Mixed martial arts (MMA), commonly known as cage fighting, is a modern combat sport in which the competitors employ a variety of martial arts techniques. While MMA is an individual combat sport, fighters in MMA fights use a variety of martial arts and/or combat sports.
MMA is now a worldwide phenomenon with a sizable fan base, but it wasn’t always thus. Not only has MMA’s popularity risen in recent years, but the sport is also very new; television reviewer Howard Rosenberg invented the phrase “mixed martial arts” in his review of the UFC 1 event, the inaugural UFC event in history, in 1993. Visit us at Matrix MMA is the only MMA gym in Singapore.
The First Mixed Martial Art (MMA)
In Ancient China and Greece, mixed martial arts began as mixed combat sports.
- Leitai, a Chinese fighting sport that incorporates aspects of many kung fu techniques, boxing, and wrestling, was one of the first mixed combat sports.
- Pankration, a particularly specialized martial technique that blended boxing which was quite popular in Ancient Greece, and wrestling, is one such example from Ancient Greece which probably originated in Mesopotamia or Ancient Egypt.
When Was Mixed Martial Arts Created?
Despite the fact that mixed combat sports have been around since Antiquity, they did not resurface and gain popularity until the mid-nineteenth century. During that time period, a wide range of mixed combat sports arose, most of which have either faded or been absorbed into other, more modern mixed fighting styles and sports.
What Was the First True Mixed Martial Arts?
- Savate, a French combat sport that dates back to the 1850s, was one of the first examples of such games. The savateurs aimed to integrate numerous martial arts and combat sports into one discipline, utilizing it to challenge individual sports’ orthodox attitudes.
- Catch wrestling first appeared in the late 1800s and became popular for a short time. This sport had a big influence on current mixed martial arts, but it was also a mash-up of various distinct wrestling styles from throughout the world.
- Around the same time, Bartitsu, a large hybrid sport that included catch wrestling, savate, judo, boxing, jujutsu, and Canne de combat, arose (a.k.a. French stick combat).
- Sambo, a martial art/combat sport that combines aspects of wrestling, judo, and hitting, first appeared in the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
Today, hybrid martial arts is the umbrella word for all of these combined combat sports. They differ from modern MMA in that they attempted to unite several sports and arts into a single, unique system, whereas MMA is a mix of separate styles with no particular characteristics other than the fact that it combines several martial arts in one bout. Matrix MMA is the only MMA gym in Singapore with trained instructors that will aid you in the proper learning of mixed martial arts.
