How was mixed martial arts born?
Hello! I’m Logical MMA.
In this article, I will write the first part of the world history of MMA.
However, there are many theories about the history of MMA, and if you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty of MMA world history, it would become an academic subject,
so I’m not going to focus on the accuracy of the information in this series.
Forerunner of mixed martial arts
I remember that the term “MMA” began to take root in the minds of martial arts fans in the early 2000s, when the world’s MMA center was in Japan (PRIDE). Of course MMA existed before then, but it was mainly called “mixed martial arts”. Mixed martial arts can be considered near-equal to MMA, or roughly the same (the subtle differences will be discussed later).
So was “mixed martial arts” born from the beginning as “mixed martial arts”? The answer is no.
here is no end to the variety of roots that can be traced back to mixed martial arts, but its predecessors include “NHB”, “Vale tudo” and “heterogeneous martial arts”.
Heterogeneous martial arts
NHB(No Holds Barred) and Vale tudo
The literal translation of NHB and Vale tudo is “no limits” or “anything goes (martial arts)”.
Incidentally, while “NHB” is an English word, “Vale tudo” is a Portuguese word used in Brazil and other countries.
Isn’t MMA also an “anything goes” martial art? In reality, however, it is not really an all-or-nothing sport, as biting, metal strikes, hair pulling, etc. are clearly prohibited.
heterogeneous martial arts
The term “heterogenous martial arts” refers not to the type of martial arts, such as “NHB” or “Vale tudo,” but rather to the matchmaking and composition of matches between different kinds of martial artists.
For example, a match between a boxer and a judo practitioner, or a karate fighter and a sumo wrestler, is a match where anything goes, but the boxer’s attacks are biased toward punches, and the judo practitioner’s attacks are biased toward throws and strangles. However, in the process leading to modern MMA, the integration of “striking, grappling, and submission” has developed dramatically, allowing boxers to use powerful throwing techniques and judo practitioner to use high-precision punches.
As you can see, the predecessors of mixed martial arts were fights where the rules were anything goes, or where the composition was biased toward one’s strongest techniques. As time went on, the rules were improved and the technical revolution was repeated, resulting in the development of mixed martial arts.
Why Mixed Martial Arts and MMA are Nearly Equal
Finally, I will explain why mixed martial arts and MMA are not equal, but nearly equal.
While there may be no clear definition, mixed martial arts broadly refers to the period from the dawn of mixed martial arts to the modern so-called MMA, whereas MMA refers to the more advanced mixed martial arts since around 2000 that integrate “striking, grappling, and submission”.
As a side note, in modern times, the term “melted martial arts” (MMA) is used instead of “mixed martial arts” (MMA) to describe advanced mixed martial arts in which “striking, grappling, and submission” are seamlessly connected, indicating that “striking, grappling, and submission” are becoming more integrated rather than independent as they evolve.
In this article, we have dug into the roots of MMA, and in the next article, we will introduce the history of MMA and how its technical systems have developed.
See you tomorrow, logical!
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