People want to know, “What is MMA?”.
It’s a valid question. A lot of people are looking at MMA as a self defense program, or as a sport. Ultimate fighter competitions are in demand, they’ve somewhat replaced the previous public interest in kickboxing, boxing, and wrestling.
A disclaimer:
I know that most of wrestling is staged (there’s no disputing that those guys are intense athletes and take a real beating though) and a lot of people might be up in arms right now screaming about how MMA and the fight championships aren’t just sports, but in an honest and real-world assessment, they are. They are in a ring, there is a referee, cameras are all over, there are rules, there are weight classes, and there are rankings. It is a tough, bloody, martial sport.
Now, back to the explanation of what MMA is. Some people think that they are studying MMA as an art all by itself and that is what a lot of organizations and schools are billing for. This makes sense, because they are teaching a mixed curriculum. One thing that I personally have found amusing over the years is that most schools in the United States that just bill themselves as “Karate” or ” Kung Fu” actually are teaching a mixture of different styles or arts entirely. Unless you find an instructor that does on specific style of Karate from a familial lineage down through a couple of generations (and even then there may still be some intermingling of ideas and movements from other arts) it is likely that you are learning a mixture of ideas and movements from a variety of sources, making what you are learning MMA.
Today’s Western culture doesn’t put much focus into learning history and tradition, and likes to repackage old ideas into new containers and bill them as an entirely new concept. This is true of martial arts in our society as well. In the East, hundreds of years ago, a warrior wouldn’t have focused solely on ground fighting. He also wouldn’t have focused merely on striking tactics without learning holds, locks, and disarms. She or he would have needed to have a variety of skills, from a mixture of influences and a wide range of knowledge but in the current economic times of the West, it’s better to slap a new name on it and make it more marketable, hence the new all-encompassing “MMA”.
Current MMA styles are likely some form of stand-up fighting, like boxing or kickboxing, shoot fighting, and submission fighting like jujutsu. This is because as fights go on, they tend to collapse, and go from striking to grappling. Once you are on the ground grappling or wrestling, it’s difficult to break free and get back to a standing or fighting position. Besides, some of your best escapes from an attack are to go to the ground.
You might be asking now, “So is MMA as good as it’s billed to be?” My answer is “Yes”, but with some caution. MMA is a sport, remember that. You can use the same principles in real life, but if you’re not training for a real life scenario, and only for the ring, getting attacked in the street won’t go anything like you thought it would. Also, no art that bills itself as the “Best” and “Ultimate” really is. All arts in the West are mixed, and virtually all arts from the ancient East experienced some mixing along the way. But if you’re looking at a school or program that bills itself as MMA in self-defense, fitness, or introduction to martial arts, check it out. It’s most likely a legitimate program with great benefits. But always beware an instructor or course telling you that theirs is the only, and the best way to do anything.
