Mixed Martial Arts, aka MMA, is mainstream martial arts. It's like the Justin Timberlake of martial arts if you will - the thing to do, the latest and greatest. It's great to see how fast this sport has taken off. I do remember when it first started out - the commentators were boring, the fights were more gruesome, definitely less showmanship, and lower budget. But they definitely marketed it as the future of martial arts, and boy were they right!
But, MMA has, paradoxically, taken a style of its own. It's not truly a mixed martial art anymore. It's simply a jack of all trades approach to martial arts - not even - a "jack of kickboxing, wrestling and bjj, and a master of none." Seriously, that's pretty much what it comes down to. Striking, which is usually kickboxing, clinching which is then wrestling, and then groundwork, which is brazilian jiu jitsu.
MMA, in essence, has lost the whole allure of being a medium of testing and/or utilizing various martial arts. I mean, fighter one is a kickboxer who is now training w/ bjj expert X. And fighter two is a full contact karate who also holds a black belt in judo. It's, essentially, pretty much as fun as watching two boxers going at it.
Give me a guy who's studied aikido for 10 years and ninjitsu for 23 fight a capoeira master who has background in combative tai chi. Now THAT, my friends, is mixed martial arts! Bring it on!
Until then.
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