Mixed martial arts or
MMA is a term for the combat sport
in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance over one another by
utilizing three general tactics: striking, finishing holds, and control. The
rules allow the combatants to use a variety of martial arts techniques,
including punches, kicks, joint-locks, chokes, takedowns and throws. Victory is
normally gained through knock-out, submission (one fighter concedes victory to
the other by tapping the mat or his opponent with his hand), or stoppage by the
referee, the fight doctor or a competitor's cornerman. MMA is also alternately
called NHB (for No Holds Barred), but this term is mostly retired. It is no
longer an accurate description of the modern competitions which utilize many
more rules than before. The first Ultimate Fighting Championship's only rules
were against eye-gouging, fish-hooking and biting. It was not unusual to see
hair-pulling, toe-stomping and people being choked with the lapels of their
clothing. One infamous early match even featured one combatant repeatedly
striking his opponent in the groin. Currently, all of the major promotions have
a list of rules and banned techniques.
MMA is also
used to describe any modern style of martial arts which incorporate techniques
and theories from several sportive martial arts. This especially applies to MMA
styles which incorporate a mixture of ground fighting, stand-up striking, and
takedowns in their training. The main goal of this article is to provide
information about MMA as a "realistic, few rules full contact fight
sport"
As a result of
these sporting events, martial arts training and the understanding of the combat
effectiveness of various strategies have changed dramatically over the last ten
years. While the early years included the widest possible variety of styles
(everything from Sumo to Karate), modern fighters often train in a mixture of
only three styles: Amateur Wrestling (focusing on clinches and takedowns),
Submission Wrestling (focusing on submissions and positioning on the ground),
and Kickboxing (usually Muay Thai) (focusing on striking). These three distinct
styles coincide with the "phases of combat" theory, which suggests that fights
can be broken into three distinct phases, each requiring completely different
skill sets: stand-up fighting, clinch fighting, and ground fighting. According
to the theory, a fighter's best strategy is to determine the phase in which he
has the greatest advantage over his opponent and then to force the fight to take
place in that phase. It currently appears that this is mainly correct, in the
sense that if you are equally skilled in all phases of combat, you are prepared
to take advantage of any weaknesses in your opponent. A sumo match Sumo (??
Sumo), or sumo wrestling, is today a competition contact sport wherein two
wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. ... Karate or karate-do (???)
is a martial art, based on Chinese kung fu, categorized by some as budo,
introduced to the Japanese main islands from Okinawa in 1922. ... Andrell Durden
(top) and Edward Harris grapple for position during the All-Marine Wrestle Offs.
... Submission wrestling (also called submission grappling or submission
fighting) is a general term describing martial arts that focus on grappling to
effect a submission (admission of loss) usually by means of chokes, joint locks,
and other manipulations of the opponents body. ... KickBoxing Kickboxing is a
martial art which was made for beating Muay Thai by Japanese boxing promotor
Osamu Noguchi in 1950..
Well-known
examples of MMA organizations are the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride
Fighting Championships. Ultimate Fighting Championship is an American based
mixed martial arts organization. ... PRIDE or PRIDE Fighting Championships in
Japan is the worlds most popular mixed martial arts championship. ...
Evolution of fighting styles
In the
early 1990s, two styles stood out for their effectiveness: Wrestling and
Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ). Jiu-Jitsu had the early advantage, since wrestlers were
not equipped with a way to defeat them standing or on the ground. However, when
wrestlers started training in striking, pure Jiu-Jitsu stylists ran into
difficulties since they had a hard time taking the fight to the ground and away
from their stand-up weaknesses. This represented the first step of evolution
towards cross-training. Wrestling eventually branched into two styles described
below: "Ground-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting on the ground) and
"Clinch-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting standing up). Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), also known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ), is a martial art that was
developed in Brazil by the Gracie family during the mid-20th century. ...
