It is basic, but effective. It is designed and geared for sport. This does no mean you do not learn good technique or things that can not be applied for the "street", it is good in it's own right. It is a challenge. A way to prove my skills to others by knocking, tapping, or putting them to sleep.
But MMA is designed and geared for sport. In a real fight, I am not gonna go MMA on you. I will go TMA and try to kill or put someone in the hospital for a long time. If I knock you out, I will not stop. I will break bones, stomp on the face repeatedly, I may even stab you.
It's a different mindset.
But I could still defend myself using my knowledge through MMA.
But overall I like it. I do not like some peoples attitudes through it.
Well, there are several reason why I think people opposing MMA are wrong:
-When opponents of the sport say MMA is wrong or unethical, I see them as imposing their own morality on people. It's like this: The fighters have no problem with it. The viewers have no problems with it. So these opponents of MMA are basically a third party that has nothing to do with anything. They can protest against the sport if their rights were being infringed upon, or if people within the sport were speaking against it, but none of that is happening. So I think they should mind their own business. They shouldn't be so condescending to think they know better what's good for people and what's not.
-There are a lot of people who hate MMA, yet have no problems with boxing. This is flat out hypocrisy. MMA is actually pretty safe, and safer than boxing because in boxing, competitors are expected to primarily target and punch the head. In MMA, you can opt for wrestling and submissions. Just a couple of weeks ago there was a fight between Chael Sonnen and Shogun Rua, which ended in the first round. The fight basically turned into a grappling contest, which ended with Shogun getting submitted. Neither fighter was injured at all in the fight. This is just one of many, many examples. Also, MMA has the concept of a 'technical knockout', in which the ref. has the authority to stop a fight (even if the fighter is fully conscious) if he feels that continuing the fight might result in the fighter getting hurt. If the refs so much as FEEL that it's a possibility, they stop the fight. That's why you have so many fighters whining about early stoppages. And as far as injuries are concerned, statistically speaking, most MMA injures are lesions and cuts. Serious injuries, like dislocation of a joint, are very, very rare.
So my point is, MMA is actually pretty safe, but people call it brutal and dangerous based on superficial analysis. Also, a lot of those people would have no problems with boxing.
-You said they might question the sport with "What do they have to gain from hitting each other?". The answer is simple: They like the sport, and/or they like the money involved in it. If the opponents of MMA really want society to shun the sport, then they should start doing so by DOING SOMETHING. Give the fighters incentive to leave the sport. Give them a job they like better. Complaining about it would do nothing to the sport.
I could go on and on about it, but I guess I've answered your question appropriately.
PS. This guy, "JKD disciple", is a traditionalist who is attempting to discredit the sport by saying it's not fighting. MMA IS the sport of fighting. It is the age old excuse of the traditionalists to cite the rules as a reason that MMA is not true fighting. This is to cover for the fact that traditionalists can't fight in any platform, rules or otherwise, and now their art is dying and MMA is growing at any exponential rate.
I used to be a MA trainer, 5 years of TKD and 3 years of Shaolin Kung Fu.
I'm now currently training at a MMA gym, so I don't know if my voice is 'valid' since you wanted opinion from "MA" trainers. But here goes;
At first, I didn't really understand the whole concept of MMA.
I thought that TMA was much more "complete" than MMA, that it was better for self defense and a better martial art overall. Yes, I was young and naive.
I first started to realise the flaws of TKD when I got into a fight and realised how bad it was when the opponent came into close combat.
As soon as I kick, He'll take a leap forward, nullify my kick, put me off balance so my punches were reduced by 30-50%. And not that I want to brag, but I was known for being a REALLY fast kicker, among the fastest kickers there. But not as strong as the top trainers.
Well, I basically lost the fight - but it ended without me actually losing.
I quit TKD not long after.
After some time, I started Shaolin - was a lot more fun, a lot more practical and it didn't have the same weakness.
Although it's very true that some of the techniques would not be allowed within the MMA rules, it still had a couple of weaknesses. Both in the art and the training itself.
