If you follow the UK MMA circuit you know the fighters that are on the rise and the fighters that are on the slide. Sami Berik is a fighter that comes straight out of a Rocky film. The term people end up using is a journeyman, as they fight a lot and can seem to win and lose at random. But Sami is much more than that. He is a true journeyman, but not in the sense of a fighter without a plan. But in the sense that, fighting is part of his martial journey in life. It shows a deeper tale of a man with fighting in this blood but compassion in his heart. He stands out in the world of mixed martial arts, as he brings a traditional martial arts background into the cage. Instead of waiting until he was a master of the cage he used it as it has his testing battleground for this journey. Right now Sami is gaining a lot of notice with was big knockout wins of late. Time to look at his story so far.
MAI: When you walk in into the Cage you become the ‘The Hun’.
Sami: It’s a reference to the warriors like Attila. I don’t express it as a conquering sort of attitude but more for the fighting Hun spirit. They were a mixture of Turkish/Chinese descendant
MAI: Sami you are a well-known MMA fighter in the circles of the sport in the UK. You started in the more traditional martial arts. What got you starting in the martial arts and how did it end up with you in the ring?
Sami: A combination of kung fu movies as a youngster and my mum putting a lot of importance on not fighting led me on to training it in context to perhaps fight when I got older… hahaaaaaaa. My friend from Secondary school, Evgin introduced me to Wing Chun, which he had recently started at the time. I’m making applications of wing chun in a cage DVD with Evgin soon. It’ll be some tweaks which will compliment a person’s vocabulary in a cage. I trained in wing Chun from about 13 and a half to 20. Lakis Phillipou who was teaching the wing Chun went back to Cyprus so I started to train with Neil Rosiak in Wu Dan tai chi Chuan. I was lucky because Neil had fought in MMA before and was very knowledgeable. I competed in tai chi tournaments, which had full contact sanshou at the end. I really enjoyed the urgency involved. Funny though because in Sanshou we never had rings just raised platforms and I went into MMA from there…. So I never fought in a ring till after I fought in a cage, lol. It had just been something I was doing on the side whilst studying. I was doing my degree for business in Uni and just made the commitment of wanting to go all the way with my fighting. I saw a drop out on ultimate combat on the Internet so I emailed Ben… and I kept on emailing him, hahaaaa. I managed to convince him that I could hold my own in a cage.
MAI: You have developed a sort of alter ego as such as a fighter. Does this help you with your fight mindset?
Sami: It does help. Its sort of a way of self-reasoning I suppose to get the line of thought which composes the mind and body at its best potential for the fight. Then I just hold the feeling and don’t need to think of anything to get there. Sort of remembering the chemical balance.
MAI: It seems to me that you got in the ring and started learning MMA from fighting. Most people do it the other way around! Was that planned?
Sami: I felt that I just needed to know enough to get in there and really start learning to learn so to speak.
I never planned anything out just wanted to test myself within a controlled environment as close to a duel as possible.
I felt that if I have done it the other way round I would be maintaining an image…. Which has maintenance, haha
MMA is a platform for me for where everything gets tested out.
I reckon most people make a mountain of a mole; we don’t play for keeps and it stops when someone doesn’t want to be there.
I have no image to maintain, my record is solid because it is what it is. My arkashic record tells a different story, lol I leave it open to anyone who has internet arkashic connection, lol. If id lost in any of the physical arguments I intervened in to help another I wouldn’t be here. Of every moment of every day it’s a privilege just to be.
MAI: You have had a lot of fights and won and lost. But often it seems you do better against the more on paper tougher opponents. Why do you think that is?
Sami: I feel that I'm a reflection of whom I’m fighting like an argument of physical expressions. Tough opponents further bring me out. Fair play
I have lots of gaps in my floor work, so it has left me making mistakes, which led on to costing me fights.
MAI: What’s your training made up of right now?
Sami: I’m getting back into my kettle bell training. I’m growing my muscle density without packing on too much weight from twitch like exercises. I love my 5kg ankle weights. They’re so cooool, lol I’m more conscious of where the momentum is and how to transfer and mould it with urgency when it counts.
MAI: Do you feel mma adds a positive or negative influence to society?
Sami: Overall collectively it’s positive. People understanding grow on the importance of the responsibility of the physical manifestation of a punch.
I really like how some people can start watching a fight and may want to see blood and pain inflicted for their personal satisfaction but end up seeing how both fighters stop when its time to. The respect involved grows on their attitude. Its an osmosis thing if you’re watching it live, otherwise its just a replication of an event. Even the fighters who come across as thugs and started competing just to hurt others and release their anger have only started their journey. After x amount of fights when they realise their attitudes changes.I don’t judge any human being only evaluate with unconditional kindness and it means I don’t judge myself and able to clear my desktop before my fight.
I reckon I see most people much better than what they see themselves most people judge themselves without realising it.
MAI: What do you see for the future of MMA?
Sami: ahaaaa, lol I feel great things are going to further develop in MMA. I feel loads of people who are from a TMA background will cross over to MMA and bring old school applications in. I know quite a few have but that’s nothing compared to the amount of people who are potentially a hairline away from making the decision.
I want them to realise that its just a game and you could have just one fight as a personal challenge against another first timer just so your body can feel and experience holding composure through such urgency. I’m not too concerned with the development of the business of MMA. I hold the development of peoples understanding at the up most importance.
MAI: anything more you would like to say?
I’m giving my purses from fights abroad to ‘Big Issue’. I intend to make money from my online tutorials off my site. www.samiberik.com My fighting outside the U.K. will be for the temporarily unhoused ladies & gentlemen of London.
My respect for them is endless. How they stand hungry and cold but still making the effort to keep standing! Endlessly with no assurance of anything what so ever.
I don’t feel sorry for them. I acknowledge them and use that feeling to manifest an endless pool of energy to support them.
I would like to thank Lakis Pillipou for my foundation of wing Chun from back when I was younger. Neil rosiak of powerseekers.com who developed me to be able to get in the cage and Eddie Kone whose refining me on my floorwork as well as linking in stand up. Thanks also to Mickey Pappas who used to take the class and help with the demonstrations back in the wing Chun days.
A extra special thanks to any person who subtly intervenes in arguments using their verbal expressions of reasoning resulting in a physical punch never being manifested. It’s the best kind!
Take care and bless
Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system.
Teacher of Tui Na Chinese Massage Therapy
He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.
Web:
www.alanorr.com
www.thechinesemedicineacademy.co.uk
www.warriorfunctionaltraining.com
For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk
AN INTERVIEW WITH SAMI 'THE HUN' BERIK - by Alan Orr