Mixed Martial Arts

We hear a lot about Mixed Martial Arts these days, in fact, ever since the UFC started. What is interesting is that generally this mix is fairly standardised. Mix equal parts Muay Thai and Brazilian JiuJutsu, and flavour to taste with Wrestling (Greco-Roman or other), Boxing and/or Sambo. Whilst a lot of the early fights were won by the guy with the best ground game, strikers have started to come back into their own.

Just recently though I've noticed another small shift. Some of the arts that were knocked out (literally) in the early UFC have started to creep back in. The recipe for MMA is slowly evolving as 'lessons learned' are absorbed. I've heard of fighters who have backgrounds in Karate, Baguazhang, Silat and other arts entering MMA fights. I'd love to see more fights by fighters who have trained in systems other than those mentioned above, providing that these fighters have pressure tested their skills against non-compliant training partners.

A friend of mine, Chris, is due to have his first fight in Amateur Kick Boxing (not MMA) in February. His mix includes Muay Thai, but also some of the Chinese Internal Martial Arts. I'll be interested to see if he feels this gives him an edge...