Mixed Martial Arts has often been perceived as a "fringe" sport full of super aggressive and unintelligent participants. This couldn't be further from reality. This misperception deserves deeper consideration. What once started as an "underground" sport and was viewed as barbaric and brutal, has now become more mainstream as viewers and fans become more educated in the sport. The best MMA competitors are first and foremost, in top physical condition. Those that are in the sport only for "aggression and anger" usually fall by the wayside because they lack the drive, dedication, and planning that it takes to be successful. Elite MMA competitors are widely known as great athletes. In fact, many other professional athletes consider them to be the greatest conditioned and all around athletes anywhere.
Like any other athlete entering a game or match, a successful MMA competitor must devise a game plan based on his own strengths and limitations with his focus on exploiting his opponent's weaknesses. He must be adaptable to work from his feet or on the ground from either an offensive or defensive position. Like in chess, the complexion of an MMA match can change quickly so the more versatile, adaptable and forward-thinking the competitor is, the more successful he will be. There is really no single form or technique that is considered the most effective in every situation. In fact, many techniques are absolutely useless in certain situations so you need to know others that will work. Champions draw on skills learned from all the martial arts plus boxing and even football and chess. You must use the proper tool that is called for in any particular situation and you must always think ahead. "Don't use a hammer if the situation calls for a screw driver".
Surprisingly enough, the rate of career-threatening injuries to professional MMA competitors is far less than in other pro sports such as football and boxing. This is largely due to the fact that in football you get hit from all angles and often unexpectedly by more than one opponent. In MMA, your single opponent is almost always in front of you and never gets a 40 yard run to "blindside" you. You rarely see torn ACL's or severe concussions in MMA and both are quite common in football. You see a much higher frequency of concussions in boxing due in part to the 8 ounce gloves used in the "Sweet Science." The larger the glove, the more surface area you are hit with resulting in bigger jolts to the head. Plus, boxer's hands are heavily wrapped before they don the gloves, which in essence, create a cast that contributes greatly to the blunt force trauma to the head. MMA gloves are much smaller so when you get hit you may receive a cut or a welt but because of the smaller surface area of the striking fist, the trauma is confined to a smaller specific area and is much less severe.
There are those in specific martial arts that will criticize MMA as a diluted form of all the arts, but in fact it is a more "functional" use of all the martial arts. The best MMA champions draw from Wrestling, Judo, Tae kwon do, Boxing (which are all Olympic sports) Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing and many other martial arts to have a well rounded game. Imagine the complexity of an athlete that can be versed in so many different sports and bring it all together to compete in MMA. To practice only one art and expect it to work in a self defense situation or in the ring is very naïve. If you really watch the MMA fights closely, you will always be able to identify elements of many different martial arts and how they work well together in a competitive situation. The fighters with the longest careers in MMA are those that have trained in many different arts and are not just strong in one aspect.
Don't want to be a fighter, but want to get the same physical results? Training in the Mixed Martial Arts can give you outstanding conditioning results while acquiring self defense skills. The training is something that anyone can benefit from. At my two schools in Manoa we focus on training in a myriad of different arts for children, teenagers and adults. Many of our members are professionals that just want to get a great workout without the risk of injury. If done in a proper class format, you can train just like a fighter without ever having to step in the ring. Taking your exercise and training to a new level with boxing, kickboxing, jiu jitsu, etc. can be both empowering and deliver amaxing physical results.
Lately MMA competitions are becoming wildly popular all over the world and particularly in the United States. As their popularity increases, so does the public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the complexities of the sport and its participants. So, the next time you see an MMA fight, you will hopefully have a deeper understanding and appreciation for it. You will see it for the art form that it truly is, dispelling the old myth once and for all.
