Mixed Martial Arts, more commonly referred to as MMA, is a combat sport which sees the use of mixture of martial arts techniques being used to overcome an opponent. Its origins can be traced as far back 648 BC to the Greek Olympic Games. It has since made its appearance in various forms all over the world, notably in Europe in 1899 as Barititsu, the first known martial art to combine the Asian and European style. The early 1920’s saw the emergence of the Vale Tudo (meaning “anything goes”). Developed by Carlos Gracie and his younger brother Helio, Vale Tudo was to play in important role in Mixed Martial Arts as we know it today. Antonio Inoki began hosting MMA matches in Japan in the 1970’s, leading to the creation of Shooto, an MMA organization started in 1985. The sport really started to gain mainstream popularity with the introduction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993. Dana White, president of UFC, has been known refer to Bruce Lee as “the father of … [Read more...]