FourteenMiles
Member
I've been reading this forum and sub-forum quite frequently lately and I've noticed that there is an interest in martial arts (as well as a few practioners too). While I am not a martial artist, I have a keen interest in combat sports.
The martial arts world has been plagued by fakes for a long time. From demonstrations of self proclaimed masters demonstrating techniques on their fully compliant students, to Kung Fu movies, to show wrestling (WWE etc.) and so on.
Military hand-to-hand combat systems are not truly tested and widely studied. Real world self defense teachers have had few opportunities to test their methods against a dangerous opponent.
Street fights are often broken up by police or for other reasons. Not many people have been in many street fights and those who have are usually criminals who aren’t the studying or teaching type.
We had a few realistic combat sports in modern times that where very useful, Such as Boxing and Wrestling. The problem with these sports is that once someone brakes the strict rules of the sport the referee intervenes. While practitioners of these sports are great athletes they are held back from reaching their true butt-kicking potential by only practicing a few select techniques that their respective sport allows.
See the common mistake here is that there simply has not been enough demonstrations of certain techniques where two combatants can engage each other in hand-to-hand combat in an observable setting. Until The 1990's...
The story (legend, myth, it does not really matter) is that a Japanese traveler who was in Brazil around the turn of the previous century taught a Brazilian man a Japanese martial art known as Ju-jitsu. The Brazilian man taught it to his family and they developed it further for a few generations. Now brazil is a rough place, they were able to practice their sport in real life situations and again by organizing no rules prize-fighting matches known a Vale Tudo.
So in the early 1990's the Brazilian Family decided to come to the US to showcase their sport and make some money. They decided to hold a match dubbed "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" and invite athletes from many different combat disciplines, and of all different weights to fight under the guise of finding out which style was the best. The winner receiving a large payout of cash. They paid for all the expenses themselves and entered one of their own into the competition, you can see they were quite confident.
The winner of "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" (UFC) would have to fight and beat 3 opponents in a single night, opponents who weighed whatever they wanted, could wear whatever they wanted to wear, and do whatever they wanted to do (except no biting and no penetration of bodily orifices).
Sure enough the organizers of the event (the Gracie family) won the event by entering a young man (Royce Gracie) who weighed less than many of his opponents and who simply could not even throw a decent punch. He was an expert grappler and would close in on his opponent and lock him up with his arms, trip him, sit on his chest and proceed to strangle him or bend one of his limbs in ways it was never meant to bend.
It was quite a spectacle, there were no time limits and the referee had limited control over the fighters. After many of his opponents submitted, Royce would not let go of his strangle hold for fear his opponent would retract his surrender and assault him (probably from years of fighting "underground"). Royce also won the Second incarnation of UFC. He was forced to pull out of the third UFC because of injuries sustained during one of his first matches. He returned and won the forth UFC.
The UFC continues holding events and it became obvious some techniques where much better than others. Then something marvelous happened. It was discovered the best fighters where those who where mixing the most effective techniques into what today in known as Mixed Martial Arts (sometime referred to a "no-holds-barred" or even "Ultimate Fighting").
The UFC was quickly gaining the attention of the media and politicians for its brutality. Somewhere around the tenth event the police told the fighters if anyone struck and opponent with a closed hand (fist) without gloves they could be arrested for assault. This rule was somewhat ignored until the last fight where it was fully observed resulting in what is widely agreed to be the worst UFC fight ever, remember they still had no time limits or scoring so it got quite boring. After this the UFC dwindled in popularity and it went through what is known as the dark days of UFC where they tried different rules to appease both the audience and the politicians.
The fighters were of varying quality and fitness levels and the matches were generally hit in miss with most of them being the latter. The rules were continually amended to make the sport safer while still being as realistic as possible. These included mandatory clothing requirements(including gloves), the introduction of rounds and a scoring system, and weight classes. Meanwhile the sport dwindled in popularity and The UFC looked like it had reached the end of it run. It was not even airing on Pay-per-view anymore like it originally had been. It was sold.
