MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) has become a very popular training method due to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) – which is now a billion dollar business. Many people consider the UFC style fighting (Mixed Martial Arts) to be superior to any other kind of martial arts training. My professional opinion about MMA is that there are both positive and negative aspects to the UFC and that anyone who is a spectator or aspiring competitor should consider both.
The good things about UFC:
- MMA training requires a lot of conditioning and a high level of fitness. This emphasis on physicality motivates many students and instructors to train harder.
- The training apparel designed for MMA is far superior to anything traditional. Finally we have functional garments to train in.
- Because of it popularity, more people in the US are thinking and talking about martial arts, in general, than ever before. That increased awareness is good for everyone in the martial arts world.
The not-so-good things about UFC:
- UFC fights are extremely violent. Using martial arts skills for violent sport fighting might be morally questionable.
- Do we want our sons to idolize men who have cauliflower ear and enjoy beating other men up for a living? UFC fighters may not be the best role-models for young people.
- As far as the martial arts goes, UFC is a sport with a referee, not a fight. Sport fighting (boxing, wrestling, MMA, etc) will always be more limited in a combative sense because there are a limited amount of target areas. In a street fight, any target is legal, there might be multiple attackers and/or weapons as well.
Anyone watching UFC or training in MMA should look beyond the marketing and hype and try to understand it for what it is, not how it is sold to the public.
