¿What are the Mix Martial Arts?
Mixed martial arts, also known as MMA, is a term for the
combat sport in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance over one
another by utilizing three general tactics: striking, finishing holds, and
control. The rules allow the combatants to use a variety of martial arts
techniques including punches, kicks, joint-locks, chokes, takedowns and throws.
Victory is normally gained through knock-out, submission (one fighter concedes
victory to the other by tapping the mat or his opponent with his hand), or
stoppage by the referee, the fight doctor, or a competitor's cornerman. MMA is
also alternatively called NHB (for No Holds Barred), but this term is mostly
retired. It is no longer an accurate description of the modern competitions
which utilize many more rules than before. The first Ultimate Fighting
Championship's only rules were against eye-gouging, fish-hooking and biting. It
was not unusual to see hair-pulling, toe-stomping and people being choked with
the lapels of their clothing. One infamous early match even featured one
combatant repeatedly striking his opponent in the groin. Currently, all of the major
promotions have a list of rules and banned techniques.
MMA is
also used to describe any modern style of martial arts which incorporate
techniques and theories from several sportive martial arts. This especially
applies to MMA styles which incorporate a mixture of ground fighting, stand-up
striking, and takedowns in their training. The main goal of this article is to
provide information about MMA as a "realistic, few rules, full contact
fight sport" rather than to describe hybrid martial arts that are not
typically used in minimal-rules sporting environments
MODERN MMA
As a result of these sporting events, martial arts
training and the understanding of the combat effectiveness of various
strategies have changed dramatically over the last ten years. While the early
years included the widest possible variety of styles (everything from Sumo to
Karate), modern fighters often train in a mixture of only three styles: Amateur
Wrestling (focusing on clinches and takedowns), Submission Wrestling (focusing
on submissions and positioning on the ground), and Kickboxing (usually Muay
Thai) (focusing on striking). These three distinct styles coincide with the
"phases of combat" theory, which suggests that fights can be broken
into three distinct phases, each requiring completely different skill sets:
stand-up fighting, clinch fighting, and ground fighting. According to the
theory, a fighter's best strategy is to determine the phase in which he has the
greatest advantage over his opponent and then to force the fight to take place
in that phase. It currently appears that this is mainly correct, in the sense
that if you are equally skilled in all phases of combat, you are prepared to
take advantage of any weaknesses in your opponent. Well-known examples of MMA
organizations are the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting
Championships. For more information about MMA's evolution over time, see our
history of mixed martial arts