Has MMA popularity helped or hurt the MA Community?

[kidswarrior]

One of the central debates I see recurring among the MA community today is whether the MMA has moved the MA forward, backward, or is irrelevant.

I wanted to see what you thought, and hopefully why some of you believe as you do.

 

[Andrew Green]

Forward, it has brought some much needed realism back into the martial arts. And while all systems do not fit the MMA mold, a lot of what is learnt from the ideas can still be useful knowledge. A lot of BS gets eliminated, and a emphasis on testing things in a non-static situation is a good thing.

 

[Grenadier]

As a TMA practitioner for a couple of decades+, I am going to say that it has both helped and hurt things, but that the same thing could be said about any martial arts system.

First the negative:

Some people get enamored with the pure fighting aspect of the martial arts, and ignore many wonderful things about the non-sparring parts of the systems. Also, some people look at full contact matches, and grow impatient when I tell them that we don't do full contact here at the dojo.

I'm more than happy to answer a student's question, as to why they need to learn the basics, learn the kata, etc. It's only natural for the students to ask questions, and this is almost always encouraged.

It's when I have to answer questions coming from a student who says "Why do I have to do these stupid kata? This is ********, that it's taking away from my fighting time."

I'm not going to pin the blame on the MMA, though, since this kind of individual would probably try to find a way to quit sooner, rather than later. In this case, it's not really a matter of the MMA being bad, but rather, someone interpreting it badly.

After all, it comes down to a personal decision of someone to do what they do. The bottle of Jack Daniels, for example, did not cause Chappaqudick!



Now on to the positive:

The popularity of MMA has brought in people to come visit the dojo to see what we're about, and from those people, I can actually enroll a fair number of them. Thus, the popularity of MMA has helpd us overcome one of the more difficult tasks, and that's to get the people in the dojo in the first place.


All in all? The positives far, far, outweigh the negatives. Thus, I would say that overall, it does help.

 

[Shaderon]

I would say it's mostly helped. I hang round my gym in uniform before and after classes, a few people have approached me asking about what we do, they generally say they were interested in MMA but aren't sure if that's what they want to do so are looking at everything available. These are mostly young men (20's and 30's) but also women all ages between 20 and 60.

The concept that the arts is mostly fighting does seem to be forward in the minds of the ones that mention MMA but the ones who just want fighting aren't going to stick around no matter how they found us.

What it seems to have brought, is an increased awareness of the arts as a whole. Not that they now see if for the first time or anything, it's more like there's an increased mind to think "oh there's a person in a white uniform let's go have a chat". If people suit TKD, Karate, Kung Foo, Aikido, Hapkido or anything else more, they are more likely to settle with that then MMA.

Any positive publicity is good in my eyes. If it brings one more student over, then it's positive publicity, if 1 student leaves... then I reckon they'll have dropped out anyway.

 

[zDom]

It may have made self defense a bit harder overall as a greater number of people (in particuular, those who like fighting but prefer not to spend time in a dojo/dojang building character) are familiarized with some easy-to-use effective fighting techniques and may even get some practice in with informal backyard emulation.

 

[Andrew Green]

Raising the bar is always a good thing

 

[bushidomartialarts]

i think it's hurt the martial arts community some by stunting our growth as human beings. the general attitude of most mma'ers (there are exceptions) is to develop the body almost exclusively. there's no emphasis on mental and spiritual growth, contribution to society and community, martial arts as a tool for evolution. that's a step back by 15-20 years for martial arts in america and i find it unfortunate and limiting.

at the same time, it has raised awareness in general. and since there's no such thing as bad publicity, anything that gets folks to want to train is a good thing.

finally, it has made the tma schools nicer places to train. that 23 year old hothead who kept hurting all his training partners and insulting the women. he's over at an mma school these days. the rest of us get to train with grownups now.

so i think it's a wash overall.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

i should also add that the hothead i just mentioned is getting the training he wants in the first place. everybody wins.

