Mixed martial arts: origins and benefits



Those that today we call mixed martial arts or MMA are a combat port with very specific rules and characteristics, in which two contenders face each other, generally inside an octagonal cage, in a fight that includes all the phases of a fight: long distance kicks, fists, elbows and knees from a short distance; projections and knockdowns from short distance; and finally submissions and blows also on the ground.

In the early years of the last century a series of tournaments (sometimes not always legal) began to establish which martial art was actually the most effective.

These "interstile" tournaments soon became the infamous " Valetudo " (everything is valid), which in turn inspired the first American tournaments in the cage, where the athletes would have to wear regulation gloves, mouthguard and protective shell.

Evolution of mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts have played a very important role in the evolution of all classical martial arts; through these realistic comparisons, however crude, anyone could realize how much some martial arts had closed and convoluted, excluding fighting from training and losing practical effectiveness.

Many oriental martial arts have been shown to be disconnected from the reality of combat and only some of them such as Judo, Ju Jitsu, Muay Thai and, to a lesser extent, Karate and Kung Fu Sanda have proved effective .

Kickboxing, fighting, boxing, sambo and the nascent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instead stood out among the Western disciplines .

Another important contribution was to show how insufficiently specialized a single type of art was : the boxers didn't know how to protect themselves from kicking or how to behave on the ground, while the fighting disciplines were often embarrassing at the time of fighting with punches and kicks.

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Reality and perception of the cage in mixed martial arts

The first thing that negatively struck the unprepared public was undoubtedly the cage in which the two athletes challenge each other. The inexperienced eye sees in it a negative element, which reduces man to an animal and martial art to a sort of cockfight, but reality is very far from this perception : the cage is the best possible protection for the athletes .

Anticipating and fighting on the ground, a simple ring is insufficient to protect athletes from dangerous falls outside the rectangle. The octagonal shape provides freedom of movement without closed corners and the net ensures the possibility of pushing the opponent safely.

Sometimes the meetings appear brutal, but the dynamics of the KOs is the same as in other sports such as boxing, karate or judo.

Benefits of martial arts

Outside the professional circuits, a great amateur movement has begun to develop all over the world, including Italy. The practice of mixed martial arts brings great benefits to the physical : not only the study of techniques but a constant physical preparation helps the body to stay healthy and develop in a healthy and graceful way.

Many types of strength, endurance, breathing and different muscles must be trained to be a complete martial artist and so such a varied workout is often better than one that is too repetitive and specialized.

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Useful tips

It is important to ensure the professionalism of courses, gyms, teachers and federations: many people tend to improvise "Masters of MMA" trying to ride the wave of fashion.

Ask around, search online, read the resumes. MMAs are also perfect for women and children, don't be afraid to try them.

Martial arts: which ones to choose?

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