Heroes of Athleticism Part I: Benson Henderson
As you guys all know by now, I’m a big proponent of training
in an athletic fashion wherever possible. Gone are the days of doing ‘a bicep
workout’, and spending 50 minutes working solely that muscle, that’s not exactly
going to translate well to an athletic endeavour.
In this series, which I’ve called Heroes of Athleticism, I’m hoping to inspire you guys with some of the athletes who I believe are perfect examples of how athleticism and functional training can lead to the best results. I won't be posting this up weekly like I have in my other series posts, these will be sporadic, whenever the urge takes me.
In our first installment we have one of my favourite athletes:
In this series, which I’ve called Heroes of Athleticism, I’m hoping to inspire you guys with some of the athletes who I believe are perfect examples of how athleticism and functional training can lead to the best results. I won't be posting this up weekly like I have in my other series posts, these will be sporadic, whenever the urge takes me.
In our first installment we have one of my favourite athletes:
Benson Henderson
So before I get cracking on extolling his virtues as an exceptional athlete, let’s just go through some basic introductory stuff about Benson Henderson, because some people might not know who he is (you strange, strange people).
Henderson is a Mixed Martial Artist who fights in the UFC,
having previously fought in the now-defunct WEC, and has a professional record
of 21-4-0 (Win-Loss-Draw). He is the former UFC lightweight champion
(155lbs/70.3kg/11st), and stands tied for most title defences in that weight
category with the great BJ Penn. Benson is also the proud owner of black belts
in both Tae-Kwon-Do (TKD) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).
Now, introductions are over, so let’s get to the meat of it.
Firstly, let’s really quickly discuss what makes an athlete an athlete. What attributes does someone have to display to be called an athlete?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an athlete as:
Firstly, let’s really quickly discuss what makes an athlete an athlete. What attributes does someone have to display to be called an athlete?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an athlete as:
“A person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, stamina”
So that’s strength, agility, and stamina. Okay then.
Next, Sports Science Lab (SSL) takes this a bit further, breaking down those
attributes into smaller sub-headings of:
Balance
Control (Body
Control)
Flexibility
Co-ordination
Stability
Rhythm (Timing)
Power
So let’s take Benson through the ringer to see just how many
of these attributes he displays, and I’ll see if I can find some proof of my
assertions (get ready for .gifs! Woo!)
Strength
I’ll start with the dictionary definitions, because they’re
less… fluid concepts.
Henderson was a collegiate wrestler at Dana College and was twice an NAIA All-American, so the guy has some pretty respectable wrestling pedigree. In case you aren’t aware, wrestling requires an awful lot of strength (Ratamess, 2011), especially if you’re good at it.
Henderson has shown a great deal of strength in the octagon, and has been known to use his wrestling to dump opponents down seemingly at will.
Henderson was a collegiate wrestler at Dana College and was twice an NAIA All-American, so the guy has some pretty respectable wrestling pedigree. In case you aren’t aware, wrestling requires an awful lot of strength (Ratamess, 2011), especially if you’re good at it.
Henderson has shown a great deal of strength in the octagon, and has been known to use his wrestling to dump opponents down seemingly at will.
Here you’ll notice that Benson bodily picks up a man who
probably weighed around 165-170lbs by fight night (the same or slightly less
than Benson could potentially be by that point), and unceremoniously dumps him
on his face. And this is a man who desperately does not want to get picked up and slammed, he’s actively trying
not to let that happen.
Have you ever tried picking up and dropping someone who simply does not want you to do it? It’s hard work. Even little kids who don’t want to brush their teeth can be a pain in the ass to grab a hold of and pick up, let alone a 170lb professional fighter.
And it’s not the only example of when he’s done things like that, he regularly exhibits strength of this calibre when he’s grappling in the cage. Quite often his ability to keep an opponent completely tensed up and focussed on his upper body is when he’ll land a very cheeky trip:
Have you ever tried picking up and dropping someone who simply does not want you to do it? It’s hard work. Even little kids who don’t want to brush their teeth can be a pain in the ass to grab a hold of and pick up, let alone a 170lb professional fighter.
