Gameness - the will to win greater than the will to live - is one of the prized qualities in fighting. The video below of a fighter caught in a sunk leg lock is one of the great exhibitions of gameness ever seen in the sport.
When you are caught in a sunk submission hold, your options reduce to three - tap, nap, or snap. Joints locks don’t put you to sleep, so the options are just two - nap or snap. In the video below, a Chechen competitor was caught in a leg lock, and he didn’t tap to his Russian opponent. Then his leg broke, and he didn’t tap. Then the leg was twisted horribly, and he didn’t tap.
Then he won.
TimeLine
0:40 - Fighter in red shorts is working for a heel hook.
0:54 - Fighter in blue shorts is in a compromised situation, but does not tap, so fighter in red shorts re adjusts and cranks.
1:05 - Sound of tearing ligaments is audible.
When you can hear the sound of body tissue tearing, it’s past where a fighter taps out. Instead, the fighter in blue shorts goes on the attack, securing a rear naked choke. Fighter in red has to release the leg lock, in order to tap. Blue rises to celebrate, but is hampered by a broken leg.
The Lesson
Many aspects of fighting are innate. Punching power is innate. Reach is innate. Having a glass jaw or not, is in large part innate. But gameness is earned.
Gameness is earned through your personal integrity and pride, and is developed via the degree to which you push during physical training. At some point in the next week you are going to be doing PT or running or rolling hard. You will have the choice to ease back or push. If you push, you will get better faster stronger, but much more importantly, you will become just a little more determined, a little gamer. There is nothing more important.
Ultimately, your success is determined not by the quality of the facility where you train, the level of competitors produced there, or by the knowledge of the trainers. Your success is determined by how hard you work for how long. You may be training in a garage with some wrestling team buddies, and someone else may be at Xtreme Couture in a room with eight UFC fighters, but if you never quit, and he does, you will win.
If it was easy to never quit, everyone would do it. It is not a goal, it is part of a process. Indeed, it is the process.
About The IF FCF
This took place at an event organized by the International Federation of Full Contact Fighting (IF FCF), a Russia-based mixed martial arts organization that promotes amateur MMA events internationally. Although the fighters are not getting paid, honor is priceless.
IF FCF was founded in 2003 in Kislovodsk, Russia, by representatives from eight Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Alexander Nikolaevich Matveev was elected as president.
Development of the rule set were developed over the years beginning in 1994, by group of trainers under the management of S.B.Ermakov. A number of championships were established, including the Championship of the Internal armies of Russia, the Championship of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and the Championship of Lukoil security services, among others.
Since 2003 FCF has opened national branches and clubs in territory across Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia, and Iran. Further branches are planned in the USA, Turkey, Hungary, and a number of countries in Asia.