Tag: Muay Thai
The combat sport known as mixed martial arts or MMA employs many forms of fighting techniques. Consisting mostly of grappling and striking techniques, MMA borrows so much from different traditional forms of martial arts that have been in existence since the ancient times.
Some of the most commonly used martial arts in MMA include kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu, and muay thai. Most professionals argue that jiu jitsu, particularly Brazilian jiu jitsu, is the spine of mixed martial arts. However, there are those who contend that each of the fighting styles contribute to the whole expertise of an MMA practitioner. To understand, listed below are some of the martial arts forms from which mixed martial arts often borrow.
Kickboxing
Gathering from its name, one will easily get that this martial arts form consists of various boxing and kicking techniques. Professional fighters say that this field is very much related to another martial arts form called Muay Thai. Kickboxing is well known in MMA. In fact, the audience can easily discern once a player starts to use kickboxing techniques. As most professionals say, it is said that kickboxing accounts for almost 90% of the striking techniques used in the field of mixed martial arts.
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is the national sport of the country Thailand. It is a martial arts form and at the same time combat sport that uses punches, kicks, as well as knee jerks. Techniques used in Muay Thai are considered as assets of every MMA fighter. Moves such as the flying knee and the superman punch are known for their effectiveness and brutality in every mixed martial arts match.
Wrestling
Another popular form used in the mixed martial arts arena is the sport known as wrestling. For those of you who are not yet familiar with the MMA industry, dominant fighters are those who are wrestlers by profession. Some of the great MMA fighters with background on wrestling include Brock Lesnar, Cain Vasquez, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Josh Kosheck, Ryan Badder, Randy Couture, Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman, Vladimir Matushenko, and Mark Coleman among many others. Indeed, wrestling, as a martial arts form, is the number one source of techniques used in grappling resulting to as many takedowns and submissions in every mixed martial art fight.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is very popular in mixed martial arts matches because practitioners of this style makes their opponents lose via submission. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is focused mostly on grappling and ground fighting techniques. It is in demand for players who want to learn proper submission methods.
Boxing
Last but not the least is boxing. Boxing is a very familiar sport to everyone but only a few people know of its contribution to the world of mixed martial arts. Boxing makes use of jabs, hooks, body blows, and uppercuts to strike an opponent. It is the ultimate source of hand strikes in MMA. Boxing techniques can bring about fatal hand strikes and knock outs in an MMA match.
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Different people have a lot of different reasons for looking into martial arts styles. Some are looking for transcendence and self-control, others for the ability to kill other human beings. That lethality captivates the imagination; every man would like to be able to kill others with impunity, even if he never would. So what are the most deadly styles of martial art in the world? Simple: the ones that come from war-ravaged nations.
Have you ever noticed that there is no martial art indigenous to the United States, or Canada, or Norway (Stv notwithstanding)? That’s because those are countries that haven’t had to deal with long histories of invasion. Compare them to countries where being invaded is a way of life — Malaysia, Thailand, Israel, Russia, and their ilk — and the difference is clear. Guess which countries have produced the world’s most lethal martial arts styles?
Thailand: Muay Thai
Muay Thai is also called the “Art of 8 Limbs”. It has this name because it adds four more striking surfaces to the typical 2 hands and 2 feet: the elbows and the shins. Muay Thai practitioners use body-hardening techniques on their shins, knees, and elbows until they are tough enough to survive a strike that would shatter an enemy’s bones without bruising. Muay Thai is famed for it’s clinching martial arts moves, wherein the practitioner grabs an opponent’s head and shoulders and holds them down while repeatedly driving knees into his heart and elbows into the back or top of his head.
Israel: Krav Maga
Krav Maga (literally “Hand to hand combat”) has it’s roots in brutal Israeli-vs-Pakistani streetfighting, but has been refined by the Israeli government and police into a systematic method of disassembling an opponent. The Israeli government’s official Krav Maga manual details hundreds of technques and has an entire chapter devoted to dozens of lethal martial arts moves that are easy to perform, from hip-shattering throws to neck attacks that can stop blood from leaving your brain and result in death.
Malaysia: Silat Melayu
Silat’s origins are mysterious, but it’s a fair bet that this diverse array of martial arts styles developed over Malaysia’s centuries-long history of being invaded by everyone from Colonial Europe to Imperial Japan. Silat relies heavily on strong stances that allow it’s practitioners to remain firmly grounded and fluid at the same time. Because Silat is entirely practical, there are almost no flashy flying kicks or extravagant overkill attacks, but a Silat practitioner trains in a wide variety of ways to end fights with extraordinary efficiency.
Russia: Sambo
Sambo, from a Russian acronym for “Defense without Weapons”) is a fairly new martial art, developed only 90 years ago by the Red Army to improve their chances of survival when disarmed. Borrowing techniques from a variety of martial arts styles ranging from judo to savate, Sambo practitioners take things to the ground, and fast, applying a huge variety of joint breaks, disarm techniques, and knockout blows — often as the opponent falls down. There are no wasted moments in Sambo.
Could it be a coincidence that four of the world’s nastiest martial arts styles come from four of the world’s most often-invaded countries? Probably not. One thing is for certain, however — those of us that live in more peaceful climes are thankful for the opportunity to witness and maybe practice the martial arts styles that come from such turbulent places.