And it’s not the only example of when he’s done things like that, he regularly exhibits strength of this calibre when he’s grappling in the cage. Quite often his ability to keep an opponent completely tensed up and focussed on his upper body is when he’ll land a very cheeky trip:
"Enjoy your trip, see you next fall"
All right, at his weight/size he’s never going to be in the scrum for a rugby
team, but we can easily show that Benson has some serious strength, so that’s
check one for the former Lightweight champ.
Agility
Agility is basically the ability to move about quickly,
change direction quickly, and just generally be nimble (or, if you’re from the
Worcestershire area of the UK, ‘nimbly-pimbly’).
One thing that Henderson often displays is his ability to get in, get a shot off on his opponent, and then bounce back out before they’ve had a chance to return the strike.
One thing that Henderson often displays is his ability to get in, get a shot off on his opponent, and then bounce back out before they’ve had a chance to return the strike.
"Woah, give me a hand here, bro? BRO? BRRROOOOO!!"
That’s Benson once again getting the better of Nate Diaz
(trololol), showing his ability to move in quickly, land a pretty fierce leg
kick-come-sweep, plant Diaz on his backside, and get out of the way of the poor
bloke’s outreaching hand.
And the thing that makes it even more impressive? He doesn’t even look like
he’s trying to move quickly, he’s
just faster than Diaz’s reactions.
Additionally, Benson has become known as a wrestler with a great kicking game (based in his TKD background), and the best thing about his kicks is the way he throws them. With a muay thai kick there tends to be a step or pause as they set their hips to unleash the kick, but with Henderson there’s no such pause – he just lifts his leg and bang, shin or foot to the ribs. This TKD-style form of kicking is based in his ability to move quickly, as he can get these shots off hard and fast, then bring the leg back and move out of the way of the returning shot.
One thing we have seen, however, is opponents catching the kick. Frankie Edgar did it a lot in their fights, but unfortunately for Frankie the kicks had already landed and done their damage by the time they landed, and from there Benson had enough balance to keep himself up.
Here’s an example of it happening with Josh Thompson:
Additionally, Benson has become known as a wrestler with a great kicking game (based in his TKD background), and the best thing about his kicks is the way he throws them. With a muay thai kick there tends to be a step or pause as they set their hips to unleash the kick, but with Henderson there’s no such pause – he just lifts his leg and bang, shin or foot to the ribs. This TKD-style form of kicking is based in his ability to move quickly, as he can get these shots off hard and fast, then bring the leg back and move out of the way of the returning shot.
One thing we have seen, however, is opponents catching the kick. Frankie Edgar did it a lot in their fights, but unfortunately for Frankie the kicks had already landed and done their damage by the time they landed, and from there Benson had enough balance to keep himself up.
Here’s an example of it happening with Josh Thompson:
Remember this .gif, we might come back to it for the balance
section…
Stamina
One thing Henderson has been known for over the years is his
terrific conditioning. We’ve seen him go 25 minutes in title fights on many,
many occasions (he has a bit of a reputation as a decision fighter), and he’s
never once looked tired or lacking in energy. In fact, more often than not he
goes toe-to-toe with opponents at a frenetic pace for every round and still
looks good at the end of it.
Here’s an example of a frenetic pace:
Here’s an example of a frenetic pace:
Good ol’ Clay Guida, always ready to just sling punches with
absolutely no thought to his self-preservation.
Whatever they’re doing at the Lab in Arizona (where he trains, not where he was created in a test tube, in case you’re not aware) seems to be working pretty well.
So Benson fulfils all the aspects of the dictionary definition, but what about the more fluid concepts presented by the SSL?
Balance
Remember that .gif I said you needed to remember? Go back to
it and review the balance Benson displays there.
It's cool, I'll wait.
