Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association voted to campaign for a ban on Mixed Martial Arts in Canada. (winnipeg.ctv.ca)
This is not really a surprise as they have been pushing for a ban of boxing for years.
Although boxing has a higher head injury rate due to having more rounds, standing 8-counts and 10-counts which give fighters the opportunity to regain composure and get back in. Not to mention the fact that they are forbidden to clinch and use takedowns to smother strikes and protect themselves, MMA is the current target.
As a contact sport it does have injuries, all contact sports do, as a professional sport we are right up there with sports like hockey and football.
As someone that practices and coaches this sport I obviously disagree with them on their calls for a ban, and have spent some time this past week speaking to news reporters on exactly that.
A ban is not going to increase safety, all it would do would be to drive the sport underground and remove the safety precautions already in place.
But the question should be, how can we make it safer?
Training in MMA is very safe compared to other sports, compared to other martial arts I’d say we are one of the safer choices. This is largely due to the lack of stylistic restrictions. In Judo falling on your back loses the match, yet the first thing you would be taught in most classes is to fall on your back as it is the safest way to land. However in practice participants often try to avoid landing this way which can lead to some serious injuries. In MMA you want to land as safely as possible, which means on your back so that you can recover guard.
As far as the striking goes high kicks, the biggest cause of injury in traditional striking martial arts are rare. This is because the risks involved in them, such as low kicks, takedowns, slipping, etc are all actually a risk, where as in the traditional styles those counters are removed.
So what can we do?
Well, one of the biggest problems is the “all or nothing” nature of competition. A karate fighter has many choices in competition, ranging from no-contact to semi-contact to full contact bare knuckle fighting… Something most participants will never engage in. Even in boxing most participants, even the competitors will never fight as a pro, but instead as a amateur under a much safer set of rules.
In MMA right now amateur fights aren’t allowed at all in Manitoba, it’s fight as a professional or not at all. Even out of province fighters generally only have a option that is almost the same rules and equipment as pro fights use. Where other styles involving striking have much safer amateur competition levels working up to the top levels we currently lack that in MMA, at least here.
If we truly want to make MMA safe, what we should be doing is looking at different tiers of amateur rules, allowing fighters to get competition experience without going in under professional rules. There are many sets available in use in other places so we are certainly not having to reinvent the wheel.
But participants need to have the ability to compete in a safe format, as a amateur athlete, just as participants in other sports do. Making it a all or nothing choice in terms of competition is where the biggest danger for the athletes lies.