The new owners decided to try and save the sport by launching a reality TV series where fighters would live together in a house and fight exhibition matches for a UFC contract. This show is known as "The Ultimate Fighter". After they started production the channel which said they would air the series decided to pull out. The new owners decided to pay out of pocket to pay to continue the series. Another problem arose, this was the same time that there was a similar reality show on TV that featured boxers in the same situation. The fighters of "The Ultimate Fighter" found out that their Boxing counterparts where getting paid for their time and exhibition matches. There was talks that the the "ultimate fighters" should get paid too, but there simply was no money for it. One of the new owners gave a (now infamous)speech where he basically told the fighters "Your here to (redacted) fight!" and the show continued without the fighters being paid.
The newly formed "Spike" network decided to air the series after its completion but the ratings were not spectacular and the future of the UFC was uncertain. Until the final fight of the final episode. Stephan Bonner and Forrest Griffin engaged in what is widely agreed to be the fight that saved the UFC and realistic fighting as we know it, which has not been seen since antiquity. During the 15 minute fight the rating doubled as people called their friends and told them to watch this amazing event.
After that fight the UFC took off and became much more lucrative. People where watching the Event on pay-per-view. The series was renewed and amateur athletes who where training for other sports and careers then became interested in MMA.
This brings us to where we are today. We have a wonderful sport where world class athletes engage in actual hand-to-hand combat in a safe and observable setting. I find it truly amazing and invaluable.
If you are interested there is an event tonight on Pay-per-view. It is quite expensive to order but you can watch it at a local "Hooters" or other sports bar. There are also some preliminary matches on spike TV where non-top tier fights can be seen (this is on regular pay cable).
Also the early days of UFC (Much more brutal, less fit athletes, generally a good time) can be watched on DVD or some "Video On Demand" services.
I highly recommend the sport to anyone who has an interest in sports, martial arts, or self defense. There is a lot of show and glitz and other non-sense, but what is comes down to is actual hand-to-hand combat, which is generally unviewable anywhere else.
The martial arts world has been plagued by fakes for a long time. From demonstrations of self proclaimed masters demonstrating techniques on their fully compliant students, to Kung Fu movies, to show wrestling (WWE etc.) and so on.
Military hand-to-hand combat systems are not truly tested and widely studied. Real world self defense teachers have had few opportunities to test their methods against a dangerous opponent.
Street fights are often broken up by police or for other reasons. Not many people have been in many street fights and those who have are usually criminals who aren’t the studying or teaching type.
We had a few realistic combat sports in modern times that where very useful, Such as Boxing and Wrestling. The problem with these sports is that once someone brakes the strict rules of the sport the referee intervenes. While practitioners of these sports are great athletes they are held back from reaching their true butt-kicking potential by only practicing a few select techniques that their respective sport allows.
See the common mistake here is that there simply has not been enough demonstrations of certain techniques where two combatants can engage each other in hand-to-hand combat in an observable setting. Until The 1990's...
The story (legend, myth, it does not really matter) is that a Japanese traveler who was in Brazil around the turn of the previous century taught a Brazilian man a Japanese martial art known as Ju-jitsu. The Brazilian man taught it to his family and they developed it further for a few generations. Now brazil is a rough place, they were able to practice their sport in real life situations and again by organizing no rules prize-fighting matches known a Vale Tudo.
So in the early 1990's the Brazilian Family decided to come to the US to showcase their sport and make some money. They decided to hold a match dubbed "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" and invite athletes from many different combat disciplines, and of all different weights to fight under the guise of finding out which style was the best. The winner receiving a large payout of cash. They paid for all the expenses themselves and entered one of their own into the competition, you can see they were quite confident.
The winner of "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" (UFC) would have to fight and beat 3 opponents in a single night, opponents who weighed whatever they wanted, could wear whatever they wanted to wear, and do whatever they wanted to do (except no biting and no penetration of bodily orifices).
