Did you know that a ninja student won a UFC championship? It’s true.
It was at UFC # 3: “The American Dream”, and his name was Steve Jennum. In fact, Jennum was the only person, other than Royce Gracie, to win a UFC championship at the time.
So how did a Ninja rise to the top against all those highly trained and experienced fighters? This article looks at the main points that contributed to his victory. Use this, not as a guide to see how you won, but as a way to understand the difference between how most people think of winning and how a practitioner of the art of ninjutsu thinks about it.
First, Steve Jennum was a backup, not one of the main fighters.
What that means is that he didn’t have to face other fighters before reaching the final round against the powerful fighter Harold Howard. This allowed him to be fresh and ready at all levels.
But don’t let that lead you to believe Jennum only won because Howard was tired and he wasn’t.
In the initial foray of the round, Howard, although he had just won his own fight just before facing Jennum, was still fired up and ready to go. This was evident when he unloaded a blow that should have blown the Ninja through the Octagon!
But, what happened next not only changed the fight, it scared Howard so much that I can still see his reaction today.
When Howard hit Jennum with the same powerful punch that allowed him to win countless fights before this, Steve used a basic move in the Ninja’s arsenal that Howard had never seen. When the punch hit Jennum square on the head, her body was already in motion, backing toward the ninja. ichimonji no kamae.
This strategic body shift allowed Jennum to take the hit with little to no damage. And, when Howard paused, confused by the outcome of what should have been a knockout, Jennum fought back and took the fight to Howard. In the world of ninpo-taijutsu, “The body art of the ninja”, this tactic used the sui no kata ‘water mode’ of strategic defense.
Backing up and then crashing back with full-body force blows, like the motion of the ocean as it rolls away from shore only to roll over on itself, gathering power and crashing into rocks, Jennum became the UFC # champion. 3. Instead of relying on complicated movements that required conventional force, speed or power …
A ninja won UFC # 3 with a technique taught basic students in the art of ninjutsu!