Kickboxers and
boxers were next to evolve and added grappling skills to their arsenal. In the
early days, they could not compete with the grapplers, since they could not
avoid the takedowns and had no defense on the ground. After adding ground
techniques to their training, they scored some major upsets, and showed that
fighters specializing in striking could be effective in the sport.
Due to its
early dominance, BJJ was the last to evolve. Eventually, Wrestling and Muay Thai
were added to their training, and Jiu-Jitsu fighters have returned to being
competitive again in the sport.
MMA is also
considered an evolution of Pankration, a combination of striking and grappling
that was introduced in the Olympic games in 648 BC. The "Pancrase" fighting
promotion in Japan has strong ties to modern MMA and actually predates the first
UFC by a few months. Pankration is a sport or martial art introduced in the
Olympic games in 648 BC. It combined striking and grappling, and a match would
be won by submission of the opponent. ...
Modern
fighting styles
The
following is a breakdown of the different fighting styles of modern MMA.
Although there are essentially no successful fighters who do not have a complete
training system that incorporates all of these skills, most fighters will base
their overall strategy on one particular styles and become associated with
it.
Sprawl-and-Brawl
A sprawl
and brawler is a boxer, kickboxer or Muay Thai fighter who has trained wrestling
to avoid takedowns and tries to keep the fight standing. Usually these fighters
will study enough submission wrestling so that in the unfortunate event that
they are taken down, they can tie their opponents up and survive long enough to
get back to standing or until the referee restarts the fight. This style is
deceptively different from regular kickboxing styles, since sprawl-and-brawlers
must adapt their techniques to incorporate takedown defense. Maurice Smith is
credited with introducing this style by becoming a successful kickboxer in a
time when ground fighters were dominating the sport, including winning the
heavyweight title of the Ultimate Fighting Championship by defeating Mark
Coleman. Ultimate Fighting Championship is an American based mixed martial arts
organisation. ... Mark Coleman(December 20, 1964-)is a American MMA compeditor.
...
Examples:
Maurice Smith, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Chuck Liddell, Pedro Rizzo, Wanderlei
Silva MirkoCroCop Filipovic (September 10, 1974 - ) is a Croatian kickboxer
turned mixed martial artist, arguably the only martial artist in the world who
has been highly successful in fighting both under K-1 kickboxing rules and the
MMA Pride Fighting Championships rules. ... Chuck Liddell, also known as The
Iceman, is a Mixed Martial Artist with a background in Kickboxing, fighting in
the UFC. Although he is primarily a striker, Liddell prides himself on his
wrestling skills which he learned during his years at California Polytechnic in
San Luis Obispo, where he also... Wanderlei de Silva (March 7, 1976-) is a
Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter. ...
Clinch-and-Pound
These are
wrestlers that have added in components of the striking game (typically boxing).
Although their base is in wrestling and ground control, they are rarely
reluctant to throw some leather on the feet. Often, wrestlers that have added
the striking game are partial to strikes from within the clinch (particularly
wrestlers who have developed a strong clinch game already). In the case that an
exchange on the feet does not go in their favor, they can bring the fight to the
ground quickly as their true expertise lies in wrestling, so they are ultimately
less timid about trading blows. Don Frye was among the first wrestlers to add
versatile strikes to his arsenal, but it was Randy Couture’s stunning
performance, in which he used close range boxing to out-strike a reputedly
superior boxer in Vitor Belfort, that was the true birth of this style of
fighter. He was the first to demonstrate that standing and ground were not the
only phases of combat. Through the use of Greco-Roman clinching techniques, he
showed that a third phase, the clinch, was not well understood and could be used
to devastate ill-prepared opponents.
Examples:
Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Don Frye Randy The
Natural Couture (born June 22, 1963) is a participant of the sport of Mixed
Martial Arts. ... A a veteran of Professional Wrestling,Don Frye has had
tremendous sucsess in the MMA sphere as well. ...
