Extreme Sports

Rita M. Reali asked:


A lot can change in 2,650 years. Apparently, though, when it comes to sports, everything old is new again. At least when it comes to the sport that boasts the fastest-growing popularity in the U.S. today: Mixed Martial Arts.

But whether you call it Mixed Martial Arts or Ultimate Fighting, this sport is far from modern. Combining Greco-Roman wrestling with a variety of martial arts techniques, the sport closely resembles the free-form ancient Greek competitive sport of pankration.

Dating back to 648 B.C., when it was introduced into the Olympics, the sport of pankration was bound by two rules: no eye gouging and no biting. Sounds like the rules my Kindergarten teacher established. Beyond that, though, anything was fair game in this competition, whose name comes from two Greek words: pan, meaning “all”; and kratos, meaning “powers.”

With individual matches often lasting hours (and sometimes resulting in the death of one or both combatants), the game quickly became the most popular Olympic sport.

Its popularity declined at the time of the rise of the Roman Empire, when other combat sports began taking precedence. In the modern Western World, boxing and wrestling grew in popularity while in the East, traditional martial arts flourished.

Flash forward to the 1900s. Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Carlos Gracie, who was trained in judo by renowned Japanese champion Mitsuyo Maeda, began teaching his four brothers the art as it was taught to him. In 1925, Carlos and younger brother Helio moved to Rio de Janeiro, where they opened a jiu-jitsu studio and instituted the “Gracie Challenge,” taking on all who wished to compete against them. Begun as a means of drawing attention to their newly opened academy, the Gracie Challenge drew fighters in disciplines ranging from karate and other martial arts to boxing, capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian fighting form) and even wrestling.

Prospective fighters – and hordes of spectators – began to flock to these matches; before long, they were drawing such enormous crowds, the matches had to be held in the largest Brazilian soccer arenas. Eventually, the sport (known as vale-tudo, the Portuguese term for “anything goes”) had grown to become the second most popular sport in Brazil, right behind soccer (a status that is still maintained today).

From 1935 to 1951, 135-pound Helio Gracie fought and defeated in excess of 1,000 competitors in this unarmed combat form; many of his opponents outweighed him by more than 100 pounds.

In 1993, MMA took on a new dimension with the institution of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, based on Brazilian vale-tudo (which California salesman Art Davie learned from Helio’s son Rorito in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school two years earlier).

Derided as “human cockfighting,” the no-holds-barred fighting style was often said to be more brutality than sporting competition. Today, MMA and UFC are growing in popularity, with UFC expanding beyond its early pay-per-view audiences and gaining greater exposure on regular U.S. and Canadian cable television.

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Earing Holders

Kimberly Green asked:


It’s easy to see where boxing leaves off and Mixed Martial Arts begins. Just one look at the UFC octagon, steel cage and frantic crowds and you instantly know that MMA is a world apart from the boxing your grandfather once told you about.  This is the world where different combat styles pit themselves against the rest to determine which one remains supreme. It’s a brutal sport where the will to fight has always been bigger than the will to bring home a dollar. The athletes that put themselves into the cage have a pride that has long been lost in the world of professional boxing.

It hasn’t always been that way. In MMA’s yesteryear the fighting that took place has been noted as human cockfighting by prominent government officials such as John McCain. It went from very few states offering sanctioned fights to no states offering sanctioned fights. Mixed Martial Arts rose to prominence in the underground fight leagues and it seemingly died right there.  No one, not even the original owners of the UFC thought Mixed Martial Arts had the ability to survive mounting scrutiny of congress and the overwhelming dislike by state officials. It seemed as though Mixed Martial Arts had died a premature death.

In 2001 under new ownership and with Dana White as their outspoken and fight ready leader it made a quick and triumphant return to the main stage with stricter fight rules, pay per views, electric competitions and a show called “Ultimate Fighter.” This all proved to be a lethal combination that led the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts back to the limelight that it briefly shared with professional boxing.

With the explosion of the Ultimate Fighter the UFC was able to reach a new audience that has boosted sales of pay per views, MMA Fighter Gear, apparel and ticket sales. The show has helped to breed some of the most entertaining and efficient fighters in Mixed Martial Arts history. With fans running rabid to get a hold of merchandise sold by Tap Out: a company built on the back of Mixed Martial Arts, the UFC has been able to build long lasting business relationships that has helped them with putting their stamp on the world of fighting. It is no wonder that pay per view sales have surpassed that of professional boxing. They also hold their own against the pay per view sales of long established professional wrestling, most notably, World Wrestling Entertainment.

