Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a combat sport that incorporates a wide range of fighting skills and techniques drawn from a combination of martial arts cultures and non-cultures. These skills and techniques are also used in competitions. The people taking part in these fights are not allowed to use arms. The rules and regulations that govern the game are always set by the relevant commission and they are subject to any applicable restrictions. This sport started in the United States in 1993 and later on it was taken up by other countries. The main styles that dominated the sport in the 1990s included: submission wrestling, amateur wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 33). The game has evolved through the years and has now embraced a number of skills from the various disciplines of martial arts such as striking, kicking, submission holds, and grappling can be used. The game has also incorporated some additional rules over the years like the classification of fighting classes based on weights.
This sport is one of the important activities that young and old people alike can take up as a hobby since it allows them to learn a wide range of skills while at it. People taking part in MMA also get to expel excess energy and to fully utilize their flexible joints. Taking part in MMA also prepares individuals for situations where they have to defend themselves in addition to the recreational pleasure that they draw from taking part in the sport (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 33). Even with the numerous benefits associated with the sport, some people still believe that MMA is linked to aggressive behavior. This paper seeks detailed insight on MMA and why taking part in the sport does not make one aggressive as claimed by some people.
Taking part in MMA helps people to develop discipline and take charge of their lives and their behavior. For one to attain high levels of success, they must be highly disciplined so as to ensure that your actions are in line with the goals and objectives of the training. According to Adam et al, taking part in MMA is not only about being disciplined. Rather, it’s about getting the most out of the opportunity to build high levels of discipline as well (P. 37). The form of discipline that comes with MMA training has everything to do with adhering to strict schedules since you have to train even at your lowest moments. The individuals who take part in this training later on learn that they really had high levels of discipline in them which they never knew of. As the training progresses and becomes more challenging, people quickly adapt to the routine and it becomes easier for them to work towards the attainment of goals, to maintain their schedules, and to stick to their exercises. When people learn to take charge of several aspects of their lives, it becomes easy for them to take charge of their behavior and their actions towards other people (Adam et al. 37). These people can find several ways to go about a given problem rather than resorting to end them through fights or other violent acts.
The discipline that people gain from this training can be integrated into several aspects of their day to day encounters. Some of the activities that people carry on each day are mostly repeated in a certain order and this could be frustrating sometimes. For instance, if one works as a teacher, their daily tasks will always revolve around the classes and the office almost in the same order each day. For the house helps, their chores will always be centered on cleaning, cooking and running errands each day. The discipline acquired from MMA training helps people to see the essence of working towards the achievement of goals and production of good results even it means doing the same things every day. Such people will see no need of making excuses for poor performance which may raise so many questions that anger them in the end. Actually, this kind of anger may trigger the individual’s aggressive behavior towards their boss or other colleagues at work. Instead of picking fights, they will strive to find solutions by using the discipline instilled in them through MMA training. Thus, the solutions that people who have the basic concepts of MMA training adopt are more of a natural response that is based on the concepts instilled in them through training (Jennifer L Callahan 114).
Going through MMA training ensures that people have the needed skills to act judiciously in certain situations. For instance, if one finds themselves in a robbery incident, they may not need to comply with everything that the robber tells them to do. They can actually use their skills to challenge this authority by using their skills to retaliate. Ordinary people may go about their activities can become agents of violent destruction even when they are not forced to take part in the activity. Most people will continue to harm others even when it becomes clear that they are carrying out “actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality” (Zimbardo 9). This mostly happens because “relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority” (Zimbardo 9). However, going through MMA training ensures that people have the resources to react physically and intellectually by engaging their brains before they counteract. MMA training is not just about the physical fight. It also involves learning to read your opponents mind so that you can attack them from where they least expect. Actually, one of the reasons that a referee can use to stop a match is when an opponent fails to defend themselves intelligently (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 42). This brings up the importance of engaging the intellect in these fights.