Dude has one leg on the ground, and one leg yanked higher than 90 degrees, being pulled around by an opponent. Not only that, but said opponent is also throwing punches to his head and jabbing kicks to the one remaining leg touching the floor. Despite this, Benson stays on his feet (foot), and it doesn’t look like he’s struggling particularly. That’s pretty impressive.
Here’s another example of damn-fine balance:
It's cool, I'll wait.
Dude has one leg on the ground, and one leg yanked higher than 90 degrees, being pulled around by an opponent. Not only that, but said opponent is also throwing punches to his head and jabbing kicks to the one remaining leg touching the floor. Despite this, Benson stays on his feet (foot), and it doesn’t look like he’s struggling particularly. That’s pretty impressive.
Here’s another example of damn-fine balance:
That’s just incredible. He’s on one leg, being run
backwards, hard, by an onrushing opponent who should easily get that takedown.
But he doesn’t.
Yeah, Benson’s got balance.
But he doesn’t.
Yeah, Benson’s got balance.
Control (Body
Control)
According to SSL, the qualities of co-ordination (hand/foot-eye) and rhythm (timing) also fall under this umbrella of ‘body control’, so
I’ll address them all here (for the sake of brevity and ease).
Obviously, given that he’s an elite-level martial artist,
Benson has great co-ordination. You can’t be great at martial arts without
co-ordination, let’s be fair about it. But, for the sake of proving my claims,
let’s examine some footage of amazing hand-eye co-ordination:
Poor Nate Diaz. That dude just served as a highlight reel
opportunity for Benson, and here we go again – that’s Henderson landing punches
against him repeatedly.
And Nate Diaz is an elite boxer, he doesn’t (usually) just let you get punches off like that without pattering you with return combos.
And here we have some lovely foot-eye co-ordination:
And Nate Diaz is an elite boxer, he doesn’t (usually) just let you get punches off like that without pattering you with return combos.
And here we have some lovely foot-eye co-ordination:
Benson fakes high, causing Pettis to guard his head, and
then take the opportunity to quickly change the position of his body and hips
to land the low kick. That takes very good co-ordination, and Benson does this
quite a lot.
Interestingly, most kickboxers and muay thai strikers will utilise lots of low-kicks to fake low and then go high, but Benson prefers to go the complete opposite way – he fakes high to ensure he gets a clean contact with the low kick.
This is also an example of our other characteristic to fall under body control – rhythm/timing.
You have to time a fake supremely well to ensure you get the opponent to buy it and guard the wrong part of their body. Reveal your fake too early and they can adjust, fail to reveal the fake at all and you get an impotent shot to nowhere useful.
And to really hammer home my point, here’s another .gif of some beautiful timing on a strike:
Interestingly, most kickboxers and muay thai strikers will utilise lots of low-kicks to fake low and then go high, but Benson prefers to go the complete opposite way – he fakes high to ensure he gets a clean contact with the low kick.
This is also an example of our other characteristic to fall under body control – rhythm/timing.
You have to time a fake supremely well to ensure you get the opponent to buy it and guard the wrong part of their body. Reveal your fake too early and they can adjust, fail to reveal the fake at all and you get an impotent shot to nowhere useful.
And to really hammer home my point, here’s another .gif of some beautiful timing on a strike:
Planting Melendez on his backside, now that takes some
serious skill. That dude is an elite fighter.
Flexibility
So Benson Henderson is pretty well known for being
partly-made of elastic (figuratively, not literally). This guy can get out of
near-enough anything (except for that armbar, good effort Pettis), and his
ability to look like he has the same range of movement as Stretch Armstrong has
been well-documented by fight journalists and commentators.
