From what I can remember, we've seen the dominance of Karate in the 60's, Kung-Fu in the 70's, Ninja in the 80's and Tae kwon do in the 90's. Now MMA is THE thing.
How long will MMA reign at the top, is it good for Martial Arts and what will be the next fad?
How long will MMA reign at the top, is it good for Martial Arts and what will be the next fad?
MMA has taken the media and national public by storm through marketing, cage matches, and Pay Per View programming.
It looks like no other fad of the past and could subsequently have more staying power in the entertainment market. Staying power could be more brief in the market of active practicing martial artists however.
Many MMA schools are popping up and some existing/traditional schools are providing MMA as an add-on that is taught down the hall in the back room. From what I've read, many only train those who want to compete. This limits itself to a smaller portion of the active practicing martial artists. And lets face it, MMA with it's focus on competition, makes it a niche sport better suited for the younger population. These limiting factors will open the door to a new fad someday. Maybe not so much for the viewing public, but it will for the portion of the public that is active or interested in becoming active practicing martial artists.
It appears the popularity of MMA is probably good for all Martial Arts. It generates interest in self defense in the broad public market. I can't help but believe that it leads to more people becoming active in self defense which in turn leads people to other forms of Martial Arts. Traditional ones that provide more balance with more focus on overall self improvement. For example, some may try MMA and like portions of it but because they don't want to compete or find that it doesn't meet all their needs, they may become motivated to investigate other Arts - more rich in tradition and self improvement such as PSR.
Hard to predict what will become the next national Martial Art Fad or when. Put me down for PSR. It could happen!!
Sun!
4 comments:
Very interesting topic mr falcon, MMA has changed its face throughout the years but has somewhat promoted martial arts also. In the begining ufc was created to display jui jistu and show the world you didnt need to be the biggest strongest guy to defend and dominate an opponent. Over the years MMA has changed and real become a style of its own if you can really call it that. The fighters are trained to win a fight rather than defend themselves from a attacker. These guys may be world class athletes but do they have the training or confidence to defend an attacker that has a knife or some other sort of weapon without getting hurt?
I consider myself a Mixed Martial Artist being that I hold belts in multiple styles but the term MMA is thrown around so much that it doesnt say anything about the training we as true martial arts have. Just because someone has a muay tai coach and a bjj coach doesnt make him a martial artist IMO. I may be wrong but a style takes years to learn and be proficent at it. Not just a six month traing camp to work on your ground game for a fight with rules.
I think your question\comment is solely dependent on one’s definition of a ‘martial art’. Technically speaking, martial art and fighting art can be used interchangeably. Therefore boxing, fencing, jousting can all be considered martial arts. In the context of an eastern definition (popular understanding) of a martial art then I would contend that MMA and "traditional" martial arts would be classified differently, linked more by sharing a name than sharing philosophies, etc...
With this in mind, a MMA fighter may apply ‘martial art’ techniques but wouldn't be a traditional martial artist. When examined through the "dictionary definition" lens, then a MMA fighter would be considered a martial artist.
I liken it to - I golf but do not compete in the PGA, I fish but do not compete in Bass Masters, and I practice PaSaRyu and HapKiDo but do not fight in the cage. I'm sure somewhere in history a conversation between whether fencing was a real combat art verses jousting has taken place in some pub. Does a “traditional” martial artist need to feel that they need to protect the integrity of their art from the MMA community? I don’t think so, they just need to be able to explain the differences so Joe Public can understand there is a distinction. The most common question I get asked after someone knows I practice martial arts is if I have fought in a cage and what was my record. My response is that you are comparing apples to oranges… or that I am the former 205lbs UFC champ as all us bald-headed goatee-having guys look the same anyway.
My $.02
Well, truthfully, I have never watched a mma event.I've seen the commercial hype, of course. I would have to say they are fighters, not martial artists.
They operate with rules. We don't. They train to fight till submission.
We train to survive.
MMA is about ego, we are about humility.
They condition for maximum endurance and strength.
We will repeat a technique 10,000 times for accuracy, efficiency and efficacy to end the threat in a few seconds.
We have no reputation to defend and nothing to prove.
We are lambs on the outside and tigers on the inside.
We don't seek to draw attention to ourselves.
Just look at our most basic white belt form. No rules. Just devastating from beginning to end. And after 28 years I'm still learning it. And I don't find that strange.
SUN!
I have to agree with Mr. Dragon....
You bald headed, goatee having guys DO all look the same!
SUN!
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