Sure enough the organizers of the event (the Gracie family) won the event by entering a young man (Royce Gracie) who weighed less than many of his opponents and who simply could not even throw a decent punch. He was an expert grappler and would close in on his opponent and lock him up with his arms, trip him, sit on his chest and proceed to strangle him or bend one of his limbs in ways it was never meant to bend.
It was quite a spectacle, there were no time limits and the referee had limited control over the fighters. After many of his opponents submitted, Royce would not let go of his strangle hold for fear his opponent would retract his surrender and assault him (probably from years of fighting "underground"). Royce also won the Second incarnation of UFC. He was forced to pull out of the third UFC because of injuries sustained during one of his first matches. He returned and won the forth UFC.
The UFC continues holding events and it became obvious some techniques where much better than others. Then something marvelous happened. It was discovered the best fighters where those who where mixing the most effective techniques into what today in known as Mixed Martial Arts (sometime referred to a "no-holds-barred" or even "Ultimate Fighting").
The UFC was quickly gaining the attention of the media and politicians for its brutality. Somewhere around the tenth event the police told the fighters if anyone struck and opponent with a closed hand (fist) without gloves they could be arrested for assault. This rule was somewhat ignored until the last fight where it was fully observed resulting in what is widely agreed to be the worst UFC fight ever, remember they still had no time limits or scoring so it got quite boring. After this the UFC dwindled in popularity and it went through what is known as the dark days of UFC where they tried different rules to appease both the audience and the politicians.
The fighters were of varying quality and fitness levels and the matches were generally hit in miss with most of them being the latter. The rules were continually amended to make the sport safer while still being as realistic as possible. These included mandatory clothing requirements(including gloves), the introduction of rounds and a scoring system, and weight classes. Meanwhile the sport dwindled in popularity and The UFC looked like it had reached the end of it run. It was not even airing on Pay-per-view anymore like it originally had been. It was sold.
The new owners decided to try and save the sport by launching a reality TV series where fighters would live together in a house and fight exhibition matches for a UFC contract. This show is known as "The Ultimate Fighter". After they started production the channel which said they would air the series decided to pull out. The new owners decided to pay out of pocket to pay to continue the series. Another problem arose, this was the same time that there was a similar reality show on TV that featured boxers in the same situation. The fighters of "The Ultimate Fighter" found out that their Boxing counterparts where getting paid for their time and exhibition matches. There was talks that the the "ultimate fighters" should get paid too, but there simply was no money for it. One of the new owners gave a (now infamous)speech where he basically told the fighters "Your here to (redacted) fight!" and the show continued without the fighters being paid.
The newly formed "Spike" network decided to air the series after its completion but the ratings were not spectacular and the future of the UFC was uncertain. Until the final fight of the final episode. Stephan Bonner and Forrest Griffin engaged in what is widely agreed to be the fight that saved the UFC and realistic fighting as we know it, which has not been seen since antiquity. During the 15 minute fight the rating doubled as people called their friends and told them to watch this amazing event.
After that fight the UFC took off and became much more lucrative. People where watching the Event on pay-per-view. The series was renewed and amateur athletes who where training for other sports and careers then became interested in MMA.
This brings us to where we are today. We have a wonderful sport where world class athletes engage in actual hand-to-hand combat in a safe and observable setting. I find it truly amazing and invaluable.
If you are interested there is an event tonight on Pay-per-view. It is quite expensive to order but you can watch it at a local "Hooters" or other sports bar. There are also some preliminary matches on spike TV where non-top tier fights can be seen (this is on regular pay cable).
Also the early days of UFC (Much more brutal, less fit athletes, generally a good time) can be watched on DVD or some "Video On Demand" services.
I highly recommend the sport to anyone who has an interest in sports, martial arts, or self defense. There is a lot of show and glitz and other non-sense, but what is comes down to is actual hand-to-hand combat, which is generally unviewable anywhere else.
Last edited:
