Mixed Martial Arts: The Bloodthirsty Bloodsport

Sanctioned violence and public beatings have always been the intended, unofficial, delight for those who follow Bloodsport that started with fox hunting and cock fighting and progressed into major mainstream sports like American football, hockey and boxing.

Now, Mixed Martial Arts is the new Bloodsport king and
MMA isn’t like professional wrestling where the bouts are predetermined
before the event.

MMA is brutally real by design — you win by knocking
out your opponent or by causing a “tap out” submission before you break
an arm, ankle or leg — and the top MMA organization is the UFC: The Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The mandate of MMA is always this: Bloodsport means Big Business and if you don’t bleed, you don’t bring home the bucks.

Fighting for profit has always been one avenue out of urban poverty — but does money for beatings translate into a job description we want for any person to abide and live by in society?

Is it right if you’re young and tough enough you can get paid for
providing public thrashings under the guise of sport entertainment?

MMA is a blending of fighting styles and the more styles you master mixing in the following list, the better chance you have of pounding your opponent into submission or dreamland:

Boxing
The skill or sport of fighting with
the fists usually with padded leather gloves. Referred to as the “sweet
science,” boxers use elaborate foot maneuvers and quick jabs for
offense.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
In the mid-1920’s, Carlos Gracie
opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He
taught the skills he learned from Japanese Judo master Esai Maeda. The
skills were later modified to use less strength and to be more
effective against larger opponents. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s reputation
spread due to the success of its practitioners in no holds barred
contests.

Freestyle Wrestling
Possibly the world’s oldest sport.
Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take down
their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of
wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.

Greco-Roman Wrestling
Possibly the worlds oldest
sport. Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take
down their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of
wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.

Jiu Jutsu

Ancient Japanese martial art that encompasses throwing, joint locks, striking, and weapons training.

Judo
Sportive Japanese martial art founded in 1882 by
Jigoro Kano. Derived from Jujutsu, Judo is now an Olympic sport that
emphasizes throws. Striking is not allowed in competition Judo.

Karate
Name used to identify many Japanese and
Okinawan martial arts. While known for powerful, linear techniques,
many Karate styles also incorporate softer, circular techniques. Some
of the popular styles of Karate are Kyokushinkai, Shotokan, Goju-Ryu,
Shorin-Ryu, and Kenpo which was the first “Americanized” version of
Karate.

Kickboxing
Sportive martial art combining boxing
punches and martial arts kicks. Many different styles with different
rules exist such as Muay Thai, Full Contact Karate, and Asian Rules
Fighting.

Kung Fu
Also referred to as Gung Fu, Chinese Boxing,
and Wu Shu. There are hundreds of Kung Fu styles. Many are patterned
after the movements of animals. Some well known styles of Kung Fu are
Wing Chun, Praying Mantis, Pau Kua, Tai-Chi-Ch’uan, and Shuai Chiao.

Tae Kwon Do

One of the most practiced martial arts in the world, Tae Kwon Do is a Korean style known for its flashy kicking techniques.

Wrestling
Possibly the world’s oldest sport.
Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take down
their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of
wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.

MMA fighting in the Octagon Cage does have rules — but it didn’t used
to always be that way.
At one time these “Cage Fights” had no rules and no weight classes.
They were more street fight than professional bout: You could kick a
guy in the nuts and smash him in the head with your head.

The result of
that open lawlessness for blood profit was Cage Fights were outlawed in
several states.
Now the MMA is more certain of itself with governing bodies and
requirements for participation and punishments for rules breaking. Here
are a few of the universal fouls:

Mixed
Martial Arts is a new sport phenomenon in America — you can’t turn on
a television today without finding someone cracking open someone’s face
with a vicious blow to the forehead.

World Extreme Cage Fighting — the WEC — is a training ground fighting league for the UFC. The bouts are just as bloody and just as brutal as the UFC’s:

Another of the many MMA fighting leagues is bodogFIGHT
— using a traditional boxing ring for the punishing instead of an
octagon cage — and bodogFIGHT is never short on blood or beauty in its
exotic international locations:

bodogFIGHT also allows women to beat other women bloody:

What does the rise of MMA say about us as a society?

Are we bored or just bloodthirsty?

Can traditional boxing survive when the MMA is much more exciting, raw, treacherous, deceptive and skills-based?

What happens when we tire of the ordinary bloodshed the MMA Bloodsport has to offer?

Are we in for a return to public beheadings and burnings-at-the-stake?