# Prodigies vs. Late Bloomers



## 18573 (Jul 7, 2007)

This is kinda one of those age-old questions, but it interests me because I just started Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu at age 17 earlier this year. The question is: who's better off in MMA - the talented "child prodigy" who starts out doing martial arts at age 5 or the "late bloomer" who starts doing martial arts later on, but trains hard? 

Reading the wikipedia articles of some of the most renowned MMA fighters, it seems a lot of them started doing martial arts from very young ages and stood out as talented kids. It's just kinda discouraging hearing that because I started so late. (Not that I really expect to be a world-class MMA fighter, but still I'd like to be the best I could be.) 
However, I was reading Fedor's wikipedia and it said:


> He initially trained under Vasiliy Ivanovich Gavrilov, and later under his current coach, Vladimir Mihailovich Voronov. Voronov remembers that ten-year-old Fedor was relatively weak physically and did not have an innate grappling talent; instead, his biggest strength was his perseverance and strong will.


In the references section, it quotes Fedor saying: “I never stood out with my genetics and don't think I had some extraordinary talent. Everything I managed to do with hard training... I didn't train wrestling, I gathered together many things, created something like a little gym for myself and worked on my physical training and of course was running cross. All the time I was working to become stronger."

So that gave me a little hope, although 10 years old is still rather young, but he wasn't a stand-out athlete. What do you people believe, fighters are determined by talent from a young age, or can someone start later in life and train hard and get to the top?


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## Calibretto9 (Oct 15, 2006)

I've written 3 different crazy long posts in response to your post, and deleted each of them. I'm just going to tag this, go out and think about it, and I'll try to come back later and give you a good response. It's a very good question though, and is food for thought.


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## Uchi (Oct 15, 2006)

Just train as hard as you can. Prodigies do not always have the advantage. You may not have the natural born skill, but you have to develop it.

training is the one thing that you can always rely on that will never turn against you. When your sad, train. When you're depressed, train. When your confused, train. When you feel weak, train.

The more training the better you'll become.


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## ozz525 (Oct 5, 2006)

You do not have to train your whole life to be good. There are plenty of fighters that started training later in life and have goten real good. Some Prodigies get there head blown up and stop training hard, that is when you can close the gap.


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## jehu pitchfork (Feb 4, 2007)

training over prodigies any day. otherwise, i believe, your POTENTIALLY suseptible to laziness. there is plenty of eveidence of athletes who are amazing at all forms of fighting, but too lazy to keep up w/ the work ethic to make them unequivocal champions. bj penn is a great example. dude is talented in every field he touches yet it SEEMS like he doesn't train to the best of his abilities at ALL times.


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## TheSuplexor (Jun 2, 2006)

hmmmm i heard that matt lindland started wrestling at age 15 and still won an olympic silver medalist! i think that the people that start younger will have the edge on people that start later but if either of them but in the time and work in they can both be great


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## Machiavelli_08 (Jul 24, 2007)

At the end of the day who wouldn't want to have a natural talent? That isn't the point though everyone with a talent needs to develop it because no-one is born knowing instinctively how to submit everyone from every position...the point is whether you have the talent or not it is your training that will give you the real skills and appreciation of how you go about competing and winning...it's all proportional you train, hard you start winning but being natural just speeds up the process.


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## Asian Sensation (Oct 9, 2006)

i've always found denis kang very inspirational when he started off his mma career he obviously didnt have much natural talent as he struggled to get above 500 it seemed whenever he got above 500 he started another losing streak but he worked hard and is now one of the top MW fighters in the world


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## Uchaaa (Apr 22, 2007)

Of course it is better to start fighting the younger you are.


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## wafb (May 8, 2007)

I tend to lean towards late bloomers like Couture since they have to work longer to get to where they are. Prodigies were born with natural talent that they take things for granted and they dont reach their full potential.


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## dutch sauce (Sep 24, 2006)

depends on you training


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## Trainee (Nov 18, 2006)

Well, prodigies are born just like the rest of us. The difference was, that their parents/gaurdians put them into training. Just saying, because it seems most of you consider prodigies to be naturally gifted, when that just isn't true.

Train right, train harder than the other person, and you'll be better than them. Simple as that. Don't ever count yourself out, it's a fight, anything can happen.


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## gwabblesore (May 2, 2007)

Trainee said:


> Well, prodigies are born just like the rest of us. The difference was, that their parents/gaurdians put them into training. Just saying, because it seems most of you consider prodigies to be naturally gifted, when that just isn't true.
> 
> Train right, train harder than the other person, and you'll be better than them. Simple as that. Don't ever count yourself out, it's a fight, anything can happen.


Natural talent is definitely a real thing, in all fields. Some people are born naturally athletic, flexible, quick, strong, smart etc.

Better to start early FOR SURE, I dont know how anyone could argue this.


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## FromHereOn (Sep 4, 2006)

everybody is different.

Some guys pull the 'old-man-strength' out of a hat, and begin to unleash the ass-kicking more often(Randy). Some get old(er) less gracefully and hit the deck more often (Jens).

There's only one constant: time. You will always get older. I'd much rather be the old dude who kills than the young guy who burnt out. 

Not many fighters can be great and stay that way for their entire careers. I agree with training early, but I don't think it's good to go pro before you're in your prime.


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## 100%NATURAL (Aug 1, 2007)

Who can say either way? Obviously the more training you get the better you SHOULD become so YES young prodigies have that advantage, but that isn't everything. HEART is a HUGE factor not only in the ring but in your training, self discipline, and all your every day decisions that effect you as a fighter. If you start young and hit a rough patch your more apt to think it wasn't meant to be or give up where as a new comer to the sport keeps on going at it especially with a little more maturity than a child. Natural ability, trained at a young age or not, is none the less natural ability and can be utilized at any time. Your mental game can be effected in so many ways so to say one is better than another is ridiculous but the one advantage you can have at the still young age of 17 is to be hungry and dedicated, that is key. If you are fortunate you'll get good coaches, have heart (ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE), have good genetics, natural ability, and a healthy mental approach to the sport(also your choice). All of those my friend and you may just be a world class MMA fighter some day, the first place you need to start is believing you can be NO MATTER what happens on your day to day basis and knowing that anything short of YOUR BEST EFFORT isn't going to get you there. Keep positive and train!


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