From Cage Fighting and Colosseum

Aggressive, brutal and dangerous. Combat sports do not enjoy the best reputation in this country. Even classical boxing, which certainly has a long tradition in Germany, is often dismissed as blunt and crude. And martial arts that are still rather unfamiliar to us, such as kickboxing or so-called 'Mixed Martial Arts' (MMA), which have their roots in the Far East or South America, are regarded as particularly wild and bloodthirsty. So in Germany there was a long broadcasting ban for MMA or 'Free-Fight', as it was still called in the nineties, because this type of combat seems particularly brutal. The name 'Free-Fight' already suggests a fight without a fixed set of rules. The athletes are allowed to punch, kick and strangle, even if the opponent is already on the ground and to make matters worse these encounters also take place in cages made of wire mesh. Whether there are even any rules here is difficult for the layperson to discern and the deliberate use of violence against the opponent is undeniable. After all, it is not called combat sport for nothing. Even the superstars among professional fighters are often at least controversial media figures. The most recent examples of this are Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, who faced off in what was probably the greatest boxing event of all time just this summer. On the media tour before the fight, the two of them insulted each other continuously and could not stop boasting about their wealth. But the audience eagerly followed along and took sides and the fight was a complete success for both athletes and all sponsors and TV broadcasters. And success is known to be right, at least to a certain extent.

Now it is the case – as in many cases – that appearances can be deceptive, because although violence is undeniably part of the sport, one often overlooks the iron discipline with which training is conducted day in and day out in martial arts schools worldwide. From the very beginning, one also learns the greatest respect for others, oneself and one's own abilities. Even though it often appears otherwise to the outside world, fights are usually conducted not with aggression but with precision, because whoever loses control of themselves and their emotions usually also loses the fight. The notion that said schools are full of muscle-bound fighting machines and hooligans is of course completely misguided. In reality, you find men, women and children there who want to be active together and have fun training after school, university or a long working day. The tone of interaction is as a rule respectful and friendly and in the strictest case athletically rigorous and disciplined. In short: you do not find perpetrators of violence here, but friends, because whoever does not abide by the rules and, for example, becomes violent outside of sport, is thrown out of a respectable school in no uncertain terms.

In competition, the same principle normally applies. The opponent, the referee and one's own health are respected and sporting fairness is of paramount importance. Even if it sometimes does not appear to be the case, there are indeed strict sets of rules in the MMA field as well, which are designed to protect the health of the athletes and to enable fair competition. Even in the case of Mayweather-McGregor, both professionals met with great respect after the fight, so one could assume that all the trash talk beforehand was primarily advertising for the upcoming event and possibly even pre-arranged. However, these are only speculations.

A large part of recreational athletes will never participate in a fight. They train boxing, Muay-Thai, Jiu-Jitsu or Krav Maga merely to stay fit and to get to know their own body and its resilience better. For them, fun and fitness come first and if you can also learn how to defend yourself in a dangerous situation in an emergency, that is all the better.

In summary, one can say: fighting is not all the same. This is sport and not war or ancient gladiatorial combat. Rules exist and must be observed. Of course, as everywhere, there are also black sheep in this field and naturally a blow to the head can result in serious injuries. But there is always a certain risk of injury in sport and therefore condemning everything that the manifold martial arts from all over the world stand for does not do justice to the matter.

Constantin Fuchs