 

[MJS]

IMHO, I think it has done both, but I lean towards saying its done more good. As Andrew pointed out, it brought the aliveness and resistance aspect more into the spotlight. It also brought the importance of grappling into the mix as well.

As far as the negatives go, I think that some people feel that it is the end all, be all of training and everything else is garbage.

IMHO, keeping an open mind is the way to go.

 

[terryl965]

I believe both but with the majority of hurting, to many rules just like sport Karate or Olympic TKD. True it goes alot further but with that being said it has taken the Art out of Martial ARt and added the sport aspect just like there counter parts.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Hard to say because there is no real "Martial Arts Community" as a single entity. There are lots of smaller communities that loosely interact and inter-relate and the rise of MMA popularity has impacted differnt aspects of the martial arts world in different ways

 

[bushidomartialarts]

Hard to say because there is no real "Martial Arts Community" as a single entity. There are lots of smaller communities that loosely interact and inter-relate and the rise of MMA popularity has impacted differnt aspects of the martial arts world in different ways

i'd disagree pretty strongly with that notion. there are different cliques and cabals and allegiances, but martial artists as a whole are impacted by MMA. just like they were when The Karate Kid came out. just like we were when ninjutsu became the next big fad in the 80s.

i think this forum is an example of how strong the community as a whole really is. i mean, seriously. if you're at a party where you don't know anybody who do you sit down and jaw with, the guy who's into macrame or the guy who's into martial arts -- regardless of which art he studies?

 

[Bigshadow]

To be honest, regardless of what art the MMA players have trained in, I don't think it really reflects anything about the arts.

 

[Xue Sheng]

No relevance to me

 

[TraditionalTKD]

i'd disagree pretty strongly with that notion. there are different cliques and cabals and allegiances, but martial artists as a whole are impacted by MMA. just like they were when The Karate Kid came out. just like we were when ninjutsu became the next big fad in the 80s.

i think this forum is an example of how strong the community as a whole really is. i mean, seriously. if you're at a party where you don't know anybody who do you sit down and jaw with, the guy who's into macrame or the guy who's into martial arts -- regardless of which art he studies?

Actually, I'd rather talk to the guy who does something I have not tried yet. You may learn something new. 99% of the time, the guy practicing martial arts is going to be a BS artist who I'd have no interest in. The exception would be a person I know with whom I can have a converstion and find out how everthing is going in life. Otherwise, I'd pass. Now, if he's a hockey fan we can have a long conversation.

 

[IWishToLearn]

Well. There is no such thing as bad publicity. On the other hand - I hate MMA for giving far too many people the opinion that MMA is the solution to reality based fighting.

 

[Shotgun Buddha]

Hard to say because there is no real "Martial Arts Community" as a single entity. There are lots of smaller communities that loosely interact and inter-relate and the rise of MMA popularity has impacted differnt aspects of the martial arts world in different ways

I'd have to agree with you. The martial arts scene here in Ireland is completely different from the one in America, therefore the way they've been affected is completely different. Here in Ireland, MMA has been an almost purely positive effect, the only negative being the ever present internet rivalries

 

[Tez3]

I'd have to agree with you. The martial arts scene here in Ireland is completely different from the one in America, therefore the way they've been affected is completely different. Here in Ireland, MMA has been an almost purely positive effect, the only negative being the ever present internet rivalries

I have to agree with you! I think MMA in the States is also a different animal from what it is here.
Shotgun I take it you've been on the Cagewarriors forum then lol?

 

[Shotgun Buddha]

I have to agree with you! I think MMA in the States is also a different animal from what it is here.
Shotgun I take it you've been on the Cagewarriors forum then lol?

Heh no not yet, but Ive seen enough on the Irish boards forum. It gets very very silly
English scene seems pretty similar to the Irish one, but one of my "home-boys" had the dubious pleasure of informing me he found the American MMA scene to be most "wack".

 

[Andrew Green]

he found the American MMA scene to be
most "wack".

It's not the American MMA scene, its the American scene in general :lol: