Sanctioned violence and public beatings have always been the intended, unofficial, delight for those who follow Bloodsport that started with fox hunting and cock fighting and progressed into major mainstream sports like American football, hockey and boxing.
Now, Mixed Martial Arts is the new Bloodsport king and MMA isn't like professional wrestling where the bouts are predetermined before the event.
MMA is brutally real by design -- you win by knocking out your opponent or by causing a "tap out" submission before you break an arm, ankle or leg -- and the top MMA organization is the UFC: The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The mandate of MMA is always this: Bloodsport means Big Business and if you don't bleed, you don't bring home the bucks.
Fighting for profit has always been one avenue out of urban poverty -- but does money for beatings translate into a job description we want for any person to abide and live by in society?
BoxingMMA fighting in the Octagon Cage does have rules -- but it didn't used to always be that way. At one time these "Cage Fights" had no rules and no weight classes. They were more street fight than professional bout: You could kick a guy in the nuts and smash him in the head with your head.
The skill or sport of fighting with the fists usually with padded leather gloves. Referred to as the "sweet science," boxers use elaborate foot maneuvers and quick jabs for offense.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
In the mid-1920's, Carlos Gracie opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He taught the skills he learned from Japanese Judo master Esai Maeda. The skills were later modified to use less strength and to be more effective against larger opponents. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's reputation spread due to the success of its practitioners in no holds barred contests.
Freestyle Wrestling
Possibly the world's oldest sport. Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take down their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.
Greco-Roman Wrestling
Possibly the worlds oldest sport. Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take down their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.
Jiu Jutsu
Ancient Japanese martial art that encompasses throwing, joint locks, striking, and weapons training.
Judo
Sportive Japanese martial art founded in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Derived from Jujutsu, Judo is now an Olympic sport that emphasizes throws. Striking is not allowed in competition Judo.
Karate
Name used to identify many Japanese and Okinawan martial arts. While known for powerful, linear techniques, many Karate styles also incorporate softer, circular techniques. Some of the popular styles of Karate are Kyokushinkai, Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, and Kenpo which was the first "Americanized" version of Karate.
Kickboxing
Sportive martial art combining boxing punches and martial arts kicks. Many different styles with different rules exist such as Muay Thai, Full Contact Karate, and Asian Rules Fighting.
Kung Fu
Also referred to as Gung Fu, Chinese Boxing, and Wu Shu. There are hundreds of Kung Fu styles. Many are patterned after the movements of animals. Some well known styles of Kung Fu are Wing Chun, Praying Mantis, Pau Kua, Tai-Chi-Ch'uan, and Shuai Chiao.
Tae Kwon Do
One of the most practiced martial arts in the world, Tae Kwon Do is a Korean style known for its flashy kicking techniques.
Wrestling
Possibly the world's oldest sport. Contestants struggle hand to hand attempting to throw or take down their opponent without striking blows. Some of the many styles of wrestling are Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch as catch can.
The result of that open lawlessness for blood profit was Cage Fights were outlawed in several states. Now the MMA is more certain of itself with governing bodies and requirements for participation and punishments for rules breaking. Here are a few of the universal fouls:
World Extreme Cage Fighting -- the WEC -- is a training ground fighting league for the UFC. The bouts are just as bloody and just as brutal as the UFC's:
Are we bored or just bloodthirsty?
Can traditional boxing survive when the MMA is much more exciting, raw, treacherous, deceptive and skills-based?
What happens when we tire of the ordinary bloodshed the MMA Bloodsport has to offer?
Are we in for a return to public beheadings and burnings-at-the-stake?
All sports watchers want blood don't they?
Doesn't intent have to be part of that equation for the want of blood as entertainment, Karvain?
You don't go to a basketball game or a bowling tournament and expect blood, do you?
Maybe not intent but result. Blood on a basketball court is always a big deal right. Stops the game.
Is bowling a sport? No. Golf is not a sport.
Car race fans want blood right. Internal bleeding from crashing is what they pay for.
karvain --
I've heard race fans attend NASCAR events for the crashes and not the checkered flags -- so you may be right about the hope for a spectacular crash is what makes NASCAR such a growing Internal Bleeding Bloodsport. :grin:
There are those who argue, however, that like bowling and golf you mention, NASCAR isn't a sport at all but rather an endurance competition.
People are so dead they want to see signs of life in other people and blood is the easiest proof.
karvain --
So people pay to watch other people bleed because it makes them feel human and connected?
Is that the wonder and the risk of all sporting events?
You said blood is money.
Karvain!
Yes, I think blood does equal money and we've been in that mindset since the Gladiator days and tossing people in a lion's den.
Hey Karvain, your Avatar is finally showing up in the comments sidebar!
MMA will be gladiators if they just added weapon or two and let the crowd vote up or down on winner
yeah i noticed avatar showing up over there finally
I bet we'll see in the next five years or so, Karvain, that clubs and shields will be added to MMA fights and then we WILL be back to the coliseum days.
Why not let the bloodthirsty audience vote thumbs up or down on the winner? It is the next, natural, step in the bloodshed!
I'm glad your avatar is working in the sidebar, Karvain. Something probably got triggered when you changed your display name.
football coaches teach their players to kill the other guy and we see that in hard tackles on the gridiron and headbutts on soccer fields
defeat isn't enough now and its all about killing and maiming when you get down to it
In fact, my friends and I were so obsessed with "pro wresting," I performed several "pile drivers" on my friends in my basement where we had nothing more than shag carpeting against a concrete floor. I am still amazed today that I didn't paralyze them for life!
I think our young people today have been exposed to brutal violence already through television, theater, and excessively violent video games. Capturing their attention through such brutal sports as this type of fighting is really simple since there is no more shock value thus the involved entities become harmless recreation.
Somewhat reminds me of the days of the Roman gladiators and of the Christians that were thrown before the Lions and slaves slaughtered by trained gladiators all for the sport of the spectators. Remember it is the spectators that makes the demands of sport!
You make an interesting point, Jeremy, about commerce and young people. If there wasn't a goldmine in MMA it wouldn't be on TV and it wouldn't sell tickets!
I do think young people live for shock value in their lives and MMA may be the next vital step in the realization of their humanity spewed in the blood of others.
Hmmmm....Interesting questions.
I used to - when I was younger and much fitter - used to compete in the forerunner of the MMA tournaments. It was both unbelievably brutal and amazingly exicting. I can completely understand anyone wanting to participate; it'd be a good experience for a lot of people.
That all being said, I am concerned about it's growing mainstream popularity as a spectator sport. I can completely understand going into the ring or cage to test yourself in that most primal manner, but to sit and watch? I know it will weird, but the crowd just creeps me out.
jonolan --
I agree the crowds don't only want blood and beatings -- they want broken limbs and knockouts. It's painful watching someone get hit so hard they can't get up from the mat.