Sports

MMA, mixed martial arts is a combat sport in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used, including striking and grappling. The term “Mixed martial arts” also refers to a martial arts style. Modern mixed martial arts emerged in 1993 with the Ultimate Fighting Championships, based on the concept of pitting different fighting styles against each other in competition with minimal rules, in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation.

The history of the modern sport can be traced to the Gracie family’s vale tudo (”anything goes”) martial arts tournaments in Brazil starting in the 1920s, and early mixed martial arts matches hosted by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the 1970s. MMA gained international exposure and widespread publicity in the US in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie dominated the Ultimate Fighting Championship, sparking a revolution in the martial arts, while in Japan in 1997 the continued interest in the sport resulted in the creation of the PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Though rules have been adopted, there is no general sanctioning body for the sport, and the sets of rules vary according to the laws of individual organizations and localities. The techniques utilized in MMA competition generally fall into two categories: striking techniques (such as kicks, knees and punches) and grappling techniques (such as clinch holds, pinning holds, submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and throws).

Some unarmed hand to hand combat techniques are considered illegal in most or all modern MMA competition, such as biting, eye-gouging, fish-hooking and small joint manipulation. Over the last ten years, strikes to the groin have become illegal in all sanctioned MMA organizations. The legality of other techniques such as elbows, headbutts and spinal locks vary according to competition or organization.

A victory in an MMA bout is normally gained by the judges’ decision after an allotted amount of time has elapsed, a stoppage by the referee or the fight doctor (in the event that the competitor is injured or can no longer defend himself intelligently), a submission, by a competitor’s cornerman throwing in the towel, or by knockout. While MMA competition is occasionally depicted as brutal by the media, there has never been a death or crippling injury in a sanctioned MMA event in North America.

As a result of the MMA sporting events, martial arts training and the understanding of the combat effectiveness of various strategies have changed dramatically over the last ten years. The early years of the sport saw the widest possible variety of traditional styles, everything from sumo to kickboxing, but the continual evolution of the sport has practically eliminated less effective and “pure” styles, usually because specialized fighters were lacking in skills to deal effectively with broader techniques.

Even though fighters that combined amateur wrestling and striking techniques dominated the standing portion of an MMA fight, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylists had a distinct advantage on the ground. Those unfamiliar with submission grappling proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission techniques. Shoot wrestling practitioners offered a balance of amateur wrestling ability and catch wrestling based submissions resulting in a generally well rounded set of skills. The shoot wrestlers were especially successful in Japan, where the martial art initially dominated other arts.

As MMA competitions became more and more commonplace, those with a base in striking became more competitive as they began to acquaint themselves with takedowns and submission holds, leading to some notable upsets against the dominant grapplers. Subsequently those from the various grappling styles learned from each other’s strengths and shortcomings and added striking techniques to their arsenal. This overall development of increased cross-training resulted in the MMA fighters becoming increasingly multi-dimensional and well rounded in their skills.