Sumbrada Explained

I’ve just added a new video on sumbrada, along with pictures and a description of how to do the drill correctly. Sumbrada, along with hubud and other pre-arranged patterns, trapping, etc., has been the subject of much controversy over the years. In 2000 I had a long argument on the old Inosanto forum, and another in 2002 on the old MMA.TV forum with Burton Richardson and Matt Thornton in which Marc Denny (Crafty Dog) also chimed in. Actually, most of the video I’ve posted above comes from a DVD I made to send Denny in 2002 after the MMA.TV discussion.

Richardson and Thornton don’t see the value in sumbrada type training. They both seem to disagree with the pre-arranged patterned drilling AND the techniques used in sumbrada. Denny on the other hand, along with most of the Dog Brothers, uses drills like sumbrada to ingrain good responses through repetition of patterns. Most people who disregard sumbrada do so because they’ve seen it done and/or learned it incorrectly. If the techniques are done right, they work. And there’s nothing better than repetition to learn to use an effective technique…as long as it’s combined with realistic, uncooperative training, and as Denny would say, “the fighter’s understanding”.