Question:
Why do so many people believe that Asian Martial Artists would get destroyed in UFC and MMA?
NONAME
2009-01-26 00:08:50 UTC
In case you haven't heard it. Asia is the land of Martial arts. It's their culture. Just because they don't fight in any highly dramatic octagon matches doesn't mean they aren't any good.
24 answers:
2009-01-26 02:13:47 UTC
MA = self defense

MMA = sport fighting

if a mma fighter fights with ma fighter in a cage, ma fighter might lose because they arent train as much as mma fighters do. but if ma fighter train as much as mma fighters, there are 50/50 chance they will win. china is where all the martial arts originally from, even karate is similar to kungfu believe it or not. race is not important in a fight, a russian body guard of russia president waz bullshitting about chinese kungfu is the weakest, a guy from the street (not professional fighter) beat the **** out of him in less than one round, i heard that body guard waz karate master and something like 5 or 6th dan but im not sure. if a guy with a knife, mma fighters might not be able to defend themselve because they dont train to deal with them situation but ma fighter will have the ability (depends on what ma they train) to disarm the guy.
Paul O
2009-01-26 00:53:24 UTC
Mixed Martial Arts is an entirely different sport than focusing on a single discipline. Most Martial Artists that specialize in one form, such as Muay Tai or Judo, simply aren't trained to deal with the wide variety of approaches one trained in MMA can bring to a fight.



The UFC started back before Mixed Martial Arts was a really a sport to determine which discipline was the best. Wrestlers versus kickboxers; Karate versus Sumo Wrestling; Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu versus shoot-fighting. Over time, competitors began training in multiple disciplines as that was the only way to be the best and to exploit the weaknesses of those that were less versed in specific areas of fighting.



Another thing to keep in mind is that Asia has its share of highly dramatic MMA matches. The now-defunct Pride Fighting out of Japan was right alongside the UFC in providing a ring for some of the best MMA fighters in the world. Pancrase and Dream, and many others, still put on MMA fights in Asia.



But the real answer to your question is that the reason most Asian Martial Artists would get destroyed in UFC and MMA is because the rules are different. Take an expert MMA fighter and put him in a Judo match against a Judo expert, and he'll probably lose. Take an expert Judo fighter and put him in an MMA fight against a MMA expert and he'll probably lose.



Take Judo Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. Although he is a great Asian Martial Artist who won a gold metal in Judo, his MMA record is an unimpressive 8-6-1, and this includes extensive training specifically for MMA rules.
Brian F
2009-01-26 05:00:49 UTC
I laugh every time I see questions such as yours. If you would bother to research your question you would see more traditionalist like yourself bashing MMA then MMA bashing traditionalists. You say that we believe Asian martial arts would get destroyed in the UFC, but I have yet to hear that from a serious MMA practitioner. Did you know that many MMA practitioners use Muay Thai, an Asian martial art I believe, maybe Southeast Asian, but Asian non the less. Fighters like Lyoto Machida use Karate, and Chuck Liddell uses Kenpo, they are Asian martial arts if I'm not correct right?



The main problem with individuals like you is that your so close minded. You see martial arts as either Japanese, Korean, or Chinese. If your not wearing some kind of gi and counting off in a different language then its not a traditional martial art to you. Did you know that Muay Thai is just as old as Karate? Greco Roman Wrestling is from around 400 B.C. if not older. Seems pretty traditional to me.
TimmKitts
2009-01-26 05:28:46 UTC
Traditional martial arts were created 2 teach armies of school children all @ once.This doesn't give proper 1 on 1 2 any1.Beyond that they have been diluted over hundreds of years as well.This takes away from the effectiveness because each generation has added their own spin on the arts & lost alot os fundamentals.

MMA is also tailored for fighting 1 person in a ring or cage with certain rules & limitations.2 B fair,MMA would B no good in the setting that traditional martial arts was created.It is like a basket ball player vs a football player.They R different games.
Andrew S
2009-01-26 00:58:42 UTC
This question is almost painful. First of all comparing a martial artist (say a Judoka, or someone who practices Kung-Fu or Karate) to a mixed martial artist is like comparing an endurance runner or a sprinter to a triathlete, they're two entirely different things and only similar in the most facile comparisons.



MMA is a sport (no intent to trivialize it), whereas most martial arts are a method of self defense, and frequently a life philosophy. To compare the two does neither credit. In self defense you are prepared to do -anything- it takes to survive, this includes maiming and killing your opponent. Mixed Martial Arts have strict universal rules against this. These rules (such as no blows to the back of the head, or small joint locks) so fundamentally changes how most mixed martial arts are practiced that makes them impractical in some respects to use for self defense. The same can be applied in reverse to many martial arts techniques for use in MMA in that they're useless, or designed specifically to permanently injure an opponent that they wouldn't be used in a "friendly" competition.



