Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is relatively new sport which is greatly on the rise. It is a full-contact sport that combines numerous martial arts, such as boxing, kickboxing, karate, muay thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, judo,and wrestling (the first 4 being striking, the last 3 being grappling. Despite the vast amounts of negative publicity the sport has attracted it is not as brutal as it may seem. 

The grappling techniques can be considered an art, with the average Brazilian Jiu-jitsu black belt requiring over 10 years of practice to reach the prestigious grade. Grappling is as skillful as Lionel Messi is with a football, it is simply that no one notices it. It would be the equivalent of someone saying that Messi is simply kicking a football, something anyone can do. The other criticism of the sport that can be seen as quite comical is “They’re just rolling around hugging each other”. This is actually the act of grappling, attempting to outmaneuver the opponent, and gaining a superior position in order to utilize a chokehold or limb lock. 

Despite the constant blood of the sport, and don’t get me wrong it takes guts to step in the cage, it is not significantly more violent than other sports. Professional boxing is certainly more dangerous than MMA, as although MMA witnesses limbs snapping and people losing consciousness, professional boxing is more dangerous as it consists of continuous blows to the head, resulting in concussions, brain bruising and brain trauma. One may argue that it is only professional boxing that causes these injuries although one could say the same for MMA, as amateur MMA does not allow blows to the head, and MMA in general puts restrictions on what holds can be used, so as to not place practitioners in grave danger. 

MMA is on the rise, as can be seen with the great increase in MMA viewing, with the Ultimate Fighting Challenge monopolizing the sport, recruiting fighters from all over the world, including Brazil, Japan, and England. 

http://www.lowryllp.com

http://www.notaryengland.co.uk