United Martial Arts Academy
841 North Main Street – London, KY 40741 – (606) 862-6556
kentuckymartialarts.com
To
the Editor, 12/20/05
Last week’s letter to the editor from Darrel Peters is hardly worth mentioning. However, I feel it’s
necessary to correct some of the claims he made about mixed martial arts that might mislead the public.
I know Darrel Peters personally and I assure you that he’s NOT a martial arts
expert. He’s never stepped into the ring, under any rules. I’ve never seen him attend a local “no holds
barred” fighting event, as he calls it, and he’s never trained in mixed martial arts. I don’t understand
why he holds such a strong opinion on an issue that he knows little about, but then again, that’s the case with the
majority of his frequent letters to the Sentinel.
The term “no
holds barred” is often used to describe mixed martial arts fighting (MMA), though if the term is taken literally by
nit-pickers like Mr. Peters, it’s inaccurate. There’s a long list of rules enforced in MMA and there are numerous
“holds” that are explicitly “barred” to ensure the safety of the participants. The Warrior Fighting
Challenge organizes the MMA amateur competitions in our area (these events don’t offer cash prizes, contrary to what
Mr. Peters claims) and it adopts the same rules as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which can be seen on pay-per-view and
Spike TV.
Mr. Peters suggests that MMA is brutal, more so than boxing,
and therefore should be banned. Before I proceed, I’d like to say that I’m a student of boxing and I respect the
art. It’s possible to train in boxing and enjoy it without getting your brains beat in. The study of boxing is also
vital to success in MMA.
Mr. Peters states that “no holds barred
fighting is brutal…when one opponent is down the other opponent still pummels him unlike boxing where he’s required
to go to a neutral corner.” Many MMA fights do go to the ground and strikes are often exchanged there. This usually
occurs when someone executes a throw, not because someone has been knocked senseless. If an opponent no longer demonstrates
the ability to defend himself at any time, on the ground or standing up, the referee jumps in and stops the match. In boxing,
a downed opponent is given ten seconds to stand up, a standing eight count to recover and is usually allowed to continue (these
rules vary depending on the organization). Some boxing matches have gone the distance and one or both fighters absorbed hundreds
of punches and were downed many times. The rules of boxing, in this case, allow much more bodily damage than MMA and are more
dangerous.
In MMA, if a fighter finds himself being “pummeled”
he can give up at any time by tapping out (or if he doesn’t give up, the referee stops the match). When a fighter gives
up in boxing, he’s likely to be labeled a coward, though such an assessment is unfair. Many MMA matches end with an
arm bar or choke submission, without a single blow being landed. You can win an MMA match without ever hitting your opponent
and some of the best MMA fighters are successful using this strategy. It’s called Jiu-Jitsu. Tapping out in MMA is very
common and isn’t considered cowardice.
Furthermore, MMA fighters
wear thin gloves designed to protect their hands, not the opponent. When a solid punch lands in MMA, the opponent is usually
disoriented or knocked down and the referee stops the fight. Boxing gloves, on the other hand, have more padding that allows
an opponent to absorb more punishment. A boxer may not be rendered unconscious by the numerous punches he takes to the head,
but his brain certainly bounces around in his skull.
If these facts
don’t convince you that MMA fighting is less dangerous than boxing, you’d be hard pressed to deny statistics.
There have been more than a thousand deaths in boxing, not to mention other contact sports that we routinely allow our children
to participate in. There has not been a single death in MMA since it started gaining popularity in the early 1990s.
Here’s the point: Mr. Peters is calling for a ban on MMA matches and the businesses
that support them, based on the idea that MMA is brutal. He should seek a ban on all contact sports. I’ve sustained
many injuries in my 20 years of martial arts, but none more serious than bumps, bruises, pulled muscles or fractures that
healed with rest. I’ve been hospitalized several times from injuries suffered from basketball and football.
We don’t need Mr. Peters to tell us that MMA is dangerous. That’s common
sense. ALL sports are risky, yet we continue to participate in them because life without sports would be very boring. MMA
matches are not “human cock fights.” MMA is a sport like any other. It’s a thrilling game of chess, an art
and a science. It’s the safest ring sport in the world and it’s safer than some sports our high school kids participate
in.
Obviously, Mr. Peters doesn’t train or compete in MMA,
and that’s a shame because I always hope that he’ll get in the ring and demonstrate his profound martial arts
skills. Regardless of his opinion, I’ll continue to support MMA. As adults, we’re free to decide whether or not
we want to be “pummeled in the ring.” We’re free to judge if football is too dangerous for our children.
We’re free to watch NASCAR, though the risks of injury or death are always present. I only wish we were also free from
Mr. Peter’s false claims, misinformed opinions and melodramatic dissertations that litter our newspaper, all of which
are intended to satisfy his own ego.
Jeremy Patton
United Martial Arts Academy
London,
KY
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