MMA v TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS

The age old question…

Coming from a traditional martial arts background I should have a biased attitude towards MMA as many purists do. I remember talking to my Sifu in the early 90’s in regards to the first UFC tape I got my hands on, and asking what his thoughts were on MMA (NHB at this time). His response was mixed between this was human cock fighting and should be banned to it’s just another fad and gimmick as Kung Fu was in the 70’s, Ninja’s in the 80’s and so on. I heard him say “it will pass as the others did” but I did not think so. In fact, I saw this as an evolution in every sense of the word.

Recently I heard a commentator on a UFC DVD come out with something that I think coins Martial Arts today, he said that Martial Arts have been around for 100’s of years, and what works in a street fight has been speculation for most of this time. His view was that it is only in the last ten years or so, since the UFC has been around, that we really get to see what works and what does not.

The question I asked myself many times while training in a traditional style is, do you think this would be as effective in a street fight as MMA would be if my life depending on it? Would I rather have a decade of traditional Kung Fu or Karate training or a decade or MMA training? The answer to my question was the latter.

This may seem a little sad because there is more to Martial Arts than fighting, but I feel that if your Sensei or Sifu starts to teach a self defence technique or some so called real life situation, you should question it, as your life may depend on it one day.

Mark Pinchen

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