With a firm foothold in the 18-35 demographic there is no indication that the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts will fizzle out like it did in its previous incarnation. As the fighters are strong and ready to fight at a moments notice, the leadership behind the sport is equally as hungry to remain on top of the world of fighting.



Heavy Training Bags – Punching Bags

Kimberly Green asked:


It’s easy to see where boxing leaves off and Mixed Martial Arts begins. Just one look at the UFC octagon, steel cage and frantic crowds and you instantly know that MMA is a world apart from the boxing your grandfather once told you about.  This is the world where different combat styles pit themselves against the rest to determine which one remains supreme. It’s a brutal sport where the will to fight has always been bigger than the will to bring home a dollar. The athletes that put themselves into the cage have a pride that has long been lost in the world of professional boxing.

It hasn’t always been that way. In MMA’s yesteryear the fighting that took place has been noted as human cockfighting by prominent government officials such as John McCain. It went from very few states offering sanctioned fights to no states offering sanctioned fights. Mixed Martial Arts rose to prominence in the underground fight leagues and it seemingly died right there.  No one, not even the original owners of the UFC thought Mixed Martial Arts had the ability to survive mounting scrutiny of congress and the overwhelming dislike by state officials. It seemed as though Mixed Martial Arts had died a premature death.

In 2001 under new ownership and with Dana White as their outspoken and fight ready leader it made a quick and triumphant return to the main stage with stricter fight rules, pay per views, electric competitions and a show called “Ultimate Fighter.” This all proved to be a lethal combination that led the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts back to the limelight that it briefly shared with professional boxing.

With the explosion of the Ultimate Fighter the UFC was able to reach a new audience that has boosted sales of pay per views, MMA Fighter Gear, apparel and ticket sales. The show has helped to breed some of the most entertaining and efficient fighters in Mixed Martial Arts history. With fans running rabid to get a hold of merchandise sold by Tap Out: a company built on the back of Mixed Martial Arts, the UFC has been able to build long lasting business relationships that has helped them with putting their stamp on the world of fighting. It is no wonder that pay per view sales have surpassed that of professional boxing. They also hold their own against the pay per view sales of long established professional wrestling, most notably, World Wrestling Entertainment.

With a firm foothold in the 18-35 demographic there is no indication that the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts will fizzle out like it did in its previous incarnation. As the fighters are strong and ready to fight at a moments notice, the leadership behind the sport is equally as hungry to remain on top of the world of fighting.



Custom T-Shirts

Phoenix Delray asked:


Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, combines many different fighting techniques, including grappling and striking, and high performance standards, particularly in the often intense, and very popular MMA tournaments. The first tournaments came about as a result of the 1993 Ultimate Fighting Championship, which matched different fighting styles in a competition where the rules were minimal and the goal was to find the best fighters in the world. The success of this mixed martial arts combat style led to the development and implementation of rules designed to keep athletes safe and deflect early criticism of the sport while still holding on to the original concept of the UFC as much as possible. The modern MMA tournaments have their roots in the Vale tudo martial arts tournaments held in Brazil by the Gracie family beginning in the 1920s, and the preliminary martial arts tournaments hosted in Japan by Antonio Inoki in the early 1970s.

There are several different competition techniques, including striking techniques, like kicks, punches, and knees, and grappling techniques, like pinning holds, submission holds, clinch holds, takedowns, throws and sweeps. The permissibility and legality of certain other techniques like head butts, spinal locks, and elbows vary according to the specific organization and sponsored competition. Although many critics have attempted to portray the MMA fighting style as violent and brutal, there has never been a death or crippling injury in any sanctioned MMA event in North America. The U.S. state athletic and boxing committee regulates the MMA, requiring participants and sponsors to adhere to a set of officially sanctioned rules and regulations, which include rules for knockout, submission, technical knockout, the ten point system, disqualification, and no contest. Common fouls include clawing, twisting and pinching flesh, small joint manipulation, attacking an opponent from or on the break in the care of an official, attacking the groin or trachea, fish-hooking, biting, and hair pulling, spitting, use of abusive language, and other similar acts.

The MMA continues to grow in popularity and reputation, as athletes associated with the sport have also gained reputation and renown, as well as successful careers and endorsement deals. With mainstream acceptance, worldwide acclaim, and an every growing fan base, what started as an abstract concept has become an established sport and a successful platform from which many athletic careers have been launched. The future of the MMA appears to be bright, and the popularity of the sport even more so.



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