We’ve already seen some fairly sweet flexibility in the caught kicks we looked at previously, but here’s a great example of what I’m talking about:
We’ve already seen some fairly sweet flexibility in the caught kicks we looked at previously, but here’s a great example of what I’m talking about:
That’s the best picture I could find, but it’s not even as
extended as he goes in this particular exchange. Here we have Nate Diaz
attempting to set up a submission after a scramble. You can see he doesn’t
really have anything there, and he knew it, so he chose to keep the position to
force Benson into moving and potentially offering an opening.
Instead, Benson chose to sit there in the splits and stare at him, dodging punches. This frustrated Diaz so badly he actually showed him the middle finger (not exactly sportmanlike conduct, but whatever) to Henderson.
While Henderson was still in the splits.
I won’t go on about his flexibility too much, because it makes me feel inadequate, but guys – have you ever tried the splits?
Exactly.
Instead, Benson chose to sit there in the splits and stare at him, dodging punches. This frustrated Diaz so badly he actually showed him the middle finger (not exactly sportmanlike conduct, but whatever) to Henderson.
While Henderson was still in the splits.
I won’t go on about his flexibility too much, because it makes me feel inadequate, but guys – have you ever tried the splits?
Exactly.
Stability
“The ability to withstand force or stress without being distorted, dislodged, or damaged”
So, we can probably draw the conclusion to this one simply by looking back at our previous attributes and their respective .gifs.
But I’d also like to take this opportunity to throw out a new .gif, so let’s discuss it a bit.
We’ve already seen Benson withstand stressors such as having his leg caught and elevated, without distortion or damage; we’ve seen him do the splits whilst having someone try to submit him, without damage or being dislodged; and we’ve seen him withstand grappling stress without damage, distortion, or being dislodged.
Let’s take a look at one more example of how robust Henderson is:
So here we have Benson undergo an awful lot of stressors.
At the end, is he distorted? Nope.
Dislodged? Nope, he certainly ends up in a good position
Damaged? I don’t believe so.
Stability. See?
At the end, is he distorted? Nope.
Dislodged? Nope, he certainly ends up in a good position
Damaged? I don’t believe so.
Stability. See?
Power
This is going to be a short one, because everything we’ve
looked at leads to the inescapable conclusion that this guy has the ability to
be powerful.
Just in case you haven’t read my post on power in MMA (see here) the formulae for power is load x velocity (strength x speed), so lifting something heavy with speed…
Just in case you haven’t read my post on power in MMA (see here) the formulae for power is load x velocity (strength x speed), so lifting something heavy with speed…
I just love
this .gif
I would venture this opinion, if I may: lifting a dude up
and slamming him down, from a complete stand, utilising hip extension/torque,
constitutes a powerful movement.
Secondly, power also shows itself in the ability to produce a strong movement quickly, such as:
Secondly, power also shows itself in the ability to produce a strong movement quickly, such as:
I could have picked a number of the previous .gifs I had
used, but no, I wanted to be thorough (and I thoroughly enjoy using .gifs to
illustrate my points).
Any number of movements in MMA can be considered ‘power’ movements: throwing a fast KO punch, snapping a fast body kick, jumping skills such as flying knees, explosive double-leg takedowns, etc.
Henderson exhibits all of these types of movements in every fight he has, and proves how powerful he can be.
Any number of movements in MMA can be considered ‘power’ movements: throwing a fast KO punch, snapping a fast body kick, jumping skills such as flying knees, explosive double-leg takedowns, etc.
Henderson exhibits all of these types of movements in every fight he has, and proves how powerful he can be.
Given that all of these attributes have been shown by Benson
in his time in the cage, I don’t have any problem declaring him:
The Total Athlete
Isn’t that nice? Might take the sting of losing his last
fight away, such is the prestigious nature of the award.
So there’s over 2000 words on Benson Henderson.
I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it’s challenged you to look at yourself, and your training, in a different way.
Anyone can train to look good, but not just everyone has what it takes to train like an athlete. Keep that in mind guys.
I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it’s challenged you to look at yourself, and your training, in a different way.
Anyone can train to look good, but not just everyone has what it takes to train like an athlete. Keep that in mind guys.
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