Matt Serra is a Teacher and a Coach, Not a Traitor!

I know how some people, especially Sam Nassar of Fifth Round, feel about Matt Serra taking on Dan Hardy to coach him for his fight with Georges St-Pierre. This is most definitely not a criticism of Sam Nassar or his opinions.

Sam discusses how "a person's dojo used to be a sacred place."

In his mind and in many others' opinions, a person who "jumps" dojos or training camps to train in another is a turncoat and a traitor.

Mr. Nassar mentions the strangeness of the situation of Serra teaching Hardy, as well as Renzo Gracie teaching Georges St-Pierre (both St-Pierre and Serra have fought Matt Hughes who will be facing Renzo later in Abu Dhabi this spring).

Many sticky situations are posed by fighters training with each other's mentors and also in training opponents of ex-rivals.

Since Renzo Gracie presented Matt Serra with his black belt in BJJ, (Serra was Renzo's first American student to earn a black belt from him), and Georges also trained with Renzo at one time, one could question each of the three men about their allegiances, or, one could listen to my opinion and consider my alternate point of view.

While I have not taught martial arts, one could consider my opinion as just so much BS, although I certainly hope my readers will not.

I coached young people on riding and showing horses. Often, in fact usually, these young people were in competition with each other. Yes, there were occasional fits of jealousy, teenagers being a temperamental lot in most situations, but I have my own opinion on what makes one person a winner and not another.

In teaching students any subject, not all of them will be able to learn the skills equally well. A person's ability to learn a skill depends on the abilities and talents they possess.

Surely no one would expect every fighter that Jonathan Chaimberg trains to become as well rounded, successful, and strong as GSP. There is a saying that water seeks its own level. In life, not everyone is capable of attaining the same level as the person working out along side of them. BJ Penn has certainly learned the importance of conditioning since his fight with GSP.

Professionals can teach their "secrets" to their students and yet the student may never be able to surpass the teachers skill level. To use BJ Penn as an example again, few if any of his students will be double jointed and as flexible as he is, so they will not be able to duplicate his level of success in MMA fighting.

I admire the professionals that realise this and willingly teach their students as much of their knowledge as is possible. In other words, giving a person the same book as another person does not mean that reading the same book will give them both the same knowledge. You do with your knowledge what your ability and talent will allow.

Matt Serra is an excellent coach. He is older than Dan Hardy and has more life experience. He can teach Dan everything he knows (theoretically), and Dan will not be able to duplicate everything Matt Serra has achieved with that knowledge.

If Dan Hardy does not "shock the world" and manage to deliver a knockout blow like the Terror did the first time he met Georges in the octagon. That will not mean that Matt is a poor teacher or Hardy is a poor student, it just means that they are on different levels of ability period.

Matt Serra is not a traitor to his former mentor, he is doing what a good teacher does by instructing another person his knowledge of MMA fighting.

Both Georges and Matt Serra may want to do a favor for Renzo and relate to him Matt Hughes's particular areas of weakness before his fight too. If Renzo's skills are not equal to, or better than Hughes's, he will not win. It depends on a person's ability to use the knowledge imparted to them.

Hopefully, one day when Georges is no longer fighting, he will have a gym or be a MMA instructor and share his knowledge with students eager to enter the octagon. From what I have heard, Georges is an excellent instructor.

As for Dan Hardy, he may have the keys to defeating Georges, but does he know how to use them?