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The History of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Mixed Martial Arts is all about using any move or technique learned in basically any martial art to defeat an opponent, therefore it can be difficult to place its exact creation or inception in history. Of course, the earliest contact sport or martial art with very few rules (or a no holds barred concept) was called pankration and was started in Greece around the year 648 B.C., taking its place among other sports in the Olympic Games.

It can be safely said that while pankration may have been the parent sport of other full-contact combat styles, it was too early a form to have any direct influence itself. However, it has taken on many techniques from the sports and martial arts that pankration had spawned.

Wrestling is one of its greatest influencers and to the untrained eye, a Mixed Martial Arts competition or match can be mistaken for a modern wrestling match. It was during the late 1800's that wrestling and boxing became popular and participants such as John L. Sullivan and William Muldoon were well known for some of their no holds barred antics.

Because of this, many people held anything goes matches and more often than not, the wrestler won. In Europe, Jiu Jitsu versus boxing matches were held, and sometimes, it was boxing versus other styles as well. There was definitely a demand for both people who wanted to study Mixed Martial Arts and observers who wanted to watch competitions for sport or show.

Not surprisingly, a major catalyst in the creation of Mixed Martial Arts was the one and only Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee formed his own styles by making use of different styles such as Karate, fencing, boxing, Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and more to allow him to use what he felt were the best defenses and the best attacks from each martial art. In addition to Bruce Lee, a prominent figure is a man by the name of Royce Gracie who in 1993 won the very first Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was after this that it gained a heavy cult following and began to spark interest across the globe.

As Mixed Martial Arts became more and more prominent, competitions and matches became commonplace in both the martial arts world and the entertainment industry. Students learned to borrow moves and techniques from each other to help each other discover what the best and most useful defenses and attacks were. Of course, a student must be trained in several different forms before they are ready to compete in a match or competition. The popularity and recognition that it has received thus far shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, in fact, the sport is becoming increasingly attractive to both spectators and students of Mixed Martial Arts.

The (MMA) Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, combines many different fighting techniques, including grappling and striking, and high performance standards, particularly in the often intense, and very popular MMA tournaments. The first tournaments came about as a result of the 1993 Ultimate Fighting Championship, which matched different fighting styles in a competition where the rules were minimal and the goal was to find the best fighters in the world.

The success of this mixed martial arts combat style led to the development and implementation of rules designed to keep athletes safe and deflect early criticism of the sport while still holding on to the original concept of the UFC as much as possible. The modern MMA tournaments have their roots in the Vale tudo martial arts tournaments held in Brazil by the Gracie family beginning in the 1920s, and the preliminary martial arts tournaments hosted in Japan by Antonio Inoki in the early 1970s.

There are several different competition techniques, including striking techniques, like kicks, punches, and knees, and grappling techniques, like pinning holds, submission holds, clinch holds, takedowns, throws and sweeps.

The permissibility and legality of certain other techniques like head butts, spinal locks, and elbows vary according to the specific organization and sponsored competition. Although many critics have attempted to portray the MMA fighting style as violent and brutal, there has never been a death or crippling injury in any sanctioned MMA event in North America.

The U.S. state athletic and boxing committee regulates the MMA, requiring participants and sponsors to adhere to a set of officially sanctioned rules and regulations, which include rules for knockout, submission, technical knockout, the ten point system, disqualification, and no contest.

Common fouls include: clawing, twisting and pinching flesh; small joint manipulation; attacking an opponent from or on the break in the care of an official, attacking the groin or trachea, fish-hooking, biting, and hair pulling, spitting, use of abusive language, and other similar acts.

The MMA continues to grow in popularity and reputation, as athletes associated with the sport have also gained reputation and renown, as well as successful careers and endorsement deals.

With mainstream acceptance, worldwide acclaim, and an every growing fan base, what started as an abstract concept has become an established sport and a successful platform from which many athletic careers have been launched. The future of the MMA appears to be bright, and the popularity of the sport even more so.

What Is MMA

There are lots of sports that involve utilising physical contact - but none more than martial arts. Some people might disagree and feel that boxing or wrestling involves more physical contact and allows for more technique for the fighters performing. But boxing has greatly reduced and wrestling is full of drama and on stage humiliation and fake fighting.

MMA - also known as mixed martial arts - is an all new type of sport that has become a favorite in many countries. The UFC - best-known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship - is the largest presenter for MMA and holds several fights for them every year with countless fighters. Even a few top fighters from boxing are trying MMA.

MMA combines the art of several distinct types of martial arts for fighters to utilize. In one fight you can have the power to see fighters utilizing wrestling, judo, Muay Thai kickboxing, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The MMA combatants will struggle it out using techniques from these distinct forms of fighting inside of an eight sided cage. The only way to win is to knock out the opponent, force them to tap out employing a submission, or to succeed by the decision of the judges.

The combatants will go at each other for three, five minute rounds in which time the judges will observe and decide who won if neither of them is knocked out or has tapped out. The fights can be intensive. It is the referees job to make sure to stop it if one of the fighters is no longer able to defend themselves. This avoids severe damage to either fighter.

Training for an MMA competition demands hours of dedication and practice. It may take years for somebody to learn the several MMA techniques and how to utilize it for fighting. They will start as amateurs and slowly work their way up to becoming pro fighters. They utilize exceptional fight gear that include special training gloves and Everlast MMA gloves. These gloves are designed in such a way to let the fighters to utilize their hands so that they can seize their opponent and perform a submission.

