Mixed Martial Arts Brutality at Its Finest Essay Example For Students

Mixed Martial Arts: Brutality at Its Finest Essay Mixed martial arts: Brutality at its finest Jason Campbell Rogue Community College Two men face off in an octagon shaped ring, each vying for the advantage needed to either subdue their enemy With a flurry Of brutal blows to the head and midsection or the opportunity to take them down to the mat and submit them With a technique designed to break a limb or pass out from lack of oxygen if they are unwilling to admit defeat. This is the sport of mixed martial arts, or MA, as it is referred to more frequently. Some claim it to be a sadistic, violent activity that is synonymous with the arenas of ancient Rome ND the gruesome fights to the death by gladiators. Senator John McCain, one of the leading antagonists against MA, has in the past referred to it as Inhuman cockfighting (Siegel, 2007, Para. 18). MA should not be banned, is no more dangerous than other high-contact sports, and can have a positive influence in an individuals elite. Mixed martial arts boasts a much longer past than most people are aware of. The first recorded history of MA was when it was presented into the Olympia_ Games by the Greeks in the tort of the sport called penetration in 648 B,C. E. penetration is a fighting form that incorporates restring and boxing into a deadly style of unarmed combat that the Spartan used to dominate the battlefield. penetration quickly rose to be the most admired game in the Olympics and fans were drawn to it; filling the stadiums. The allure of these matches can be seen today in modern mixed martial arts bouts. This fighting style consists of standing strikes using the feet, hands, elbows and knees and on the ground using submission holds and blows to the head and midsection. Pantywaists were extraordinary grapples and employed a multitude Of techniques to subdue their adversaries via chokes and joint locks. These fighters were pursued by Alexander the Great because of their infamy in battle. He had recruited a considerable amount Of these individuals when he invaded India in 326 B. C. E. This is rumored to be the origin of martial arts in Asia, as most forms can attribute Indian influence from about the same time period. Because of the extreme training this form required, it later declined in popularity in those who participated in the sport. At this time the west favored specializing in either boxing or wrestling and traditional martial arts were adopted as the combat sport for Asian nations. Mixed martial arts remained dormant for centuries, only emerging briefly at various times in history, until it was revived in 1925 in ROI De Jeanine by the Gracie family. George Gracie emigrated trot Scotland to a small province of Brazil in 1 801 , where the family settled and thrived. In the first part tot the asses, Mitosis Made emigrated trot Japan to the same province as the Gracie family, where he began to train Carols Gracie in the martial art form of Judo. Carols Gracie trained with Made for six years as a young adult, until Made returned to Japan. Gracie then trained his brothers in the art of Judo and they adapted it to the form known today as juju-jujitsu, a dominant style adopted in MA today. In 1925, Carols and Hello Gracie moved to ROI De Jeanine and opened the first juju-jujitsu training camp. To gain recognition for their young school, he advertised in local papers issuing the Gracie Challenge. This challenge consisted of an all-out challenge to take on any and all who thought they could best them. These contests resembled the penetration events Of Old. Thus the sport of mixed martial arts was reborn. Vale-outdo, which means anything goes in Portuguese, rapidly became the second most popular sport in Brazil, closely allowing soccer. This once again shows that these types of spectator sports are sought after by the general populace. Hello Gracie, who weighed only 135 pounds, was an important aspect of this popularity as he proceeded to fight in over one-thousand fights to uphold the Gracie Challenge. Many of these matches, his opponents outweighed him by more than 100 lbs. Brazilian juju-jujitsu was introduced in the United States in the sasss by Orion Gracie, where the Gracie Challenge was once again issued, This time a prize of 100,000 dollars was presented to any who could best the Gracie brothers in a vale-outdo match. In 993, Gracie and two partners formed the Ultimate Weighting Championship or the LIFE: which it is referred to as more frequently. In its infancy, LIFE had adopted the no-holds-barred style that the Ancient Greeks used in their penetration contests. The matches consisted of next to no rules, had no time limits, and could only be stopped by a referee, knockout, or a submission, A submission is when a contestant admits defeat either verbally or by tapping the mat, or his opponent three times with his hand. These events oeuvre originally marketed concentrating on the crowd pleasing brutalities of the sport, such as the lack of rules and the lain that anything can happen, even death. This later caused the league much grief in the form of negative publicity. At this point, McCain cried out for the sport to be