COMBAT SPORTS:  A Critical Examination

 “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

                                                                        --Shakespeare

                                                                                    Hamlet

            On November 12, 1993, the martial arts world experienced a paradigm shift.  Viewers watched in disbelief as Royce Gracie, a slender Brazilian, grappled his way to victory through much larger and stronger opponents.  At the conclusion of that first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) a new star had been born and a new art, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, was crowned the “Greatest fighting system ever developed”. 

            Grappling arts, prior to the first UFC, were viewed as secondary in usefulness compared with their striking counter arts.  In one night, the tables turned and the grappling arts, specifically Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, became the focus of martial artists around the globe.   I begin a series on Combat Sports with this flashback because the martial arts world is still sorting through the ripples of that epic night.

            There are many lessons that can be gleaned from the evolution of the UFC and the fighters that compete in this grueling competition.  This article will examine various lessons that were learned and some that were misunderstood.  There continues to be much debate surrounding this phenomenon.  As the UFC matures, so too does our understanding of its impact on the martial arts.

            Why has the UFC enjoyed such great popularity?  How did one tournament shape the largest cross-art migration in the martial arts in the past 100 years? This style of fighting is not new.  In fact it has a direct lineage to ancient Greece where athletes participated in a striking, kicking, throwing and submission art know as Pankration.  Furthermore, this style of fighting has been and continues to be practiced in Japan and Brazil.   So why the epiphany?

            I believe it has everything to do with brilliant marketing.  Americans love violence and Americans love their televisions.  Put the two together and market it well and you have the greatest fighting spectacle ever witnessed.  This was the first time that no-holds-barred fighting was brought into our living rooms and neighborhood bars.  Martial artists and non-martial artists alike were in awe of these men who were driven to enter a cage and engage in bare-fisted street brawling.  Regardless if you were for or against this style of fighting, your curiosity got the best of you. 

            I remember sitting in a buddy’s apartment with a mixed gender crowd of about 15 and watching the reactions of the individuals in the room to the various fights.  I give credit where credit is due and the promoters for this event were on the top of their game.  The air of excitement was nerve wrenching.  The event was live and no one really knew what to expect.  As the events of the evening began to unfold I scrutinized the fighters and the lack of no-rules that they billed so vehemently.  I, like everyone in the room, was caught up in the action and the free-floating testosterone that permeated the conversation and the numerous high-fives being thrown around.  However, what stands out most vividly from than November evening was the reaction of my martial arts buddies to Royce Gracie’s victory.  Immediately one of them stated, “I have to learn that system, I’ve never seen anything like that!”  The other, a much less experienced martial artist, exclaimed, “Royce Gracie is the greatest fighter in the world, and he is so normal looking!”  We all laughed and returned to our residences, unable to sleep that night because of the adrenalin dump we all had experienced.  It was similar to that excited, yet sickening feeling you get in your stomach when you watch a “real-street fight” take place.  I stared up at the ceiling until the wee hours of the morning wondering what had just happened. 

            Here are the thoughts that have remained with me since the first UFC:

q       While it appeared that there were no rules, the existing rules actually favored the grappler.  Longer rounds favor a slower pace, therefore giving the grappler the advantage. 

q       The fighting area (cage) favored the grappler.  The smaller the space and the greater number of corners allow the grappler to cut off the area and close with the striker.  The striker had limited amount of space in which they could maneuver to escape a hard charging grappler.  The grapplers could cut off the area and make a committed attack using the cage walls to smother the striker and set up a takedown.  The cage itself acted as a secondary base for grapplers.  A vertical grappling dimension was added when the walls of the cage were used to pin an opponent.

q       The multiple-opponent tournament favored the grappler.  Striking based fighters, while causing trauma to their opponents, also suffered trauma themselves in the form of broken hands, sprains and deep contusions.  If a grappler was able to close the gap with a striker and not take serious damage they would fare better over the long haul in that they were not risking breaking their hand or foot on an opponent. 

q       The UFC, no matter how good or convincing their marketing is…is still a sport.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the UFC and I respect any fighter that steps into the octagon.  These athletes are warriors.  But they are warrior athletes competing in a dangerous and contact-driven sport.  The UFC is not a street fight.  This is where the majority of martial artists misunderstood the lessons of the UFC.  I witnessed numerous martial artists scrap the art in which they had studied for many years and jump all-believing into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).  What they didn’t understand was that BJJ is part of the puzzle, not the entire puzzle.  BJJ worked extremely well in the UFC because of the rules, the superiority of Royce’s attributes, and because of the lack of understanding by the martial arts world in general on how to handle this style of fighting.  BJJ is not the complete answer for all fighting scenarios.  I don’t believe that any one art has the corner on the truth.  BJJ, for example, would not fare well in a multiple attacker scenario. 

q       The world realized that grappling was a viable and needed tool in a fighter’s arsenal.  Strikers could no longer claim that they would just knock out the grappler or knee them in the face when they closed the gap.  I’m quite sure many strikers that faced Royce thought the same thing…right up to the point where they tapped out.

q       There are no superior systems only superior martial artists applying the appropriate system at the appropriate range.  This lesson wasn’t crystal clear until subsequent UFCs.  It appeared that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was the superior system that evening.  The truth, however, was that Royce was the best athlete that night as well as having a better understanding of how to get to the range in which his mother art worked best.  Royce had faced many strikers before that night in Denver and he knew how to use the octagon and the rules to his advantage.  He fought brilliantly that evening and solidified himself and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as stars in the martial arts world.

Now, fast-forward twelve years to the present UFC. 

q       No longer does one style appear to be superior.

q       No longer do we see champions that are one-dimensional.  Grappling is an essential skill set in this sport.  Grapplers have also taken to the boxing gyms and added striking to their kit bag.

q       No longer do we see martial artists entering under the moniker of a traditional art.  This is not to say that these arts are inadequate or that practitioners are not highly skilled.  Rather, the UFC has evolved into a platform that rewards the multi-disciplined fighter.  It boils down to a matter of training specificity.  If you want to win in the UFC you must train as a UFC fighter and not a traditional martial artist.  I make the previous point not to belittle traditional martial arts or the UFC.  It is simply a fact.  You wouldn’t focus your training on power lifting if you wanted to improve your marathon time.  Kata and full-force, mis-directed training, while beneficial in many aspects, does not match the training needs for competition in the UFC.

Thomas Fuller once said, “There is much more learning than knowing in the world”.  The UFC and the fighters that define it have evolved significantly over the past twelve years.  As a martial artist I want my students, as well as myself, to benefit from the exploits of these warrior athletes.  I have tremendous respect for Royce, BJJ, and the UFC.  I love to watch these athletes battle in the octagon.  The UFC and the Gracie family have done wonders in promoting the grappling arts.    I do, however, understand that the UFC is a sport and that the lessons we learn from it must be cautiously applied to fighting outside of the sporting arena.  To over generalize the lessons of sport to reality is a risk that is worth strict scrutiny.  My journey continues…

            Jason Winkle, Ph.D.

            Director of Combatives

            United States Military Academy

            West Point, NY 10996