Interview: The Zen of Lyoto Machida

 

In a  world dominated by Muay Thai and boxing, who would have thought that traditional Shotokan Karate adapated to MMA would allow a fighter to work his way to a UFC title shot?

Lyoto Machida and his family, which includes his father who is a Shotokan master from Japan, have adapated the martial art to form Machida Martial Arts Karate. His unorthodox approach to the MMA game has made Machida one very difficult fighter for opponents to get a handle on. That on top of a great talent, intense determination and a samurai spirit have propelled the affable Machida to the top of the UFC light heavyweight class. He takes on Rashad Evans on May 23rd for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 98.

What is your training schedule like?

I train 5 hours a day, 6 times a week

What are your thoughts on fighting for the title?

This is what every fighter dreams of and he’s very happy to be able to fulfil his dream.

What are your thoughts on Rashad Evans?

I think Rashad is a great fighter, an outstanding wrestler, a pretty good boxer and he definitely deserves to be where he’s at. I just think it’s going to be two complete fighters fighting each other with perfect records, it’s going to be a great fight.

How has Karate influenced your MMA game?

Karate is my main game and has given me all the aspects of the fight game, my speed and everything. I think it is what sets me apart from everybody else and is what brought me to where I’m at. Not only does my stance complicate a lot of things for my opponents, but my stance also puts me in different positions and in different ways of standing, and this complicates people very much because I’m not inside that pattern of boxing and Muay Thai, I go beyond that.

Do you train Muay Thai and boxing?

I train only my Machida Karate, I’ll spar with a boxer or a Muay Thai guy but I don’t train specifically boxing or Muay Thai. I’ll throw some knees and throw some moves out there but when I train with a Muay Thai guy it’s to learn how to adapt his game.

Do you visualize your fights before you compete?

Me and my brothers and father will visualize the whole fight before the fight and everything that can happen in every situation so that I’m prepared.

When did you know you wanted to be a fighter?

I was born into a very traditional martial arts family so I was inevitably going to be involved in it somehow. But it wasn’t until I was about 15 years old when I saw the first UFC that I put in my mind that I had this dream to become a professional fighter and not just be involved in the fight business. When I was 15 I started seriously to become an MMA fighter.

Does being an undefeated fighter (14-0) add pressure?

Of course the pressure is always there, I’m an undefeated fighter, and there’s a lot of pressure around that. But I try to think to myself this is my moment and I worked hard to get here, and I can’t make it about my record and about pleasing everybody, I just have got to go out there and enjoy my moment and do my best.

Do you feel you have a samurai mentality because you were raised in that tradition?

My father brought me and my brothers up with the samurai mentality and the philosophy. It’s hard to keep it up on a daily basis, but that’s a big part of me—the samurai philosophy.

You have mentioned in the past that living the life like a samurai warrior involves being honest, disciplined and real, and it is a difficult task to live on a day to day basis. What are some of the difficulties involved?

One of the hardest things is overcoming yourself, your insecurities and the things in your mind. If all I had to deal with was myself then that would be a big problem. Fighting Rashad or any other guy I just have to do what I do, but the hardest part is keeping a philosophy day by day with myself.

How have you and your family adapted Karate to MMA?

What we try to do is adapt the real martial art of Karate to MMA, which is not what you see in Karate competitions, this is a discipline where you can throw your knees and elbows. And I sort of try and adapt that martial art into MA.

Do you get nervous before fights? What is your mindset right before you compte?

Everybody gets nervous before fights, that’s inevitable, I just try to calm down and visualize the fight just so I’m confident about what I’m doing out there, and as I’m walking in I try to clear my mind of everything, I try to think of nothing. I just let my body act, the body can take control and do what it’s trained to do.

Are people surprised you have been so successful in MMA using Karate?

People are mostly surprised because they don’t understand that he’s a Karate guy, they see me throwing the elbows and knees and they say, “That’s not Karate, how is that Karate?” People just really don’t know what the real martial art Karate is, they think of it as a sport as what we see in Karate competitions and what we train as little kids here in America. But in reality what I’ve adapted with my family is something is completely different.

What aspect of your game do you want to work on the most right now?

The main thing that I have to focus on is my attacks, I’m pretty good at counter-striking, but I’ve been working on just going up and attacking his opponent.

What are a three words you would use to describe yourself?

Persistence, determination and disposition (difficult word to translate from Portuguese, something along the lines of having a lot gas and willing to try hard).

Nothing came easy in my life and I needed those three things to succeed.