# an Honest question



## Brother John (Jul 29, 2004)

IS MMA only /or/ primarily concerned with competition and competitive prowess?

Thanks
Your Brother
John


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## gyaku-zuki queen (Jul 29, 2004)

i dont really understand the question. :idunno:


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## ppko (Jul 29, 2004)

The way most view it yes MMA is competition, but to me if you integrate ground work with stand up than you are doing MMA and you don't have to do competition to prove yourself only keep what will work on the street and play with the other stuff to try and make it work on the street.


PPKO:EG: :ticked: :waah:


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## Sarah (Jul 29, 2004)

Could someone please elaborate on what MMA is, sorry to be ignorant!:idunno:


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## ppko (Jul 29, 2004)

Sarah said:
			
		

> Could someone please elaborate on what MMA is, sorry to be ignorant!:idunno:


Mixed Martial Arts, just putting arts together

PPKO:EG: :ticked: :waah:


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## Sarah (Jul 29, 2004)

No way, thats what I do, I didnt even know there was a term for it.

thanks.:boing1:


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## ppko (Jul 29, 2004)

Sarah said:
			
		

> No way, thats what I do, I didnt even know there was a term for it.
> 
> thanks.:boing1:


No problem anytime you have a question just ask and I will be willing to help


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## Sarah (Jul 29, 2004)

Brother John said:
			
		

> IS MMA only /or/ primarily concerned with competition and competitive prowess?
> 
> Thanks
> Your Brother
> John


 
Now that I know what MMA is, I would have to say No, but I could be quite sheltered with regard to others opinions. At our school we dont train for competitions, I know of 1 person who went to a comp for Kata's last year but thats about all.
Here in NZ ITF are huge on comp's, and the Jujitsu club I am joining has 4 comp's a year, but our club which is incorporated Martial Arts dont train primarily for comps.


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## punisher73 (Jul 29, 2004)

I guess it would be if you define "mixed martial arts" as someone who studies Aikido and karate at a local school, or if you are defining MMA as the MA's that comprise most MMA tournaments?  When most people use the term MMA they are referring to the styles used in competitions like UFC, Pride, King of the Cage, etc. and those are Brazilian Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling.

Alot of MMA places train strictly for competition, but there are those that teach an MMA curricullam (sp?) to those who have no desire to ever compete. The Straight Blast Gym under Matt Thorton comes to mind as one of the most famous that teaches all kinds of people.

There are also "MMA" based styles that have incorporated other elements into it to be taught as self-defense systems and not "just sport" aspects to it, but also teaching de-escalation, awareness, etc.


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## Brother John (Jul 30, 2004)

punisher73 said:
			
		

> I guess it would be if you define "mixed martial arts" as someone who studies Aikido and karate at a local school, or if you are defining MMA as the MA's that comprise most MMA tournaments?  When most people use the term MMA they are referring to the styles used in competitions like UFC, Pride, King of the Cage, etc. and those are Brazilian Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling.
> 
> Alot of MMA places train strictly for competition, but there are those that teach an MMA curricullam (sp?) to those who have no desire to ever compete. The Straight Blast Gym under Matt Thorton comes to mind as one of the most famous that teaches all kinds of people.
> 
> There are also "MMA" based styles that have incorporated other elements into it to be taught as self-defense systems and not "just sport" aspects to it, but also teaching de-escalation, awareness, etc.


Thank you, that's a very thoughtfull reply.

Your Brother
John


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## tmanifold (Jul 30, 2004)

I would use MMA or Mixed Martial Arts (notice the Capitals) to describe the style of fighting in the UFC or pride. That Particular style and the training behind it is geared at competition.

A mixed martial art (lowercase) or mixing martial arts could be aimed at what ever floats your boat. For me, mixing martials arts led me to MMA. I started with Judo and wrestling then my Judo club closed so I did Kickboxing and kenpo, then i moved to a shotokan and kickboxing gym. It was around UFC 4 and MMA was just starting. Since I already had grappling and striking experience it was a logical move. Now I have moved from MMA to mixing martial arts for self defense in to RBSD.


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## Andrew Green (Aug 1, 2004)

I train and coach MMA, I do it primarily for fun.  I have a few people who would like to become competitive but most do not.  We also train weapons, and a few other things that are not allowed in the competitive format.


As to what it is, well that depends on who you ask.

To me MMA means training all ranges, without stylistic restrictions.  The primary training method being sparring, and the rules of what techniques are a part of it are simply whatever you can make work in a live environment (sparring).  The sparring is not at all like point fighting, but continous, contact, sparring allowing everything and anything that can be practiced with a acceptable level of safety.  Which is basically everything you can think of that will actually work.

So simply doing Karate and Aikido would not count.

MMA is a seperate thing.


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