mixed martial arts(also MMA - from the English. Mixed Martial Arts) - martial arts (often incorrectly called "fights without rules"), which are a combination of many techniques, schools and martial arts. MMA...

is a full contact combat using percussion technique and wrestling both in the stand (clinch) and on the floor (ground floor). The term "Mixed Martial Arts" was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of Battlecade, one of the early MMA organizations and subsequently found steady use in non-English speaking countries.

The origins of MMA go back to BC: even the ancient Greeks at the first Olympic Games competed in pankration, but until the 1990s, MMA could not boast of significant popularity in the world. Only with the formation and development of such organizations as the "Ultimate Fighting Championship" (English "Absolute Fighting Championship"), "Pride Fighting Championships" (English Fighting Championship "Pride"), etc., the popularity of MMA has increased dramatically, which was also facilitated by entertainment fall professional boxing.

Pankration is the oldest unarmed fighting style reminiscent of modern MMA. The ancient Greeks introduced this discipline to the Olympic Games in 648 BC. The Greek pankration then transformed into the more cruel Etruscan and ancient Roman "pankratium". Fights in this style were demonstrated in the Colosseum, and statues of outstanding fighters were subsequently installed in Rome and other Italian cities.

Some public displays of combat took place at the end of the 19th century. They represented various styles of wrestling, including jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and other styles. Mixed-style competitions (for example, boxer versus wrestler) were very popular in Europe and many countries of the Far East at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In England, even a martial art called bartitsu arose, combining European and Asian teachings. The mention of bartitsu, in particular, is found in the famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who attributed the possession of "deadly baritsu wrestling" to his anti-hero - Professor Moriarty. Moriarty uses his knowledge in this area in a hand-to-hand fight against Sherlock Holmes, a representative of the English boxing school, on the edge of the Reichenbach Falls.

After the First World War, wrestling revived in two main streams. The first - it was a real competition, called "shootwrestling" (English shootwrestling); in the second case, the fights turned into choreographed shows that eventually led to professional wrestling, now popular in many countries, in particular the United States, Japan and Mexico.

In the late 60s, the concept of combining elements of different martial arts was popularized by Bruce Lee. The philosophy developed by Bruce Lee was called Jeet Kune Do, and one of its main principles was the ability of a fighter to successfully adapt to any style. Lee's teachings and especially his films have influenced MMA to such an extent that in 2004 UFC President Dana White called Lee "the father of MMA". It should also be noted that, in addition to Jeet Kune Do, from more ancient times in Japan there were already mixed martial arts, such as kaju kembo and Goju Ryu karate.

The ancestor of MMA also existed in the USSR: it was sambo - a system developed in 1938 as a result of the synthesis of many types of martial arts, thanks to order No. 633 "On the development of freestyle wrestling." Of all the sports martial arts that exist today, Sambo most closely resembles MMA in terms of the arsenal of techniques used. Here it is necessary to clarify that sambo is divided into two main areas: sports and combat. If in the first case the main task is to demonstrate the throwing technique or the technique of painful holds, then combat sambo is much closer to MMA in its essence, since the fighter’s ability to most effectively and quickly deprive the enemy of the opportunity to resist is of paramount importance in it. Partially in connection with this, the combat section of sambo until 1991 was available only to law enforcement agencies.

In addition, in the armed forces of the USSR, since 1979, ARB competitions have been held, the rules of which are very similar to the rules of mixed martial arts.

Modern MMA

Modern mixed martial arts has its roots in two events: vale tudo competitions in Brazil and Japanese shoot wrestling. Vale Tudo has its origins in the third decade of the 20th century, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu representatives Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie invited anyone to compete with them in wrestling. This was the so-called "Gracie Challenge", which was later supported by Gracie's descendants.

In Japan in the 70s of the XX century, professional wrestler Kanji "Antonio" Inoki (Japanese: 猪木寛至), organized a number of fights according to mixed rules. In particular, on June 26, 1976, Inoki met with the famous boxer Mohammed Ali. Initially, the fight was planned according to mixed rules in the full sense, however, two days later, a restriction was introduced that significantly affected the outcome of the meeting: Inoki was allowed to kick only if he stood with one knee on the floor. As a result, Ali landed six punches, and Inoki spent almost the entire fight on the floor, keeping Ali away from him with low kicks. The fight ended in a draw, although the damage to Ali's legs nearly jeopardized his boxing career. As a result of the unspectacular fight, the opinion spread that fights under mixed rules are impossible due to the lack of adaptation of the rules, and for a long time they were not carried out. However, Inoki continued to organize mixed martial arts from time to time, which did not receive wide recognition, however, it was they who in 1986 led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organization, known as "Shuto" (English Shooto). Inoki himself had nothing to do with Shuto: the organization was founded by his former “colleague in the wrestling ring” - Satoru Sayama.

Fight under the rules of MMA under the auspices of the UFC in 2010.

In the future, the fate of MMA developed in different countries in different ways. In the United States, MMA's popularity began to rise in 1993, when California businessman Art Davey and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school principal Rorion Gracie organized the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held in Denver, Colorado. Tournament of eight participants, which had prize fund for the $50,000 winner, included representatives from boxing, savate, sumo, karate, and wrestling. To the surprise of the 2,800 spectators present in the hall, and another 86,000 who bought paid broadcast on cable television, the Brazilian athlete Royce Gracie became the winner of the tournament, significantly inferior to all his opponents in height and weight and won thanks to suffocating and painful techniques, little known at that time. Subsequently, Gracie won two more UFC tournaments, thus widely popularizing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - one of the key components in the preparation of many MMA fighters in our time.