eradicated. It was eventually banned in most States and pay-preview carriers dropped them from their lineups. In 2001, Guffaw, LLC purchased the AFC, reformed the rules, and returned to pay-per-view. The stringent rules contained rounds, time limits, five weight classes. A list of 31 fouls, and 8 possible ways t o win (Walter, 2003, Para. 18). This attracted a different type of fighter than those that participated in the AFC in its early stages. Augustine's Confessions EssayEven in a fight where this does not occur and the winner of the fight is decided by the judges scorecards, the score is determined by how many blows connected with the opponent versus how many were thrown, also knockdowns are awarded a large amount Of points. The concession has to be made that this can occur in mixed martial arts also. But it is not the only way a fight can be won. In fact, a large amount of MA bouts end up on the mat as a contest between rappers supervenes; only 28% of all MA bouts are decided by a blow to the head. A boxing match consists of ten to twelve rounds at three minutes per, MA comprises three to five rounds at five minutes apiece. Each sport allows a fighter sixty seconds to rest between rounds. Combining the shorter rounds and more frequent rest periods this means a boxer is going to have the stamina to throw more punches at close to full efficiency than a MA fighter. A boxer can he subjected to over a hundred blobs to the head in a single fight. Studies have shown that as many as forty percent of boxers suffer trot lingering brain aroma and that most individuals who have chosen this profession, at the very least, have minimal brain damage; even those who do not show symptoms. On the other hand, an analysis performed by John Hopkins in 2006 showed that the chance of traumatic damage to the brain was diminished in the case of mixed martial arts. Even in other sports not known for its brutality, MA showed less risk. In 2009, 55,000 residents of the United States were brought to the hospital for head injuries sustained playing hockey or football (Zincked, 2011, Para. -10). JIFF was introduced in 1993, since then, only three fatalities have occurred in the United States during sanctioned MA events. The most recent was amateur fighter Michael Karma who died two days after his pro debut on Lune 26th, 2010. Karma had suffered a brutal loss in an unsanctioned amateur fight just over 30 days before his death. In that amateur fight Kar ma had suffered repeated blows to the back of the head, which is illegal in sanctioned MA In response, Karma received a 30 day medical suspension before he could fight in his first professional fight. The popularity of this sport drives people to participate whether it is legal or not. This is evidence that regulating axed martial arts is the answer, not banning the sport. While Skirmishs death occurred in a sanctioned fight, the injuries that were most likely the cause of his death were sustained in a non-sanctioned event and were obtained trot blows that are illegal according to standards in professional MA events. Dry. Joe Estonian believes his death could have been what is referred to as second- impact syndrome, which can be prompted by even a minor impact after suffering a substantial blow to the head up to 4 weeks after enduring the initial trauma (Perez, 2010, Para. 2-7). Perez also says, Or, Robert C, Canto, a leading researcher n second-impact syndrome, said a brain scan done after the first fight may have been able to detect a brain injury (Para. 8), but this was well out of the price range of an unemployed struggling musician and fighter. Boxing on the other hand, reported 146 fatalities in the SIS in approximately the same time period, and has accumulated over 500 worldwide between the years 2000 and 2007 (Squint, 2007, Para_ 8-23). In I egg, 23-year old Jimmy Garcia slipped into unconsciousness after a one-sided boxing match against then WEB featherweight champion Gabriel Rulers; Garcia never woke again. Ironically, McCain was ringside for this event, which occurred during his battle against mixed martial arts. McCain has seen the ultimate brutality Of boxing and, yet, remains a fan (Silverman, 1998, peg. 2). Football is an extremely popular and accepted sport in America, yet there were five deaths that occurred in 2010 alone and 115 fatalities relating to this revered sport since 1986 (Armor, 2011, Para. 13). These numbers do not include the indirect deaths such as heat stroke or cardiopulmonary, which accounted for eleven more fatalities on the football field in 2010 (Mueller Colgate, 201 1, peg. 5). MA has grown in popularity and the AFC is one of the fastest growing organizations in sports history; with this popularity and the nature of the sport, criticism is inevitable. While there is some risk of injury inherent in MA other such popular sporting events have a much higher risk. Mixed martial arts should not be vilified by those who are lacking in sufficient knowledge. Football and boxing have been around for years, before such concerns were brought to light. Because of this, they are firmly entrenched in our society, thereby, allowing them a measure of immunity to criticism, MA and the JIFF do not possess this leeway.