Mixed Martial Arts

About Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that incorporates a wide variety of martial arts techniques and strategies. Fighters with a strong background in one particular art can compete in MMA, although to fight at the highest levels of the sport it is seen as necessary to have a sound grasp of all three base arts – striking, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
The combat sport of Vale Tudo that had developed in Brazil from the 1920s was brought to the United States by the Gracie family in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In due course the more dangerous Vale Tudo style bouts of the early UFCs were made safer with the implementation of additional rules, aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport, leading to the popular regulated form of MMA seen today.

Training in MMA consists of technique drills and live sparring sessions, with classes emphasising both single arts and combinations of techniques from different styles.