Where There's Smoke There's Fire

GriffonRawl will host it’s first Open Sparring Night on Friday, May 30th at GriffonRawl Academy.  Jason has invited teams from Vanyo’s Martial Arts, Evolve, World Kickboxing Academy, Marvin William's Fearless All Stars and Rockhard MMA.  He’s already received confirmation on some of the participants and made matchups with GR members.  Check out the event page on Facebook for updates.

Public Open Sparring Night HERE

What: GriffonRawl Open Sparring Night
Date: Friday May 30, .2014
Where: GriffonRawl MMA Academy 6090 Pinecone Dr, Mentor OH
When: 8 pm to Whenever
Tickets: It’s FREE!

What, exactly, is a Smoker?

Ask ten people and get ten answers, but the one that matters most in Ohio (and for our purposes) is what the Ohio Athletic Commission says.  To them, a Smoker (can’t be called a Smoker!) is a competitive exhibition
of skills conducted for the entertainment of the public within the rules of a specific combat sport as overseen by a qualified representative of the Commission.  In practical terms, the gym owner has to inform the commission of the Smoker, can’t call it a Smoker when advertising it, must provide a qualified referee, though the referee must not declare a ‘winner’ in any of the competitions, and the gym owner may not charge admission to the public.

For the rest of us non-combatants a Smoker (known from now on as  “Public Open Sparring Night”), is a fun evening out.  For the fighters the results of the fights are not recorded and do not appear on their record.  Since these aren't official fights, it is not necessary for a participant to be a member of a formal fight team.  It is, however, full contact fighting in front of an audience, making it excellent experience for a novice fighter to get used to public performance without the pressure of full event preparation.  More experienced fighters use Open Sparring Nights to stave off ring rust in the long lags between fights.  It’s also a great way to get exposure to other fighters and other skills.  It’s too easy to become complacent when you spar with only your friends week in and week out.

Fearless All Stars

Written by: Bob Donaghy