MMA and New York State

MMA and New York State (and why I hate the Diaz brothers)

I love martial arts! I’ve been practicing various MA styles for almost 15 years now. When I’m not practicing them I’m reading about them, thinking about them, and watching movies that feature them. When I first started you couldn’t see the UFC on television. If you were lucky you could catch a few kick boxing matches on ESPN, and maybe a few minutes of Tae Kwon Do on the summer Olympics. I couldn’t have been more excited when the UFC first appeared on TV. The early matches were featured as style vs. style. A Karate practitioner vs. a Jiu Jitsu practitioner; a Tae Kwon Do practitioner vs. a Thai Kick Boxer, etc. As audience members we rooted for those who practiced “our” styles, and evaluated the merits and pitfalls of each art. There were no weight classes and very few rules.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has now developed into a style in it’s own right. Practitioners (the successful ones at least) study a variety of arts, often a combination of western Boxing, Wrestling, Thai Kick Boxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Weight classes were introduced, as well as a number rules to protect the athletes. In short, it became a sport.

A sport that, unfortunately, is still illegal in New York State. Legislators that oppose MMA in NY equate it to “human cock fighting”.

In martial arts practice we bow to our opponent. It’s our way of showing respect, and indicating, “I’m going to practice what I’ve learned with you, but it is not my intention to hurt you”. In a sparring match, we would bow if our opponent scored a point on us. The intent there was “thank you for showing me my weakness”. Everything we did came from a place of respect.

In a UFC match, fighters touch gloves as a way of showing respect at the beginning of a match. Not everyone does it, but many do. Sometimes, they even shake hands at the weigh in, like Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez below.

Then we have the other type of UFC fighter (I call it the “WWE type”). Not only do they NOT touch gloves with their opponent, but they will verbally taunt them, calling them a “bitch” and worse. They get so worked up at the weigh-ins they have to be physically restrained from fighting right then and there. The worst or the worst of the “WWE type” are the Diaz brothers. Nick and Nate grew up under less than ideal conditions in Stockton, CA. Despite their success, and the privilege of studying with one of the greatest Jiu Jitsu coaches, Cesar Gracie, they’ve never learned to control their attitudes. What’s worse is that they have a very vocal fan base who seem to feed off all the drama. “It’s a fight!” they all say on Facebook, “They’re not supposed to be nice”.

I can’t help but think these are the types of fighters that NY legislators are talking about when they criticize the UFC. Maybe if the fighters all acted like martial artists instead of street punks, the argument would run out of steam. I sure would like to find out!