MMA stands for mixed martial arts and, as the name suggests, a variety of techniques, such as striking and grappling, are used by those who practise the sport. Most of those who train and/or compete have a good grounding in one of the martial arts and will build their game around this. While MMA was initially practiced almost exclusively by competitive fighters, this is no longer the case. As the sport has become more mainstream and more widely taught, it has become accessible to a wide range of students of all ages, abilities and fitness levels.
Those who do compete in MMA have to prepare themselves for different opponents, who may have very different strengths to theirs. Hence, you get Muay Thai fighters learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, judo etc. and the latter students learning some stand up fighting techniques.
It’s only been in the last ten to fifteen years that MMA has become well known and much of this is due to competitions like Pride and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The idea behind MMA was to put different fighting styles against each other in competition, with minimal rules in place, in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in different situations. Whilst there has been, and still is, some discussion as to the safety of competitions, mixed martial arts events did put in place, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, additional rules for the safety of the competitors and to promote acceptance of the sport.
Today, the sets of rules from competition to competition vary slightly depending on the organisers and the locality. Most organisers try to maintain as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible, whilst ensuring the competition is as safe as possible, and the sport has grown rapidly as a result.
