1. Anderson Silva
A documentary about Anderson Silva titled “Like Water” is available (it’s in Portuguese with english subtitles) and provides an intimate look at Silva’s training.
The title of the documentary comes from an old lesson that Bruce Lee used to repeat often. He would say that a martial artist should seek to be like water; to be fluid and to adapt to the situation you are in. Water changes shape and is always direct in its motions, just like a successful striker should be. Anderson Silva is more like water than any other fighter in history.
The fluidity in Silva’s movements are absolutely unmatched in history. In no other fight is this more apparent than when he fought Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. Griffin, who had just recently lost the light heavyweight title, looked so clumsy and clunky in comparison to the smooth effortless gliding motion made by Silva’s punches. Silva’s counter strike on a charging Griffin (the one that dropped Forrest near the end of the fight) seemed to happen in slow motion, as if gravity was having less of an impact on Silva than it was Griffin.
You never know, even though he’s 41 years old, there is still time for Silva to win back his middleweight championship.