We had no ground game, I learned through another "former TMA" who moved to MMA - that if there is a weakness, people can and will exploit it. And when I sparred with this guy - I didn't really see an opportunity to even use those 'deadly techniques' , I had a really hard time to use any techiques which I had learned.
The reason was, we didn't do any sparring.
We only practiced with a cooportive opponent whom did everything in slower, predictable movements.
I realised: So THIS is how someone actually attacks you when they actually fight back?
When they showed how you can disarm an opponent with a knife, I realised how difficult that would actually be in real life. If I fail to disarm the opponent, I'll pretty much be stabbed. And he won't attack me like the "dolls" we trained with. He'll attack me with the intent to seriously injure me, maybe even kill me.
I stopped doing martial art for quite some time, not because I realised the weakness. Afterall, weaknesses or not, it was better than learning nothing at all.
I came back to martial art and this time, I did a little more research, was more open minded and thought about what martial art actually is.
And that led me to MMA.
Although MMA comes off as a sport (cause of the rules in a match), the thoughts behind MMA is what made me go there.
MMA is a never-ending developing process (which TMA is aswell), but they cover more weaknesses.
And because of the sparring and the matches, I now am A LOT more familiar with a fight.
The timing, the movement, the 'mentality' is all a lot more familiar when I get into a real fight.
And nothing ties us down from learning these dirty tricks or deadly techniques. I personally learn them on the side, I learn more and more from each TMA. Whatever that may suit me - I try to adjust it in my own style.
I have a lot more to learn from TMA. And I'll learn it and take away all the things I find unnecessary and the necessary will be programmed into my brain.
Although I discard any dirty tricks such as eye poking. It'll leave me with a bad taste in my mouth and I may scar the person for the rest of my life.
I just want to end the fight as quietly as possible. Knocking him out or something like that.
One thing I believe is how we can and should adjust our training a little more compared to some of the TMA's. At least for me. More agility and flexibility :) suits me.
Edit: I do believe that someone who practice MMA is still a martial artist, but others doesn't. Hence the " - ".
MMA is a combat sport. That's it. I don't dislike or like it. I just view it as a combat sport. The problem, which can be seen very clearly here on Yahoo Answers, lies in some of its practitioners. Some MMA practitioners can be very arrogant and disrespectful, especially towards other martial arts. This is partly because MMA does not teach the values that TMA does, like respect, etiquette, character, discipline, honor, self control, etc. MMA teaches people to win and to prove themselves, which is why so many of the practitioners bash other arts.
As an art itself, MMA is a competition based combat sport. That's what it was made for and that's what it's used for. As for actual self defense, the only thing MMA would be capable of on the street is 1v1 fighting. This is all it can do and this is simply because that's what it trains for. But this is not completely realistic on the streets, because on the streets there are weapons and multiple opponents and there are no weight classes. These are the things that traditional martial arts train for.
So in conclusion, there is a big problem in the character of some MMA practitioners, MMA is a competition based combat sport and that's all, and it would not be applicable in most real world situations.
I think it's one of the oldest martial methods in existence.
People will try to tell you that it's a new craze and nothing but a fad and yadda yadda but that's how 'traditional styles' were created. Karate is a mixture of Tode wrestling from Okinawa, Japanese Jiujitsu and Chinese Kenpo or Wushu. Taekwondo is a mixture of a Korean Capoeria-ish style called Takkaeon, Judo and Shotokan Karate. Japanese Jujitsu is apparently a mixture of Japanese wrestling and Takkaeon. All Kenpo and Wushu styles have elements of each other in them. Muay Thai is the combination of Muay Boran and Western Boxing. muay Boran was made during wars between Thailand and Burma, the name of the Burmese fighting style evades me but they're mongrels of each other. The only Eastern Martial art that can claim an actual pedegree is the original Shaolin style that was derrived from the training of Yoga, some claim it was Tai Chi, others claim Long-Fist.