Anyway to finish off answering this troll question- people from Asia are no better martial artists because of their heritage than anglo-saxons are worse at it because of their own. In fact many of the older martial arts are inherently worse because they haven't adapted to modern techniques, or at the least been modernized by a more sophisticated knowledge of physics and how the human body works. I suggest you take the time to look at the evolution of Jujitsu into Judo specifically.
2016-02-26 06:18:38 UTC
i am guessing you have never seen a mma fight nor a street fight. you don't see aikido "masters" in mma because its not a practical fighting style. it also has a heavy focus on small joint locks that are illegal in mma. also what do mean by real martial artists everyone in mma is a real martial artist. just because the dont live in very far corner of the world and it not known as a sacred art form that's been passed down to a chosen few from generation to generation dosent make muay Thai bjj or kick boxing any less of a real martial art so please keep this in mind the next time you ask something stupid
2009-01-26 04:13:37 UTC
Asia is not the land of martial arts, there are many more places that

practiced there own fighting system but I do Agree that it is the origin

of most martial arts.



Most Asian Mixed martial artists get smashed in MMA fights (I have

no idea why), it just happens. But there are many good MMA fighters like Cung Le, Machida, Sakuraba etc.



To all Traditional martial artist please do not under estimate

Mixed martial artist, they train in the same martial arts you do

(Karate, Kung fu etc) but they are limited to the rules of the UFC so they can not show their full potential of their fighting skills.



But I do agree that their are many Traditional martial artists that would be able to smash some MMA fighters (Not the really Pro ones though).



I know Mixed martial arts is a sport but it is also a fighting style.
callsignfuzzy
2009-01-26 07:57:59 UTC
Who's been saying that? There are plenty of Asian martial artists in MMA. For example:



Kazushi Sakuraba

Cung Le

Genki Sudo

Caol Uno

Takanori Gomi

BJ Penn (half Asian)

Lyoto Machida (half Asian)

Ikuhisa Minowa

Hong Man Choi

Ryo Chonan

Denis Kang (half Asian)

Yoshihiro Akiyama

Hidehiko Yoshida

Minoru Suzuki

Akahiro Gono

Megumi Fuji

Windy Tomomi



And the list goes on. Only someone ignorant would say that Asian martial artists can't compete. Traditional Asian martial arts, on the other hand, you could make a case for. Your claime that "real martial arts are hardcore" makes me wonder how much martial arts training you have. In every karate class I've ever attended (enough to get me a black belt), we spent a lot of time punching and kicking the air. Same thing with Taekwondo and Kung Fu. In MMA, you glove up and get hit in the face. Really, what's more hardcore? Fortunately we have some MMA fighters that are taking their traditional martial arts and training it in an effective way, which is why you see more guys with backgrounds in karate and TKD compete in MMA these days. Of cousre, they supplement their training with grappling...



There is no "president of MMA". MMA is a sport, with no single governing body. You are probably thinking of Dana White, the president of the UFC, which is an MMA promotional company.



Asia isn't "the land of martial arts" any more than the West. Your lack of knowledge of Western martial arts culture is almost disturbing. Boxers and Catch wrestlers fought karateka and judoka back in the day and did pretty well for themselves. Catch wrestler Ad Santel actually beat so many Kodokan (judo) representitives that he claimed himself Judo world champion without ever actually taking Judo classes.



Sounds to me like you're steriotyping things.
Shina
2016-02-04 13:33:20 UTC
people asian martial artists destroyed ufc mma
2009-01-26 08:25:45 UTC
asian martial artist or asian martial arts? who knows about a asian martial artist their race doesnt matter, but asian martial arts is different, we use asian martial arts in mma, judo,muay thai. so i dont see what all of the fuss is about. now if you mean a mma fighter in a street fight with an asian martial artist well all i have to say is ive seen what a mma fighter can do WITH rules, id hate to see what they do without them. God bless
Kenshiro
2009-01-26 00:20:05 UTC
It's not the art: It's the training methodology. MMA and combat sports as a whole have exposed a lot of schools of arts as being flawed for something as uncapped as a fight or self defense situation. Some fans and moronic practitioners take it too far at times, but most know it's all about how you train. You can't do drills all day and expect to know how to fight. It can help, and the totality of those drills can get you somewhat close, but there's no substitute for sparring/kumite/randori/rolling etc...



MMA has no rules as far as styles either. One just has to be more well rounded, because all phases of combat are emphasized.



