Vitor Belfot has always been one of my favourite fighters. I’ve always loved his quick knockout against Wanderlei Silva. I love it not only because he was using straight punches but because it’s a great display of Vitor Belfort’s style. Watch a few of his fights and you’ll notice that as soon as Belfort creates opening or injury he pursues relentlessly and without let-up.

There are many fighters who demonstrate this kind of ferocity and relentless pursuit but I’ve always felt Belfort was one of the best because when he created an opening he would exploit it with a steady pace whether standing or on the ground; continuous but never rushed. This quality is missing in many fighters and many martial artists. A large selection of the wing chun population also seems to miss out on this very important attribute. Partly to blame is too much time in chi sao and drills and not enough time in sparring. Without gear on it is not possible to safely practice follow up strikes and there’s a big difference between finishing a trap and touching someone a few times and aggressively pursuing an opponent to finish them.

Even when many spar they forget this very important saying from the wing chun kuen kuit (fist sayings): loi lau hoi sung, lat sau jik chung. What this translates to is, “absorb what comes in, throw off what goes out; on loss of contact, strike.” As wing chun practitioners we should always be engaging. Another saying from the kuen kuit says to “not be lax when the opponent is not advancing.” Together these two saying essentially mean that when the opponent is not engaging we must be. If the opponent tries to disengage either by breaking the bridge or moving away to break contact we must step in and strike hard and continuously until the opponent is down in order to take advantage of the opening presented to us.

It has been pointed out that Belfort does have a tendency to gas out but for self defense this is less of a concern, so pay careful attention to those who aggressively pursue their opponents, put on your gloves a little more often, and for now have a look at Vitor Belfort.

http://www.youtube/watch?v=JlaMGUpC_OI



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