Team VMAT

Vladimir Matyushenko
Jared Hamman
Vanessa Mariscal
Steve Magdaleno
Antoni Hardonk
Travis Gambino
Danny Juarez
Alexander Suhanosov
Leif Lindhjem

VMAT Grapplers

Andreh Anderson
Matt Workman

MMA

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What is MMA?

MMA or mixed martial arts has two facets: (1) It is a diversified study in the art of fighting (2) It is a regulated professional sport.

Man has been studying and developing martial skills in combat for thousands of years. Over that time, hand-to-hand combat techniques evolved as bronze-based weaponry became iron-based and as different belief systems attached themselves to the art of warfare. This application of religious systems to combat systems birthed the concept of martial arts, and as classical civilizations developed so too did mixed martial arts competitions, e.g. the Ancient Greeks’ Pankration, a hybrid sport of boxing and wrestling.

Nearly every practitioner of a particular martial art could argue the superiority of his or her system, but as Bruce Lee, the famed advocate of mixed martial arts, stressed, “Most systems of martial art distort and cramp their practitioners and distract them from the actual reality of combat, which is simple and direct” (Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do 14). This is the essence of mixed martial arts—to allow the individual to find his own way and to exact his will in combat by using form without form; that is, discard the system and let the self simply act.

Of course, to reach such a point a martial artist must study form. These forms or styles are seemingly innumerable. Many such styles evolved over hundreds of years of tradition and practice. Jiujitsu, Judo, Naginata, Iaido, Kendo, Aikido, Karatedo and so forth all have roots in the Bushi or Warrior Class, i.e. Samurai, of feudal Japan.

The settlement of the United States and its vast influx of European immigrants brought forth Boxing as its national martial art. Greeks and Wrestling, Chinese and Kung Fu, Dutch and Kickboxing. Every culture throughout history has fashioned a form of martial study and exhibition. As Dr. Hiroyuki Hamada of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai states, “We study the discipline to achieve mind, body and spiritual harmony” (Capuano, Hamada 1). It is an integral part of society—past and present.

Today, the most common martial arts found in MMA include Jiujitsu, Wrestling, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Karate. These forms incorporate the three fundamental aspects of mixed martial arts: striking, takedowns, and grappling.

While ancient civilizations and more prominently Eastern cultures preceded the current advent of mixed martial arts, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) could rightly be credited with mainstreaming the previously frowned upon sport of MMA. Admittedly, the early years of the UFC pitted a handful of genuine martial artists against a colorful collection of pit or street fighters, thugs, and brawlers. But as the sport has grown, the legitimacy of its practitioners has improved and the quality of its athletes has skyrocketed.

MMA on a worldwide scale now attracts Olympic champion wrestlers and judoka, Jiujitsu world champions, Kickboxing titleholders, and Karate champions to its professional ranks. Organizations in Russia, Japan, and the United States have succeeded in marketing their MMA promotions to the average citizen since the early 1990s. What used to be an underground network of martial arts organizations steeped in tradition is now an emergent, capitalist player in the global market.

Certain families and schools such as Gracie Jiujitsu could lay claim to the current success of mainstream mixed martial arts, but in truth the success came as promoters learned to package and regulate the sport for the public. No particular group can claim to have invented the sport either. MMA is as old as warfare. The fact that its present form has endured discrimination as a supposedly barbaric practice to become a haven for men and women of iron will simply illustrates the physical nature of human beings.

Now, with MMA’s rising popularity the brawlers and street fighters are dwindling as seasoned martial artists, who strive for the purity of contest, are legitimizing the sport. This surely bodes well for the future of mixed martial arts.