They're are plenty of Asian MMA fighters, and some are really high up such as Yushin Okami (Wa-jutsu), Yoshiyuki Yoshida (A judoka), Shinya Aoki, Cung Le and so on.



Fighting is in a lot of cultures if you search far and wide.
2009-01-26 08:20:21 UTC
Okay The UFC started (Before Dana white had even heard of it) as a 16 man tournament matching users of different stiles against each other. seance then it has evolved as the fighter trained differently to get an edge against the competition and those who didn't adapt and change their stiles lost, badly. So if you go back and see how it got started you'll see that people think the Asian martial arts would lose in the octagon because they already have.
Kalex
2009-01-26 13:40:40 UTC
If you brought a guy into the UFC who studied only Ninjitsu, Goju-Ryu, Judo, Hapkido, Taikwondo or any of the pure Asian styles and made him fight under their rules (even the original UFC rules), he would get destroyed. No question about it, no arguement.



Don't be mislead by the rules. The same would occur in a weaponless streetfight.



There are plenty of great Asian MMA guys, but none of them are pure traditionalists following one style.
Unlimit3d
2009-01-26 03:14:01 UTC
While these guys sound stupid to you for saying that martial arts would be destroyed by MMA, you too are ignorant for assuming that in a street fight a "real" martial artist would win.



First off MMA fighters are often "real" martial artists. Many were/are experts in one martial art and have since developed other skills so that they could compete in MMA and make a lot more money.



This also goes back to the fundamental argument of all martial arts. Is it the martial art itself that is superior or the skill of that particular fighter? I myself say that it is the fighter's own skill which would determine who wins the fight. Not if they are "real" martial artists or MMA fighters.
Seabiscuit
2009-01-26 14:11:54 UTC
MMA is a sport, so I don't really compare it to the real thing. Just imagine in a real fight you could do joint locks, break fingers, bite, pull hair, or eye gouge if somebody gets you in a fancy jui jitsu hold. I think prize fighters in general will always have the advantage because they are training at full speed with other top level fighters but I would never underestimate any fighter Asian or whatever flavor that is trained to do whatever it takes to survive.
GFX8800
2009-01-26 00:18:16 UTC
Dude, There's a difference between a martial artist and a Mixed martial artist, Mixed martial artists are well-rounded fighters. MMA fighters are well trained in many disciplines.
clown(s) around
2009-01-26 00:34:11 UTC
I love all martial arts. Do I think that most of them could stand up to a UFC fighter, no. the reason is because the UFC fighter is an elite athlete who has honed his timing and reflexes to deal with other top level athletes (who are stronger, faster and way more technical than 99% of any other person on the planet). Do I think I could stand up to some of the best China and Japan have to offer...not a chance. They would hurt me bad, and no it does not bug me in the slightest



this is the real father of MMA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu



Dana White is the president of the UFC not of MMA. MMA is a sport and UFC is a franchise
2009-01-26 00:18:08 UTC
I guess they didn't see Cung Le shatter Frank Shamrock's forearm with leg kicks.



I've got the utmost respect for Asian martial arts in their legacy form of practice. I'm not a big fan of Americanized Asian martial arts with 15 different colored belts, belt stripe tests, kata clubs, touch sparring, ghis with the schools logo, and all that other McDojo type stuff.
In The Still of The Night
2009-01-26 11:58:33 UTC
MMA is not a martial art it is a sport like boxing with rules and limitations . Asian martial arts were created to kill and end fights as quick as possible. UFC crap is just a sport where two muppets wack each other or squeeze each other till someone is either knocked out or taps out. you cant just get a martial artists who studies a TMA and expect them to defeat a MMA UFC person in the octagon. the reason for this is because the TMA person wasnt trained to "Sport Fight" with gloves they were trained for real live street combat. The same goes for MMA UFC people you cant expect them to be able to survive in real life or death fights because they were trained to fight in a sport. I like to think of UFC MMA as boxing because its a sport not a martial art. they are 2 different things with two different purposes and 2 completely different ways of training.
2009-01-26 09:28:00 UTC
Bas Rutten was the one that said Asian fighters lack strength compared to western fighters, and he fought in Japan for years. So I guess I'll trust him on that
judomofo
2009-01-26 06:30:11 UTC
There is always this disconnect... honestly you should use the search function and see how many times this has been asked and how you get the same responses.



I don't see what race has to do with it at all to begin with, the second biggest market in MMA is in Japan, in fact you could say it is bigger since they sell out entire stadiums over there with mostly Japanese fighters fighting. So you might want to look into that.



Guys like Sakuraba, Gomi, Yoshida, Genki Sudo, Mach Sakurai, Kid Yamamoto, Okami, etc. etc. are legends in the sport.



