Our Fighting Culture

There have been seminal moments in sports history by men and women whose accomplishments have influenced future generations of athletes in their respective sports and society in general. Our generation has indeed witnessed a rare occurence.

Since MMA was popularized using the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by Gracie clan on Novemeber 12, 1993, we have been witness to a sports revolution. That cold night in Denver, Colorado, in which Royce Gracie captured the imagination of martial artists around the world by defeating opponents much bigger than himself, was truly an unprecented and unexpected success that gave birth to modern MMA. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has revolutionized modern martial arts and the way society looks at what being a fighter is really all about.

Whether we are talking about the Bushido philosophy of a divine order being protected by the Samurai in which honor, discipline and semi-indigence was a reflection of the clan, or in the ancient Greek tradition of wrestling or Pále which was the purest expression of strength of one man against another, we have to include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the pantheon of martial arts.

Mixed martial arts and traditional martial arts are an expression of all that our mind, spirit and body can achieve through discipline, dedication, heart and the will to succeed. Our great sport and all that MMA represents coils into one, we can see the fruits of a fighters labor through the way they fight.

Nearly every culture throughout history has had some form of martial art or an expression of the unity of physical hand to hand combat. Since we live in a unique time where we are considered a "global village", MMA is our modern articulation of the precept of hand to hand combat and has evolved into an increasingly popular if not honourable pursuit. Modern martial arts are not strictly a single culture's practice, rather a global uniting of our many and diverse cultures.

We may not agree with one anothers political stance. We may never be able to see eye to eye
on religious tenats and we may never even agree on what is the most effective art of combat. One thing we can agree upon is the precepts of honor through training of the body, mind and spirit of hand to hand combat. Just like the first UFC event where one discipline was victorious against other martial arts, we have evolved into our own culture. The concept of Man vs man or woman vs woman, the sport that we see today can be looked at as many cultures coming together and uniting us to become one fighting spirit. We should all take lesson a from MMA and learn the evolution of all cultures to appreciate our global village.