If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a new sport rapidly becoming more and more popular. It involves two men, some padding, an eight-sided cage and years of practice. It’s called Mixed Martial Arts, and it’s much more complex than two men simply punching each other’s privates for 15 minutes. That’s why The Wake is covering MMA in Minnesota this semester: MMA is a rising mainstream trend, and if you don’t already know about it, you will soon.

MMA is a sanctioned, regulated fight between two competitors skilled in a variety of disciplines. To win, a fighter must knock his opponent out, inflict enough punishment to make his opponent not intelligently able to continue fighting, submit his opponent using a hold, or last through all the rounds scheduled in a fight and be declared winner by judges’ decision. Although it sounds simple, it’s much more difficult to perform, evident since Royce Gracie, a 175 lb fighter, proved to the world that a variety of martial arts skills could master any one fighting style at the first Ultimate Fighting Competition in 1993.

Most Mixed Martial Artists learn a variety of different styles and techniques in order to compete in the ring, some specializing in sports in which they previously competed such as amateur wrestling, kickboxing or Muay Thai. Grappling, wrestling and striking abilities are a must for the mixed martial artist looking to compete at any level. The rules of MMA allow for all types of fighting styles to be used in the ring, although basic skills in martial arts like Brazilian jiujutsu, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, taekwondo and wrestling are generally agreed upon as being most effective.

There are rules to MMA depending on which promotion a fighter is participating in, contrary to the popular mythology only encourages violence. Common rules, such as no biting, striking the neck, or striking the genitals (told you so) are generally followed throughout every promotion.

In Minnesota, MMA is regulated by the state Combative Sports Commission, which took over state MMA regulations in 2007. State regulations include stipulations like promoters’ licenses and testing for communicable diseases before MMA events and ophthalmology exams as well.

Although there are a multitude of gyms that teach MMA, there are only a few promotions in Minnesota that put on fights. Myth Nightclub still puts on MMA events despite its current legal troubles. Savage Entertainment, out of Savage, Minn., has put on MMA bouts about once every couple of months since 2006.

Interested yet? The closest MMA gym to the University of Minnesota is Cellar Kickboxing and Martial Arts on 2715 Fourth Street SE, owned and run by Chris Cichon, current IFK Light Middleweight World Champion and his brother Jon, a specialist in Muay Thai and Third Degree Black Belt in American Karate. Having recently come back to Minneapolis, Cellar offers classes in kickboxing, jiujutsu and MMA, along with promoting a large stable of kick boxers and Mixed Martial Artists. Their grand opening event on Oct. 13 will included free classes and seminars in cross-training as well as specific martial arts.
For more information on Cellar Kickboxing and Martial Arts, go to www.cellarkickboxing.com.

Tags: MMA