Keep in mind Dana White is the president of the UFC but he is a promoter, he wasn't remotely involved in the creation of the UFC.



Cross training styles have been around for centuries, many of the arts you see now a days are the result of a single practitioner who crosstrained in other styles and schools and developed his own style.

That is the reason we have a hundred different Ryus of Karate, Jujitsu. It is the reason there are countless forms and styles of Kung Fu. All this was long before Bruce Lee.



What Bruce Lee recognized was that MANY Martial Artists lost their way. They stopped sparring, they stopped actually fighting, they relied on forms as the sole method of their teaching and practicing their art, they never tested themselves and they remained rigid in form and function. They tied themselves to a style, to a form.



In China there were Lei Tei matches constantly over which school of Kung Fu was the best. There were regional and city champions that lived like celebrities from fighting. They honed their styles, entire styles of Kung Fu were made just in response to another school. Entire styles made to counter another style.



In Japan there were constant Dojo yoburis, countless ways and means of testing each other. Challenge matches were the norm, and the students challenging anyone who dared challenge their master. There were constant competetions.



Yet somehow, someway all that was lost.



Now a days people talk about how "hardcore" Martial Artist are. When in fact the people they talk about have never used their skills in unnarmed combat. They learn "deadly" techniques from a sensei who has never done them, and that sensei learned from another guy who had also never done them, and so forth.



Hardcore is not forms without sparring.



Hardcore is not pantomiming eye gouges, nut kicks, or thinking a kick to the inside of the knee will take someone out.



Hardcore is not a cooperative training partner who throws a half speed choreographed punch while you go through a complex series of countermovements in which he just stands still.



Tell me how in the hell is that hardcore, and how in the hell does that prepare you for self defense?



Tell me what single facet of those "hardcore" Martial Arts do the Modern Militaries of the World use? How do they simulate combat?



When I was in the Army, within the first two weeks I was crawling underneath constatina wire, with explosions a few feet away and real bullets soaring 3 to 4ft over my head, in the dead of night. That is how they prepare soldiers by making it as close to combat as possible.



They don't spend 3 hours talking about philosophy, or telling you how to be aware, they force you to be aware by putting you in situations in which lack of awareness or attention to detail can cause you your life, or at the very least to get badly hurt.



What I also find hilarious is how few techniques are illegal in MMA, but are solely thought to be what makes a Traditionalist from a Sportist.

The funny part is that your "Real Martial Artist" haven't eye gouged or kick people in the nuts on a regular basis, whereas a "Sportist" has most assuredly eye gouged and nut kicked more people on accident then someone who "trains for the streets" has done in their whole life.



Nevermind the fact that your entire argument lacks any factual knowledge or understanding of Martial Arts, much less MMA. Otherwise you would see how MMA is traditional "Asian" Martial Arts in action. You would also see how many MMA fighters are actually "REAL" Martial Artist who cross train, but have a background in traditional Martial Arts.



I have trained in both, I can tell you that I have broken more opponent's bones, eye gouged more people, nut kicked more people, and rendered more people unconscious in training and competing in "sport based Martial Arts" than I have with any technique learned in Traditional Arts other than Judo, and I worked as a bouncer for quite some time.



It wasn't Karate, Kung Fu, Ninjitsu or Tae Kwon Do that I used to deal with people in the bar. It was Judo and MMA techniques that I did autonomously because I had trained in adrenaline based situations constantly.



Anyway... just some knowledge from a REAL practitioner. I hold two black belts, one in a "Traditional" art, Goju-Ryu Karate, and one in a "Sport" based art Judo. I have studied much more, that is my insight.
2009-01-26 01:28:36 UTC
it depends on whos fighting whom



however i do believe that if you took bruce lee and put him against any MMA or UFC fighter bruce lee would kick their a$$ bc his martial art (what ever it is i think is kung fu but w/e) has been practiced for so a thousand years and been perfected and formed into a deadly art an expert in that field knowing the right pressure points and where to strike bruce lee would kick an UFC champions a$$
Bujinkan Ninja
2009-01-26 01:09:02 UTC
Because they are idiots. M"MA" is a sport and not even close to a martial art. As such, it can not even be compared to real martial arts. Under M"MA" rules, most martial artists will probably lose. But in a real fight, where all rules go out the window, the martial artist will have a huge advantage over the M"MA" practitioner.



Clowns, you can't be serious.
ryan
2009-01-26 06:40:18 UTC
It's genetics, typically they're ectomorph somatypes but race doesn't really matter they'll always be statistical anomolies so even tho generally azns are ectomorphs azn mesomorphs are born too.


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