Mixed martial arts is a sport that has skyrocketed in popularity over the last decade. Organisations such as the UFC and superstars such as Conor McGregor, Israel Adesanya and Ronda Rousey have helped to take the sport from a frowned upon blue-collar gore fest to a legitimate sport with governing bodies that has now become the fastest-growing sport in the world.
While the sport is incredibly popular, there are still a huge number of people who may not be fully familiar with MMA. In this article, we will detail all things MMA. We will detail what exactly it is and what disciplines are involved in the amazing sport.
What Is Mixed Martial Arts?
Mixed martial arts, also known as MMA, is a full-contact sport that incorporates a number of different martial arts under one set of unified rules. These rules allow for the use of both striking and grappling both standing up and on the ground. This means that fighters have to be incredibly skilled both on their feet and on the ground in order to succeed in the sport.
The sport is almost entirely monopolised by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) which has created a global brand that is widely known as the home of MMA. The UFC has played a vital role in the popularity and growth of the sport and to this day is producing the highest quality fights and fighters that the sport has ever seen.
Because of the numerous disciplines that MMA incorporates there are a number of different ways in which a mixed martial fight can be won. These methods of victory include:
Knockout - This is where a fighter has been knocked unconscious due to either strikes or other impacts.
Technical knockout - A technical knockout is where the referee determines a fighter to no longer able to properly defend himself and therefore stops the fight.
Submission - A submission is where a fighter has either physically or verbally tapped. A fighter can also choke someone unconscious to end the fight.
Decision - A decision victory is where the fight has lasted the full distance and one fighter has been deemed, by the judges, to have won the fight.
What Are The Different Disciplines In MMA
Within mixed martial arts, there are a number of different disciplines that combine to make the rules. While some are more beneficial than others, each discipline presents its own challenges to opponents and can provide numerous avenues for victory.
The MMA disciplines are:
Boxing
The sweet science is undoubtedly one of the most used disciplines within MMA. It incorporates hand strikes, fast movements, and defensive IQ which can allow a fighter to feel at home when stood up. There are so many different practices within boxing that perfectly correlate with MMA. However, it is important to note that boxing and MMA are extremely different and a strong boxing base will not take you very far. Compared to other disciplines that MMA incorporates, boxing is very one-dimensional.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is by far one of the most important disciplines within MMA. This is because it does not just involve hand strikes, it also involves kicks. Kicks are some of the most dangerous strikes in MMA due to the considerable amount of damage that they can cause your opponent. There have been many amazing mixed martial artists who come into the sport with a very strong kickboxing base and use it to help them be very successful in MMA such as Israel Adesanya, Jose Aldo, Alex Peirera and so many more.
Karate
Karate is an extremely effective discipline that incorporates kicks, punches and distancing. All of the skills within karate seamlessly tie into mixed martial arts and can be extremely effective during competition, especially on the feet. Its effectiveness has been shown on a number of occasions within the sport with superstars like George St. Pierre, Conor Mcgregor, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, Lyoto Machida and more being extremely successful from a karate base.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)
Jiu-jitsu is one of the staple disciplines within mixed martial arts and is a hugely effective tool to have. Jiu-jitsu allows fighters to be able to consistently threaten submissions and finishes both on the feet and on the ground. It is also an amazing skill to help you to be able to defend submissions. A lack of jiu-jitsu skills would put you at a huge disadvantage, especially on the ground.
Judo
Judo is another discipline that is heavily utilised in mixed martial arts. There are so many different throw and takedown techniques in judo that can be extremely effective during mixed martial arts competition. There have been a huge amount of hugely successful MMA fighters who have very strong judo bases such as Ronda Rousey, George St. Pierre, Fabricio Werdum and so many more.
Taekwondo
The literal translation of taekwondo is ‘the art of kicking and punching’ and therefore, just like kickboxing, is an incredibly effective discipline within MMA. Having a strong taekwondo base allows fighters to match very well against a number of different disciplines. Taekwondo fighters are often very unpredictable and awkward as they have amazing distance control striking variations.
Wrestling
In modern MMA, wrestling is arguably the most dominant and hard-to-stop discipline. This is because it has the very unique ability to completely negate all striking. The discipline allows fighters to throw and take down their opponents and control them while on the ground. The discipline is so dominant that it has yielded an unbelievable amount of extremely dominant champions such as Kgabib Nurmagamedov, Islam Makhachev, Kamaru Usman, Brock Lesner, Henry Cejudo, Daniel Cormier and so many more amazing MMA champions who came from a wrestling background.
What You Need To Start MMA?
With its popularity continuing to grow year on year, more and more people are looking at getting into the wonderful sport of mixed martial arts. While the sport is very challenging and very technical, the skills and the discipline it teaches you are incredibly rewarding.
When starting MMA there is not a huge amount of equipment that is needed right away. However, both mouthguards and boxing gloves or MMA gloves are important for basic training.
Once you start to get more and more serious with your training and taking part in more competitive training and sparring sessions, you will need to invest in some more equipment. You will need head guards, groin cups, MMA gloves, and MMA shin guards.
