"Martial arts" tends to be taken as something foreign and exotic, curious and perhaps a little strange. "MMA" is seen more as ruthless and haphazard, a competitive and barbarous bloodsport. This I think provokes a sense of bemusement from those who practice martial arts, as martial arts and mixed martial arts are in essence the same thing.
Karate and Kung-fu became popular in the US from the 70s together with Kung-fu movies and stars like Bruce Lee. And while they did gain a distinct following, they never became mainstream in the way American team sports are.
I think this was mainly due to two reasons: 1) their focus on practice and form rather than strict competition, and 2) a general American disdain for things foreign, and especially that viewed as mysticism.
Competition and winning drive US culture. This is the case in business and all of our sports. While athleticism and technique are of course crucial, winning is what matters above all else, no matter how it is accomplished.
For many traditional martial arts such as karate, success is measured by the relative mastery of technique and form, symbolized by the belt system, the advance in which is achieved by diligent practice and is mostly unrelated to results in competition. As I have been taught in my year or so learning muay Thai, even in competition, quality technique is valued and incorporated into the point system.
While any "martial" art by definition developed as a means of fighting, there is also a meditative aspect. Forms, or kata, in karate for example, are intended to remove the awareness of self and bring the fighter into a state of complete concentration, or meditation on the fight. This is known as mushin, or "no-ego" in Japanese. This Buddhist idea of the sublimation of self is inconsistent with the Western idea of winning, which is after all the triumph of ego. Although I do often think of shadowboxing as very similar to kata.
There is also a general tendency in the US to reject Asian cultures and things Asian, probably somewhat as part of our general tendency to reject all things foreign, and maybe more specifically as a result of remaining feelings from the wars with Japan and Vietnam.
Part of this is also a US and Western empirical-thought-driven rejection of anything with even a slight whiff of mysticism. One of the best single examples of this is the idea of chi in Chinese or ki in Japanese, the idea of a life force or energy that is central to all living things.
I can say that it is impossible to make it through even the simplest conversations in Japanese without using the word ki -- it is present in literally hundreds of everyday expressions related to moods, feelings and awareness. In karate, it is used in phrases such as ki o tsuke, literally, to "turn on your ki," meaning to stand at attention at the beginning of class. And so the concept is not at all mystical or strange in Japan at least, but rather part of everyday life.
It is also used in relation to the transfer of energy, or ki from the center of gravity in the midsection to the feet, which then is reflected back through back, shoulder arms and fist and concentrated in the hand to direct energy into the punch. This physical transfer of energy is common to and accepted in almost any form of striking. As a bit of a nerdy aside, this transfer of ki in the form of wave energy, or hado in Japanese, is what Ken and Ryu use to fire off their hadokens in the Street Fighter games (ken is "punch").
So while some elements of chi can be understood in Western, empirical terms, some parts can't, and I think we have a tendency in the West to reject that which can't be understood.
MMA, mixed martial arts, or cage fighting began in earnest in the US with the UFC ("Ultimate Fighting Championship") promotion, which was originally marketed exactly as a blood sport that matched up fighters trained in different martial arts, and some guys who just liked fighting.
After modifying the rules somewhat and acquiring an ownership with a better understanding of US media marketing, the UFC achieved a broad media presence and fan base. But the driving force of its popularity in the US has remained the same, an appreciation for direct, violent competition, often with a clear winner and loser, by a fan base of mostly uneducated, non-practitioners, like the fans of most major sports.
At the same time, the sport has served greatly to identify and increase the popularity of certain martial arts. Certain arts in particular, like muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, have gained a greatly increased following after proving themselves as styles with clear results in the cage.
It is also anything but haphazard. MMA has evolved to require most fighters to have a high level of proficiency in both a striking and grappling art, either of which alone requires years of diligent study that is as mentally challenging as it is physical. It is, rather, beautifully complex.
As someone who has lived in the US and Asia, I have mixed emotions about the popularity of MMA in the US, even thought I am a devout, albeit novice practitioner of martial arts. I like the intensity of the training, the challenge of gaining proficiency, the humility gained by coming to know your own strengths and weaknesses, and the beauty of the physical forms of the arts, even where they are more stylistic than practical. I also find mystical ideas like chi interesting. Most of these are the traditional Asian aspects of the arts.
Because I'm American, I also like competition. I think it feels good to win. And for martial arts to gain any kind of broad popularity through MMA, I also think some amount of showmanship, flashiness and appeal to the fan base is required. Part of this is a focus on results, hence knock-out and submission of the night bonuses, even where they may not necessarily resulted from the best of technique.
I think the above Americanization of martial arts in the form of MMA promotion has been necessary for the popularization of many forms of martial arts, and in terms of results, I feel that is a good thing. I also find the sport exceedingly exciting, and like the competitive system.
At the same time, I feel it's important that people who follow the sport understand at least a bit of the histories and ideas in the different arts, as they are examples of wonderful cultural histories and an opportunity for American to learn about other countries. I also feel the inherent complexity of the sport of MMA and the dedication and discipline its practitioners place into mastering it is something people need to understand that it is not just a cock fight.
Martial arts, mixed or not, are a wonderful thing. They build discipline and clarity of mind, physical and spiritual health, and replace negative habits with positive ones. But the best way to learn about them is not by reading articles or watching them on TV, but by finding a gym or dojo and trying them out for yourself.
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