Question 116: MMA as martial art

I believe that colored belt ranks should not be given out in "Mixed Martial Art systems" that are flourishing and growing today. My system is a highbred system as many out there but we have a kata system that has a lot of traditional roots in it. Some of these mixed Martial Art systems that are cropping up have absolutely no foundation of tradition in them, they are a mix of various Martial Arts systems with no philosophy. I know some MMA teachers out there might disagree with me but I personally feel MMA is not an art..its a blend of combat fighting systems and the colored belt ranks represent "an art based upon some tradition" and should stay out of MMA systems...your opinion?

Reply

I used to watch MMA on TV but it became boring. There are few martial artists but it is mostly standing street brawling or ground and pound with some grappling. They called it mixed martial arts, but the only art used is ground jiujutsu; not much of a mix when you only have one art. Since the Gracie clan was apart of the creation of original UFC, there was never much emphasis on standing; the rules were tailored to ground fighting.I agree that MMA is not a martial art in that it has no art, just the martial. There is no “way;” there is only fighting. From what I have seen, supposed black belts in karate and Taekwondo, have completely forgotten their previous training. There are no techniques or individual styles, they just swing and see if it hits something. I’m also not for them using a belt ranking system, but since most all “martial arts” around today use them, I guess it really does not matter. Today, anything that is related to fighting is called a martial art. No one remembers that in the original martial arts, fighting was there, but it was secondary to the development of character, integrity, etc.

Traditional martial artist were trained killers, but they were good people. Now the martial arts are just sports pursued for fitness or just for something else to try. The rank system now is similar to public schools; if you come to class regularly and try, you will be promoted to the next grade (don’t want to harm the student’s self-esteem). About the only traditional hardcore martial art schools around now are classical karate schools and they are few and far between; hardcore TKD schools are even harder to find. Nowadays, people do not want to make martial arts training a way of life, they just want to try it for a while, get a “black belt,” and then move on to the next fad.

The term “martial arts” has become a generic term for anything remotely related to fighting, and the value of rank system has deteriorated until it is similar to service stripes on navy enlisted uniforms, where, if you stay out of trouble, you automatically get one every four years. Since traditional martial arts have lost control of the term “martial arts,” they need to adopt a new term that separates them from the morass of “modern” styles and highlights their uniqueness.