Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a sport which brings together all disciplines of traditional martial arts ranging from judo, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, to boxing and wrestling. MMA athletes are pitted against one another to determine who the best overall fighter is, regardless of form. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is currently the most popular organization that unites these fighters in various tournaments categorized by weight, much alike boxing.
Practitioners of these various forms of martial arts are brought together in a ring. Fights are decided via knockouts or submissions. In cases where such situations do not occur, judging will take place by a panel and winners elected based on a points system.
Which is better - MMA or traditional martial arts? This has been a subject of debate ever since the rise in popularity of the former. Advocates of either form have engaged in never-ending discussions on the topic. It is an open-ended question that has strong support on both sides, and it deserves a closer examination of their merits.
In essence, MMA is an umbrella of traditional martial arts. The sport itself also features bouts where competitors are often encouraged to push the limits in an effort to win at all costs. Different sets of rules are implemented in each organization, and this provides fights with varying degrees of extremity. Traditional martial arts, in comparison, are usually competed within strict rules which protect the participants.
As MMA rapidly develops as a sport, competitors have increasingly become multi-disciplined fighters. No longer can you succeed with just one combat style and raw unbridled aggression. While you may not necessarily be an expert of every field, it requires study and understanding of your opponents’ array of skills, as every MMA fighter seeks to find any weakness that might exist in their opponents. Being skilled in different martial arts also allows one to switch styles during a fight to achieve a result.
With the variety that exists in MMA, traditional martial arts obviously pale in comparison. For example, you do not get to see judo in boxing matches.
This evidently leads to MMA being a more exciting spectacle. Fans get to see matches filled with different fight styles and at a higher tempo and intensity. The lack of rules in certain MMA events, especially those without government sanctions, will further facilitate competitors resorting to extreme tactics such as neck and head hits, which have otherwise been outlawed in legitimate UFC events. While certain traditional martial arts like Muay Thai boxing can sometimes match this, you will rarely be afforded this opportunity at other traditional martial arts competitions. Unless via the fighters’ negligence.
To allow fans the luxury of such colossal confrontations that satisfy their hunger for violence and gore, MMA athletes undergo tremendous training regimes. These include intense conditioning and demanding exercises, coupled with the need for practical knowledge of different aspects of martial arts such as grappling and striking. The fighters’ dedication to their craft is peerless, and not even the strict regiments of traditional martial artists can match the high standards required. The fact that every match could mean the fighters’ last also necessitates such physical conditioning.
While traditional combat styles often require full concentration and dedication to a single specific style, MMA fighters need to be versatile and all-rounded. You may find a top boxer enjoying success due to his raw punching ability, despite weak footwork. Such an athlete can easily be found out in MMA, with opponents targeting his unsound ground game. Thus, a champion mixed martial artist is often touted as the complete fighter, a winner on both the mat, and the stand up aspects of the game.
The format and marketing of MMA tournaments also requires that the fighters serve as entertainers. While traditional martial arts such as judo and tae-kwon-do focus on finding the top fighter of the art, MMA fighters know that to survive in the industry not only requires outstanding fight skills, but an ability to work the crowd as well. Without fan support, there would be little if no money in the sport, especially when fighters are putting their lives on the line.
Overall, the demands of MMA in both the physical and mental aspects, coupled with the need to be an entertainer despite all the occupational hazards present in the job, point to levels of requirement much higher than that of any traditional martial arts. MMA is everything about traditional martial arts, and much more.
1 comment:
Uh... No.
MMA is not more. It is a sports to entertain a public. In the whole world of martial arts, it occupies a small room in a very large mansion.
The public has come to equate it to martial arts, but that's not the martial arts' fault. It's the public who is mostly ignorant.
First off, there are 70 year old masters of traditional arts that could surprise young bucks because they've learned to do more with less. Plus, they are the ones who make innovations.
But even that is not the point.
Such arguments make a basic assumption about the martial arts, which is quite false, and that is that the purpose of martial arts is to demonstrate one's ability against other practitioners in single combat. This is the idea that MMA promotes, but it is a very narrow vision.
Perhaps the most important aspect of traditional arts for those who practice them is that they foster self-control, respect and discipline. Those aspects have to be present for the succesful MMA artist, but they are not as emphasized.
Second, martial arts for self-defence is much more than training for unarmed combat. Other factors come into play and if you really think hard about it, you'll realize combat plays a very small part in intelligent self-defence. Street smarts is where you want to invest most of your efforts.
Third, martial artists preserve a tradition. There are things which have lost much of their utility but that people practice anyway. What about Zen archery? It's a very deep art, but it doesn't have much street utility in XXIst century America. There's a lot of stuff old masters still practice that take years and years to become effective, because it's extremely subtle. Not a good idea to take time to learn that for an athlete whose career may span 10 years. But these are some of the things that the old masters still pass on.
There is also a spiritual aspect to martial arts that is difficult to find in MMA. People also still practice a form of Tai-Chi which has been drained of almost all combat utility (And certainly has none if learned by itself). It is a way of well-being and mental balance. Nothing wrong with that, is there?
So anyway, I could go on, but my main point is: Not everyone goes into martial arts in an attempt to prove they're the toughest baddass out there. There are many reasons to study the martial arts and they have many benifits, which go far beyond the ability to beat up somebody.
It may not sell tickets and it may not bring in large crowds of young men bursting at the seams from testosterone, but that's why traditional martial arts are here to stay.
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