Word has spread from the training studios to the streets.
Now thousands of people are flocking to gyms that specialize in MMA training, not just to become professional fighters, but to shape up.
Betiss Mansouri, 33, co-owner of Millennia MMA in Rancho Cucamonga, has seen the sport rise from one that was shunned by traditionalists into one that's now about as popular as boxing in the U.S.
About 550 members attend his gym, several of which have shed pounds of flab to attain their dream of becoming a professional.
Others started with the goal of weight loss, but fall in love with the sport and pursue fighting, said Mansouri, who has had 16 years of experience in MMA and 10 years operating Millennia MMA. "You'll see gyms pop up here and there. I think a lot of people are trying to use the name MMA," Mansouri said. "It's a business thing. I think martial arts schools are trying to ride the wave the UFC has created." The Ultimate Fighting Championship - the top MMA promotion in the nation, if not the world - is the reason for the new popularity of MMA focused workouts. The explosive popularity of UFC's pay-per-views, its "Ultimate Fighter" reality show series on Spike TV as well as its stable of fighters has managed to change the face of martial arts, Mansouri said. In professional MMA, the preferred method of victory is a knockout or submission, so boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and wrestling have proven to be the most effective disciplines, Mansouri said. This has led operators of studios that taught old-school styles of martial arts to start focusing on classes in grappling and kickboxing, he said. The recent proliferation of MMA gyms isn't a result of brand new facilities opening, but existing ones transitioning to focus on MMA disciplines, Mansouri said. Before the UFC became a national phenomenon, disciplines like boxing, karate, taekwondo and kung fu were among the most popular martial arts taught at traditional training studios, Mansouri said. When the first UFC pay-per-view was staged in 1993, it was billed as a tournament that would determine which martial art would be the most effective in a "real fight" where almost anything goes, Mansouri said. Only eye gouging, biting and groin attacks were prohibited in the first tournament. In 1994, the rules of the second tournament were changed to allow groin shots. At 175 pounds, MMA legend Royce Gracie used Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a highly technical form of grappling, to obliterate larger fighters who used karate, boxing and kickboxing en route to winning the first tournament and going on to dominate the UFC in subsequent years, Mansouri said. To compete with Gracie, others had to learn jiu-jitsu skills and combine them with techniques that proved to to be most effective in the UFC's "real fights," such as boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing and wrestling, Mansouri said. While karate, kung fu and taekwondo can be devastating, they're mostly utilized as tournament sports in which quick, relatively light strikes are used to score points, Mansouri said. "They don't kick and hit each other as hard," Mansouri said. "The intention is to score points, not to knock someone out." Here is a link to the original article - http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_14082005
