Interview with FCC fighter Jameel "The Sergeant" Massouh in Osaka Japan!

Jameel sparring with UFC & PRIDE veteran Dokonjonosuke Mishima.

Q: Do you feel comfortable fighting at 64 kg (141.09 lbs)?

Jameel: 64KG is very comfortable. I generally walk around at about 74 KG when I am not dieting or cutting weight and that is what I might weigh during the fight. Right now dieting is no problem, I have a lot of energy. The only difference is I like to cut water weight in the sauna and with the train schedual the day of weigh-ins, I don`t know if I will have time for that and I might have to adjust my weight cutting-strategy for this fight. Either way, it will be no problem and size will be my advantage.

Q: How are you working on diet in the country that you are not so used to?

Jameel: Well, I was eating Sashimi until I got a little food poisoning. My diet the last few weeks has been to eat tons of food because the family I am staying with feeds me so much. But it has been good for me because I need the energy for training and I use it all. Now I am eating all cooked fresh foods like udon, and salmon, and a lot of eggs and have just been eating anything fresh for six small meals a day. My energy has been high and my weight has been low. I think my stomach has been sensetive in Japan because I am not used to eating high volumes of uncooked fish or other Japanese style foods but that has only effected my nausea and not my weight control.

Jameel with 2005 ADCC Japan champ Hidemi Mihara (left) and PRIDE and Shooto veteran Seichi Ikemoto.

Q: How is training at Cobra-kai different from training at back home?

Jameel: Cobra-Kai is awesome! The training is long, focused, and very intense. Eveyone there has amazing grappling and submissions and moves very well on the ground, especially Mishima-San. The first time I sparred on the ground with him I was the first time I was every actually scarred grapling in practice. He most so fast and almost chooses to submit at will. He is very impressive. I think the style of training at Cobra-Kai is wonderful because it has a good balance between time spent on technique, sparring, and conditioning. The biggest difference from Cobra-Kai and my gym in America (Dave Strasser's Freestyle Academy) is that Cobra-Kai seems specialized for the ground submission game where as the Freestyle Academy is not phenominal at ground or at striking but we are very well geared for all-round mma fighting. Freetsyle academy has maybe 5 very high level grapplers and fighters to sparr with and at Cobra-Kai everyone knows submissions very well. Maybe there is just a higher volume of extremely skilled and well verse submission artists at Cobra-Kai. Cobra-Kai has a healthy focus and strength on the ground and builds tough ground fighters and Freestyle Academy builds tough all round American-Style mma fighters. Both are impressive in their own right and accelle in different ways.

Jameel doing the tourist thing.

Definitely, the biggest difference I notice right away in training would have to be Cobra-Kai`s conditioning drills compared to the Freestyle Academy. The drills are long and intense and have a different focus than I am used to. At the Freestyle Academy, our conditioning philosophy is to work short and intense conditioning drills based on strength and power. We would do a lot of fast paced resistance training to finish our two-hour practice. This is good for fighitng because you try to sprint the entire time. At Cobra-Kai we do a different style of training aimed at muscular endurance and then intensive cardio training after 4 hours or so of practice. So I am already tired from a long practice and then I have to do somthing liek 350 Japanese style push-ups with no break and then do 4x 3minute rounds of 30second intervals envolving things like plyometic hurdle jumps, punching fast with weights, pulling and carrying your partners, etc. There are also a few Cobra-Kai secrets to enhance the intensity even more but secrets are best kept hidden. Regardless, the conditioning at Cobra-Kai excites me and I feel like I have no worries in that sense.

Q: Now you have been living in Japan for almost a month. How is living in Japan?

Jameel: Japan is wonderful! Osaka and Nagoya are both wonderful cities that I've been to recently. Everyone here shows great hospitality. I am staying with Kiichi "Strasser" Kunimoto and his family and they have been like a second family to me. Their kindness has touched my heart since they have provided me with friendship and have made me feel more than welcome in their home. The rest of the people of Japan that I have met have welcomed me in a similar way and it has touched me.
The food of Japan is excellent! I have eaten so much great food since I have been here that I think when I go home everything will be so boring to me. I love food in general but the food here is superb. Maybe my favorite is the Japanese style BBQ. I love that style of food but choosing a favorite Japanese food is like asking whether I like gold or diamonds more. They are all wonderful to me.
Lastly, Japan is culturally distinct for sure. Though there is a western influence, I think Japan has deep Japanese customs that are very intersting. However, every custom that I find strange from an American standpoint, I also find wonderful. It makes me want to stay out here even longer.

