Competitive contact sport involving combat
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat.
In many💶 combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the💶 opponent (knockout, KO), or attacking the opponent in a specific or designated technique.
Combat sports share a long history with the💶 martial arts.
Some combat sports (and their national origin) include boxing (Greek-British), Brazilian jiu-jitsu (Japanese-Brazilian), catch wrestling (British-American), jujutsu (Japanese), judo💶 (Japanese), freestyle wrestling (British-American), Greco-Roman wrestling (French), karate (Chinese-Okinawan-Japanese), kickboxing (numerous origins, mainly Southeast Asian), Lethwei (Burmese), mixed martial arts💶 (numerous origins), Muay Thai (Thai), sambo (Soviet/Russian), sanda (Chinese), savate (French), taekwondo (Korean), Vale Tudo (Brazilian), pankration (Ancient Greek), Luta💶 Livre (Brazilian), and folk wrestling (various).
History [ edit ]
The Pancrastinae statue demonstrates the pancratium, which being similar to modern MMA💶 featured a strong grappling element.
This statue is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd century BCE.
Two martial💶 artists sparring in ancient Cambodia as depicted at the Bayon temple
Traditional styles of wrestling exist in most cultures; wrestling can💶 be considered a cultural universal.
Boxing contests date back to ancient Sumer in the 3rd millennium BCE and ancient Egypt circa💶 1350 BCE.
[1] The ancient Olympic Games included several combat-related sports: armored foot races, boxing, wrestling, and pankration, which was introduced💶 in the Olympic Games of 648 BCE.
In ancient China, combat sport appeared in the form of lei tai.
It was a💶 no-holds barred combat sport that combined boxing and wrestling.
There is evidence of similar combat sports in ancient Egypt, India and💶 Japan.[2]
Through the Middle ages and Renaissance, the tournament was popular.
Tournaments were competitions that featured several mock combat events, with jousting💶 as a main event.
While the tournament was popular among aristocrats, combat sports were practiced by all levels of society.
The German💶 school of late medieval martial arts distinguished sportive combat (schimpf) from serious combat (ernst).
In the German Renaissance, sportive combat competitions💶 were known as Fechtschulen, corresponding to the Prize Playing in Tudor England.
Out of these Prize Playing events developed the English💶 boxing (or prizefighting) of the 18th century, which evolved into modern boxing with the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry💶 rules in 1867.
Amateur boxing has been part of the modern Olympic Games since their introduction in 1904.
Professional boxing became popular💶 in the United States in the 1920s and experienced a "golden age" after World War II.
The creation of Brazilian jiu-Jitsu💶 is attributed to the Gracie family of Brazil in 1925 after Asian martial arts were introduced to Brazil.
Vale-tudo, wrestling, Muay💶 Thai kickboxing and luta livre gained popularity.
Modern Muay Thai was developed in the 1920s to 1930s.
Sambo was introduced in the💶 Soviet Union.
Modern Taekwondo also emerged after the Japanese occupation of Korea and became an Olympic sport in 2000.
Sanshou as part💶 of modern wushu was developed in the People's Republic of China since the 1950s.
Kickboxing and full contact karate were developed💶 in the 1960s and became popular in Japan and the West during the 1980s and 1990s.
Modern MMA developed out of💶 the interconnected subcultures of Vale Tudo and shoot wrestling.
It was introduced in Japan in the form of Shooto in 1985,💶 and in the United States as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993.
The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were introduced💶 in 2000, and the sport experienced peak popularity in the 2000s.
During this period, multiple brands and promotions were established.
The most💶 well-known promotion for MMA is UFC.
Popularity by gender [ edit ]
Iranian Kickboxer, Hamid Amni, during the Asian Kickboxing championships 2017
Combat💶 sports are generally more popular among men as athletes and spectators.
For many years, participation in combat sports was practically exclusive💶 to men; USA Boxing had a ban on women's boxing until 1993.
[3] A study conducted by Greenwell, Hancock, Simmons, and💶 Thorn in 2015 revealed that combat sports had a largely male audience.
[4]List [ edit ]Unarmed [ edit ]Striking [ edit💶 ]Grappling [ edit ]Hybrid [ edit ]Armed [ edit ]Techniques [ edit ]
The techniques used can be categorized into three💶 domains: striking, grappling, and weapon usage, with some hybrid rule-sets combining striking and grappling.