In Japan, in 1997, interest in mixed martial arts led to the creation of a large MMA organization, the Pride Fighting Championships. As the sport developed, other organizations began to appear: Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator, Bodog, Affliction, WEC, Dream, M-1 Global, however, in the face of fierce competition, some of them collapsed, while others were forced to be content with a small popularity and relatively low level of fighters.

In Russia and the CIS countries, due to the collapse of the USSR, the development of MMA was more chaotic and mainly manifested itself in the form of individual tournaments or simply fights without tournament bracket which started in the mid-1990s. Due to the lack of structures governing the rules, medical support and conditions for the fights, the level of competition depended solely on the willingness of sponsors to invest in fights, which often led to fights being held in inadequate conditions. A significant improvement was noted with the appearance in Russia of the Japanese organization RINGS, where such fighters as Volk-Khan, Andrey Kopylov, Mikhail Ilyukhin and Nikolai Zuev have proven themselves well. RINGS also gave rise to Fedor Emelianenko, later a multiple MMA world champion according to various organizations.

To date, the development of MMA in Russia is still not moving as fast as, for example, in the United States, where interest in UFC fights increased significantly with the purchase of the promotion by Station Casinos owners, the Fertitta brothers, in 2001, and the appointment of former boxing promoter Dana White as president of the company, which led to a massive craze for the sport, even in those states where MMA at that time was officially banned (for example, New York). This is due, first of all, to changes in the rules that made the fights more spectacular, White's aggressive policy aimed at popularizing the sport (more precisely, the UFC organization itself), and the evolution of fighting equipment. In December 2006, the UFC's popularity peaked when Chuck Liddell's fight against Tito Ortiz garnered pay-TV box office equals to the highest-grossing fights in boxing history. In 2007, the Fertitta brothers bought out main rival Japanese Pride, making the UFC the biggest organization in the world of MMA and, thanks to the arrival of the best Pride fighters, was able to increase the popularity of the sport in the US even higher, as evidenced by the increase in pay-per-stream sales.

In Russia, however, the situation is radically different, mainly due to very poor funding and lack of adequate media coverage of the sport. In other countries (for example, in the USA, Japan, Korea, England, Australia, Germany, Holland, Poland, France, Spain, Brazil, Czech Republic, and many others), MMA is also a developing and very popular sport.

Despite the reputation of a "blood sport" sometimes propagated by the media, in the history of modern MMA since 1993, injuries and serious consequences after fights hundreds of times less than in professional boxing. A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University concluded that injury rates in MMA are broadly similar to those in other striking sports. However, due to the rules that allow submissions and chokes, the number of knockouts in MMA is lower than in boxing, suggesting a reduced risk of brain injury. Since in boxing there is an accented blow - the head is the liver, the head is the liver, and in MMA the fighter conducts a shock series in order (in most cases) to distract his opponent, make a pass to the legs, knock him down and hold a painful or suffocating reception.

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MMA (mixed martial arts, Fights without rules) is a sports competition in which representatives of various martial arts participate ( hand-to-hand combat, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, pankration, sambo, jiu-jitsu, boxing, muay thai, etc.). Here the fights are held in full contact with the use of a minimum of protective equipment. Thus, athletes of the same weight category converge in battle, using completely different techniques and strategies for conducting a duel.

In MMA, punches, kicks, knees, including chokes and submissions are allowed. Only those actions are prohibited that do not comply with sports etiquette and may harm the health of the participants (hit to the back of the head, groin, eyes, spine, throat, breaking fingers).

MMA is a sport with high moral principles and ethical standards of an athlete's behavior. There is a judge in the ring who monitors the observance of the moral and ethical standards of the fight by the fighters, the absence of prohibited strikes and the condition of the athletes. Here you will see uncompromising and very spectacular fights between the best athletes world that represent different kinds martial arts.

The fight is held in 2 rounds of 5 minutes each (break between rounds is 1 minute) plus an additional round of 5 minutes in case of an equal fight. (championship fights are 5 rounds of 5 minutes each).

The fight can be stopped ahead of time in case of a knockout, refusal of a second, if one of the athletes surrendered, as well as at the request of a doctor or referee.

MMA (mixed martial arts) - gives athletes the opportunity to continue doing what they love and earn money after the end of their amateur career in sports. After all, each athlete receives a sum of money for the fight, depending on his rating, the more victories, the higher the fee.

This myth was born in 1993 and then was still not far from the truth. The first UFC tournament was held under the slogan. Fighters were forbidden only the most dirty tricks, like pokes in the eyes and punches in the groin, and everything else could be done. Over the past 20 years, rules, rounds, regulatory organizations and clear refereeing have appeared here, but for dummies it is still fights without rules, although the latter are no less than in basketball. Tournament organizers also sin with such terminology, however, in Russia we are talking about very small-town tournaments.

MMA is the most dangerous sport

Ordinary people, looking at the bloodied faces of fighters, throws over themselves, kicks to the head and strikes on a lying person, are often in shock and think that all MMA fighters become mutilated and disabled at the end of their careers. However, statistics and high level security and control over the fighters show that this is not the case. Of course, there are also sad cases, like severe injuries Gary Goodridge, Jeff Monson and Ken Shamrock over long careers, but there are examples in every sport. MMA is definitely safer skiing, cycling and even sports acrobatics. Even in comparison with boxing, the statistics are on the side of MMA. There has not been a single fatality in major tournaments.

Loser fighters go to MMA

This thesis arose due to the fact that not the strongest representatives of their disciplines really fought at the first tournaments. It is believed that elite boxers, wrestlers and judoists will not go to the octagon, because it is much more expensive for them Golden medal Olympics, well, morally, not everyone is ready to receive and hit in the face. However, now the situation is changing. MMA is becoming an analogue of professional boxing for all other sports. Boxers are getting more so far, so only a few are striving for the octagon, but for Holly Holm, I’m sure others will catch up. After all, Ronda Rousey would never have become such a star if she had won at least three judo Olympics.

