Issue 054
September 2009
Athletic and acrobatic, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s style might look highly difficult to replicate, but the Brazilian light heavyweight’s tricks are built on the foundation of solid basics. Try the following training tips to bring elements of Shogun’s arsenal into your game.
Clinch and knee
Shogun is famous for using the Thai plum clinch to hammer his opponents with knee after knee.
In the Gym
Spend plenty of time throwing knees into the bag. Add resistance to your knee training by working with elastic cables attached to your ankles. The cables will not only tax your hip flexors more, but will test your stance and balance while you knee.
In Action
Shogun’s demolition of Rampage in Pride was a classic example of how devastating relentless knees from the plum clinch can be. Watch more of his Pride era fights to see how he closes in to clinch range by winging in big right and left hooks.
Submissions
Shogun is a black belt in BJJ with excellent leg locks, and is known for his kneebar finish of Kevin Randleman.
In the Gym
Catch your training partners in leg locks as they try to strike you while wearing bigger gloves. This will teach you to use your hips to keep your head out of range of their punches while you attack.
In Action
Shogun tried at first to secure a figure-four toehold, which caused Randleman to defend by straightening his leg. Shogun switched to the kneebar and hyper-extended Randleman’s knee almost to breaking point. While dueling for the leglock, Shogun always stayed above or behind Randleman where he couldn’t be hit.
Stance
Shogun’s striking might look wild at first glance but he always maintains a good base, even when he starts throwing wild punches. Shogun moves his head by sliding laterally with his feet, rather than bobbing and weaving from the waist like a boxer, thereby always keeping his stance correct to sprawl.
In the Gym
Work the bag while your training partner pulls you back and side-to-side by the waist with a judo belt or, even better, an elastic cable set-up. Adjust your base to react while simultaneously punching.
In Action
Shogun’s fight with light heavyweight Antonio ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira showed the use of his square stance, where every punch becomes a power shot.
Passing guard
Shogun’s acrobatic strike and pass tactics are a trademark of his style; effective and spectacular.
In the Gym
Have your pad man lie on his back with a kick shield and pass his open guard while you throw leaping punches. Once you can strike without landing in a bad position, get him to hold smaller focus mitts and work on your accuracy until you’re throwing Shogun-style knockout punches.
In Action
Check out Shogun’s February 2007 KO of Alistair Overeem. Shogun shucked Overeem’s legs to one side as he passed, but delivered a punch straight down the pipe through Overeem’s guard, connecting right on his chin.
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