Mixed Martial Arts - A Brief History Of Mma
Fighting has a long rich history in the storybook of mankind
. Even apes, close genetic relatives to our primate ancestors, can be found engaging in fisticuffs with each other. The history of MMA, mixed martial arts as an organized sport, goes back to Greco-Roman culture and continues to thrive today.
The Olympic games in Ancient Greece gave way for the first documented minimal-rules fighting tournament. This sport was known as pankration, and debuted around 650 B. C. This game was eventually adopted by the Romans, and became known as pancratium. Champion pankratiasts were rewarded with gold and fame, and several statues to were put up honoring these fighters.
In Europe, during the 1800's, large music and dining halls would hold no rules matches. These combat tournaments would include many of the popular styles of the time, including Greco-Roman wrestling, boxing, and numerous catch wrestling styles. These sorts of fighting matches became extremely popular, and drew large crowds whenever they were put on.
On the Pacific Rim in the early 1900s, Japanese, American and European fighters met for battle in Merikan. Merikan matched opponents of eastern and western fighting styles, such as boxing and jujitsu, and is slang for American fighting. These matches were rated, and had rules governing victory by knockout and submission.
A famous fight in mixed martial arts history occurred in nineteen thirty five between Peter Sauer and Kingfish Levinsky. Sauer was a catch wrestler known as Ray Steele, and Levinsky was a heavy weight boxing contender. The mixed style match was over in thirty five seconds, with Sauer coming out on top.
The Gracie family, based in Brazil, is a prominent element in the history of mixed martial arts. There are nearly a dozen famous fighters from the family, including Royce Gracie, who has won the Ultimate Fighting Championship three times. The Gracie family developed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a combination of wrestling, Judo and Sambo.
Established in 1999, the International Sports Combat Federation heralded in a new era of mixed style fighting tournaments. Born from tournaments like the Japanese wrestling Shooto matches and the Brazilian Gracie Family Challenge, the ISCF created a ruling body with governing officials. Fighters from all styles came together to fight in the first official mixed martial arts sanctioning body. The United States Army created its own annual MMA tournament, the Army Combatives Championships, six years later.
In 2006, the Ultimate Fighting Championship broke several pay per view event records, even beating out many of the largest heavyweight boxing matches, when it broadcast the Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell rematch fight. The popularity of mixed martial arts exploded, and in the next year, the owners of the UFC merged with their long time rivals, the Japanese Pride FC, forming the largest and most popular mixed martial arts tournament body in MMA history.
The history of MMA could fill entire volumes with stories of enterprising fighters working at their craft to develop the unique sport that mixed martial arts has become. Pioneers in mixed style fighting, from the Gracie family to Bruce Lee, have built a sporting empire that is sure to flourish for years to come.
by: Dustin Fennell
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