Jameel enjoying breakfast with the parents of Kiichi Kunimoto. (a.k.a. Strasser Kiichi in the ring)

Q: Tell us about your daily schedule.

Jameel: Every morning I wake up arounf 9 or 10am and then I go eat breakfast at a wonderful little coffe shop with Kiichi's mother for an hour or so. I usually eat toast and eggs and a salad with some coffee. It is the nicest coffee shop I`ve been to and the service there is very friendly, very much like a family. It is good for me because it puts me in a very good mental mood every day. Then, I usually go runnign after breakfast. After that I have free time where I might go on the internet or go shopping or get some rest. Kiichi's mother makes me lunch almost daily around 1 or 2pm which usually consists of Udon. Usually around 3pm Daisuke "13" Hanazawa will pick me up and we will go to the Osaka Municipal Gym and lift weights and do some cardio for an hour or two and then go off and grab some fast dinner and then train at Cobra-Kai from 7pm until 12am. After that I eat a small meal and I`m off to bed. Also, Sunday's I rest and enjoy Osaka with Kiichi. So far I have been to Osaka Tower, the downtown Osaka shopping district, the Osaka Motor Show, and I plan on going to Osaka Castle. My schedual can is very routine in many ways but I like a good routine before a fight because it helps keep me from too many distractions.

Q: How do you get around without knowing language and all?

Jameel: The language barrier has been frustrating at times but many Japanese speak very good English and communication has not been a major problem. There are two things that help me very much. First, I am almost always with someone I knwo when going out far from home so I have good friends who know the language fluently and are kind enough to help me. Secondly, I was smart enough to bring an English-to Japanese phrase book of basic phrases with me so that I can communicate the essentials and try to pick up some basics. I could never hold a full conversation in Japanese but I feel I could communcate the basics if need be. Also, since I am emersed int he culture, I have learned and picked up a good amount quite fast and I am trying to learn a little more every day. When I go home to America, my goal will be to learn more Japanese for my future return. But for now, I get by mostly by smiling and trying to be polite to others and by just stiking to the basics. That phrase book certainly is useful though.

Jameel's one of favorite Japanese foods - a bowl of Curry Udon!

Q. Tell us about your team mates at Cobra-kai and what type of training they do is completely different from what you are used to do at Freestyle Academy?

Jameel: All students and team mates at Cobra-Kai are very skilled at grappling and are very motivating induviduals. I think I have learned a lot about the Japanese style of grapplers since I have been there and I hope they have learned about my different style of grappling. In this way, I have learned a lot about unfamiliar styles to me and how to prepare for a combat situation I am not used to. Small things like different hand positioning techniques make a very big difference in mma and grappling and there are many different ways of completing the same movements and techniques. I have learned a littel of the Cobra-Kai style and like it veyr much and it keeps me very open minded and give me a fresh perspective on grappling.
Specifically, Mishima-San is very talented and is a grappling-god in my eyes. His skill is astounding in grappling and is excellent in striking as well. To describe his mma talent in one word I would choos `effortless` because he moves into and out of positions and submissions without a second thought. His conditioning also cannot be beat. I hope to see him fight again somtime soon because in my eyes, he is one of the top competators in the world today and it would be a waste for him not to fight as much as possible.

Jameel rolling with Hidemi Mihara.

Also, Mihara, I hope I spelled that correctly, is a great grappler and has taught me some valuable techniques I can use that I did not know before. Clearly, he has a lot of skill in grappling and maybe even more potention for his future mma career.
Lastly, the three team mates I have known from America, Hanazawa, Kiichi, and Yusuke, all have a wealth of skill and I think they have improved their great skill even more since i have seen them last in America. Each of them push me to the extreme in traiing and I cannot give them enough credit and thanks for helping me get to where I am right now. The training for this fight would not be at such a high level without them.
The Freestyle Academy and Cobra-Kai differ mainly in volume. Freestyle Academy has 2 hour practices nightly and an optional morning class that is technique based for an hour or two. Cobra-Kai has 5 hour nightly classes. Freestyle Academy generally has shorter intense periods of condiitoning and Cobra-Kai has long muscular endurance drills followed by intense cardio training. Clearly the biggest factor is volume and it is a welcome change and a fresh perspective.
There are a few small things I don't want to go too much in to because I see them as good secrets that are distinctive to Cobra-Kai but one major difference is that Hanazawa likes to include techniques that restrict breathing during cardio training fro some added intensity. How and to what extent I do not want to say btu I think it is very taxing and benefits the mental aspects of the game, teaching you to fight on when your body says no more.

Everyone from Cobra-kai at Jameel's Sayonara party! (front: Strasser Kiichi, middle: Dokonjonosuke Mishima)