Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 Just when MMA was making big progress something like this happens. It's clearly just a grappling exhibition thing and they're jumping on the chance to bash MMA or 'Cage Fighting' as they prefer to call it. Â The problem is, as harmless as it is, the promoters have opened themselves up to ciritcism here. With the Warrior film coming out they must have known the media would be looking at MMA and by putting 2 kids in a cage, as stupid as it seems they've kina given them ammunition to make the sport look bad. The media sees the cage and think it's barbaric and bloodthirsty. Â Some of the comments on the article are pathetic and the people who made them clearly have just looked at the pictures and assumed these kids were kicking the shit out of each other. When in reality it's no different than a kid learning and competing in karate as many do from a young age. If I had a kid I'd rather he/she spent their weekends learning martial arts than fighting in the street, shoplifting, looting or whatever yet these dickheads make out like this is just as bad. Â Nice to see Rosi Sexton talking sense on this. They should get Dan Hardy on it aswell, he handles stuff like this really well and is well spoken and good at debating with the anti-MMA folk. I think the media will be surprised to find there's some really intelligent people in MMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobberinho Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 The Daily Mail readers in my work are in a right tizzy about this. The Rioters, Looters, Travellers at that site in Essex and Asylum Seekers all get the day off today as Cage fighting in just about any guise is the bogeyman du jour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy_kahoona Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 The oppertunity to grapple/wrestle/box/horse ride/play tennis/run/kick a ball (or any sport) in front of a crowd (especially at a young age) is part of the training of that sport. Â This was an oppertunity for two training youngsters to step up and display what they have learnt in an environment that suits the sport, the exact same way as any other sport has ever done. Â the fact it was in a `cage` makes no difference. it was a controlled environment and listed as an `exibition of training` just like any other sport does. Â If people have a problem with this perhaps they also have a problem with boxing, swordfencing, swimming or a school sports day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbkendrick Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 The frontcover of the metro this morning made the event seem scandalous. They blurred out the kids faces.. making it seem like some sort of illegal underground cage fighting story. Must be a slow newsday if this was front cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Radbourne Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Gareth A. Davies comments The moral outrage was risible. A video of two boys grappling in a cage, ringcard girls, and a crowd cheering. No question there were things out of place here. But this wasn't mixed martial arts. Or 'cagefighting', as it is referred to on the high moral ground of news pages. Sky and the BBC's newsdesks both went in search of experts to explain what we were seeing. The problem is that they don't have anyone who does actually report on the sport.  Both the BBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 Apologies if this has already been posted  They're not striking each other. This is a demonstration wrestling/grappling event. No punches or kicks are allowed. Still that doesn't stop the complete reactionary idiots commenting on this article giving their 2 p worth and being made to look complete twonks. Football is far more violent at this age. This is a tightly controlled event between two trained youngsters. - Michael Bisping, Manchester, 21/9/2011 21:14  and this 2006 pic nfc90210 posted in the MMA thread   'Death'? 'Banned in America'? 'World Cage Fighting Championship'?  nice to see they did their research Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Wrigglesworth Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Just when MMA was making big progress something like this happens. It's clearly just a grappling exhibition thing and they're jumping on the chance to bash MMA or 'Cage Fighting' as they prefer to call it. Give it a few weeks and the clip will be featured on one of those god awful web clip shows ranked below a video of an orangutang masturbating in its own feces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Surely the idea that you need a cage is bollocks. Â Nope. Â The cage is vital for the mechanics of the bouts. Grappling takes place up against the fences at times, and that is a part of the sport. Even if they were only sparring with non contact rules as far as striking, they do need to get used to competing in the correct environment for their sport. Â Not that I know much abot the topic but to people claiming that you have to have a cage because it makes it safer and stops people falling out of the ring, does the match/fight actually need to take place on a raised platform? Could it not take place with the same amount of padding, or perhaps more, on the floor? People often learn to take judo moves on gym mats do they not? Â Â As someone has already, correctly said: competing (even in a none competitive environment) at their show will give them something to aspire to, a reward for hard work and training. The cage would have to be there for the main show. Sure they can grapple on mats in training, but the prize here would be to get into the real environment for the sport. Â The only thing I would change in this case would be to have the children Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurryAngel Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Apologies if this has already been posted They're not striking each other. This is a demonstration wrestling/grappling event. No punches or kicks are allowed. Still that doesn't stop the complete reactionary idiots commenting on this article giving their 2 p worth and being made to look complete twonks. Football is far more violent at this age. This is a tightly controlled event between two trained youngsters. - Michael Bisping, Manchester, 21/9/2011 21:14  and this 2006 pic nfc90210 posted in the MMA thread   'Death'? 'Banned in America'? 'World Cage Fighting Championship'?  nice to see they did their research  To be fair it is still banned in some parts of America, and the story of the death it mentions is actually true. Although, I'm not sure if the crowd of 4,000 were really shouting "Kill the Yankee!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 Fair enough but still, they make it sound like America has widely banned it when in reality it's just a very small handful of states. New York being the main one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Snake Plissken Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 Is that actually banned or just not sanctioned in certain American states? New York being the main one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swift89 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Is that actually banned or just not sanctioned in certain American states? New York being the main one. Â I believe it has just never been sanctioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 Yeah you're right it's not even banned there. Fuck me I'm slow today. Not sanctioned yeah it's not banned and it will end up in NY eventually it's inevitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted September 22, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2011 It is illegal in New York, which is the big problem. In other states where it wasn't regulated, they just have to get the commission to agree to regulate it. In New York they can't do anything until the state government repeals it, which keeps getting put on the backburner because its not a priority to politicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I've done tae kwan do training with boys as young as 8, and see nothing wrong with it. This grappling is even less dangerous than that, as it seems to involve no striking. Much ado about nothing I reckon. Training is a world away from this though. I do feel that elements of the media are using this as another stick to beat MMA with. I think that's a problem. The perception of MMA in this country is often still of some "fight to the death" sport. As a result, you get people being ridiculously defensive while you get the usual idiots who'll go OTT about anything. Decent debate on here though, mostly. Â I'm in full agreement with Loki about participation, no problem with it at all. In the right environment. Â It's a couple of lads having a roll around in front of a crowd - good experience for them, I would imagine they are the club's brightest two young stars and earmarked as possible competitive fighters one day. Â I've seen kids bust each other up way worse than this in training - I remember boxing when I was about 8 or 9, and getting a bloody nose, and that was still nothing in comparison to the injuries I inflicted on myself falling out of trees, off a bike and so on. Â At the risk of sounding all Daily Mail, kids are overly-protected nowadays and I don't think it's good for them in the long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.