Boxing versus Mixed Martial Arts
I was changing in the locker room, chatting with friends old and new, when the pasty, pudgy Mixed-up Martial Artist wandered in - the one whom shouted " cocksucker" from the safety of a friend’s passenger seat back when I was walking-wounded with a broken arm.
His brown eyes got suddenly big. He beat a hasty retreat but failed to get out of his own way. He went stumbling backwards less than gracefully and was out of sight with the crash of a locker-room door. I think he hid in the sauna. He’s a little clumsy apparently.
This is ridiculous. I’m not scary, and I’m not going to hurt him, even when my arm is healed.
When I got upstairs I found the boxing equipment had been in use again. This is disappointing and tiresome. We boxers paid for that gear. We’ve tried welcoming the Mixed-up Martial Artists to join us. They refused. Hollywood & Hype tells them "boxing is dead." Seriously - I’ve not seen a Mixed-up Martial Artist movie yet that doesn’t include the pronouncement "Boxing is dead" (the excellent Redbelt and the simplistic Never Back Down both included this line).
Boxing isn’t dead - it’s just that rednecks suck at fighting. Most of the great fighters have been blue-collar: strong, determined and disciplined. There’s never been a great redneck fighter, and I’ve seen plenty of alcohol-fueled rednecks trying to dry-hump each other in honky-tonks.
To be a trained fighter requires discipline, focus, and creativity. Rednecks think they can somehow summon the mighty powers of redneck rage and win any fight if only the rules didn’t get in the way. Rednecks resent being told what to do. They resent rules too. Boxing has rules, but all fights have rules in some fashion or another.
Mixed Martial Arts are very popular, before that ninjutsu was popular. Before that it was kung fu. Before that it was karate. Before that it was judo. Before that it was boxing. Before that it was jujutsu, popular in late Victorian England and the Eastern United States around 1900.
There’s nothing “wrong” with Mixed Martial Arts. Mixed Martial Arts enthusiastically blend striking and grappling techniques. Historically people have been “mixing” martial arts since forever. When I studied Tae Kwon Do (TKD) during the early 1970’s any given night could include a few hours of grappling and ground-fighting (Yul Sool or Korean Jujutsu). TKD is known as a striking art - specifically kicking. We spent much time punching too. Today’s Mixed Martial Artists will tell you this training doesn’t count as a "Mixed Martial Art." They’re trying real hard to differentiate themselves from Traditional Martial Arts (of which TKD is just one of many), not matter how well blended a particular student might be.
Right now the rules for Mixed Martial Arts tournaments have evolved to roughly 19th Century London Prize-Fighting rules. They’re at the place where boxing was roughly 150 years ago.
Television drives the Mixed Martial Art trend. Fights are a popular televised event, and will likely remain so. Boxing, at least in the United States, has fallen on hard-times. There are four major boxing organizations. At present there isn’t a single American Heavyweight "World Champ."International Boxing Federation: Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine.
World Boxing Association: Ruslan Chagaev, Uzbekistan.
World Boxing Council: Samuel Peter, Nigeria.
World Boxing Organization: Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine.
Rednecks are compeled to ignore the lack of American heavyweight champions.
The point is Mixed Martial Arts will evolve over time, as will boxing. If one of these were to die out the fledgling Mixed Martial Arts remains the likelier candidate. Boxing is global, historic, and Olympic. It will continue to evolve, and it will also be with us for some time. Hopefully Mixed Martial Arts will too.
Previously: It's Not Her Fault.
Next: Benchmark.
His brown eyes got suddenly big. He beat a hasty retreat but failed to get out of his own way. He went stumbling backwards less than gracefully and was out of sight with the crash of a locker-room door. I think he hid in the sauna. He’s a little clumsy apparently.
This is ridiculous. I’m not scary, and I’m not going to hurt him, even when my arm is healed.
When I got upstairs I found the boxing equipment had been in use again. This is disappointing and tiresome. We boxers paid for that gear. We’ve tried welcoming the Mixed-up Martial Artists to join us. They refused. Hollywood & Hype tells them "boxing is dead." Seriously - I’ve not seen a Mixed-up Martial Artist movie yet that doesn’t include the pronouncement "Boxing is dead" (the excellent Redbelt and the simplistic Never Back Down both included this line).
Boxing isn’t dead - it’s just that rednecks suck at fighting. Most of the great fighters have been blue-collar: strong, determined and disciplined. There’s never been a great redneck fighter, and I’ve seen plenty of alcohol-fueled rednecks trying to dry-hump each other in honky-tonks.
To be a trained fighter requires discipline, focus, and creativity. Rednecks think they can somehow summon the mighty powers of redneck rage and win any fight if only the rules didn’t get in the way. Rednecks resent being told what to do. They resent rules too. Boxing has rules, but all fights have rules in some fashion or another.
Mixed Martial Arts are very popular, before that ninjutsu was popular. Before that it was kung fu. Before that it was karate. Before that it was judo. Before that it was boxing. Before that it was jujutsu, popular in late Victorian England and the Eastern United States around 1900.
There’s nothing “wrong” with Mixed Martial Arts. Mixed Martial Arts enthusiastically blend striking and grappling techniques. Historically people have been “mixing” martial arts since forever. When I studied Tae Kwon Do (TKD) during the early 1970’s any given night could include a few hours of grappling and ground-fighting (Yul Sool or Korean Jujutsu). TKD is known as a striking art - specifically kicking. We spent much time punching too. Today’s Mixed Martial Artists will tell you this training doesn’t count as a "Mixed Martial Art." They’re trying real hard to differentiate themselves from Traditional Martial Arts (of which TKD is just one of many), not matter how well blended a particular student might be.
Right now the rules for Mixed Martial Arts tournaments have evolved to roughly 19th Century London Prize-Fighting rules. They’re at the place where boxing was roughly 150 years ago.
Television drives the Mixed Martial Art trend. Fights are a popular televised event, and will likely remain so. Boxing, at least in the United States, has fallen on hard-times. There are four major boxing organizations. At present there isn’t a single American Heavyweight "World Champ."International Boxing Federation: Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine.
World Boxing Association: Ruslan Chagaev, Uzbekistan.
World Boxing Council: Samuel Peter, Nigeria.
World Boxing Organization: Wladimir Klitschko, Ukraine.
Rednecks are compeled to ignore the lack of American heavyweight champions.
The point is Mixed Martial Arts will evolve over time, as will boxing. If one of these were to die out the fledgling Mixed Martial Arts remains the likelier candidate. Boxing is global, historic, and Olympic. It will continue to evolve, and it will also be with us for some time. Hopefully Mixed Martial Arts will too.
Previously: It's Not Her Fault.
Next: Benchmark.