What is MMA?

The fastest-growing sport around the world is mixed martial arts, a full-contact sport similar to kickboxing or wrestling. Commonly called MMA, many different fighting techniques and few rules are combined to build an organized hand-to-hand fighting sport. In its earlier days, MMA was considered a blood sport. Many still condemn it as human cockfighting. With new rules its image has changed. As new organizations spring up, the average person seems to be exposed to MMA more and more, and many of its misconceptions are being dispelled, especially myths of its grueling or violent nature. Mixed martial artists come from all over the world and from many different cultures.

The basic MMA rules consist of two people fighting as in boxing but without intent to hurt. Cross training between many different fighting styles is essential to MMA. It is not a type of self-defense or street fighting. Its popularity is sweeping the nation in America, where it is only catching up to the exposure it has already attained in other countries.

Many people consider the origin of MMA to be the original Olympics in Greece, where Pancrase, a form of wrestling, was an event. Back then, Greek soldiers fought for entertainment with very few rules, and of course without gloves. Consequently many fighters often suffered severe injuries, unlike modern MMA.

As of late, the most common combination of fighting styles in MMA is usually boxing or muay Thai for the standup fighting, and wrestling or Brazilian jujitsu for the grappling aspect. Not one of these martial arts is in any way a form of brawling, despite what many American politicians ignorantly assume and espouse. The most interesting quality of MMA is the diversity of its fighters, who come from so many different backgrounds and include many different styles of traditional martial arts in their fighting, including everything from several different types of karate to judo. Fighters range from purely professional MMA startups to athletes who have transitioned from other sports like pro wrestling.

Today, MMA is much safer but still allows fighters to train intensely, and the result has been a popular uprising of a new trend in sports. Obvious rules include no gouging of eyes or manipulation of small digits like fingers, no biting, etc. Gratefully there are actually fewer deaths in the sport than there are in boxing, which has been the basis of many arguments of MMA proponents who defend the sport against critics.