Mixed Martial Arts (mma) Madness

While browsing ESPN, you spot what seems like a boxing match, until suddenly opponents start to kick one another. The next thing you know, the two fighters are on the ground, striking one another. Welcome to the exciting and increasingly popular arena of mixed martial arts (also known as MMA). You may think this is the next wave in martial arts entertainment, but this combat sport has actually been around since the Olympic games in 648 BC.

What to Expect During a Match

Mixed martial arts uses three different phases of fighting - stand-up, clinch and ground. Stand-up fighting incorporates boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai. Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Sambo (from Russia), as well as Judo are used in the clinch phase of fighting. The ground phase of fighting is characterized by Brazilian Jui-Jitsu (focuses on positioning), shoot wrestling, catch wrestling, Judo, as well as Sambo.

Fighting techniques that you may encounter during a MMA competition includes kicks, punches, knees, pinning holds, sweeps, takedowns, throws, some elbowing, as well as hand-to-hand combat. A win is typically awarded through the decision of a judge. Matches are timed, therefore, the decision comes after the allotted time has passed. Other circumstances that end a fight include referee stoppage, fight doctor decision, submission, cornerman throwing in the towel and of course, a knockout.

The Mixed Martial Arts of Today

The kind of fighting techniques associated with the mixed martial arts of today deals with a combination of different professional fighting styles. Most commonly, a fighter started training in one specific arena of fighting and later decided to branch off into other styles of combat. The main styles of fighting include sprawl-and-brawl, clinch-and-pound and ground-and-pound.

Sprawl-and-brawl is a stand-up fighting approach that utilizes striking and purposefully avoids fighting on the ground. This type of fighter usually has a strong background in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai or karate. To fight in this style, MMA fighters have undergone training in wrestling. Well-known mixed martial artists connected to this approach include Chuck Liddell, Maurice Smith and Phil Barconi.

Clinch-and pound uses clinch fighting tactics characterized by a clinch hold. While a fighter holds an opponent so that they cannot move, they will often strike the body using their knees, or other dirty boxing moves. Most of these fighters started wrestling before incorporating boxing techniques. Don Frye, Dan Henderson and Randy Couture are familiar with this style of fighting.

Ground-and-pound involves the taking down or throwing of an opponent. The next step is to get into the dominant position, attacking with strikes. Wrestlers usually turn to this type of fighting, which has been used by the likes of Mark Coleman, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz.

Since there are so many different styles of MMA combat associated with mixed martial art, you may think that there is nothing a fighter can do to their opponent. In actuality, there are several fouls connected to this sport. A fighter are not allowed to head-butt, eye gouge, pull the hair, bite, attack the groin or strike the back of the head or kidneys of an opponent.

MMA Organizations

Bringing the exciting world of mixed martial arts fighting to the public are several different organizations that all have their own specific rules and regulations. One of the most well known, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) - http://www.martialartspride.com - tests their fighters for steroids and other illegal substances before allowing entrance to one of their championship bouts. In this organization, elbow strikes are allowed with the exception of ones that come from the north-south direction. PRIDE Fighting Championships mainly offer two different MMA weight classes (heavyweight and middleweight) and forbids fighters from intentionally hanging an arm or leg on the ropes.

With the ZST, which is an organization based in Japan, there are two five-minute rounds. At the end of a match, a fight is deemed a draw if there was no knockout (KO), technical knockout (TKO) or Submission. MMA judges are not used in this form of fighting. Shooto is another form of combat fighting that presents separate rules and regulations for three different class levels (A, B, and C). Level C is set aside for the amateurs. Three 4-minute rounds are attached to the International Fight League, which uses a different pair of gloves, offering less padding.

Regardless of where or within which mma organization, mixed martial arts madness is sweeping the globe and is coming to a "cage" near you!

MMA Is The Next Big Fighting Craze

Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, combines many different fighting techniques, including grappling and striking, and high performance standards, particularly in the often intense, and very popular MMA tournaments. The first tournaments came about as a result of the 1993 Ultimate Fighting Championship, which matched different fighting styles in a competition where the rules were minimal and the goal was to find the best fighters in the world.

The success of this mixed martial arts combat style led to the development and implementation of rules designed to keep athletes safe and deflect early criticism of the sport while still holding on to the original concept of the UFC as much as possible. The modern MMA tournaments have their roots in the Vale tudo martial arts tournaments held in Brazil by the Gracie family beginning in the 1920s, and the preliminary martial arts tournaments hosted in Japan by Antonio Inoki in the early 1970s.

There are several different competition techniques, including striking techniques, like kicks, punches, and knees, and grappling techniques, like pinning holds, submission holds, clinch holds, takedowns, throws and sweeps. The permissibility and legality of certain other techniques like head butts, spinal locks, and elbows vary according to the specific organization and sponsored competition. Although many critics have attempted to portray the MMA fighting style as violent and brutal, there has never been a death or crippling
injury in any sanctioned MMA event in North America.

The U.S. state athletic and boxing committee regulates the MMA, requiring participants and sponsors to adhere to a set of officially sanctioned rules and regulations, which include rules for knockout, submission, technical knockout, the ten point system, disqualification, and no contest. Common fouls include: clawing, twisting and pinching flesh; small joint manipulation; attacking an opponent from or on the break in the care of an official, attacking the groin or trachea, fish hooking, biting, and hair pulling, spitting, use of abusive language, and other similar acts.

The MMA continues to grow in popularity and reputation, as athletes associated with the sport have also gained reputation and renown, as well as successful careers and endorsement deals. With mainstream acceptance, worldwide acclaim, and an every growing fan base, what started as an abstract concept has become an established sport and a successful platform from which many athletic careers have been launched. The future of the MMA appears to be bright, and the popularity of the sport even more so.