Ground-and-Pound
This style
is for wrestlers or other fighters well-versed in defending submissions and
skilled at takedowns. They take every fight to the ground, maintain a solid top
position, and hammer away until their opponent submits, is knocked out or is cut
so bad that the fight can't continue. Although not traditionally considered a
conventional method of striking, the effectiveness and reliability (as well as
recently-developing science) of this style cannot be denied. Originally most
fighters who relied on striking on the ground were wrestlers, but considering
how many fights end up on the ground and how increasingly competitive today’s
MMA is, strikes on the ground are becoming more and more scientific and
technical and essential to a fighter’s training. Dan Severn was the first
proficient fighter using Ground-and-Pound with his brutal takedowns and powerful
fists, forearm shots, elbows and knees on the ground. However, many modern MMA
camps have developed intricate strategies for attacking while on the
ground.
Examples: Mark
Coleman, Fedor Emelianenko, Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi, Tito Ortiz Mark
Coleman(December 20, 1964-)is a American MMA compeditor. ... Fedor Emelianenko
(born September 26, 1976) is a heavyweight Mixed martial arts fighter, competing
in the Japanese organization, the Pride Fighting Championships. ... Matt Hughes
is a Canadian author who lives in Courtenay, British Columbia. ... Takanori Gomi
is a Japanese fighter and a participant in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. ...
Tito Ortiz (born January 23, 1975) is a Mexican-American participant of the
sport of mixed martial arts, or MMA. Ortizs career has been mostly within the
UFC organisation. ...
Submission
Wrestling
Typically
associated with Brazilian Jujitsu, but also encompassing a number of other
styles, such as Olympic Judo, Sambo, a myriad of other descendants and arts
inspired by Kodokan Judo, evolutions of pre-1940's Catch Wrestling or even
Hybrid styles such as Shoot-Fighting, Shooto and Pancrase. Submission wrestlers
attempt to win on the ground using joint locks and chokes to secure a tapout.
This style has evolved since the early days as submission wrestlers now usually
crosstrain in Amateur Wrestling and Kickboxing to complete their skills, but
still focus on submissions as their primary weapons. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ),
also known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ), is a martial art that was developed in
Brazil by the Gracie family during the mid-20th century. ... Judo (Japanese: ??
Judo) is a martial art, a sport and a philosophy which originated in Japan. ...
Sambo may have one of the following meanings. ... Judo (Japanese: ?? Judo) is a
martial art, a sport and a philosophy which originated in Japan. ... Catch
Wrestling, short for catch-as-catch-can wrestling, is a term for grappling,
sometimes known as hook wrestling. ... Shooto is a Mixed Martial Arts
Organization in Japan especially known for its fighters at or under 155 pounds,
and a style practiced by those who compete in the organization. ... Pancrase is
the name of an organisation that organizes mixed martial arts tournaments,
principally in Japan. ... Andrell Durden (top) and Edward Harris grapple for
position during the All-Marine Wrestle Offs. ... KickBoxing Kickboxing is a
martial art which was made for beating Muay Thai by Japanese boxing promotor
Osamu Noguchi in 1950. ...
Examples:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock, Kazushi Sakuraba, Genki
Sudo, Frank Mir, Rumina Sato Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira (born in June
1976) is a heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts, currently competing in the
Japanese organization, the Pride Fighting Championships but has also fought in a
number of other organizations. ... Royce Gracie (born December 12, 1966) is a
professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter who revolutionized the martial arts
world in the early 1990s with a string of quick victories over larger opponents
in the UFC. Royce had 11 wins by submission on his way to capturing three
tournament titles between... Frank Shamrock (born December 8, 1972) is a famous
mixed martial arts competitor. ... Kazushi Sakuraba (born July 14 1968) is a
professional Mixed martial arts fighter in Japan. ... Rumina Sato (Born in Tokyo
Japan 12-29-1973). ...
