent appeared (from the clips posted) to start breathing heavily fairly early on and then just got slower and slower. Goes to show why GPP is at the bottom of the pyramid. Technique is great but if you don't have the energy to use it...

Good job all around.

[Scott Sonnon]

Amen, Steve.

[JasonE]

Nice clip!!

The conditioning disparity became increasingly obvious as the fight went on. It was also fascinating to see how Scott pulled off those throws with his hands in the gloves. I'll be watching this one many more times.

Congrats again, Scott!

[Scott Sonnon]

Thanks, Jason. You could see in my first attempt to get a body lock that I was fumbling like a cat with scotch tape on his paws. But after that palsy attempt, I got my underhook/overhook game on and the gloves actually became larger 'hooks' to sink into body contours. It is a fun sport, for sure.

[JasonE]

Yeah, the first clinch shown in the clip isn't pretty, but you recovered nicely. I don't see the same trouble in later clinches.

The first takedown where you hook a foot into his groin and roll back... that's one of my favorites! Your opponent thought he finally had that leg pick until you rolled up on top. :lol:

In another takedown, I see you roll your upper body back out of range, then as he moves in you shift back in on top of your legs to make a beautiful throw. It was a beautiful example of IOUF in action, particulary the JMC.

I also liked seeing you tap into the SEE of the ropes. In at least two of the throws, you take your opponent off a rebound into the side ropes, using that dynamic to throw.

By the end, your opponent had started pounding the mat in frustration each time he went down. A great example of a man in the Vortex!

I hope to see the full fight footage some day. Perhaps yours and Joe's fights could be included with the Hard Work DVD? :mrgreen:

[Scott Sonnon]

Jason,

That tomenogi actually scored for him, not me! :lol: I didn't know that until one of the refs pulled me aside after the match snickering. But I think the surprise actually had a good effect on my opponent.

Yes, when I drew him in on that one throw, he told me after the fight that he was temporarily KO'ed because he landed on his head before I rolled over on him. I think that it was the beginning of the deflation of his bioenergy.

No one else picked that up, Jason: the elasticity of the ropes. I've never fought competitively in a ring before, so on my first throw attempt that I muffed, I realized that if I couldn't get him to move back into me, then the ropes could. It really loaded the throw!

Yes, his frustration beat him, because he was an excellent fighter who hit like a moose!

The full footage isn't that interesting since we only took out the separations and the round bells/gongs. If you look at the clip times, it's pretty close.

[Charlie]

Scot that was a brilliant fight, big congratulations to you!! I love to see throws, and you sure put on a personal private IOUF clinic for the guy :-) They were all way cool, great big amplitude on virtually all of them.

Intersting at 3:00min you faked a knee or kick which got him to lower his guard right down -- opening the door for you to coming strong striking, and then another squishing stakedown that left him lying there, he's getting slower and slower getting up, while you pop up like its nothing.

Then the next throw was beautiful! In Judo we'd call it Tani-Otoshi, the 'Valley Drop', because that's what it feels like you've fallen back into. You nailed him into the ground with it, his legs flailing ... then he's in fetal position for a second before getting up! Almost felt sorry for him, but then I did see he laid heavy hands on you occasionally, and after all he signed up for it :-)

[Scott Sonnon]

Charlie,

He hit me with some great strikes. Rang my chime a couple times!

Thanks for the comments, especially on the Tani-otoshi. So many people undervalue the impact of Judo!

[Charlie]

So many people undervalue the impact of Judo!

Yeppers! I think there would generally be a whole lot more respect for throwing arts if NHB matches were held on concrete. As they say:

http://home.comcast.net/~kanuba/judo/img/judo2.jpg

[Scott Sonnon]

Kano said it best: "The Earth is a fist!"

[Charlie]

LOL - love it!! Hadn't heard that one before, it sure would make a cool t-shirt "the Earth is my fist!". But yeah, even on modern contest surfaces such as used in your match, every throw took more and more wind out of his sails, he clearly had trouble just getting up (also as you said, he was even briefly KO'd). And lucky for him there is no groundfighting in San Shou, as in every case you were perfectly positioned to continue the fight, completely dominant. Cheers mate! I too will be watching that clip many many times

[SAB]

Finally got a chance to download and watch the clip. Awesome stuff !
Love the throws.

I so want IOUF released on DVD !

[tapuout2]

Hey that was a great first fight. I will def be adding some RMAX to my next fight. All I can afford know is Warrior Wellness, but after Aprils fight in which I will be getting a good purse clubbells, Body-Flow, and Flow Fighting will def be ordered. Again great battle.

[Scott Sonnon]

Jason,

Thanks for the good word, amigo. To be totally honest, Warrior Wellness is probably the best thing that ever happened to my fighting. Everything else is built upon and from it. I look forward to hearing the report from your April fight. Let us know if there's anything you need!

[shayne]

Wow! - had to watch that a couple of times. Great work Coach for someone who wasn't at home in the ring you used your environment to your advantage (the ropes and mat were your friends - but not his). What was the second most impressive thing was the way you compeltely dominated him, some of throws made him seem like a rag doll!.

The most impressive...that left hook.

Great stuff.

[Mike]

First time watching this but it's evident that your skills in takedowns played a huge part in you outclassing your opponent. That punch you slipped followed by takedown was pure sweetness.

[Scotty Tav]

This might be a dumb question because I am new here but I just watched this clip and want to know something. How come the fighting looks totally different to the Fisticuffs clip I saw? Is it because you were doing a particular style of competition? If that is the case why couldn't you have just taken him out with those really fast hands and strikes like in Fisticuffs?

[Scott Sonnon]

Protective equipment and bare hands are two different arenas.

[Scotty Tav]

I know but that fast hands stuff you do is the best stuff right?

[Scott Sonnon]

The "best stuff" is the appropriate stuff for the situation which you prepare for through daily personal practice.

Begin with 4x7.

Goodnight.

[Scotty Tav]

Ok. Thanks.

[priyam]

just finally downloaded the clip. wow! awesome stuff Coach! i also like that 'OM' at the end of the clip. congrats on your first one!

[StuMcD]

Protective equipment and bare hands are two different arenas.

Hi Doc Scott, :) (congrats by the way a doctorate is a huge accomplishment)

Some of the differences are obvious, but could you please write a little more about this sometime?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know. Those with genuine bare knuckle experience and a scientific enough outlook to write about it in a useful fashion are few and far between.

Cheers,

Stu.

[Scott Sonnon]

Stu,

I'll try. The plate's full with other things right now, but the good news is that Coach Jones will be addressing this in an upcoming release.

[StuMcD]

Stu,

I'll try. The plate's full with other things right now, but the good news is that Coach Jones will be addressing this in an upcoming release.

Thanks very much. Please don't put yourself out on my account. If it takes a while for you to do this then so be it.

If the release you are talking about is Flowbox, then I can't wait to order it. Thanks for taking the time.
Cheers,
Stu.