Cornhole Blog | Cornhole Bargains and more

MMA or Mixed Martial Arts combines a variety of full contact sport techniques and styles with a competitive edge. This includes both stand-up and on the ground skills such as kick boxing, Karate, Judo, wrestling and Muay Thai. MMA allows one to fight with the whole body by combining the arts of throwing, striking and joint manipulating techniques.

Each of the disciplines has a long history and Muay Thai, for example, was utilized for warfare in the 1800′s. Over the years, these fights became spectator sports to entertain Kings in various countries. Muay Thai makes use of eight contact points and its name means “Art of Eight Limbs.” These include knee hits, punches, kicks and elbow strikes performed in a stand-up position. Western boxing holds no comparison with its hands and feet two point fighting.

Holding the opponent down through grappling moves similar to wrestling is known as ground fighting. Clinched fighting is when the opponent tries to prevent strikes or get the dominant position while on the ground. The only equipment needed is small gloves, open-fingered or closed, depending on the country, type of fight and weight category. Victory is resolved by knockout, doctor stoppage, or submission. Referees can stop a fight if one of the opponents has sustained bodily injury or if there have been numerous fouls and warnings causing disqualification.

Mixed Martial Arts first became an official sport within the US when the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was held in 1992. Fights that used to be no-holds-barred became a disciplined sport including restrictions to reduce the risk of bodily harm and time limits. In 2008, the UFC expanded from the United States to Canada. Pay-per-view events began drawing huge audiences making Calgary comparative to large cities such as Los Angeles or Chicago. People stand in line for hours and shows are sold out within minutes.

There are several schools in Calgary that teach MMA and individuals from all over the world travel here to learn from the best. It is cautioned that one should watch a few sessions before committing. Instructors are willing to speak with potential students and enroll them in starter classes to make sure this is an adequate sport for that person. Competitive martial arts differ from self defense and should not be categorized as the same. Some of the techniques may overlap, but many of the strategies are not sensible for someone to utilize in an attack type situation.

This website will provide more information about MMA:
Calgary Muay Thai
Calgary wrestling

Tags: martial arts, mixed martial arts, MMA, sports

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.