The history of MMA

[Kittan Bachika]

A friend sent me this link.

http://mixedmartialartshistory.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/a-leg-to-stand-on/

It is really fascinating and it shows the behind scenes of martial arts development.
What is confusing is that the author refers to it as mixed martial arts history. This sounds more like
martial arts history. Isn't mixed martial arts a relatively new term?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

MMA in terms of the specific UFC/Pride/MMA ruleset is relatively new, but the concept of mixed martial arts, as well as the phrase, i believe, is not all that new. I believe (and may be corrected) that the concept/phrase has been 'popular' since WW1, when a lot of arts came into contact with one another.
Note:this is without reading the article, just answering your question...I am leaving for a camping trip in a few minutes, and dont have time to read it, but when i get back, I eagerly await reading the article!

 

[Kittan Bachika]

MMA in terms of the specific UFC/Pride/MMA ruleset is relatively new, but the concept of mixed martial arts, as well as the phrase, i believe, is not all that new. I believe (and may be corrected) that the concept/phrase has been 'popular' since WW1, when a lot of arts came into contact with one another.
Note:this is without reading the article, just answering your question...I am leaving for a camping trip in a few minutes, and dont have time to read it, but when i get back, I eagerly await reading the article!

That is very interesting. I had no idea the phrase was that old. Have fun camping.

 

[Drasken]

A friend sent me this link.

http://mixedmartialartshistory.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/a-leg-to-stand-on/

It is really fascinating and it shows the behind scenes of martial arts development.
What is confusing is that the author refers to it as mixed martial arts history. This sounds more like
martial arts history. Isn't mixed martial arts a relatively new term?

This article starts off talking about the 1920s. It is talking about MMA and how it really went from nothing to a household term. It is a little biased I think. It does talk a lot about how other traditional styles failed against styles like Muay Thai, but doesn't mention how these fighters were forced to abide by a rule set that they were not used to or trained for. It kind of sets up the feeling of MMA superiority early on.
It is an interesting article to be sure. I'd like to cross reference and check some of the facts, but it's not a bad article other than the few issues I pointed out.

 

[punisher73]

Again, there is nothing new under the sun. The Greeks, for example, had mixed boxing with their wrestling and called it "Pankration" and even had it as an Olympic contest. Heiroglyphics in Egypt show us that they had striking and wrestling arts mixed as well.

The history itself of the martial arts is of mixing them. They just didn't call it that, they named it something specific for what they were doing or a name that illustrated a philosophical concept. Even if you go back to the 1940's and 1950's Kajukenbo mixed various striking and grappling arts into a system of martial arts. Bruce Lee met and exchanged ideas with many martial artists that were doing that same thing on the west coast and made the idea very popular.

MMA, in it's common usage now refers to a sport. Even with that, the "sport" has gone through name changes that have reflected the contests and the rulesets. It used to be referred to as "NHB" or no holds barred before it was a sanctioned sport.

Taking what works from another art? ALWAYS has been done. About the only arts that didn't and caused the "classical mess" were when karate went to Japan and was molded into their mindset. Everywhere else this was not the case.

 

[Oracle]

Hi,

Thanks for the interest in the article. I think the source of the confusion is that the article you read: "A Leg to Stand on" is part of an ongoing series on the development of the rules and fighting methods associated with mixed-martial arts sport fighting. The term (Mixed Martial Arts) has been in use since the early 90's, but it is a contraction of the much older "mixed-match martial arts" which refers to a match between two different martial arts (usually as part of a pro-wrestling show, either shoot or worked). "Mixed-martial arts" (or Mixed Martial Arts) as a contraction of the older term, was first used by Howard Rosenberg of the LA times (or perhaps his editor) in 1993. The term has come to be used as a synonym for "hybrid martial art", but that is really a misnomer, as it is used almost exclusively to refer to hybrid combat sports. There are innumerable hybrid martial arts, from Kujukembo to Jeet Kune Do, but they are not relevant to the activity referred to as "Mixed Martial Arts", which can mean either the sanctioned format of the sport, or the type of fighting methods popular for contesting a match in the sport (same is true for the sport of Boxing, and the fighting method used to win matches, also called 'Boxing').

The series discusses how the format and the fighting methods of Mixed Martial Arts came to be... in this case, how elements of Thai Boxing spread to countries with strong grappling traditions (Japan and Brazil) where they were available for combination with Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Shootwrestling respectively. Mentions of the various victories (and losses) of Muaythai against other fighting styles are there to tell the story of how the outside world came to adopt elements of the Thai fighting style. Certainly they are relatively effective techniques, otherwise there would be no interest in learning them. Often it was those defeated by a Muaythai fighter who saw the value in learning the foreign style; many of the matches I mention i the piece were won by the foreign fighter (four, I think).

The article prior to this one is viewable at: http://mixedmartialartshistory.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/ronin/ and covers the spread of Osaka newaza to the same two countries (Japan and Brazil) via Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Catch Wrestling. Essentially each article is a segment of the relevant history of martial arts, as it pertains to a particular fighting sport.

I hope that clears up any confusion.