MMA is nothing new and not going away in a hurry. What is new is people understanding that while you can learn all the techniques you need to know in one school you'll never get truly good by only training with people who have general ability and skills. You need to train with the specialists in each area. Every martial art teaches punching so on a technical level there's nothing special about Boxing but Boxers have put so much time and effort into punching alone that it's nearly impossible to find a general martial artist who compares to an amature Boxer in the skill of punching. As a Karateka I thought I was good at throwing punches but sparring with some good Boxers taught me that I was a novice and I'd been trading punches with people who were better than me but still nothing special themselves. Not one of these Boxers could kick or throw worth a damn but they were on a whole other level when it came to throwing punches.
I'm not a huge fan of the UFC at the moment because while people claim to be from different styles they all fight in much the same way and have similar skills, in short it has become a sport with a specific way of being trained for. What I liked about the early UFC and what I still enjoy about the amature level competitions is the diversity. Getting to face off with people who have trained in a different way and have vastly different skills from your own is a really quick way of gaining exposure and experience. On an offensive level the best weapon a fighter can have is something unusual, an X-factor that drops a question your opponent/aggressor can't answer. On a defensive level the best weapon is experience, experience that makes it hard to for people to find a question you've never encountered before.
As I see it the strength of MMA is not so much the mixing of martial arts as it is the exposure to other martial arts.
Animals, don't volunteer to get in a ring, and the circumstances are far more vicious, often with fatal results.
MMA is kind of like calling it dog fighting, but the dogs are limited to tail strikes, no biting, and there is a ref to call foul for anything other than a tail strike. So, to be clear, MMA is a sport, where as animals do engage in actual fighting. People enjoy the competitive nature of MMA, just like some people enjoy watching the competitiveness of golf.
What is gained from hitting people is knowledge. One can figure out what hurts like a mother fker, and, what hurts a little but really messes up the other guys day. "Pain is not the only one, but it is one avenue in which life reveals its secrets to us." Pain is a little like an elevator button, know which button to push, and it takes you to the floor you want to be on.
MMA is great for conditioning purposes, and it has some elements of fighting, but it isn't fighting.
edit - I'm not anti-MMA, nor am I a traditionalist. The caged dojo kid is a liar. MMA is not a system. A UFC fight could, and probably has had, fights where only punches were thrown resulting in a very quick KO. That wouldn't be regarded as a boxing match at a UFC event. It would be a contest of mixed martial arts, that in this bout, the contestants utilized punching from a known style or art. MMA is not an art. If one asked a UFC competitor, "What style or styles have you trained in?", they would answer something like, Boxing, wrestling and Muay Thai. If asked what MMA they trained in, they would say, "You must be a keyboard warrior! MMA is not something you train in, it is a situation to use the styles trained in. Have you ever made stew? That's all we do, boxers can only punch, but we can wrestle if we want. A little of this, a little of that, there is no formula. I know a few Mixed Martial Artists that are black belts in a few arts and none of them specialize in wrestling. That is still MMA! You media types don't get it!"
Worrying about the non style, non art of MMA threatening to close the schools that teach styles is laughable. Ask the caged kid, "True or false? People with low rank and experience should not be teaching, it is a reason TMA is outdated."? Then ask him what belt he is in what traditional style. This is a guy one belt above white, and telling people he teaches, and that TMA's are McDojo driven due to teachers such as him. Talk about an oxymoron! 10 years of Karate and he sucks at it, so traditional Karate sucks too.
mma is a misnomer
some idiot had nothing better to do than give it this name
in the late 90's when ufc was in its dark days
nhb (no holds barred )or cage fighting is a more realistic and
appropriate name but so be it ,we are stuck with this
misleading and misguiding name and 99.9 percent of the sheeple
dont know it
I'd be fine with it if they all didn't style bash so damn much. That, and understand what they do is for sport first before all else.
Meh..
i just want to know your opinion guys, i mean some people are against MMA, some says that if people are against animal fights then why do they allow MMA? or what do people gain from hitting each others.
so i wanted to know the opinion of MA trainers and do u think of joining MMA?
and thanks