MMA is a clash of styles

At first it was really so, and then jiu-jitsu won, simply because this synthetic discipline is quite universal and teaches you to be ready for anything - not to get hit on the head in the rack, transfer to the ground and apply the technique there. Now basic wrestlers and boxers are coming to the fore because they have passed good school with the most powerful competition and are ready to learn elements of other disciplines. Today's MMA fighter should be able to literally everything. If you have a gap in education, then opponents will use it sooner or later. The current basic drummers make amplitude throws, and the wrestlers are sent to deep knockouts.

MMA fighters are aggressive in life

There are enough criminal chronicles with the participation of MMA fighters, however, in percentage terms, there are no more of them than in other sports. And on charges of domestic violence, fighters are inferior, for example, to hockey players. The vast majority of fighters are not aggressive in life and are aware that their fists are dangerous weapons. If it comes to the use of force, then in the case of self-defense, and some athletes prefer to avoid a fight at all costs, even if they are offended.

Mixed martial arts is a young sport. Those who saw them for the first time in childhood are now about 30, and the real boom in sports these days attracts exclusively young people. However, in reality this is not entirely true. It is the boom of our days that has expanded the boundaries of the audience around the world. Now, in dealing with foreigners, I no longer have to explain what kind of sport it is, and among its fans there are many women and old people, and with the advent of such stars as Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, MMA is becoming popular among the dark-skinned audience, which previously definitely preferred boxing .

Many fights in MMA are bought

Obviously, those who claim this are confusing MMA with wrestling. When the duel is staged or training, it is visible to the naked eye, and the one who agreed to surrender the fight for money is hardly ready to go into a deep knockout in this case. Seeing the illogical ending, the “couch experts” declare the whole fight to be fake, although a couple of minutes before the end one of the fighters was in a groggy state. It's just the easiest way to explain your big loss in the sweepstakes. Of course, there are strange fights in MMA, but there are fewer of them than in game types sports, since it will not work here to play a “negotiable”. But these strange fights (one of which recently took place in Bellator) are different from the mainstream like white crows.

MMA is an unofficial sport

Such a myth exists in Russia, where many people rank mixed martial arts lower than Olympic or any traditional sports. Sometimes it's funny when serious people who have been working in sports for more than a year try to convince you that this is not a sport. MMA has all the hallmarks of an established sport, where competition is many times higher than in many Olympic disciplines. Four years ago, the MMA Union of Russia officially received accreditation from the Ministry of Sports and is now holding all-Russian competitions all levels and organizes the preparation of national teams.

WHAT IS MMA?

mixed martial arts(Also MMA- from English. mixed Martial Arts) - martial arts (often incorrectly called "fights without rules"), which are a combination of many techniques, schools and martial arts. MMA is a full-contact fight using striking techniques and wrestling both in the stand (clinch) and on the floor (ground floor). The term "Mixed Martial Arts" was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of Battlecade, one of the early MMA organizations, and subsequently found steady use in non-English speaking countries.

The origins of MMA go back to BC: even the ancient Greeks competed in pankration at the first Olympic Games, however, until the 1990s, MMA could not boast of significant popularity in the world. Only with the formation and development of such organizations as the "Ultimate Fighting Championship" (from English - "Absolute Fighting Championship"), "Pride Fighting Championships" (Eng. Pride Fighting Championship), etc. The popularity of MMA has risen sharply, which was also facilitated by the fall in the spectacle of professional boxing.

Although early competitions had minimal rules, due to the criticism of the sport as a "carnage", promoters introduced additional restrictions to increase the safety of athletes and attract new spectators. Thanks to these efforts, modern MMA is one of the fastest growing developing species sport, as evidenced by pay-per-view sales figures, media coverage, an increase in the number of practitioners and an increase in sales of MMA-related merchandise.

ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT

Pankration is the oldest unarmed fighting style reminiscent of modern MMA. The ancient Greeks introduced this discipline to the Olympic Games in 648 BC. The Greek pankration then transformed into the more cruel Etruscan and ancient Roman "pankratium". Fights in this style were demonstrated in the Colosseum, and statues of outstanding fighters were subsequently installed in Rome and other Italian cities.

Some public displays of combat took place at the end of the 19th century. They represented various styles of wrestling, including jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and other styles. Mixed-style competitions (for example, boxer versus wrestler) were very popular in Europe and many countries of the Far East at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In England, even a martial art called bartitsu arose, combining European and Asian teachings. The mention of bartitsu (under the name "baritsu"), in particular, is found in the famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who attributed the possession of "deadly baritsu wrestling" to his anti-hero, Professor Moriarty. Moriarty uses his knowledge in this area in a hand-to-hand fight against Sherlock Holmes, a representative of the English boxing school, on the edge of the Reichenbach Falls, but Sherlock Holmes also had baritsu skills.

After the First World War, wrestling revived in two main streams. The first - it was a real competition, called "shoot wrestling" (Eng. shoot wrestling); in the second case, the fights turned into choreographed shows that eventually led to professional wrestling, now popular in many countries, in particular the United States, Japan and Mexico.

In the late 60s, the concept of combining elements of different martial arts was popularized by Bruce Lee. The philosophy developed by Bruce Lee was called Jeet Kune Do, and one of its main principles was the ability of a fighter to successfully adapt to any style. Lee's teachings and especially his films have influenced MMA to such an extent that in 2004 UFC President Dana White called Lee "the father of MMA". It should also be noted that, in addition to Jeet Kune Do, from more ancient times in Japan there were already mixed martial arts, such as kaju kembo and Goju Ryu karate.