Taking part in MMA also ensures that one is equipped with the needed skills to defend themselves in certain situations. Going through MMA training not only ensures that one is in good emotional and physical shape. Rather, it also ensures that “one clearly understands the basic self-defense techniques” (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 42). Most people find reason to associate these self-defense techniques with aggressive behavior. Such misconceptions are false since people will mostly use these skills when the situation demands that they protect themselves. Additionally, it is not strange to find people going to extreme lengths to get themselves out of harm’s way when that is the only available option at the time. Sometimes, even good people break and act aggressively when pushed beyond their limit. A person may even pick up a fight even when they know that they have no skills and that they will ultimately lose. Through MMA training, people get a wide array of the skills to use which ensures that they remain confident regardless of the places they find themselves in (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 42). The training also enables people to remain composed and assess the situation and depending on their instincts, they may actually choose to walk away.
Going through MMA training helps people to relate better with people from various walks of life. The training brings people from various backgrounds together unlike most exercises out there. People take up the training for various reasons. Some are driven by the thrill of getting into shape through activities that are more exciting compared to those that they would have done in the gym. Therefore, enrolling to this program ensures that “they keep their passion alive while getting into shape at the same time” (Jennifer L Callahan 114). Other people take part in the activity just to relax while others actually want the skills so that they can apply them to various situations. The latter are mostly driven by their past experiences. People who exhibit aggressive behavior rarely get along with other people. Therefore, it is not right to say that MMA makes people aggressive. Rather, “MMA training helps the aggressive people to deal with their issues by giving them the platform where they can expel their excess energy” (Jennifer L Callahan 117). It also helps them to challenge themselves and to set meaningful goals for themselves.
Taking a closer look at MMA training sessions helps people to realize the important of family and communal life. People from various walks of life come together and work together towards a common goal. In some situations, members of the same family may sign up for the training sessions together. Thus, several families get to interact and this nurtures a community spirit (Adam et al. 39). Some of the aggressive behaviors are always triggered by the feeling of appreciation or unworthiness. Aggressive people learn to see their enemies in every person that they meet. Going through MMA training could actually turn out to be a game changer for aggressive people. Even when such people sign up for the training alone, they still get to appreciate the communal ambience facilitated by MMA training. Working alone is not an option in such a place. The person will have to work collaboratively with other people. The training will also create a sense of zeal that will help such people to always long for the next training session so that they can see people enjoying themselves just like they too are (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 43).
Most of the people who exhibit aggressive behavior are always stressed, anxious, and depressed. Most studies have actually been done that could help to link exercise with the relief of anxiety, stress and depression. All of these studies have actually found a positive correlation between exercise and the relief of depression, anxiety, and stress. Exercise helps the body to release endorphins which help to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol and to improve the general functioning of the body. It also encourages people to meet their psychological goals. Going through MMA training can equally help aggressive people to accomplish all of these things way more effectively compared to other forms of exercises. The training in MMA is more aggressive compared to that used in other exercises. Therefore, it greatly has a huge impact on the mood of aggressive people. Aggressive people can actually “improve their mood and their general view of life” (Jennifer L Callahan 114). Good physical health translates to good emotional and mental health. It also impacts positively on the functioning of the brain.
The judgment on whether someone is good or bad should not be based on the activities that they take part in. it is not right to perceive aggressiveness as an entity and thus associate it mostly with people who go through MMA training than others. Most of the time, people make general conclusions based on one single act and even blow it out of proportion as they pass it to the next generations. For instance, the most loyal and composed persons may at one time be pushed beyond their limits to the point where they unconsciously become aggressive. Such people come back to their senses and honestly apologize for such acts. People on the other hand will use this one act of weakness to describe all the activities that the person is involved in at the moment and associate them with every other person that takes part in similar activities. According to Zimbardo, the accounts of genocide were reason enough for people to separate themselves from the perpetrators of genocide (P. 131). People view such acts to be so evil and they cannot bring themselves to believe that they could ever do such things. However, people could stop and “consider the terrible pressure under which people were operating”, then they would “automatically reassert their humanity” (Zimbardo 132). People should sometimes ask themselves how they would have reacted if they were in the same situation before they pass their judgement.
