MIXED MARTIAL ARTS & GRAPPLING
Three of the most popular Combat Sports throughout GB are Sombo,
MMA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu BJJ yet out of the three there is only one of them
that has a governing body, that is recognised by UKSport and has an
International Body recognised by Sport Accord and that is the British Sombo
Federation. This I believe will changing in the very near future as the very
well respected F.I.L.A has included the two on their list of Wrestling Sports
and they call it Amateur MMA and Grappling.
F.I.L.A have been responsible for Free Style and Greco Roman
since the Olympics began so they are the obvious choice for running these
sports. It is important that we put some legitimisation into MMA as there are
so many unqualified, inexperience clubs teaching these Combat Skills. I
recently heard of a karate Club who numbers had been dwindling changing there
name to an MMA club and their membership quadrupled, when they were questioned
they said they had mixed several Karate Styles together hence MMA Mixed Martial
Arts. Although those in the know realise that is not what MMA is, but the
Public do not know.
I have strong doubts that you would be able to register MMA
Mixed Martial Arts as a “Service Mark” because of the nature of the name Mixed
Martial Arts can mean anything it is not specific. Maybe MMA could have been
registered but now because it has been widely used I doubt it. When I
registered “CombatSombo” a Grappling Self Defence System in 1988 as a service mark
no one had used a combination on the name in any other form, since then the
International body has come with a very successful Full Contact Jacket Strike
and Grapple called Combat Sambo. In Some countries many use the same words for
a self-defence system. The main advantage of registering COMBATSOMBO is I have
total control of the name in this country and only Grades certificates with my
signature or my authorisation can justify you saying you do COMBATSOMBO. Sadly
at the time I did not get it registered World Wide but because everyone knows
that CombatSombo is my style that they can still check to see if the Coach is
registered with me.
A Couple of years ago I was invited along with others to a
meeting with the British Wrestling Association at the Wrestling Academy in
Salford to discuss MMA and they came up with two very useful and unique names.
For MMA Grappling and Submission Wrestling with or with out Jackets they would
use the name FILA Grappling for MMA strike and grapple they would use the words
FILA Combat. These two name are easily defined and can be easily regulated, I
believe this is the way forward, I for one have no objections affiliating to
the BWA in fact our Warriors Grappling Academy is a member
Those who enjoy true MMA need to break away from the name
because the name is slowing become ridiculed
Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full
contact combat sport that incorporates striking (both standing and on the
ground) and wrestling/grappling techniques. As governed by FILA, it is
practiced within a safe and regulated environment, which relies on a fair and
objective scoring system and competition procedures similar to those in force
in Olympic wrestling.
Despite its tremendous popularity, MMA is
facing various legitimacy issues due to the lack of sanctioning by the national
sports authorities and the lack of universal rules that would protect the
athletes' physical and psychological integrity. FILA considers that the
implementation of an amateur variant that could guarantee a safe training
environment and a competition systems complying with the Olympic standards has
become an urgent necessity for all athletes wishing to engage in a professional
career. Through the mandatory use of protection gear and limited impact rules
(especially regarding ground and pound), FILA intends to offer a safe and
educational sport that can satisfy athletes with both recreational or
professional goals.
With its combination of stand up and ground
techniques, amateur MMA represents a great form of self-defense, which is
particularly recommended for the training of police, security, and military
forces. Amateur MMA is practiced with board shorts and an optional rashguard
along with approved protection gear that includes head gear, shin protectors,
and gloves that allow grabbing and holding the opponent for a comfortable
application of grappling techniques.
Amateur MMA counts 7 weight categories for men and 5 weight categories for
women. No absolute category is considered in order to avoid potentially harmful
situations.
· Men: 60-65-70-75-80-90-110kg
· Women: 50-55-60-65-75kg
Licence and insurance: The FILA licence is mandatory for
all international amateur MMA competitions with more than two participating
countries. Every international competition shall be anounced to FILA and added
to its official calendar. The FILA insurance will only apply to competitions
which appear in its calendar. The FILA licence allows its holder to take part
in all wrestling styles ruled by FILA.
Grappling is a non-striking hybrid sport formed of wrestling, jiu jitsu, sambo, and many other submission fighting styles
which consists in applying submission holds and choking techniques in order to
make the opponent abandon the fight. Grappling plays an important role in the
practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is considered an effective form of
self-defense.
When including grappling into its field of activities, FILA had
the vision to unite the grappling community under standard international rules
and offer a generic discipline that would go beyond the specificities of each
submission fighting discipline. Straight forward and easy to understand rules
were thus created to facilitate the participation of athletes coming from
different fighting backgrounds in international competitions.
The FILA grappling regulations are based on a progressive point system that
encourages submissions over technical points. Points are awarded for takedowns
and dominant control positions according to the following progression: side
mount > full mount > back mount. Once having reached a position and
secured it for 3 seconds, additional points can only be scored if a higher
position is achieved. The progression is reset if the opponent manages to bring
the fight back to neutral (be it standing or on the ground) or to score a dominant
control position in his/her turn.
Since submission fighting is traditionally practiced with and
without kimono (Gi), FILA has decided to implement both trends in order to
cover the full spectrum of techniques associated to each particular style. If
some athletes prefer one style over the other, most of them enjoy practicing
and competing in both. Therefore, the FILA tournaments generally take place in
Gi and No-Gi divisions to enable all submission fighters to compete to their
highest ability no matter what their fighting background might be.
In order to unify the rules and participation in Grappling, Pankration, and
Combat Grappling competitions, FILA has adopted common weight categories for
all three styles. The lighter categories have a smaller increase in weight due
to the the bigger effect weight differences have on lighter athletes'
performances. An absolute category open to competitors of all weight classes
has also been added to allow heavier athletes to compete and to demonstrate
that grappling techniques can sometimes overcome weight and strength, creating
an exciting and spectator-friendly addition to the sport.
· Men: 60-65-70-75-80-90-110kg and Absolute
· Women: 50-55-60-65-75kg and Absolute
Licence and insurance: The FILA licence is mandatory for all international grappling
competitions with more than two participating countries. Every international
competition shall be anounced to FILA and added to its official calendar. The
FILA insurance will only apply to competitions which appear in its calendar.
The FILA licence allows its holder to take part in all wrestling styles ruled
by FILA.
