Mixed Martial Arts - The Unstoppable Historical Force

[Ultimatewingchun]

There has been more than a mere paradigm shift within martial arts over the last 15 years or so, imo. It's been a seismic shift, akin to the sinking of a 10 million year old continent and the emergence of a new one. Not just a new way of thinking about "scientific" fighting - but an entirely new way of approaching it.

And "traditional" martial arts will never be the same, including western style boxing and various western (and other cultural traditions) within wrestling.

And although it could be argued that today's mixed martial arts scene is simply a reincarnation of ancient Greek Pankration (which included literally everything, ie.- punching, kicking, knees, elbows, wrestling/grappling in the clinch and on the ground - including submission holds that were even more than occasionally fatal)...

the fact is that today's mixed martial arts are much more than that, since they now include strategies and moves from other arts not known to the Greeks of 2500 years ago, ie.- karate, Muay Thai, Japanese and Brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, sambo, etc. And of course it can easily be assumed that the punching techniques used in Greece well over two thousand years ago didn't even begin to approach the level of sophistication seen within today's western style boxing, as well as the footwork used within today's boxing.

But I predict that, given another 15-20 years or so, and the only "traditional" martial arts that will still be flourishing are those that are, in fact, no longer pure....in that major parts of the original curriculum have been thrown out, and what's left has been married in some way to other arts so as to take into account what those other arts can do to counter your once-pure "traditional" art...

ie.- Loyoto Machida's marriage of shotokan karate to a mixed martial art setting wherein he only uses karate techniques that won't put him in a position where he can be easily clinched or easily taken down by a shoot to the legs, (and ditto for Chuck Liddell's approach to mma-ing his boxing skills and techniques)...and ditto the same for Georges St. Pierre's modifications to his original kyokushin karate style (which hand techniques now look almost completely like boxing)...

and of course, GSP's ability as a wrestler/grappler has become so pronounced in recent years that it seems as though he purposely takes many people to the ground as his carrer has progressed (he didn't always fight that way)...because now it would seem as though he instinctively knows that the takedown will be a big advantage to him against any given fighter, in any given circumstance, and on any given day...

the true mark of a high level mixed martial arts fighter (he's comfortable fighting in any range: standup, clinch, ground - and he uses whichever strategy/tactics seem to fit best at the moment, regardless of what art it comes from).

NOW WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE WING CHUN?

Imo, without additions and subtractions to the art (regardless of what lineage, regardless of who your instructor was/is, and regardless of how much you think that you have learned wing chun "thoroughly" and "correctly")....

without significant additions and subtractions to wing chun that reflect the 3 ranges and a mixed martial art approach...

history will not be kind to "purist" wing chun traditions.