Ultimate Fighting: The Brains and Brawn of Mixed Martial Arts

Ultimate Fighting: The Brains and Brawn of Mixed Martial Arts — page 5
Pankration changed over time It evolved into two types stand up fighting ano and ground fighting kato In A D 404 the Romans who had taken over Greece shut down the Olympics and official pankration contests ceased The sport however did not die In Europe a variation called brancaille developed It was based on wrestling but allowed competitors to use their hands feet elbows and knees to strike their opponents Meanwhile martial arts flourished around the world Different cultures developed distinct forms of fighting Among them were sambo in Russia ju jitsu in Japan muay Thai in Thailand and tae kwan do in Korea SHOW BUSINESS Combat sports grew popular in the United States in the 1800s A form of wrestling with few rules called catch wrestling had become popular The rough and tumble sport of boxing was as dangerous as it was exciting Over time more rules governed the sport of boxing making it safer for combatants Meanwhile wrestling was undergoing another type of change In the 1800s and the early 1900s most wrestling matches were shoots This meant that the matches were real with no fixed outcomes But at some point in the early 1900s the sport became more about show business Wrestling featured colorful characters and worked predetermined outcomes It was no longer a real combat sport Both boxing and wrestling remained popular They thrived with the dawn of television in the 1950s After World War II 1939 1945 martial arts particularly karate became popular in the United States Dojos martial arts schools sprang up all over An American form called kempo or full contact karate developed Movies introduced many people to martial arts mostly because of one man Bruce Lee ENTER THE DRAGON BRUCE LEE AND JEET KUNE DO As a teenager in Hong Kong Bruce Lee got into street fights His parents made him channel that energy into the martial arts He soon became a master In 1959 Lee moved ULTIMATE FIGHTING