subject: New Self Defence Technique - Gracie Jiu-jitsu [print this page] Mixed martial art is a sport in which various techniques like striking and grappling are used both standing and on the ground. MMA includes different sports like muay thai, kickboxing, brazillian jiu-jitsu, gracie jiu-jitsu. The foundation of the MMA can be reviewed when we go back to the Greek Olympic games in 648BC where a full spectrum of unarmed fighting was used in a sport named Pankration. The sport reached a new pinnacle of popularity in North America in the December 2006 match between then UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former champion Tito Ortiz, emulating the Pay per view sales of some of the biggest boxing events of all time, and helping the UFC's 2006 Pay Per View gross transcending that of any promotion in history of Pay per view.
Now coming to the fighting styles in martial arts, there are two techniques striking and grappling and each technique has various other sports associated to it. Striking is a technique in which a fighter attacks another opponent with either an object or with a human body part with an intention to cause an intense damage to an opponent. Strikes can be of three different types, punch, kick and a headbutt. Strikes focus on various sports like taekwondo, boxing, muay thai and karate. Muay thai is a fighting sport which uses stand-up striking and is the national sport of Thailand. It is also referred to as the science of eight limbs because it uses eight points of contact like punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes Muay thai kickboxing is often a fighting art of abrasion, where opponents interchange blows with each other. This is certainly the case with traditional stylists in Thailand, but is a less popular form of fighting in the contemporary global fighting where the Thai style of exchanging blow for blow is no more encouraging. Almost all techniques in muay thai use the entire body movement, rotating the hip with each kick, punch and elbow.
Grappling is a technique applied to an opponent in order to take the advantage physically, such as bailing out the opponent, submission, enhancing your position relative to the opponent, or injury to the opponent. Grappling in general is a term that includes techniques used in various styles and mixed martial arts that are rehearsed both as combat and for your own safety. Grappling does not typically include striking and the use of weapons; however some styles of grappling teach methods that include strikes and weapons either along with grappling or as part of it. Grappling can be categorized into several types which include Reversals, Turnovers, Submission holds and Pinning or Controlling Techniques, Escapes, Clinching, Takedowns and Throws, Submission holds and Pinning or Controlling Techniques. Grappling is practiced in limited countries in the world. Grappling styles comprise of sports like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, shoot wrestling and catch wrestling. Brazilian jiu-jitsu basically is a ground fighting sport which follows grappling styles. It is that kind of a fighting sport in which a weaker person can easily defend and overshadow a stronger and bigger person using appropriate techniques and at the right time. This art was derived from the Kodakan Judo, a Japanese martial art which was itself derived from the Japanese Jujitsu.
