loCation

For many years, practitioners in many martial arts have spouted the virtues of their particular style and how it is better than anyone else’s. In 1993 martial arts received a wake up call when the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) came to prominence. Designed to showcase all martial arts against each other, combat took place in a huge caged arena (The Octagon) with very few rules in place. It was designed to be “as real as it gets” – and it was. To everyone’s surprise it was the previously little know art of Brazilian Jui Jitsu that dominated the early events. Their ground skills and submission techniques fooled everyone and some of the greatest martial artists of that era were humbled by this style.

Fast forward to today and Mixed Martial Arts (as it is now known) is probably the fastest growing sport on the planet. In a few short years it has evolved with practitioners striving to gain all round skills in order to be competitive. Ground fighters and wrestlers have had to learn to stand up, punch and kick whilst the reverse is true for stand up strike fighters, who have worked to improve their Wrestling and submission skills. Lessons have been learned and the rules refined to give maximum entertainment with an emphasis on safety. The mindset of trainers and practitioners alike have been opened to embrace all types of skills in this fast evolving industry where a narrow mind gets left behind!