INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is Tomasz and I'm going to blog about the MMA (Mix Martial Arts) scene from all over the world. But firstly I'd like to introduce you to the history of this sport.

(fot. www.dreamsnest.com)

Despite the modern mixed artial marts formule is rooted in Vale Tudo tournaments, organised in the 20s of the XX century in Brazil, a full-contact combat sport was already known in the ancient Greece and it was called Pankration. It combined boxing and wrestling. Pankration, invented as an olympic sport by Greeks, was later adapted - as many other elements of culture - by the Romans. The International Federation of Pankration (IFPa) was created in the 1999 in order to revive an ancient sport, but due to the growth of the popularity of MMA it was not a successful movement. So, as I mentioned, the modern MMA formule evolved from brazilian Vale Tudo which was followed by Shooto-wrestling shows organised in the 80s of the XX century in Japan. What was Shooto? It was a new martial art, created in purpose to emulate - as realistic as it was possible - a real fight. First MMA tournaments are dated from the 90s, when UFC organised in the United States its first tournaments. The aim of the first UFC shows was to confront rapresentatives of various martial arts. So to confront, for instance, a judo fighter with a boxer, ecc. Within twenty years, the MMA reached a point where it became a distinct discipline.