How MMA can kill quality

Now why would I say that? Because it is true. I know that I am hard on MMA folks, but I definitely feel justified on this one. I have just heard some logic that most MMA guys are taking as "truth." Fact of the matter is that their truth contains some logistical flaws. Let me start with the statement. The statements more or less were the following," Mixed Martial Arts are the future. In the MMA schools, a mixture of arts will be taught at the same time. The students of MMA schools will be of higher skill, and be all around better than specialists of only one art."

Now, on the surface that may seem like it makes sense. After all, teaching multiple arts at once can help a person become more well rounded as an athlete and a martial artist. But I feel obligated to point out some things to the well meaning makers of the statement.

First of all, MMA schools are VERY limited. While they are popular now, a VAST majority of martial artists do not have a lot of interest in mixed martial arts competitions. The reputation/image of MMA practitioners is not very good at this moment. And the unfortunate exploitation of their athletes on "reality television is not helping.At any rate, MMA is only a small part of the martial arts puzzle. MMA schools address a small portion of the population who are interested in a newly popular combative sport. It has come about as a mixture of recent popularity and the decline of quality traditional martial arts schools. The concept that MMA will produce better martial artists is still flawed however. Let me show you how.

Let us talk about expertise. To see a top flight boxer, kick-boxer,martial artist, or wrestler do their thing is a thing of beauty. What people dont see are the tens of thousands of repetitions involved to create it. It has been said that a person can not be considered and expert in a technique until they have done it at least 10,000 times. I personally agree with that opinion. In a boxing gym, you will throw HUNDREDS of thousands of punches. In kickboxing you will throw tens of thousands of punch and kick combinations. In wrestling, grapplers attempt and defend thousands of takedowns. Judoka, Jujitsuka and Somboists, attempt and defend against thousands of submission holds. THAT is why they are so good. There is NO shortcut. I will agree with the fact that there are advanced new methods, and training practices, but there are NO shortcuts. Expertise is only gained after grueling repetitious practice.

So my point is this" Mixed Martial Arts schools will lower the level of skill rather than improve it." Do you know why? Because the individual skill sets will be practiced less. Specialists in the martial arts world have high levels of skills in particular skill sets. Boxers with punches, Martial Artists with total body striking, Grapplers with the clinch, and Weapons practictioners with weapons. Mixed Martial Artists will be dividing their time into at least 4 categories. So what does that mean? It means that each part of the MMA puzzle will be only practiced roughly 25% of the time. In an attempt to integrate these skill sets, they are actually taking time away from achieving expertise. If it takes 10,000 jabs to be good at it, how will MMA guys achieve that in a reasonable amount of time? After all, they have to practice takedowns, throws, kicks, elbows, knees and submissions. How will a person achieve high skill in wrestling if he has to master the footwork, angle and headmovement of strikers?

The answer? They wont. That is why MMA strikers are good compared to MMA practictioners, but not so good compared to high level boxers and kickboxers. If anyone would like an example, let me help you out. Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre are two of the best strikers in MMA. In pure boxing they would both be hopelessly outclassed by anyone in the top 20 in their weight class. They would both be hurt badly in K-1 as well. That is NO disrespect. They are my 2 favorite mixed martial artists, and among my favorite martial artists. But the facts remain. Now I could go on and no with this, but I won't. It is dinner time, and I love Japanese food :)