In combat sports the use of these💶 various techniques are highly regulated to minimize permanent or severe physical damage to each participant though means of organized officiating💶 by a single or multiple referees that can distribute penalties or interrupt the actions of the competitors during the competition.
In💶 weapon based sports, the weapons used are made to be non-lethal by means of modifying the striking portions of the💶 weapon and requiring participants to wear protective clothing/armor.
Olympics [ edit ]
Amateur boxing (1904–2020): Boxing has been staged at every summer💶 Olympic games since 1904 except Stockholm in 1912 due to Swedish law.[5]
Judo (1964, 1972–2020): Judo was not included in the💶 1968 Mexico City summer Olympics.
Women's judo was added to the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona.[6]
Taekwondo (1988 Seoul Games as demonstration💶 sport, 2000–2020): Became an official medal sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.[7]
Wrestling Greco-Roman (1908–2020): The first form of wrestling💶 to be held at the Olympic Games.[8]
Wrestling Freestyle (1920–2020): Was modified at the 2000 Sydney Games and reduced the amount💶 of weight categories provided.[9]
Pankration and singlestick are two other forms of combat sports that have been included in the Olympics.
These💶 combat sports were introduced to the Olympic Games in the early 1900s however singlestick was only represented at the 1904💶 Olympic games and pankration whilst lasting four centuries in Ancient Greek Olympia's, was not included at all after 1900.
Fencing (1896–2020):💶 Competitive fencing is one of the five activities which have been featured in every modern Olympic Games, the other four💶 being athletics, cycling, swimming, and gymnastics.
Olympic dueling (1906–1908): Demonstration sport at the 1906 Olympics and 1908 Olympics.
Karate (2020): Karate made💶 its Olympic debut for Tokyo 2020 under new IOC rules.
Protective gear and clothing [ edit ]
In combat sports, victory is💶 obtained from blows, punches or attacks to the head to a point of physical injury that the opponent is unable💶 to continue.
[10] Different forms of combat sport have different rules and regulations into the equipment competitors have to wear.
In Amateur💶 boxing seen at the Olympics, competitors are permitted to wear head guards and correctly weighted padded gloves, mouth guards are💶 optional and the canvas floor protection from a hard fall.
[11] In sports such as Taekwondo, competitors are permitted to wear💶 a trunk protector, head guard, gloves, groin guard and shin and forearm pads.
[12] Professional boxing and MMA are two of💶 the most dangerous combat sports in the world due to the lack of protective gear worn (compared to the protected💶 fists).
Competitors in these two sports have the option to wear a mouthguard and must wear suitable gloves.
The lack of protective💶 clothing makes competitors vulnerable to concussion and further traumatic head injuries.
A scientific experiment, conducted last year by Dr Andrew McIntosh💶 of ACRISP at the Federation University of Australia, tested the impact of seven different head guards in combat sport.
The results💶 of the experiment revealed the benefits of the combination of a glove and headguard in maximising the impact energy attenuation.
[13]💶 A study conducted by Lystad showed that combat sports with little to no protective gear such as MMA or boxing💶 has an injury incidence rate range of 85.1–280.
7 per 1000 athletes in comparison to another striking combat sport like Taekwondo💶 which has a large amount of protective gear such as pads, headgear, mouth guard and gloves, has an injury incidence💶 rate range of 19.1–138.
8 per 1000 athletes.
This means that injury rates are drastically lowered when protective gear is used.
[14]Gear includes:GlovesHeadgearMouthguardShin💶 guardsArm guardsGroin guardTrunk guard
Wraps (material wrapped around the hand and wrist (and/or foot and ankle) that provides added alignment, support💶 and protection)
Fighting area [ edit ]Mat
circular layout or rectangular layoutRing
with ropes around the fighting area boxing ring without ropes around💶 the fighting area pit: A circle 27 feet in diameter, of which the inner 24 feet is colored blue.
The next💶 3 feet is yellow, which is the caution area.
When the fighter gets to the yellow area, he know they are💶 getting close to stepping out-of-bounds.
The last edge of the ring is the red zone, which features a 30-degree upward angle.
When💶 a fighter steps on the red area, they are stepping up slightly, letting them know they are out-of-bounds.
sumo ring (dohyō),💶 sand ring
Fenced area (generically referred to as a "cage") Can be round or have at least six sides.
The fenced area💶 is generally called a cage or more precisely, depending on the shape, a hexagon (if it has 6 sides) or💶 an octagon (if it has 8 sides).
Some replace the metal fencing with a net.
See also [ edit ]