Techniques
and strategies
The
techniques and strategies of Amateur wrestling, Submission Wrestling and Muay
Thai are usually not used as in the original arts/sports but instead are
modified to fulfill the needs of MMA competition. For example, Freestyle
wrestlers do not need to deal with striking during a takedown attempt, and Muay
Thai bouts are broken by the referee if the fighter falls down after a kick that
missed the target. This is very different from the situation in MMA competition,
and techniques and strategies for MMA competition have to reflect this. Some
fighters may substitute one or more of the basic styles mentioned above with
Judo, Sambo, or their own brand of Jujitsu or Boxing. According the "phases of
combat" theory all phases should be covered to stay competitive and only
techniques proven in actual competition should be used. This is a reason why it
is quite difficult to find "exotic" styles in fighter's bios now. Andrell Durden
(top) and Edward Harris grapple for position during the All-Marine Wrestle Offs.
... Submission wrestling (also called submission grappling or submission
fighting) is a general term describing martial arts that focus on grappling to
effect a submission (admission of loss) usually by means of chokes, joint locks,
and other manipulations of the opponents body
Training
Today,
Mixed Martial Artists train in a variety of styles so that they can be effective
in all phases of combat. Although MMA fighters will try to play to their
particular specialties, they will inevitably encounter all kinds of situations;
a stand up fighting specialist will probably get taken down at some point and a
wrestler might need to fight standing up for a while before he can setup a
takedown.
Fighters learn
techniques from stand up oriented fighting styles, they learn at least some
grappling and they also learn submission techniques and how to defend against
them. Boxing and Muay Thai are the most popular stand up fighting styles because
of their proven effectiveness. These styles have to be adapted slightly for use
in the sport. For example, many boxing stances are ineffective because they
leave fighters vulnerable to leg kicks or takedowns. Most fighters also learn
some grappling. Stand up oriented fighters must learn how to defend against
takedowns so that they can keep the fight standing. Fighters also learn how to
effecitvely fight from their backs and to use sumbissions as well as defend
against them. Jiu-Jitsu is popular in this area since it is a
submission-oriented fighting style and it has many techniques for effectively
fighting from one's back.
Conditioning
varies among the fighters depending on their particular fighting styles. For
example, brute strength and power are more important to wrestlers than they are
to kickboxers. All fighters aim to have plenty of stamina so that they can be
effective for the entire duration of their matches.
Today, there
are many MMA organizations unlike in the past when there was very little
MMA-centered infrastructure in place. Fighters usually train with other Mixed
Martial Artists and with coaches who specialize in MMA fighting.
Rules
The rules
for most Mixed Martial Arts competitions have evolved since the "glory days" of
Vale tudo. As the knowledge about fighting techniques spread among the athletes
and popularity increased among the viewers, it became clear that the original
minimalistic rules systems needed to be amended. Vale tudo is a Portuguese term
meaning everything goes used to describe mixed martial arts competitions with
minimal rules. ...
Motivation
There are
two main motivations for new rule changes:
Protection of
the health of the fighters: This goal also helps to clean the stigma of
"barbaric no rules fighting to the death" that MMA has obtained because of its
Vale-Tudo roots. It also helps athletes to avoid injuries and therefore train
better to become better fighters.
Providing spectacle for the viewers: The
rules promote good fighters involved in action-packed fights rather then
no-skill bar brawls.
For example weight classes emerged when knowledge about
submissions spread and it became more difficult for small fighters to catch
larger ones in submissions. When more fighters became well-versed in submission
techniques, the weight of the fighters started to make a difference
again.
Head butts
were prohibited because whenever the fight hit the ground the head butt was a
technique that required little effort and could quickly turn the match into a
bloody mess. This strategy was quite common between wrestlers because they are
strong, and could bring the fight to the ground but lacked experience with
submissions and therefore head butting was an easy path to victory.
It became
clear that having unprotected fists is not very valuable in an actual fight and
made effective striking difficult. In an unprotected fist there are plenty of
small bones to break when a torso or forehead is hit with power. The motivation
for mandatory small open finger gloves was to reduce occurrence of cuts and to
make striking more viable to please the audience.