The ancestor of MMA also existed in the USSR: it was sambo - a system developed in 1938 as a result of the synthesis of many types of martial arts, thanks to order No. 633 "On the development of freestyle wrestling." Of all the sports combat sports that exist today Sambo most closely resembles MMA in terms of the arsenal of techniques used. Here it is necessary to clarify that Sambo is divided into two main areas: sports And combat. If in the first case the main task is to demonstrate the throwing technique or the technique of painful holds, then combat sambo is much closer to MMA in its essence, since the fighter’s ability to most effectively and quickly deprive the enemy of the opportunity to resist is of paramount importance in it. Partially in connection with this, the combat section of sambo until 1991 was available only to law enforcement agencies.

In addition, in the armed forces of the USSR, since 1979, ARB competitions have been held, the rules of which are very similar to the rules of mixed martial arts.

MODERN MMA

Modern mixed martial arts has its roots in two events: vale tudo competitions in Brazil and Japanese shoot wrestling. Vale Tudo has its origins in the third decade of the 20th century, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu representatives Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie invited anyone to compete against them in wrestling. This was the so-called "Gracie Challenge", which was later supported by Gracie's descendants.

In Japan in the 70s of the XX century, professional wrestler Kanji "Antonio" Inoki (Japanese: 猪木寛至), organized a number of fights according to mixed rules. In particular, June 26, 1976 year Inoki met with the famous boxer Muhammad Ali. Initially, the fight was planned according to mixed rules in the full sense, however, two days later, a restriction was introduced that significantly affected the outcome of the meeting: Inoki was allowed to kick only if he stood with one knee on the floor. As a result, Ali landed six punches, and Inoki spent almost the entire fight on the floor, keeping Ali away from him with low kicks. The fight ended in a draw, although the damage to Ali's legs nearly jeopardized his boxing career. As a result of an unspectacular fight, the opinion spread that fights according to mixed rules are impossible due to the lack of adaptation of the rules, and for a long time they were not held. However, Inoki continued to organize mixed martial arts from time to time, which did not receive wide recognition, however, it was they who in 1986 led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organization, known as "Shuto" (Eng. shooto). Inoki himself had nothing to do with Shuto: the organization was founded by his former “colleague in the wrestling ring” Satoru Sayama.

In the future, MMA developed in different countries in different ways. In the United States, the popularity of MMA began to grow in 1993, when the Californian businessman Art Davey and the head of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school, Rorion Gracie, organized the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tournament held in Denver, Colorado. The eight-player tournament, which had a prize pool of $50,000 for the winner, included representatives from boxing, savate, sumo, karate, and wrestling. To the surprise of the 2,800 spectators present in the hall, and another 86,000 who bought paid broadcast on cable television, the Brazilian athlete Royce Gracie became the winner of the tournament, significantly inferior to all his opponents in height and weight and won thanks to suffocating and painful techniques, little known at that time. Subsequently, Gracie won two more UFC tournaments, thus widely popularizing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - one of the key components in the preparation of many MMA fighters in our time.

In Japan, in 1997, interest in mixed martial arts led to the creation of a large MMA organization - . As the sport developed, other organizations began to appear: Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator Fighting Championships, Bodog, Affliction, WEC, Dream, M-1 Global, however, in the face of fierce competition, some of them collapsed, while others were forced be content with little popularity and a relatively low level of fighters.

In Russia and the CIS countries, due to the collapse of the USSR, the development of MMA was more chaotic and mainly manifested itself in the form of individual tournaments or simply fights without a tournament grid, which began to be held from the mid-1990s. Due to the lack of structures governing the rules, medical support and conditions for the fights, the level of competition depended solely on the willingness of sponsors to invest in fights, which often led to fights being held in inadequate conditions. A significant improvement was noted with the appearance in Russia of the Japanese organization RINGS, where such fighters as Volk-Khan, Andrey Kopylov, Mikhail Ilyukhin and Nikolai Zuev have proven themselves well. RINGS also gave rise to Fedor Emelianenko, later a multiple MMA world champion according to various organizations.

To date, the development of MMA in Russia is still not moving as fast as For example, in the United States, where interest in UFC fights increased significantly with the purchase of the promotion by the owners of the Station Casinos chain of casinos, the Fertitta brothers, in 2001, and the appointment of former boxing promoter Dana White to the role of president of the company, which led to a massive passion for sports , even in those states where MMA was officially banned at that time (for example, New York). This is due, first of all, to changes in the rules that made the fights more spectacular, White's aggressive policy aimed at popularizing the sport (more precisely, the UFC organization itself), and the evolution of fighting equipment. In December 2006, the UFC's popularity peaked when Chuck Liddell's fight against Tito Ortiz garnered pay-TV box office equals to the highest-grossing fights in boxing history. In 2007, the Fertitta brothers bought out main rival Japanese Pride, making the UFC the biggest organization in the world of MMA and, thanks to the arrival of the best Pride fighters, was able to increase the popularity of the sport in the US even higher, as evidenced by the increase in pay-per-stream sales.

In Russia, however, the situation is radically different, mainly due to the lack of adequate media coverage of the sport and the still prevailing perception among a large part of the population that MMA is a "blood sport". Sports are also not funded by the state and have no development program, as a result of which the evolution takes place at the expense of a few enthusiasts.

On September 26, 2012, the commission of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation officially recognized MMA as an independent sport.

In other countries (eg England, Australia and Germany) MMA is also a growing sport, while in France MMA is banned.

