Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of other combat sports.
In a sense, all martial arts styles and therefore martial arts history in general has led up to what we now refer to as MMA. Along with this, those that practice fighting techniques have been testing their skills against one another likely before history even began to be recorded. Still, Greek Pankration, a fighting event that became a part of the Olympic Games in 648 B.C., is the first documented full contact, few rules combat competition in history. Pankration events were known for their brutality; even more so were the Etruscan and Roman pancratium events that sprouted from it.
More recently, there have been many examples of full combat fights designed to measure one style against another. One of the more notable occurred in 1887 when then heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan took on Greco-Roman wrestling champion William Muldoon. Muldoon reportedly slammed his adversary to the canvas in just a couple of minutes. Reinforcing this, many other reported matches between famous strikers and grapplers also took place in and around this time, with grapplers often demonstrating a significant advantage over their striking or stand up fighting counterparts.
Interestingly, MMA style competitions also sprouted up in England in the late 1800’s via Bartitsu events. Bartitsu pitted Asian and European fighting styles against one another. The inclusion of the Asian fighting styles made them somewhat unique for the time period.
Mixed martial artists in Dead or Alive[]
Playable characters[]
- Mila (uses a combination of boxing, kickboxing, and vale tudo)
Guest characters[]
- Sarah Bryant (uses a combination of karate, savate, and taekwondo)
Other[]
- Toreko (uses a combination of all the fighting styles in Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate)
- Honoka (Her Honoka Fu uses a combination of fighting styles in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round and Dead or Alive 6).
Gallery[]
Dead or Alive 5 |
---|
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate |
---|
Dead or Alive 6 |
---|
External links[]
[]
v · e · d Martial arts
| |||
---|---|---|---|
Grappling | Close quarters combat • Combat Sambo • Counter Fiend Combat • Lucha libre • Professional wrestling | ||
Striking | Baji quan • Ii Style Leg Strikes • Karate • Mizong yi • Muay Thai • Ninjutsu • Pencak Silat • Pigua quan • Taekwondo | ||
Internal | Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu • She quan • Taiji quan • Xingyi quan • Xinyi liuhe quan • Zui quan | ||
Full contact / Combat sports | Mixed martial arts | ||
Self-defense / Combatives | Aikido •Systema • Tengu-do | ||
Eclectic / Hybrids | Anti-K’ Arts • Honoka Fu • Jeet Kune Do • Street Fighting |