MMA training in Miami allows its practitioners to combine the disciplines of various martial arts including, but certainly not limited to: boxing, wrestling, judo, Tae Kwan Do, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and more. MMA is a full contact combat sport which takes place both one’s feet and on the ground and combines both striking and grappling techniques. Mixed style martial arts contests go back to at least the beginning of the 20th century, although they have a number of ancestors, broadly speaking, including the ancient Greek sport Pankration. Modern MMA training arose mostly in the 1990s after the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest worldwide MMA company, was founded in 1993. Modern MMA is the result of various safety regulations adopted by MMA promotional companies, as well as the transition of MMA from a sport pitting practitioners of various different martial arts against each other to a sport featuring a more blended style. Modern Miami MMA fighters incorporate a number of different martial arts traditions and styles into their repertoire in order to achieve maximum effectiveness in a wide variety of positions and situations.
The history of MMA training is an interesting topic for any Miami athletes interested in MMA. Beginning in the late 1880s, a number of tournaments and fights were held throughout the USA and Europe which featured fighters of different styles such as wrestlers and boxers. The first major US fight of this sort was a bout in 1887 which saw a heavyweight world boxing champion face off against a Greco-Roman wrestling champion. Fights such as this inspired increased interest in the idea and led to increased interest in training which would bring different martial arts styles together. In London in 1899, Edward William Barton-Wright founded the fighting style of Bartitsu, which combined Asian and Europe martial arts styles and which saw European and Japanese martial artists competing together against European wrestlers.
In the 1960s, Bruce Lee first made the idea of combining multiple martial arts together popular in the west. Lee practiced his own style of fighting, Jeet Kune Do, which combined some elements from a wide variety of different disciplines and styles. Jeet Kune Do and Bruce Lee’s training were massive influences on modern MMA training in Miami, which sees students attempting to combine techniques from various martial arts into a fluid fighting style, similar to the individualized system of Jeet Kune Do which Lee created. Lee declared that “the best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, thus inspiring modern MMA training with its emphasis on fighting from a wide variety of different positions and situations. Modern MMA training in Miami uses this attitude to instill its practitioners with strength and adaptability.