RULES

The rules of modern MMA have undergone significant changes since the first fights in vale tudo, shoot wrestling and UFC 1, and even greater changes since pankration. With the development of techniques and numerous improvements in processes physical training, it became clear that the overly loose rules needed to be changed. The main motivating factors were the need to protect the health of the fighters and the desire to get rid of the stereotype of "human cockfighting", characteristic of the early 1990s. This perception hindered the development of the sport, and the promoters were forced to change the rules to softer ones. The new rules included division into weight categories, the use of special gloves, additional restrictions on allowed moves and time limits for fights.

Due to the spread of knowledge of the technique of techniques, the difference in weight has become a significant factor. There are nine weight classes in today's MMA (slight differences in weights may be allowed depending on the country and the specific organization):

WEIGHT, KG)	NAME OF CATEGORY	ENGLISH CATEGORY NAME	NOTES
from 120.2	Heavyweight	super heavyweight
93 - 120,2	Heavy weight	heavyweight
83,9 - 93	light heavyweight	Lightweight
77,1 - 83,9	Average weight	Middleweight
70,3 - 77,1	Welterweight	Welterweight
65,8 - 70,3	A light weight	lightweight
61,2 - 65,8	Feather-weight	Featherweight	Some organizations do not have this weight category
56,7 - 61,2	Bantamweight	bantamweight	Some organizations do not have this weight category
up to 56.7	Flyweight	Flyweight	Some organizations do not have this weight category

Protection

Instead of boxing gloves MMA uses open-fingered pads. Compared to boxing gloves, MMA rubbers are much thinner, with pros using 4oz gloves and amateurs using 6oz gloves. Overlays were introduced to protect the fists, reduce the number of cuts and the associated stoppages of fights. In addition, pads to some extent increase the spectacle of fights, as they encourage fighters to use striking techniques.

Restrictions

A time limit was also introduced to avoid long fights during which the fighters save energy. Fights with no time limit also made it difficult to broadcast on television in live. In most professional organizations, regular fights last three rounds of five minutes, while in title fights the number of rounds increases to five.

It should also be noted the difference in the fundamental approach to the rules in different countries: for example, in the USA, MMA fights are strictly regulated by the state athletic commissions, as a result of which fighters are more limited in techniques, while in Europe and Asia the rules are mostly looser. For example, in many US states, elbow strikes are prohibited in amateur MMA. Elbow strikes from top to bottom, in English language called "12-6" ("twelve-six"), are generally prohibited by many professional organizations, in particular, the UFC. Also, many organizations impose restrictions on knee strikes in the stalls: in this matter, the now defunct Japanese organization Pride Fighting Championships was the most frivolous, where it was allowed to strike knees and kicks on the head of a lying opponent (the so-called "football kicks"). The legality of such techniques as headbutts and pain on the spine (for example, “guillotine”, “crucifixion”) also varies, however, despite the differences, the techniques that are prohibited in almost all official organizations today are:

• bites,
• blows to the groin, throat, neck and spine,
• eye poke,
• grasping and manipulating small joints (e.g. fingers)
• "fish hooks" fish— hooking) (attack with fingers of unprotected places, for example, ears, mouth, nostrils with the intention of tearing tissue).

Match outcome

Competitions usually end like this:

• Voluntary Surrender(English) Submission): the fighter distinctly taps with an open palm or fingers on the mat or opponent. Verbal (verbal) surrender is also acceptable.
• Knockout(English) KO): The fighter is rendered unconscious as a result of a legal strike.
• TKO(English) TKO): stopping the fight by a third party as a result of one of the fighters losing the ability to continue the fight. Technical knockouts can be divided into three categories:
  • Stoppage of the referee Referee stoppage). The referee decides that one of the fighters cannot meaningfully defend himself and stops the fight.
  • Stop by a doctor (a doctor present near the ring decides that the continued participation of one of the fighters puts the life or health of this participant at risk. For example, injuries or heavy bleeding)
  • Stop "corner" Corner stoppage). The corner second of the fighter signals the stoppage of the fight.
• Judge's decision(English) decision). Depending on the scoring, the battle may end:
  • By unanimous decision Unanimous decision). All three judges favor fighter A.
  • By decision of the majority Majority decision). Two judges award a victory to fighter A, one judge awards a draw.
  • Separate decision Split decision). Two judges award the victory to fighter A, one judge awards the victory to fighter B.
  • Unanimous draw Draw). Three judges award a draw.
  • Draw by majority decision Majority draw) Two judges award a draw, one - a victory.
  • Separate draw (English) Split draw). One judge awards the win to fighter A, one judge awards the victory to fighter B, one judge awards a tie.

The fight may also end technical solution, disqualification, cancellation, technical draw or recognition of the fight as a no contest (eng. no contest). The last two options do not have a winner.

Cloth

MMA organizations generally require competitors to wear only shorts, thus forbidding the use of gis or kimonos. This eliminates the possibility of "jacket lapel choke" and minimizes the advantages of "undressed" fighters. Women perform in shorts and sports bras.

STRATEGY

Ground wrestling is an integral part of MMA.

In MMA, there are two main strategies for fighting: striking technique - when a fighter seeks to win with punches, elbows, knees and legs, and wrestling - when a fighter uses throws, grabs and painful / suffocating techniques. However, established martial arts are traditionally used to improve fighting abilities.

• To improve striking technique in the rack, the most popular are boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, various forms karate.
• To improve clinch fighting, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, judo and sambo are the most popular disciplines, while Muay Thai is almost indispensable for mastering the technique of striking in the clinch.
• Finally, the ground is improved by learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling, judo, and sambo. These martial arts are effective for both learning how to be in a dominant position on the floor, and defending against it. Particular attention is paid to the study of painful and suffocating techniques. In the initial stages of the development of MMA, as modern sports, painful and choking techniques were exceptionally effective and allowed fighters with unimpressive physical characteristics to win victories over much larger opponents.

