# MMA is a "Combat Sport"



## matt.m (Oct 11, 2006)

I have a friend named Aaron, this guy is in the pursuit of Gracie Jiujitsu knowledge with an extreme passion.  He came up and visited over the weekend.  I helped him find a Jiujitsu Academy ran by Rodrigo "The Vice" Vaghi.  I found the school using mapquest and off we were.  By the way my pal showed me the 3 volumes of the Gracie Encylopedia.  Very dedicated in his quest.  I am very encouraging to him in his quest.

Now, Rodrigo well in my opinion this guys the real deal, trained by the Gracie family and a certified instructor in their system.  He has trained some good athletes, one St. Louis native has done very well for himself in particular.

The website address is: http://www.submissionjiujitsu.com/home.html

Please take note of the following link as well:
http://www.submissionjiujitsu.com/program_mma.html

I have always said that I respected the competition, I have about 30 hours of UFC, Bodog Fight, and Ultimate Fighting Competition on my dvr.  However, I have always said that MMA, like Olympic Tae Kwon Do and Olympic Judo was a sport.  Kevin will disagree and that is ok.  However, I have provided a link from a 3rd dan in Gracie JJ as to show the text on a rep. from Team Gracie.


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## Ybot (Oct 11, 2006)

Looks like a good BJJ school you steared him towards.  Rickson's guys (in general, from what I've seen) have to work their butts off to earn a Black belt from him.  Hope he enjoys the training.


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## matt.m (Oct 11, 2006)

Ybot said:


> Looks like a good BJJ school you steared him towards. Rickson's guys (in general, from what I've seen) have to work their butts off to earn a Black belt from him. Hope he enjoys the training.


 

Well I have always said that if you want to learn, learn from someone knowledgeable.  I don't think you get any more knowledgeable than a Gracie JJ dan.  Not in the realm of BJJ.


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## Ybot (Oct 12, 2006)

Now that can be argued IMO   It all eventually traces back to the Gracies, but there are quite a few very compitent instuctors who are several generations away on a lineage chart.  That said the Gracies are often a safer bet than others.  There are certain Gracies I would rather be associated with than others, and Rickson IMO is one of the better Gracie orginizations quality wise.

I think that my instuctor is four or five generations removed in lineage to any Gracie, yet was a top competitor with a World Campionship to his name.

Anyway, again a good find.

Oh, and I agree that MMA is a combat sport.  I'm just trying to figure out what you'd argue it is if not a sport...


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## OneKickWonder (Oct 30, 2006)

Of course it is a sport. And there are different variations to the sport as well. My cousin trains under Relson(I think that is it) Gracie. He received a purple belt through him, but without a gi. He is training MMA and fighting pro now. The thing is he is not ranked at all with a gi. As a matter of fact a white belt with some experience gave him a good fight with a gi. I dont know if the family actually recognizes these "no gi" belts but there are several schools out there training it.


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## matt.m (Oct 30, 2006)

You know, funny that onekickwonder said what he did about gi and no gi.  I know that Vaghi teaches both gi and no gi.  I don't know how it works either.


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## Hand Sword (Oct 31, 2006)

I think your description is a fair one. With all of the rules, weight classes, and illegal techniques, I'd say it's a sport also. In combat, none of those things apply.


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## jeff5 (Oct 31, 2006)

Its a sport yes, but I'd argue that a lot of the training that you receive prepares you extremely well for actual self defense.  More so than most other sportive arts.


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## Ybot (Oct 31, 2006)

matt.m said:


> You know, funny that onekickwonder said what he did about gi and no gi. I know that Vaghi teaches both gi and no gi. I don't know how it works either.


A lot of schools have say Tuesday and Thursday no-gi day, and the rest gi, or even no-gi class for first hour and gi second.  I remember reading about Jeff Glover describing training at Paragon Jiu-jitsu as all gi training, but that he made a regular habit of staying after and doing no-gi training.  So it depends on the school.  My school there are a few guys that train no-gi, and they just join in with the rest of the class durring the technique part of the class, and then some of the guys with rash guards on under the gi will take off the jackets and roll with them durring the sparring part of the class.

Cassio doesn't rank anyone no-gi though.  To get a belt rank you have to wear a gi, but you don't need a belt rank to be good.  Urijah Faber trains with us from time to time, and has never put on the gi as far as I know, but can hold his own on the mats with bigger advanced guys.  No rank, just good.


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## Hand Sword (Oct 31, 2006)

jeff5 said:


> Its a sport yes, but I'd argue that a lot of the training that you receive prepares you extremely well for actual self defense. More so than most other sportive arts.


 

I'd also agree with your assessment as well.


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