MK Boxing Gym, Billerica MA, USA
Menu
Menu
For people who hear about MMA for the first time may think that it is a just a new kind of sports. But it is not. MMA has a long history. Fighters that practice fighting techniques have been testing their skills against one another likely before history even began to be recorded.
The history of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) dates back to the *Olympics of anchttp://www.mkboxing.com/admin/plugin/mediaient Greece. Mixed Martial Arts fights originated as hand-to-hand combat performed as a sport called pankration, from the Greek words pan and kratos, meaning “all powers.” Still, Greek Pankration, a fighting event that became a part of the Olympic Games in 648 B.C., is the first documented full contact, few rules combat competition in history. Pankration events were known for their brutality. Pankration was a popular event, and the competitors became heroes and the subjects of legends.
The teachings of ancient Greek pankration spread to India thanks to Alexander the Great and his habit of recruiting athletes as soldiers because of their strength and combat knowledge. A Buddhist monk traveling through India picked up on aspects of pankration and brought that knowledge to China, where it birthed Asian martial arts such as kung fu, judo, and karate.
As people branched into new lands, they took these arts and built on them, often creating a new style or form of martial art. For example, an expert in judo traveled the globe and ended up in Brazil to spread his teachings, an act that gave birth to the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
There have been many examples of full combat fights designed to measure one style against another. One of the more notable occurred in 1887 when then heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan took on Greco-Roman wrestling champion William Muldoon. Muldoon reportedly slammed his adversary to the canvas in just a couple of minutes. Reinforcing this, many other reported matches between famous strikers and grapplers also took place in and around this time, with grapplers often demonstrating a significant advantage over their striking or stand up fighting counterparts.
Interestingly, MMA style competitions also sprouted up in England in the late 1800’s via Bartitsu events. Bartitsu pitted Asian and European fighting styles against one another. The inclusion of the Asian fighting styles made them somewhat unique for the time period.
In the early 1900’s, full contact combat with mixed styles began happening in a variety of places.
However, there were two spots that were perhaps more noticeable and noteworthy. First, there was valetudo in Brazil, which began in the early 1920’s. The history behind this is noteworthy enough when it comes to MMA to go into it further.
In 1914, a Kodokan Judo master by the name of Mitsuyo Maeda taught Brazil’s Carlos Gracie (Gastao Gracie’s son) the art of judo in appreciation of his father’s help with business in the country. This was an amazing turn of events as the Japanese tended to hide jujutsu and judo from the western world. From there, Carlos’s youngest and smallest brother Helio, refined the art that had been taught to Carlos into one that used less strength and more leverage in order to suit his more diminutive frame.
What came of this was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a grappling art that taught practitioners how to utilize joint locks and choke holds to their advantage on the ground. In addition, one of Helio’s major accomplishments was in refining how fighters could compete from their backs utilizing a technique called the guard.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu performers did exceptionally well in mixed style valetudo matches in Brazil, one of which was Helio Gracie.
In addition, there were mixed martial arts matches being put on by Antonio Inoki in Japan in the 1970’s. One of these took place between Inoki himself and famed heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali on June 25, 1976. In reality, it appears that this 15 round draw, which netted Ali six million dollars and Inoki two million dollars, was staged. Further, several rules were put into place to help Ali just before the fight went off (including a rule that only allowed Inoki to kick if one of his knees were down). However, the match certainly generated a lot of interest in mixed style competitions.
Eventually, all of this led to the first UFC event in 1993. Modern Day Mixed Martial Arts is Born Via the UFC.
History had forgotten that wrestlers had done very well in past mixed martial arts matches. Besides, much had changed. Further, the mainstream United States had almost no idea whatsoever about the Gracie’s vale tudo exploits in Brazil. Which led to the following age-old question: which martial arts style was most effective?
That was the question that the original UFC competition and founders Art Davie, Robert Meyrowitz, and Helio Gracie’s son, Rorion, set out to answer on November 12, 1993.
The event, which pitted eight fighters against one another in a single elimination, one day tournament, was seen on pay per view and came to the masses live from the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado.
The tournament had few rules (including no decisions, time limits, or weight classes) and fighters in it with a variety of martial arts backgrounds.
Brazilian Jiu-Jisu (Royce Gracie, son of Helio), Karate (Zane Frazier), shootfighting (Ken Shamrock), Sumo (Telia Tuli), Savate (Gerard Gordeau), kickboxing (Kevin Rosier and Patrick Smith), and professional boxing (Art Jimmerson) were all represented. In sum, the event ended up showcasing Gracie Jiu Jitsu, as Royce defeated three fighters via submission in less than five minutes combined to take home victory. A total of 86,592 spectators witnessed his dominance via pay per view. In fact, the 170 pound Gracie won three of the first four UFC tournaments, proving in the eyes of many that his style of fighting was king.
Though the UFC is still by far the gold standard organization when it comes to the sport of MMA, there are many other organizations out there. Some of the more popular are Affliction, Strikeforce, and the WEC. Further, MMA is seen on television regularly and enjoys excellent pay per view buy numbers, especially via the UFC.
