While we might think Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) a quintessentially modern sport, it is in fact one of the oldest sports known to man. It’s origins date back to 648BC, where it was recognized as an official sport in the thirty-third Olympiad of Ancient Greece.
At that time, it was known as Pankration or “all powers”, meaning that all manner of attacks, including those from boxing and wrestling, could be used and combined together. The historical record is replete with references to famous pankrationists, like the champion Dioxippus who later served under Alexander the Great. It was integral part of life in Greek society at that time, particularly as training for the citizen-soldiery. Additionally, the cache of the sport was such that the great mythological heroes of the ancient world, Theseus and Hercules, were both said to have been experts in it. Pankration enjoyed a near 1000-year history as an essential part of the Olympic games until the banning of games themselves by Theodosius I in the 4th century.
Similarly, MMA in this regard has a long history in Asia and the New World. The Asian fighting arts have always had a tradition of mixed rule, style-versus-style clashes: this was particularly true in Japan, where even in the 19th century numerous challenge matches took place between competing styles of Jiu-jitsu.(1)
But mixed martial arts’ Western roots are also quite strong. Turn of the century professional ‘wrestling’ competitions often pitted boxers against wrestlers or Asian fighters against western trained opponents. With the corruption and staged nature of wrestling’s professional side, these matches fell into obscurity in the US.(2) However, MMA found a truly lasting home in Brazil.
At the turn of the century, a Japanese mixed-rules prizefighter named Mitsuyo Maeda settled in Brazil and bequeathed a legacy to the Gracie family; he gave them not only his Asian martial art training but also introduced them to what the Brazilians would later term Vale Tudo or “No Holds Barred” competition, a rough form of MMA competition.(3) The Gracie family became the pioneers of the sport in its modern incarnation, using the crucible of combat to refine their fighting style of Jiu-jitsu. For years it was a tradition of the Gracie clan to challenge all comers and to send official challenges to each successive boxing world heavyweight champion.
The Gracie clan eventually immigrated to the US, and in 1992 introduced their art as well and this “new” sport to millions of Americans through the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a theatrical pay-per-view event that was designed more to showcase the power of the Gracie style of combat rather than establish MMA as a sport. Pitting karate men against boxers, kung fu practitioners versus wrestlers, Sumo versus Kempo… all styles were on display. The UFC answered a question that every 11-year old boy asks, ”Who would win if X fought Y.” But it wasn’t the karate or kung fu practitioners who won.
Royce Gracie, a slight, somewhat gangly member of the Gracie clan proved that he could completely dominate much larger opponents with ease using his family’s technique. Proving it was no fluke, he did it over and over again, making both MMA and the Gracie style of Jiu-jitsu something unique and interesting to even casual fight fans. With the Gracie introduction, the modern sport of MMA was born, this time with a level of theatricality and the added touch of a cage in lieu of a ring.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was the first promotion to feature modern MMA competition. But soon Japan and many other countries followed suit, giving MMA a worldwide following. Unfortunately, here in the US the sport went through a difficult period in the late 1990’s. Legal and cultural backlashes vilified the sport, and often unjustly criticized it, characterizing it as human cockfighting. The cash dried up for the fighters and for the most part the skilled athletes disappeared. The Gracie clan withdrew from the UFC – as their goal to popularize their style was successful – so it was left to a few promoters to keep the sport alive.
At the time there were a handful of skilled fighters who dominated the upper ranks as standouts in a sport that was lacking in true professionalism. One such fighter was Frank Shamrock who retired at one point because, in his words, there was no real skilled competition. While unskilled brawlers never really ruled the sport, during the dark ages of the late 1990’s there were too many of them, and it detracted from MMA’s legitimacy in the US.
But in Japan it was a different story. The spark the UFC has ignited became a raging blaze in Asia. Of course, the Japanese propensity towards martial arts helped to garner a fan base, but also Japan had its own grassroots level of MMA competition for many years. In the 1970’s Muhammad Ali fought a controversial mixed styles match against professional wrestler, Antonio Inoki. The UFC was just the catalyst for a great boom. In the Japanese promotions, which were slick, professional and sportive, you saw what MMA was to become: great promotion values, truly skilled, technical competitors drawn from a variety of combat sports, and most importantly, very, very exciting matches that were safe.(4)
The UFC rested in the doldrums for some years. But the UFC, and MMA in the US overall, got a new lease on life when the Fertitta brothers of Las Vegas bought out the promotion. The brothers, and their partner Dana White (the current CEO), were old time boxing fans who succeeded both in getting proper regulation and in injecting a lot of much needed capital.(5) Suddenly, under the Fertitta stewardship and White’s forward-looking approach American MMA was reinvigorated, it received television coverage and began to be recognized as a legitimate sport; the age of brawlers was instantly over. Elite combat athletes from Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Jiu-jitsu, Judo and Kickboxing gravitated to the revitalized promotion. Most detractors in the political establishment (like Senator John McCain among others), were convinced that MMA had evolved to a level of regulation that both standardized competition and protected fighters enough to ensure a high level safety. To this day American MMA ranks as one the safest professional sports.
MMA in America has taken off in popularity as well, scoring ratings and pay-per-view buys that no one could have expected a few years prior. With the biggest news being the recent airing of the UFC’s heavyweight title fight during prime time hours. Today the level of athleticism and awe-inspiring technique defies the imagination.(6) The sport here is now properly regulated by a number of athletic commissions, the fighters are properly protected, tested and judged. Moreover, the sport has truly returned to its ancient roots. Fighters are not simply one-dimensional boxers or wrestlers, but are trained in a variety of disciplines. The UFC began by asking the question of which fighting style was best. The answer, it turns out (and as any Ancient Greek could have told you), is that you need to know them all: the “all powers” of ancient Olympic Pankration.
And MMA has returned to a level of popularity that any Ancient Greek would recognize. The sport stands at the pinnacle of the modern fighting world, just as it did in the ancient world.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
— Rene Dreifuss
(1) see generally: Bunasawa, Nori; Murray, John (2007 (2nd edition)). Mitsuyo Maeda: The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived. Judo Journal
(2) Although these fights sporadically continued even until the 1950’s, as the bout between famed Judo great, Gene LeBell, and boxer Milo Savage in a mixed rules setting would attest.
(3) Bunasawa, et. al.
(4) Note that while there is no national or local regulation of MMA in Japan, the sport often self regulates effectively by ensuring standards of Judging and safety. One notable example the popular Shooto league which has a complex regulation of amateurs and professionals as well as certifications for referee personnel. See generally: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooto
(5) While the process of regulation began in 2000 with the NJ athletic commissions endorsement of MMA’s unified rules and was prior to the Fertitta’s acquisition of the UFC, the Fertittas efforts to continue and support the process of regulation have been indispensable, particularly in the lobbying campaign for legalization in New York State.
(6) Who would have though a fighter could jump high in the air, bounce off the cage, and in mid-air strike his opponent with a kick?
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