Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (often called the English acronym MMA – Mixed Martial Arts) – are martial arts, among people and in show business incorrectly called fights without the rules are a combination of many techniques, schools and trends.
MMA is characterized by a full contact battle with the shock and control equipment in the clinch, and in the ground floor. The term “MMA” was proposed in 1995 by Rick Blum, the president of Battlecade, one of the earliest organizations of MMA.
The roots of MMA goes back to the days before our era: the ancient Greeks at the first Olympic Games competed in Pancration, however, until 1990’s MMA could not boast of great popularity in the world.
Only with the formation and development of such tournaments as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championship, etc., the popularity of MMA has risen sharply, the fall of boxing entertainment also contributed to this.
Originally the competition was organized to identify the most effective martial arts without weapons and having a minimum of rules. However, in connection with criticism of sport as a “massacre”, the promoters have introduced the additional restrictions to improve the safety of athletes and attract new viewers.
In Russia, the example of the national martial arts – is combat sambo – it is closest to the arsenal and the rules to the mixed martial arts, along with jujutsu and valetudo. Ukrainian version of mixed martial arts is free-fight.
Russian soldiers act successfully in world tournaments and are popular both in Japan and in America, where the MMA is very popular.
The most famous Russian representatives in this sport are Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, Roman Zentsov, and Oleg Taktarov. Among the immigrants from the former Soviet Republics the most famous are Igor Vovchanchyn, Andrei Arlovski, Vladimir Matyushenko, Manvel Gamburyan and Karo Parisyan.