Obedient is one of the basic elements that people should have mostly when they are in social situations. Some form of rules, whether written or unwritten, should govern how people behave and how they interact with other people as they go about their daily duties. The submission to some form of authority is mostly influenced by a communal form of living which people can get accustomed to in MMA training centers. People who love to live in isolation have no reason to fully submit to others or to the given authority since they live by their own rules. When such people come in situations that require them to be around people, their response towards authority is that of defiance. These people break all the rules consciously or unconsciously and show no respect to other people around them. If the place requires strict observation of the laid rules, they often act aggressively mostly because they want to have their own way. Going through MMA training encourages people to be disciplines towards themselves and to other people (Bishop, La Bounty and Devlin 42). It encourages them to live and work collaboratively with others and minimizes the chances of these people exhibiting aggressive behavior when the situation demands that they stick to the laid out rules.
Going through MMA training enables people to think rationally and to quickly analyze the consequences of their actions before executing them. Most of the aggressive people rarely take their time to think before they act. Most of them harbor aggressive instincts within them but rarely express them because they have somewhat learnt to manage them with time. Thus, when they get the chance to express this feeling, they do it without holding anything back. Most of their actions are driven by a compelling force or a form of authority within or outside them. A good person can exhibit aggressive behavior simply because that is the order that he has been told to execute. The experiment carried out by Milgram provides a formal platform for the release of these whims based on submission to authority. If people are put in situations where they have full control over others, the beast in them comes out as they can treat them in whatever manner they deem fit. The impulse to shock the victims cannot be said to have stemmed from the “potential aggressive tendencies which motivate these individuals” (Milgram 8). Rather, they originate from the need to submit to authority. MMA training could have helped such people to find reason to defy authority by acting reasonably in the situation.
People who are believed to be good fighters’ rarely look for chances to fight. These people are not motivated to pick fights just because they can or because they know that they will be the ultimate winners. It is not right for people to claim that MMA training makes people violent. Rather, they should ask themselves whether some of the people who take part in the sport are motivated by their aggressive behavior. However, if they find convincing reasons to prove the concept that some people are actually motivated by their aggressive behavior, then they should ask themselves whether these training will help them to overcome this issue. Most of the time, this form of judgment is passed by people who base their facts on what they hear rather than what actually takes place in these places. Some of them have never been to the MMA training places or even interacted with someone who is actively involved in the sport (Adam et al. 40). This association of MMA with aggressive behavior therefore turns out to be biased since it is always based on their side of the story. Rather, it is better to interact with some of the people who take part in MMA training and actually find out the numerous benefits that they have drawn from the sport.
Generally, mixed martial art is a sport that has been embraced by people from all walks of life in various places all over the world. The popularity of the sport has mostly been fueled by the numerous benefits that can be drawn from it. People who take part in MMA can improve their general health, ward off depression and anxiety, get physically fit, and acquire useful skills to help them defend themselves when they have to. Aggression is a behavior that can be linked to anyone since all people go through demanding phases in their life that may force them to act in the best way they know. Some of the aggressive acts actually come about when one is forced to do something in submission of authority. However, MMA training could help to prevent these by enabling people to think before they act. It actually gives people reason to be more humane even if it means that they have to defy authority. Therefore, more people should learn to appreciate MMA based on the benefits that it brings with it and the fact that it can actually help to help people deal with their aggressive behavior.
Works Cited
Adam et al. "MMA Fighters’ Technical-Tactical Preparation – Fight Analysis: A Case Study". Journal of Combat Sports and Martial Arts 6.1 (2015): 35-41. Web.
Bishop, Stacy Howard, Paul La Bounty, and Michael Devlin. "MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW". Journal of Sport and Human Performance 1.1 (2013): 37-43. Print.
Jennifer L Callahan, Christopher J Heath. "Assessment of Cognitive Functioning in Mixed Martial Arts Athletes". J Athl Enhancement 03.04 (2014): 112-117. Print.
Milgram, Stanley. Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. Print.
Zimbardo, Philip G. The Lucifer Effect. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.
