Chinese Martial Arts: Why not in MMA?
When looking at MMA for Martial Arts Fans, many doubts arise as to why Chinese martial arts are not featured in MMA. Why is CMA or Chinese Martial Arts not in MMA? After all, MMA is all about mixed martial arts and fighters draw techniques, skills, and positions from all types of martial arts around the world.
Chinese Martial Arts are not in MMA because of a lot of reasons and the main reason being that there are some illegal moves in MMA that is allowed in Chinese Martial Arts or CMA. Furthermore, most Chinese Martial Artists are not interested in joining MMA to compete against other Martial Arts.
That is just a short summary. We are going to discuss this topic in greater detail below as we will see more on Chinese Martial Arts. As you will see later, there are many reasons why CMA is not in MMA such as the Martial Arts ban by the Chinese Government a few years back. We are going to discuss all of these so you will grasp the whole picture of why is this the case.
Why are Chinese martial arts not used in MMA?
The main reason why Chinese Martial Arts are not used in MMA is that most Chinese Martial Artists are actually very conscious of their reputation and hate defeat. Furthermore, they are afraid of losing their business if their martial art loses against other martial arts.
I remember when I was a kid and watch some Kung Fu movies with my father. I believe that Martial Arts are really strong such as when I saw the snake style or Crane style.
There is a so-called unbeatable Wing Chun that seems unbeatable in movies. While I saw some people fight with Wing Chun, I’m still bothered that I don’t really see somebody use it in MMA.
Sadly, one of the main reasons Chinese martial arts like Wing Chun don’t show up in MMA is that the pros aren’t ready to prove their strength.
According to Danny Horgan, a 23-year-old Boston media personality and self-proclaimed street fighter, the problem with Wing Chun martial arts and associated martial arts is that practitioners like to talk about a style that is “deadly.”
Boxers and mixed wrestling artists risk their martial arts and reputations every month.
Those who practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu all over the world keep moving with each other to show off their superior technique. Taekwondo fighters also practice and take part in it.
Wing Chun is one of the few martial arts in the world because its professionals as fighters are reluctant to risk their reputation.
Wing Chun is not effective at best and fraud at worst, according to UFC commentator Joe Rogan. He said the words “impractical” and “stupid” are often seen in UFC circles, even if someone wants to win or show Wing Chun skills, even though they would never dare and risk being ridiculed.
When the UFC was created, Wing Chun was a kind of fighting style and style, it was very effective, they followed the same tradition, but it was not so effective against other fighting styles.
This is advised one of the largest issues in Wing Chun due to it isn’t becoming to the world.
Whether or not we agree with what he believes is wrong and effective in the Wing Chun ring, we cannot deny that Chinese martial arts exist and exist in context.
But in the real world, traditional heavy arts are often left behind and faced with a changing and changing world that is struggling from the outside. Many fighters indeed repeat movements borrowed from Wing Chun, but often they do so without understanding or context.
The China Martial Arts Community (CMA) is divided into three unfortunate cultural shits.
CMA was a martial art of martial art, probably because the Chinese were historically at war throughout history and therefore the martial art was invented in the first place.
If you look at the common long forms that are used to train them, as many people jokingly call them today, “monkey dances”, they all include the techniques used in MMA. Hit, kick, kick and fight.
Furthermore, I don’t want to admit this because I’m a fan of kung fu but there is some sort of arrogance.
I don’t know when it started, but it’s embarrassing for CMA artists to lose in the battle for his school and his ancestors, even if the battle is just a battle of friendship.
They imagine the fight we usually enjoy as something that might destroy their reputation. Most also think that the tradition or the old Martial Arts should always be the strongest.
Because there is a chance that they might lose to MMA fighters, most decided not to compete anymore.
Furthermore, because of their belief that they’re already strong and not competing with other martial arts, most Chinese Martial Artists stop training after becoming experts.
Compare that to BJJ black belters where the mentality is that the black belt is just the start of their career and should continue training
It also probably has to do with a ban on martial arts imposed by the Chinese government a few decades ago.
Without proper training, a teacher cannot pass students.
So masters can begin to praise the past glories of their styles, but they never fight and struggle.
The last thing is business. For thousands of years, the CMA Schools were famous and masters can earn a lot of money from teaching.
As with all modern business competitions, they just want some money and losing to fights will be a bad reputation to their school.
Thus, they are not interested in challenging anyone to prevent any chances of destroying their reputation.
Plus, they started focusing on flashy moves such as breaking bricks. or some impractical strikes.
Why are there no MMA fighters in China?
The reason why there are still no MMA fighters in China is that there is just a lack of viable athletes because of the strict national sports program by the government. Furthermore, the lack of coach is also a problem because grappling martial arts are essential for MMA fights.
MMA had come with the style in previous years.
Since Royce Gracie defeated all of his rivals and the debate over the violent nature of competition, MMA has grown into one of the fastest-growing non-profit sports in the world.
The UFC became a giant, and pay-per-view revenue rivaled boxing and pro wrestling as the process took over and absorbed smaller promotions.
It seems strange considering the rich cultural heritage of Chinese martial arts.
With hundreds of different fighting styles for men and women that have evolved historically, China would logically be the place to get ahead in MMA.
However, it was difficult to establish the sport in the region.
First, there is a lack of viable athletes. Most of the high-level young athletes are carefully selected to follow the national sports program that has generated several teachers at the school.
Second, there is the problem of the coach. Brazilian Ju-Jitsu is considered an essential part of any MMA training, but there are no top-notch teachers in the country.
For these two reasons, it makes sense to delve deeper into the history of Chinese Kung Fu.
There have been many legendary martial artists over the centuries, especially in martial arts films with Jet Li, Jackie Chan, or Donnie Yen.
As we know, there are many styles, all of which have their roots in different areas.
However, there are some important common denominators. Most martial arts masters will say that the goal of martial arts is self-defense and mastery of the body and mind. In other words, the more you know, the less you will fight.
Then there are the traditions.
Some martial artists see MMA competitions as a legal way for rebels to compete against each other, rather than as a true application of martial arts principles.
Technically, many masters jealously guard their techniques and insist on mastering their styles. This means that few Chinese techniques have been developed over the past hundred years.
I know this article has been hard especially for CMA pros. But I have to get all the information to give to the community.
This has also been a deep topic considering that, unlike other articles, we aren’t talking of plain martial arts. We are also talking about other aspects such as political and economical reasons.
So I thank you if you’re still reading this part.
References
Special thanks to these websites as they helped me a lot in completing my article.