Time limits
were established because of very long fights occurring on the ground with little
action. No-time-limit matches complicated the planning of the events as well.
Similar motivations produced the "standup" rule, which is when the referee stops
the ground fighting and stands both fighters up in case of no action, and a
"warning" that could be issued when the fighters hesitate to engage in standup
or ground fighting.
In the U.S.,
Athletic Commissions have played a crucial role in the introduction of safety
rules because they oversee MMA in similar ways as they do for boxing. Small
shows usually use more restrictive rules because they have less experienced
fighters who are looking to get experience and exposure that could ultimately
lead them to getting recruited into one of the larger, better paying promotions,
(Pride, UFC, Pancrase, KOTC).
In Japan and
Europe there is no regulating authority over MMA competitions, so these
organizations have more freedom in rules development and event
structure.
In general a
balanced set of rules has been established, and future rule changes will
probably consist of minor adaptation.
Common
rules
The
following describes the least common denominator of the rules commonly found in
MMA fighting.
Ways to
victory
Knock Out
Submission (A fighter taps either his opponent or the
mat three times.)
Technical Knockout
Referee Stoppage (If the referee
sees that one fighter is completely dominant to the point of endangering his
opponent, the referee will stop the match.)
Doctor Stoppage (In the event
that a fighter is injured and cannot continue the match, his opponent will be
declared the winner. The ring doctor will be the one to determine whether the
fighter can continue or not. In the event that an injury was caused by illegal
methods, the perpetrator will be disqualified.)
Forfeited Match---A
fighter's corner throws in the towel.
Decision (If the match goes the
distance, then the outcome of the bout is determined by the three judges. The
judging critera are organization specific.)
Disqualification (A "warning"
will be given when a fighter commits an illegal action or does not follow the
referee's instruction. Three warnings will result in a disqualification. Also,
if a fighter is injured and unable to continue due to a deliberate illegal
technique from his opponent, he will be declared the winner.)
No Contest (In
the event that both sides commit a violation of the rules, or a fighter is
unable to continue due to an injury from an accidental illegal technique, the
bout will be declared a "No Contest.")
Weight categories
Although each
organization divides its fighters into weight classes, the details are very
organization-dependent.
Fouls
No head-butting, eye gouging, hair
pulling, biting or fish hooking (pulling at the cheek with a finger).
No
attacking the groin
No strikes to the back of the head, spinal area and
kidneys.
No strikes to, or grabs of the trachea
No small joint
manipulation (control of four or more fingers/toes is necessary).
No
intentionally throwing your opponent out of the ring.
No running out of the
ring.
No purposely holding the ring ropes or octagon fence.
The trachea
(IPA /treiki?/), or windpipe, is a tube extending from the larynx to the bronchi
in mammals, and from the pharynx to the syrinx in birds, carrying air to the
lungs. ...
Cage or
Ring
MMA is often referred to as "cagefighting" in the US as it is
associated with the UFC's octagonal caged fighting area. Most major "Western"
MMA promotions ( US, Canada and Britain ) use the "Cage" as a
result of directly evolving from the first UFC events. On the other hand,
Brazilian and Japanese events usually use an area similar to a standard
boxing ring, but with tighter ropes and some type of barrier underneath
the lowest rope to keep grappling athletes from rolling out of the ring
and onto the floor. There are also variations such as replacing the traditional
cage's metal fencing with net and a one foot high padded barrier surrounding
the combat area. The choice of cage or ring is more than aesthetic, however,
as it impacts the type of strategies a fighter can implement. For example,
a popular and effective strategy in a cage is to pin an opponent into the
area where the cage meets the fence, and then pummel him with strikes.
This is not possible in a roped ring. On the other hand, the roped ring
can result in entangled limbs and fighters falling through the ropes, requiring
the referee to stop the fighters and re-position them in the center. There
is debate whether the appearance of "fighting in a cage" results
in a negative stereotyping of MMA in America, hindering efforts by its
supporters to achieve mainstream acceptance.