A Brief History of Grappling & MMA

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MMA Stands for Mixed Martial Arts and has been around in various forms for thousands of years.  For example the Ancient Greeks took part in the sport of Pankration (which literally means all force.) This was a combination of wrestling and boxing and was introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC.  In more recent years MMA has become a popular sport with various organisations around the globe holding many fighting events.  The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the leading organisation in the sport today.  The UFC started in 1993 and as the name suggests was a competition to establish which martial art would be the most effective in a 'no holds barred' event. This included no time limit and more importantly no weight limit. The UFC was the brainchild of Grand Master Rorian Gracie.   Three of the first four tournaments were won by Rorian's younger brother Royce Gracie who was way smaller than the other competitors proving the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  This form of competition was seen by many as barbaric and it was labelled as human cock fighting and banned in many places in the world.  Slowly but surely it has become more accepted in sport with rules and governing bodies now in place to keep contestants as safe as possible.  In the early years competitors commonly trained in one discipline.  These days fighters need to train in many different martial arts to be successful in the Octagon (the ring or cage where the fights take place in the UFC,) hence the name Mixed Martial Arts.

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There are many sports and competitions that do not allow striking.  This is known as grappling and includes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Catch Wrestling, Judo and No-gi grappling events.  Some sports use suits that are easy to grab such as the the gi (the suit used in BJJ tournaments,) whilst others wear clothes that make it difficult for the opponent to hold on to.

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Why Train in Grappling & MMA?

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MMA and other similar combat sports are the closest thing to actual fighting that is available so are very effective in a self defence situation.  Also there are huge strength and fitness benefits from training in these sports.

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Why Don't More People Train in MMA? 

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MMA and Grappling gyms can be an intimidating place for a beginner.  It is very common for people to start training MMA due to wanting to 'toughen up' only to find themselves not enjoying getting beaten up every week or sustaining an injury and stopping training.

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How We Can Help!

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Here at WSH Self Defence we want to give everyday people the opportunity to learn the skills of a MMA fighter without having to go though pain to get it.  If you are a young strong athletic person and you want to compete in MMA or Grappling tournaments then we can help you make a success of it.  However we want to open the doors to everyone and make training here as fun and rewarding as possible as the fitness benefits from this type of training are phenomenal.  Contact us and learn effective fighting skills in a safe, fun and friendly environment at WSH Self Defence.