Exchange of blows in the rack.

It should be noted that the restrictions in the traditional form of many martial arts inevitably led to adaptation to the conditions of combat according to mixed rules. For example, the traditional boxing stance is ineffective for counterattacks after low kicks, Muay Thai, due to its static nature, leaves the fighter vulnerable to passing to the legs, and in judo, significant emphasis is placed on the use of gi. As a result, many fighters train with trainers of different styles under the umbrella of the same fight club.

• Approaches to physical training differ to some extent in each club, however, are invariably a combination of aerobic and speed exercises as well as strength training.

HYBRID STYLES

Hybrid styles are informally called fighting styles where there is no dominant characteristic for the stand or ground floor, and instead a combination of a limited number of techniques is used, allowing the fighter to use his strengths. These styles include:

• Fight in the clinch, also known as dirty box(English) Dirty boxing).

The tactic of this direction is to use the clinch to limit the ability of the opponent to move back a sufficient distance at the same time as punching, kneeling and elbowing, as well as trying to take the fight to the ground. This approach is often used by wrestlers who have added elements of striking techniques to their arsenal (usually boxing), and by tie-boxers. Wrestlers use the clinch to neutralize a stronger striker, while Thai clinch used for applying accurate strikes knees and control over the position of the opponent. One of the most famous practitioners of this trend is UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. Former UFC champion at middleweight, Anderson Silva also often uses the Thai clinch to defeat opponents.

GnP performed by Gina Carano.

• ground and pound(English) Ground— and— Pound), literally knock-and-stab. Also abbreviated GnP or HNP, however, this designation does not have official recognition in official reports on this moment not used.

The technique of this style is very simple and consists of passing to the legs, establishing a dominant position in the stalls and striking the opponent, mainly with hands and elbows. Ground and pound is often performed before a submission attempt. This tactic was popularized by fighters with a solid wrestling past, such as Mark Colman and Tito Ortiz, both former UFC champions, and Mark Colman, thanks to this technique, also became the champion of the Pride Grand Prix 2000 tournament. Currently, the most famous MMA representative using ground and pound style is former champion UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Fedor Emelianenko often practiced ground and pound in his fights.

• Grappling(English) Submission grappling)

In addition to denoting a separate martial art, which is a fight using painful and choking techniques, the term "grappling" also refers to a strategy applicable to mixed rules fights, which consists in minimizing blows, quickly transferring the fight to the ground and applying painful / choking techniques. While most grapplers try to dominate, some grapplers are successful from below. If the grappler fails to make a pass to the legs, then he can often jump on the opponent and, wrapping his legs around him, drag him to the floor in this way. Popularized by such pioneers of modern MMA as Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, grappling is an integral part of martial arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, sambo, pankration and shoot wrestling. In modern MMA, UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, Frank Mir, Jeff Monson and António Rodrigo Nogueira are prominent representatives of this style.

• Stretch and fight(literally from English. Sprawl-and-brawl)

This tactic consists in fighting in a standing position with effective protection against attempts to transfer the fight to the stalls. The proponent of this approach is usually a boxer, kickboxer, thai boxer or karateka with good leg protection. Despite external similarities with kickboxing, this style differs significantly due to the need to protect against transfer to the ground. Among the most famous practitioners this approach highlights include UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell and Pride Grand Prix 2006 champion Mirko Filipovic. Currently, the most prominent representatives of this style are former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and UFC fighter, ex-world champion in kickboxing among professionals according to K-1 Alistair Overeem.

WOMEN IN MMA

Women are active in MMA despite the more limited number of organizations available. Women's MMA is very popular in Japan, where Valkyrie and Pearl tournaments have been held since 2000. In the US, despite the popularity of MMA in general, women's MMA competitions do not receive the same attention from sponsors as men's. However, with the emergence of female fighters like Gina Carano and Christian Santos, women's MMA has caught the attention of the masses. With her unique combination of sex appeal and fighting ability, Carano quickly became the "face of women's MMA" after playing for the now-defunct EliteXC organization. After EliteXC disbanded, Carano moved to Strikeforce, the first major organization to host a women's bout as the main event on August 15, 2009. The battle Carano Santos, broadcast on national television, attracted 856,000 viewers and made Santos the first ever Women's Strikeforce Champion.

Also, the brightest star Women's MMA is former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. For a long time she was undefeated and in order to finish the fight ahead of schedule, sometimes 16 and sometimes 14 seconds were enough for her. However, on November 15, 2015, Rousey lost her title to new UFC star Holly Holm, losing by knockout in the second round.

Worth noting is the rising UFC strawweight champion

Another prominent representative of women's MMA is the Japanese Megumi Fujii, who, as of November 2010, won 22 out of 23 professional fights, and in 18 of them - by painful or suffocating technique. Of the Russian female fighters in MMA, the most famous are Alexandra Albu, Yulia Berezikova and Milana Dudieva.

SAFETY

Despite the reputation of a “bloodsport” sometimes spread by the media, in the history of modern MMA, since 1993, four cases have been documented when injuries received during a fight caused the death of a fighter, while in two cases - fights did not have been authorized by authorized organizations. In 1998, American Douglas Dage died two days after attending an unsanctioned event in Kyiv. In 2005, a man known only as Lee died in an unsanctioned fight at a restaurant in South Korea due to a heart attack. The third death in MMA occurred when fighter Sam Vasquez, after being knocked out in a fight on October 20, 2007 in Houston, Texas, was immediately hospitalized, after which he underwent two operations to remove blood clots from the brain, but never regained consciousness and died on November 30 of the same year. The fourth death as a result of a duel under the rules of MMA happened in South Carolina on June 28, 2010, when 30-year-old Michael Kirkham was knocked out and died two days later without regaining consciousness. For comparison, according to the information of the popular online publication "The Journal of Combative Sport" (from English - "Journal combat sports”), in the same period (since 1993), 71 people died as a result of boxing matches, which is an average of almost 4 deaths per year.

