MMA as it was

[cross_trainer]

In an age where MMA is becoming a coherent sport unto itself (a "finished product" if you will), it's interesting to look back at the days were the first tentative steps were being taken in cross-training.

In the 90's, a series of videotapes were released by Shamrock, Taktarov, Severn, and one or two other UFC champions/contenders called "Secrets of the Octagon". It is currently considered rather useless (times have changed so much), but as a historical artifact it must be considered fairly valuable--it shows the state of technical progress when it was made. Unfortunately, I haven't seen these firsthand--just heard about them.

Has anyone seen them?

Ithink i saw one awhile back at a market sale somewhere but they may have just been an early ufc video, i am so pissed that i did not buy it.

Do you actually consider mma a "finished product" even without more competitors from other classed fighting styles such as those you mentioned earlier?

[Tencount85]

I used to rent those UFC tapes back in the day when I was a boy and I absolutely loved it (I like fighting in general). It was more brutal back in the day as they their would usaully be mismatches by putting in a fighter whose style was ineffective against a different type of fighter. You saw blow outs and blood baths frequently. Now I think the fighters are all balanced in skill for the most part. If I remember, I think the gloves were also different or maybe they didn't wear any...I'm not sure about the no gloves part but I do believe they used lighter gloves then now.

[younghypnotiq]

they didnt wear any. practicaly no rules. no judges. it was great.

[ufoalf]

No, it was not great. After seeing how a dude on bottom was getting hit FULL force with punches to his little steroided testicals i dont think its anything more than a retarded idea to bring that back.

[bulakenyo]

Originally Posted by ufoalf

No, it was not great. After seeing how a dude on bottom was getting hit FULL force with punches to his little steroided testicals i dont think its anything more than a retarded idea to bring that back.

LOL. I think the guy who got pounded on the nuts was Kimo's(?) manager or something. He was with the guy when they fought Royce Gracie in UFC 3.

I thought hitting below the belt was already illegal that time, same as biting, eye gouging and hitting an unconsciuos opponent.

[Dostoevsky]

Hitting below the belt back then was not illegal...just frowned upon ;rofl
they didn't even have a rule to allow referees to step in and stop it.
fighters were for all intent of purposes allowed to hit an unconcious opponent.

BJM had to insist that they allow ref stoppages!
UFC back then was crazy (yet quite crap)

[Lampley]

I actually bought one of those tapes way back from the local video store, but my fucking shot VCR burned it to bits. Oh well.

[younghypnotiq]

what are you guys nuts. it was so much better. i would be the first person to step in the ring if they brought it bac

[cross_trainer]

Originally Posted by dwilson

Ithink i saw one awhile back at a market sale somewhere but they may have just been an early ufc video, i am so pissed that i did not buy it.

Do you actually consider mma a "finished product" even without more competitors from other classed fighting styles such as those you mentioned earlier?

Well, it's close. At the moment it's a fairly coherent combination of boxing, kickboxing/Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiujitsu, and Catch + Freestyle wrestling, plus the occasional ground-and-pound refinement. I would say that this combination will get perfected a bit more as time goes on, but the basic aspects are already established.

I think we're at the end of the "first wave" of MMA, with all of the sport-based martial arts effectively converted to a single, coherent style. In times to come, we may see a few more esoteric arts begin to follow the originals' lead and create their own sport-style contests, which will require a second (much smaller) revolution in fighting methods to take place in MMA.