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General MMA Questions.

2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Squirrelfighter 
#1 ·
A little about myself
I am a 24 year old Greco-Israeli, I joined the IDF when I was 14 and served in a Civil Affairs Airborne Regiment until I moved to the US when I was 17 to join the U.S. Army. I served in the Airborne Rangers, PSYOPS and other things while in the Military.

I left the Army in March of this year to work on my Master's.

Martial Arts Background
Pankration: 20 Years
Krav Maga: 13 Years
*****: 8 Years
LINE: 5 Years
Eskrima: 5 Years
MAC: 4 Years
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: 3 Years
MCMAP: 3 Years
RAT: 3 Years

MMA Questions
I cannot find a well designated standardized set of rules concerning MMA Fights.

I have tried watching a few events in an attempt to better understand the nature of MMA but it just causes more questions.

I understand that goal is not to kill or injure your opponent but I watch older MMA videos, (Gracies, Shamrocks, Fedor), where the competitors possessed a knowledge of combat, where the competitors properly utilized the economy of motion during their fights. I no longer see this in Modern MMA, it seems like the sport has been reduced to Boxing with Submission Wrestling thrown in for good measure. Lots of holds with short random bursts but no actual practical fighting no real combat.

Have the rules changed to ban combat maneuvers? I see such disturbingly poor form in 99% of the fighters on television, opening after opening after opening.

I would like compete in a MMA type environment but what happens if I kick someone in the side? I have just ended their MMA career and possibly their life. I throw someone on their back I would most likely do it with enough force to fracture a person’s vertebrae.

I would like participate in MMA or something very similar but I do not want to be limited to a glorified spectator sport.


Any productive comments, criticism or suggestions would be very welcomed.
 
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#2 ·
Well.. the point is not to kill another person, especially since it's being aired on national television.

And wait a minute? you said there's lots of holds and no real combat? And you've been doing pankration for 20 years? I don't mean to offend you but the reason you don't see ninjitsu is because it only works on gay people. If you try and and grab a guys wrist he's gonna hit you on the chin and knock you out.

Maybe I don't understand exactly what you're asking but it seems like you need to stop watching Bas Ruttens bar fighting videos. I mean, it's effective but not at that level otherwise everyone would be doing it.
 
#3 ·
I will not argue that Pankration as a sport is akin to grown men hugging but none of the Martial Arts or Combat Systems I have been taught or trained in have been tailored towards sports.

My main question is, when you look at the older MMA fighters, Russian MMA and Asian MMA league fighters they use fighting techniques that are no longer in use by "modern" MMA competitors.

I know this is in part due the natural evolution of the sport, all sports evolve but it seems that fighting aspect has been stripped from this particular sport.

I am curious if this is due to regulations, a simple change in styles or a lack of talent/fundamental.

The way human beings have fought has not really changed that much since the first manuals where produced in 2500B.C.

But it seems over the past 10 years or so MMA fighters have and as a sport have stopped using "effective" fighting techniques and have started adapting wrestling more than anything.

I no longer see an effective blend of western and eastern boxing and I am trying to figure out why.

If I enter a MMA event I do not want to be limited to such an extent that all I am doing is preforming for a crowd.
 
#4 ·
Look at the set of rules like a gentlemans agreement. Kicking a guy in the testicles is very effective, but it's not a very "manly" thing to do. Trust me, I do it all the time in street fights.

What a lot of older fighters did was take the other guy down and repeatedly headbutt him and you know what, it works. But it also causes brain damage.

Other traditional martial arts techniques are allowed, they're just not really effective when you have to worry about a guy taking you down and submitting you. Let's say groin kicks were allowed, I would have to have my hands below my waists at all times. That would defeat the purpose of boxing so there really wouldn't be much of a fight. It would literly be human cockfighting.

But I do agree with you it does cater more towards wrestling. Because look if I can hold this guy down for 15 minutes, I get the winning purse. I could give a shit about what the fans think. But then again he had his opportunity to knock me out.

If you are very interested in getting into the sport and murdering people, you could elbow all you want when he takes you down to the ground anyway so yeah..
 
#5 · (Edited)
I think I understand what you're getting at. Though there are many different kinds of martial arts that would be effective in a ring, the majority of fighters seem to rely very heavily on Muay Thai or just good ol' American kickboxing for their striking skills. While I understand that its a more streamlined approach...no need to alter a sport art for another sport...I do find the repitition of Muay Thai fighters and wrestlers fighting Muay Thai fighters and wrestlers disconcerting. If I wanted to see Muay Thai all the time I'd go to the Phillipeans.

The reason few actual partice arts like Kung Fu, some forms of karate, as well as many, many other arts is because they require a large amount of alteration to conform to the general scheme of rules in MMA as well as to be effective against wrestlers and BJJ black belts. It stems more in my own personnal opinion from a lack of dedication by some fighters who'd rather learn something that can be quickly implemented rather than spend months or years tweeking a War-based art for sport usage.

I know that its difficult because I had to do it. I use Shotokan and Kenpo karate as well as boxing in my stand-up game. As well as Japanese Juijutsu and BJJ in my ground. And it took a lot of time to alter the karates and even some of the Japanese Juijutsu for sport use. My sparring partner can attest to overextended muscles and fractured fingers that it took some time. As well as my broken fingers and hairline cheek fracture attest to where my striking needed alteration.

The whole point of this being that Muay Thai and Wrestling are easier to implement as well as designed specifically for the very purpose you intend to use them for. Thus the casual fighter only wants to learn MT and wrestling. If it didn't take extra time do you think there wouldn't be more versatile fighters out there with a deeper repetoure(excuse that, I couldn't remember how to spell it)including more arts. But the fact remains that there is no art better than another, some are just better designed for MMA. Is it bigotry on the part of MMA organizations to design rules befitting MT? No, its just a matter of safety protocols overwhelming the violent instincts of the human being.
 
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