A study conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins University concluded that injury rates (excluding brain injuries) in MMA are broadly similar to those of other striking sports. However, due to the rules that allow submissions and chokes, the number of knockouts in MMA is lower than in boxing, which suggests a reduced risk of brain injury.

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Materials taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

mixed martial arts(Also MMA- from English. Mixed Martial Arts) - martial arts (often incorrectly called "fights without rules"), which are a combination of many techniques, schools and styles of martial arts. MMA is a full-contact fight using striking techniques and wrestling both in the standing position (clinch) and on the floor (ground floor). The term "Mixed Martial Arts" was coined in 1995 by Rick Blume, president of Battlecade, one of the early MMA organizations, and subsequently found steady use in non-English speaking countries.

Origins of MMA

Origins of MMA go back to BC: even the ancient Greeks competed in pankration at the first Olympic Games, however, until the 1990s, MMA could not boast of significant popularity in the world. Only with the formation and development of such organizations as the "Ultimate Fighting Championship" (English "Absolute Fighting Championship"), "Pride Fighting Championships" (English Fighting Championship "Pride"), etc., the popularity of MMA has increased dramatically, which was also facilitated by fall of professional boxing entertainment.

Although early competitions had minimal rules, due to the criticism of the sport as a "carnage", promoters introduced additional restrictions to increase the safety of athletes and attract new spectators. Thanks to these efforts, modern MMA is one of the fastest growing sports, as evidenced by the sales of pay-per-view fights, media coverage, growth in the number of participants and an increase in sales of related products. MMA.

Modern MMA

Modern mixed martial arts has its roots in two events: vale tudo competitions in Brazil and Japanese shoot wrestling. Vale Tudo has its origins in the third decade of the 20th century, when Brazilian jiu-jitsu representatives Carlos Gracie and Helio Gracie invited anyone to compete with them in wrestling. This was the so-called "Gracie Challenge", which was later supported by Gracie's descendants.

In Japan in the 70s of the XX century, professional wrestler Kanji "Antonio" Inoki, organized a number of fights according to mixed rules. In particular, on June 26, 1976, Inoki met with the famous boxer Mohammed Ali. Initially, the fight was planned according to mixed rules in the full sense, however, two days later, a restriction was introduced that significantly affected the outcome of the meeting: Inoki was allowed to kick only if he stood with one knee on the floor. As a result, Ali landed six punches, and Inoki spent almost the entire fight on the floor, keeping Ali away from him with low kicks. The fight ended in a draw, although the damage to Ali's legs nearly jeopardized his boxing career. As a result of an unspectacular fight, the opinion spread that fights according to mixed rules are impossible due to the lack of adaptation of the rules, and for a long time they were not held. However, Inoki continued to organize mixed martial arts from time to time, which did not receive wide recognition, however, it was they who in 1986 led to the formation of the first mixed martial arts organization, known as "Shuto" (English Shooto). Inoki himself had nothing to do with Shuto: the organization was founded by his former “colleague in the wrestling ring” - Satoru Sayama.

Later, fate MMA developed differently in different countries. Popularity in the US MMA began to rise in 1993, when Californian businessman Art Davey and Brazilian jiu-jitsu school principal Rorion Gracie organized the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held in Denver, Colorado. The eight-player tournament, which had a prize pool of $50,000 for the winner, included representatives from boxing, savate, sumo, karate, and wrestling. To the surprise of the 2,800 spectators present in the hall, and another 86,000 who bought paid broadcast on cable television, the Brazilian athlete Royce Gracie became the winner of the tournament, significantly inferior to all his opponents in height and weight and won thanks to suffocating and painful techniques, little known at that time. Subsequently, Gracie won two more UFC tournaments, which widely popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - one of the key components in the training of many fighters. MMA Nowadays.

In Japan in 1997, interest in mixed martial arts led to the creation of a large organization MMA- Pride Fighting Championships. As the sport developed, other organizations began to appear: Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator Fighting Championships, Bodog, Affliction, WEC, Dream, M-1 Global, however, in the face of fierce competition, some of them collapsed, while others were forced be content with little popularity and a relatively low level of fighters.

In Russia and the CIS countries, in connection with the collapse of the USSR, the development MMA had a more chaotic nature and mainly manifested itself in the form of individual tournaments or simply fights without a tournament bracket, which began to be held from the mid-1990s. Due to the lack of structures governing the rules, medical support and conditions for the fights, the level of competition depended solely on the willingness of sponsors to invest in fights, which often led to fights being held in inadequate conditions. A significant improvement was noted with the appearance in Russia of the Japanese organization RINGS, where such fighters as Volk-Khan, Andrey Kopylov, Mikhail Ilyukhin and Nikolai Zuev have proven themselves well. RINGS also gave a start to Fedor Emelianenko, later a multiple world champion in MMA according to various organizations.

To date, development MMA in Russia, still not moving as fast as, for example, in the USA, where interest in UFC fights increased significantly with the purchase of the promotion by the owners of the Station Casinos chain of casinos, the Fertitta brothers, in 2001, and the appointment of the former boxing promoter Dana White, which led to a massive passion for sports, even in those states where MMA was officially banned at that time (for example, New York). This is due, first of all, to changes in the rules that made the fights more spectacular, White's aggressive policy aimed at popularizing the sport (more precisely, the UFC organization itself), and the evolution of fighting equipment. In December 2006, the UFC's popularity peaked when Chuck Liddell's fight against Tito Ortiz garnered pay-TV box office equals to the highest-grossing fights in boxing history. In 2007, the Fertitta brothers bought out main rival Japanese Pride, making the UFC the biggest organization in the world of MMA and, thanks to the arrival of the best Pride fighters, was able to increase the popularity of the sport in the US even higher, as evidenced by the increase in pay-per-stream sales.

