Would you label MMA its own martial art?

[mantis.style]

Not all martial arts, in fact, come to think of it, none of the commonly practiced martial arts in the modern world were designed and used for actual battlefield warfare. The majority of them were devised and organised by those that usually had more money and free time than the average farming joe. That in itself shows the misnomer in the term "martial art". However, in a more general sense, they were still made for fighting and even with the "art" in the title and ignoring the fact that here, "art" means "practiced skill" and the more romantic and philosophical meaning, there is the fighting element. Do nothing but fight and learn from your experience and you have your very own martial art. Start to record it and systemise it and you have a teachable system.

[bushido_man96]

Very well put!

[baronbvp]

I have been watching The Ultimate Fighter recently, and I noticed something peculiar to MMA. I watched the story of one guy who is a black belt in jiu-jitsu. This being MMA, he decided he wanted to win his bout with punching. He was young, as they almost all are, and his coach was very frustrated because the kids was uncoachable. He lost his bout by getting beaten at punching,. He never took the other guy down once, never even tried. If he had, it would have over in less than 30 seconds because the other guys was not a grappler. Seems as though some young guys give up on the horse than brung 'em in an effort to be well-rounded. In his case, it was bad strategy and he was one-and-done.

If you saw the recent title bout where Chuck Liddell lost in the first round to Rampage Jackson, all the hype didn't add up as he got beat by a greater puncher.

Another thing I can't stand is the requirement to make weight. Guys do everything they can to get down to 155, way worse (and IMO unsafe) than we used to do in high-school wrestling. They have to cut like 20 lbs in a few weeks. Then, after the weight-in, they puff back up to fight at 170 or so. This one kid couldn't make weight and got booted from the show in shame. That is a bad part of the sport that needs to be changed.

[bushido_man96]

I didn't realize that those fighters were cutting like wrestlers. That is not a good deal at all. Perhaps there is something they could do to regulate that.

As for the fighter you mention that wanted to win with punching; I think this is a great thing. It shows that some of these fighters want to be seen as well-rounded fighters, and not the fighter who prefers grappling to punching, or vise-versa. However, he should maybe have trained his punching skills, say, over the next 6 months to a year, before deciding to try to fight like that. Although being well-rounded is good, knowing and using your strengths is even better.

Nice idea, bad timing.

[baronbvp]

True, I can see going a round with punching. But then it comes down to winning, and you go with what you know. He didn't get to continue - never got in the UFC cage. Plus, he cried all over the place after he lost and realized what he'd done. Even though you feel a bit sorry, mostly there was a sense on the show of "you are uncoachable and did this to yourself." Tough break for a young guy but a good lesson for others.

[bushido_man96]

Perhaps he learned a lesson out of the ordeal as well. He can keep plugging away, but he will have to re-earn his chances.

[username8517]

Perhaps he learned a lesson out of the ordeal as well. He can keep plugging away, but he will have to re-earn his chances.

No he didn't. In the season finale of the TUF he got another chance to enter the ring and did basically the same thing. He did manage to make it into a clinch a few times, but then he immediately made his way out.

[bushido_man96]

Perhaps he learned a lesson out of the ordeal as well. He can keep plugging away, but he will have to re-earn his chances.

No he didn't. In the season finale of the TUF he got another chance to enter the ring and did basically the same thing. He did manage to make it into a clinch a few times, but then he immediately made his way out.

Huh. Well, we all learned from his mistakes, at least. That just doesn't seem to make much sense. Royce never went it to punch someone out. He knew that it wasn't his strength. That is such important knowledge when going into a fight.

[shinbushi]

There are some systems that I would allready call "MMA": Pancrase/Pankration(some schools do teach it), gaido jutsu, Chute Boxe, Kakutogi schools, Chokushinkai, Daido Juku/Kudo, and others.

[bushido_man96]

I think I would even go so far as to say that Pankration was the original MMA.