In my personal growth as a martial artist, coach, instructor, and fighter it has become obvious to me that maybe the lines between martial artist and MMA fighter are becoming more and more skewed. It's hard to tell if MMA fighters believe in their specific martial arts backgrounds or if they even care anymore. I mean the martial arts that people are practicing in order to fight in MMA competition are supposed to have a pureness and honesty and yet these "high level strikers" and world class grapplers" are all cutting 20 to sometimes 30 pounds. So are they really as good as themselves, the promotion,or the announcers claim? I don't know, what I do know is that little Thai guys that are fighting guys from all over the world aren't cutting weight to compete in one of the most dangerous sports on the planet that happens to include a clinching game with bigger guys.. I'm pretty sure Master Helio Gracie wasn't cutting weight to compete in serious Jiu Jitsu fights with men that dwarfed him in size(that goes for Royce as well). I understand that's the game now, however while everyone is studying their respective martial arts diligently I contend that because of the ridiculous amount of calling each other out, posturing, and weight cutting to be the bigger guy that the martial arts aspect in MMA is becoming watered down and tainted.
Maybe it should just be called cage fighting instead... I mean K-1 kickboxing is not running around calling itself Muay Thai though Thai fighters compete in it. The only thing keeping the martial arts alive are the guys at the end of their careers that are the best in the world. Anderson Silva, George St. Pierre, and Lyoto Machida will still wear their Gi's into the cage. I really haven't seen the newer generation participating in keeping the Martial Arts culture alive other than a bow here and there. I love MMA so lets not get it twisted the shows are exciting and guys for the most part aren't afraid to throw down. I'm just not sure if guys are getting it, where's the real spirit? There seems to be a lack of humility and honest respect for the arts or each other. I happened upon a conversation on FB in which a bunch of amateur MMA fighters at least one coach and a few friends are threatening each other, discussing whether or not they had criminal records, questioning each others training abilities without any care of whether or not people are listening or reading the conversation. Yes, these are the same guys teaching the after school programs to your kids, how to choke out your opponent, throw a liver kick, break an arm, etc... Where though is the respect and discipline? My first Karate instructor would have privately handled me for any disrespect of anyone. I can say without any reasonable doubt that he would have simply driven to any other instructors school and had a conversation about respect instead of going back and forth threatening to whoop anyone's ass. If you cut more than about 12 pounds through the process of training naturally then maybe you're not the badass you thought you were. Anyway, the new wave of MMA is here and the old ways of Martial Arts is quickly finding it's way out. I've always said I was a purest and I am proud of it. I can definitely understand what MMA is but more and more it's becoming less Martial Artists and more fighters.
In my personal growth as a martial artist, coach, instructor, and fighter it has become obvious to me that maybe the lines between martial artist and MMA fighter are becoming more and more skewed. It's hard to tell if MMA fighters believe in their specific martial arts backgrounds or if they even care anymore. I mean the martial arts that people are practicing in order to fight in MMA competition are supposed to have a pureness and honesty and yet these "high level strikers" and world class grapplers" are all cutting 20 to sometimes 30 pounds. So are they really as good as themselves, the promotion,or the announcers claim? I don't know, what I do know is that little Thai guys that are fighting guys from all over the world aren't cutting weight to compete in one of the most dangerous sports on the planet that happens to include a clinching game with bigger guys.. I'm pretty sure Master Helio Gracie wasn't cutting weight to compete in serious Jiu Jitsu fights with men that dwarfed him in size(that goes for Royce as well). I understand that's the game now, however while everyone is studying their respective martial arts diligently I contend that because of the ridiculous amount of calling each other out, posturing, and weight cutting to be the bigger guy that the martial arts aspect in MMA is becoming watered down and tainted.
Maybe it should just be called cage fighting instead... I mean K-1 kickboxing is not running around calling itself Muay Thai though Thai fighters compete in it. The only thing keeping the martial arts alive are the guys at the end of their careers that are the best in the world. Anderson Silva, George St. Pierre, and Lyoto Machida will still wear their Gi's into the cage. I really haven't seen the newer generation participating in keeping the Martial Arts culture alive other than a bow here and there. I love MMA so lets not get it twisted the shows are exciting and guys for the most part aren't afraid to throw down. I'm just not sure if guys are getting it, where's the real spirit? There seems to be a lack of humility and honest respect for the arts or each other. I happened upon a conversation on FB in which a bunch of amateur MMA fighters at least one coach and a few friends are threatening each other, discussing whether or not they had criminal records, questioning each others training abilities without any care of whether or not people are listening or reading the conversation. Yes, these are the same guys teaching the after school programs to your kids, how to choke out your opponent, throw a liver kick, break an arm, etc... Where though is the respect and discipline? My first Karate instructor would have privately handled me for any disrespect of anyone. I can say without any reasonable doubt that he would have simply driven to any other instructors school and had a conversation about respect instead of going back and forth threatening to whoop anyone's ass. If you cut more than about 12 pounds through the process of training naturally then maybe you're not the badass you thought you were. Anyway, the new wave of MMA is here and the old ways of Martial Arts is quickly finding it's way out. I've always said I was a purest and I am proud of it. I can definitely understand what MMA is but more and more it's becoming less Martial Artists and more fighters.
