The art of defending oneself is one of the best forms of art. You must have heard about martial arts, but do you know what is mixed martial arts? Well, if not, no worries, because today, along with it, you will get to know about mixed martial arts training, the best mixed martial arts, and types of mixed martial arts.
1. What is Martial Art?
It is a tradition of combat and a codified system. Martial arts can be armed and unarmed, but they can also be practiced for other reasons, like health, spirituality, or combat. (See What is the Best Martial Art?)
2. Why do people practice Martial Arts?
Martial arts can be practiced for various reasons, like, self-defense, law enforcement, development (physical, mental, and spiritual), military, competitions, entertainment, or to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of the nation. (See How Long does the Super Bowl last?)
3. What is Mixed Martial Arts?
A full-contact combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and striking including fighting techniques from various combats around the world, is known as mixed martial arts (MMA). It is also known as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting. (See How to Use a Hula Hoop?)
4. Which events laid the foundation of Mixed Martial Arts?
During the 1920s, several competitions were held on professional and street levels. These competitions involved people and combat forms from different parts of the world. The Japanese professional wrestling circuit, rooftop fights in street fighting the culture of Hong Kong, Brazilian Jiujitsu, and vale tudo events led to the popularity of the mixed usage of combat forms. (See When was the Unicycle Invented?)
5. When was the term MMA originated?
Howard Rosenberg, an American television critic, wrote a review on Ultimate Fighting Championship 1 (UFC) in 1993. In his review, he mentioned the name Mixed Martial Arts, which became the first-ever documented use of this term. (See How to Throw a Curveball?)
6. Who regulates Mixed Martial Arts?
The various competitions are organized by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF). It was founded on 29-February-2012 and is registered as a non-profit organization under Swedish Law. (See How many Rings does Tom Brady have?)
7. What are the Rules of Mixed Martial Arts Training?
The competition is bound by fewer rules because it incorporates different styles of combat and each style has different moves and manners to fight. In the process of understanding what is mixed martial arts, you need to understand the rules incorporated into the competition to safeguard the competitors are as follows.
- The weight class is for the proper pairing of competitors.
- Small open-fingered gloves protect fists and enable the fighter to strike and grapple.
- Time limits are important.
- The stand-up rule has to be considered. (See Why is Quantitative Research Important?)
8. What should MMA fighters wear?
To prevent any misuse of clothing to win the fight, management has set up a dress code. Male fighters have to wear shorts and have to be bare-chested. Female fighters will also wear shorts paired with a sports bra or snug-fitting tops. A mouth guard is mandatory for each fighter. (See What is a Baseball Made of?)
9. What are the basic Techniques?
Striking and grappling are the two techniques used in mixed martial arts. Striking techniques involve elbows, kicks, knees, and punches. Clinch holds, pinning holds, submission holds, sweeps, takedowns, and throws are involved in grappling. (See How do you Play Lacrosse?)
10. What are the Different Types of Mixed Martial Arts?
Traditionally, mixed martial arts are categorized based on the discipline they follow. Popular disciplines followed by the different combats are as follows:
- Clinch discipline is followed in Judo, Catch Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, Luta Livre, Sambo, and Muay Thai.
- Ground discipline is followed by Brazilian Jiujitsu, Catch wrestling, Judo, Luta Livre, Sambo, and submission wrestling.
- The Stand-up discipline involves Boxing, Capoeira, Combat Sambo, Kickboxing, Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Sanda, Savate, and Wushu. (See What is Marathon Distance?)
11. Which are the top 5 best mixed martial arts?
Further, in your journey to know what is mixed martial arts, are, take a look at the best forms of martial arts. Though there are various forms of combat, including mixed martial arts, here I have mentioned the Top 5.
A. Boxing
Most fighters are trained in basic boxing, but it is considered one of the best martial arts in mixed martial arts. Here is the list of fighters skilled in boxing and also a champion of mixed martial arts.
- Strike force Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez,
- UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz,
- UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos,
- UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, and
- UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. (See How Long is a Typical NFL Game?)
B. Brazilian Jiujitsu
While discussing what is mixed martial arts, note that it is considered the basis of mixed martial arts. Jiujitsu is better than wrestling because a fighter skilled at wrestling has more chances to lose than a fighter adapting to jiujitsu. This assumption is based on the fact that most winners of mixed martial arts have a belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Take a look at the Brazilian Jiujitsu champions.
- Anderson Silva,
- Bellator Bantamweight Champion Eduardo Dantas,
- Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran,
- Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren,
- Georges St. Pierre,
- Gilbert Melendez,
- Strike force Light Heavyweight Champion Luke Rockhold,
- UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz,
- UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo,
- UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos, and
- UFC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson. (See What is a Slam Dunk?)
C. Judo
This form of fighting involves getting the opponent on the ground and locking in him there. Furthermore, in what is mixed martial arts, techniques like judo hip tosses and judoka masters are used to perform such moves. Champions using judo in mixed martial arts are as follows:
- Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Christian M’pumbu,
- Strike force Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, and
- UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. (See Best Football Cards to Invest in)
D. Kung Fu or Karate
Fighters with these combat styles have remarkably accurate strikes in comparison to other styles. Various fighters use this form of martial art and below is the list of champions using kung fu or karate in mixed martial arts.
- Anderson Silva: Taekwondo,
- Ben Henderson: Taekwondo,
- Georges St. Pierre: Kyokushin, and Gaidojutsu. (See What to Cosplay for Beginners?)
E. Wrestling
It is often said that wrestling without jiujitsu is likely to have a low winning rate in such competitions. As per the fighters, if you have great wrestling skills but lack the basics of jiujitsu, you would most like to get submitted. Here is the list of champions, probably with both skills.
- Bellator Heavyweight Champion Cole Konrad,
- Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler,
- Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren,
- UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz,
- UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones,
- UFC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson, and
- UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. (See Why is NFL so popular in USA?)
12. What is the Fighter’s Ranking System?
The top 250 to 500 fighters in the world are ranked in Fighter Matrix. And the top 10 fighters across the world for the current fight are termed Sherdog. Similarly, there are numerous other rankings on which the fighters and their skills are measured. Furthermore, understanding the ranking system are done based on the following criteria:
- Performances.
- Outcome of their fights.
- The level of competition they have faced. (See What’s So Super About Super Bowl Sunday?)
13. How is the Winner declared?
There are various methods to announce a winner depending upon the situation of the game.
- By the judges,
- Stoppage by the referee,
- An injury,
- Submission,
- Knockout, and
- Disqualification.
I guess now you very well know what is mixed martial arts. You also get to know about mixed martial arts training, best mixed martial arts, and types of mixed martial arts. It is time to share this information with your friends and family. (See What is a Community?)