In Russia, however, the situation is radically different, mainly due to the lack of adequate coverage of sports by the media and the still prevailing opinion among a large part of the population that MMA It's a blood sport. Sports are also not funded by the state and have no development program, as a result of which the evolution takes place at the expense of a few enthusiasts.

On September 26, 2012, the commission of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation officially recognized MMA independent sport.

In other countries (for example, England, Australia and Germany) MMA is also an emerging sport, while in France - MMA prohibited.

564 BC

The final in pankration (a sport close to MMA) at the 54th Olympics is remembered even after two and a half thousand years: defending the title of champion for the third time, Arichion from Figalea faced a worthy opponent. The fight was fierce and ended with Hippostratus holding a choke, and Arichion - a painful one. Both techniques worked: Arichion died of suffocation, but his opponent, without realizing it, gave up, unable to endure the pain of a broken and gripped ankle.

1951

Gracie clan - Adam and Eve MMA. These Brazilian jiu-jitsu masters took the Brazilian vale tudo competition (translated from Portuguese as “everything is allowed”) to the world level. In 1951, Helio Gracie challenged the best fighters in the world, and some responded. Judoists arrived from Japan, led by Kimura. In the battle with Masahiko, Gracie lost, but struck everyone with his willpower. He continued to fight even with a broken elbow until his cornermen threw a towel into the ring. The Japanese went home with the idea that such battles are an extremely interesting sight.

1976

It was assumed that in this fight, the Japanese martial artist and champion boxer will show everything they are capable of. But the fight turned into a parody. Two days before the fight, a restrictive amendment was made to the rules: Inoki was allowed to use kicks only from a stand on one knee. As a result, the whole fight, which ended in a draw, Ali jumped around Inoki, who was kneeling, and he pecked his legs with low kicks. More promoters did not let boxers near karatekas.

1993

The first UFC tournament (Ultimate Fighting Championship - “absolute fighting championship”) was conceived as the “Gracie Challenge”: the master of Brazilian jiu-jitsu from the Gracie clan invited representatives of other martial arts (boxing, karate, sumo, kickboxing, savate) to identify the strongest representatives of other martial arts. The fight for first place, in which Royce Gracie defeated savate champion Gerard Gordeau, was watched by 86,000 people on a pay channel. Video cassettes provided even more audience. The success was such that four months later another UFC took place. Now, 21 years later, UFC (USA) is the richest MMA promotion company.

3-5 rounds of 5 minutes each with minute breaks, fights in MMA continue. In the first tournaments, the fight continued until someone won.

League of death

The world of MMA is made up of professional organizations of various sizes (promotions) that run tournaments (called "events").

The fighters enter into contracts with them that prohibit them from fighting with competitors. The MMA elite are two American organizations: the UFC (the oldest and largest) and Bellator (its main competitor). All the best end up there sooner or later - moving on their own or together with their entire organization (as was already the case with the Japanese Pride FC and the American Strikeforce, bought by the UFC). The strongest organization in Russia is M-1 Global.

MMA (Mixed Martial Art - mixed style fighting) - for the first time these three letters were put together by the president of the now defunct Battlecade league, Rick Bloom. It was in 1995.

Strategies

The fighter, depending on his qualities and the qualities of the opponent, either fights in a stance, trying to hit the enemy with punches and kicks, or tries to transfer the fight to the ground as quickly as possible and win, using wrestling techniques.

In the early days of MMA, every fighter had a clear technique for the type of martial arts they came from, but as MMA developed, the styles blended, and now MMA is a style in its own right, bringing together the best of different martial arts. Schools have opened that teach precisely this technique.

Dominant techniques in MMA:

• Kickboxing
• Thai boxing
• brazilian jiu-jitsu
• Combat Sambo
• Judo

* in % of 455 competitors

In 2012, Russia was the first in the world to recognize MMA as an official sport, host the national championship, and a year later host the World Championship. Today, MMA is officially recognized in most countries of the world, but there are exceptions - for example, fights according to the rules of mixed martial arts are prohibited in France and the state of New York.

Rules without rules

The younger the sport, the tougher it is. Always as the species develops, the set of rules becomes thicker. Someone will be killed at the competition, some organization will be indignant - and you will get a couple more points on the “no” list. MMA has already encountered this, but has not yet gone too far from its main idea: victory at any cost and by all available means. On the first UFC tournament it was forbidden only to bite and gouge out the eyes, there were no other restrictions - the fighters fought, despite the difference in weight. Not much has changed since then: the athletes were divided according to weight categories, obligated to wear gloves and banned the following techniques *:

• headbutts
• eye gouging in any way
• bites
• hair pulling
• grabbing fingers on the cheek
• attacks in the groin in any way
• sticking fingers into holes in the body
• cutting or injuring an opponent
• small joint manipulation
• capture of the clavicle
• downward strikes with a sharp point of the elbow
• blows to the spine or to the back of the head
• blows to the throat in any way, grabbing the trachea
• scratching, pinching, or twisting of the skin
• kicks to the head of a lying opponent
• blows to the head of a lying opponent with knees
• trampling a prone opponent
• heel strikes to the kidneys
• sticking an opponent into the mat upside down
• throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area
• holding an opponent's shorts or gloves
• spitting at an opponent

* Deliberate violation leads to an immediate stop of the fight and disqualification of the violator.