Your sport needs you

The Today show (in Australia) had a very negative and ignorant piece on MMA this morning (Monday the 9th of Feb), so I think we all need to send a polite email to voice our displeasure. Some of the more ignorant statements they made were:



The sport originated out of the movie Fight Club.




Bigger gloves would be safer.




Boxing and other sports are much safer (lets just forget about all those people who died in the Sydney to Melboure Yacht race a few years back and James Hird getting his face caved in, etc).




No one has died yet, but it is a matter of time.




There is no sportsmanship and all the fans are hungry for blood.




Headbutting and eye gouging were removed from the UFC rules SO THAT the sport would be accepted in Australia.





The regulatory body in Victoria has sanctioned the NHB Melbourne show so as to prevent underground Fight Clubs





Lets all do the sport a favour and send a polite email stressing the athleticism and skill required to compete in MMA, the lower rates of injury, the HUGE grassroots support, the fact that the fanbase is largely people who train/compete in the sport themselves, not ignorant rednecks looking for blood and violence.





The email is "today@nine.com.au" I don't know what the name of the piece was but they referred to the sport as NHB.

ttt!

Good shit.

What a gay story. The media in Australia are just such pussies.

We do get to see Nipples though. That's always good.

Here's my email.

Dear The Today Show,

I wish to express my disgust for your poorly researched segment on "No Holds Barred". The sport, which is more commonly referred to as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), is perhaps one of the most technical sports in the world. Besides a high degree of athleticism, competitors must be well versed in striking, submission and wrestling. All of which are developed through training in the sports of Wrestling, Boxing and Submission Wrestling, which shares many of its techniques with Judo, all well respected and legitimate sports which are contested in the Olympics. Your story disrespectfully belittled the efforts of those who choose to compete in the sport, many whom train twice daily in addition to working fulltime.

For the AMA representative to suggest that the sport's competitors do not possess any sportsmanship is truly an insult to the hard working and decent people who devote themselves to perhaps the purest form of athletic competition. Of all the events I have attended, I have witnessed nothing but great sportsmanship between competitors. The sport attracts good people, as it takes dedication, humility and great character to develop one's skills and physical attributes to the standard required for MMA competition.

To suggest the sport arose out of the movie Fight Club, demonstrates the absolute lack of research that went into your story. In the western world, MMA was brought to many people's attention in the early nineties with the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Which has never allowed eye gouging and which has numerous rules and an impeccable safety record. The UFC is in fact sanctioned by a number of athletic commissions in the USA, most notably the Nevada State Athletic commission. Whilst in Japan the sport has existed since the late eighties and is viewed as entirely legitimate, its athletes are revered and respected, not insulted by sensationalist and ignorant reporting. The majority of the top tier fighters in Australia were involved in the sport prior to the release of Fight Club. The sport has its roots in ancient Greece, prior to the Olympics, when it was known as Pankration. Many suggest that it is the root of Oriental martial arts, as it is a possibility that Pankration was brought to India by Alexander the Great and then spread to Asia.

The lack of proper investigation is again manifest in the claims made of the sport's safety. No serious injury has occurred in an Australian event. The smaller gloves are in fact safer than those used in boxing as they do not protect the hands to the same extent and thus an MMA competitor cannot strike with the sheer volume and/or force of a boxer. In fact much of a typical match is spent grappling for position, as anyone who has watched an entire event will attest. In comparison to other sports it is relatively safe, especially compared to the numerous fatalities in motor sport by competitors, marshals and spectators, deaths in high profile Yacht races, spinal injuries in all codes of Football and even high profile incidents to some of the biggest names in Australian sport, such as James Hird's horrific facial injuries.

To suggest sanctioning is required to prevent underground "Fight Club" type contest is bordering on idiotic. The vast majority of spectators at these events train and compete in the sport itself or any of the various martial arts relevant to it, such as Boxing, Brasilian Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, Submission Wrestling, Judo or Thai Boxing. The sport has an enormous grassroots following of educated fans who can appreciate the dedication and the technical intricacies and dexterity required for Wrestling, Grappling, Striking and Submission. Uneducated spectators who are attracted by the prospect of a bloody spectacle, are generally very disappointed with the sport, as most matches are dominated by technical grappling with the match ending by a harmless submission such as choke or arm lock.

It is both disappointing and disheartening to see an influential program such as Today, present an ignorant sensationalist story which will prevent the sport's athletes from gaining the recognition they deserve. I only hope the MMA community's outcry from your insulting story will help remove some of the unfounded stigma perpetuated by poorly researched and sensationalist media reports such as your own. MMA and the various arts for which it is made up of, are complex, technical and physically demanding sports, for which a number of Australians have made great achievements in. I only hope one day they are revered like virtually all other Australian sportsmen and sportswomen.


Regards,

Todd.

Nice one man...

I should have formulated something like that, but I was running on emotion at the time.

well...it is australia

todd82 = madd correct. I'm composing mine right now.

peace - skrump