This blog was created to talk about the concepts of violence within the world of mixed martial arts, or mma. There are many areas that are overlooked when it comes to this or other combat sports.
Just in case it is unclear, mixed martial arts is a chance for people to train in multiple martial arts and compete against one another. These forms can include boxing, wrestling, judo, muay thai, karate, and several others. It is arguably the fastest growing sport in the United States with amateur leagues as well as professional ones sprouting up all over the country, the most noted of course being the UFC. The level of competition seems to be never ending when fighters from all around the world come to compete for their chance to win the title of world champion.
The Webster definition of violence is: “1, Acting with, or characterized by, strong physical force. 2, vehement; passionate; furious.” No one will disagree with the statement that mma is physically characterized as violent. It in fact seems to be the perfect example for part one of the Webster definition. However, physical violence is but one part of the game. There is also an emotional side, and there are many who would disagree with the notion that all fighters are "furious" or "vehement". Do fighters competitors compete because they are violent people, or just for the thrill of the game? Many would say that the sport is pure competition, like a high intensity chess game.
I am looking forward to digging deeper into the subject and finding both the violent and non – violent areas in the world of mixed martial arts.
Being a big fan of MMA I really like the topic. There are plenty of competitors I believe that are violently aggressive people but on the other end you have the incredibly disciplined fighters. There's a common trend I see in fighters who are known as brawlers as being the more violent ones and then you have the more disciplined martial artists who have more respect for the fight. I look forward to seeing how you differentiate the two.
ReplyDelete- John Sawyer