MMA schools the newest fad?

[PHILBERT]

Probably going to get flamed by this, but whatever. I've been researching the past couple weeks some different martial arts schools in my area and I've begun to notice a trend. MMA schools seem to be the latest "craze" in martial arts schools.

In about a 20 mile radius from my house, there are about 8+ MMA schools I have found (this doesn't include MMA that is done in old school style gyms). With these, I am noticing something else:

Almost all of them teach adults Tae Kwon Do.

I am not knocking MMA here, and I know, unlike prior fads MMA schools actually do fight each other and don't do forms and say "Well if he does this, you counter with this" in slow motion, relaxed environments. They do engage in local events here as well, and that is fine. I have taken BJJ before at 2 separate schools, and while I feel that isn't my thing, at those 2 schools I saw something in common.

The first school started out as a Tae Kwon Do school led by some old Asian guy. He then brought in a black belt in BJJ who was certified to teach Muay Thai, and who later became a black belt in TKD (If not had it simply handed to him and said "You are a black belt in TKD"). The TKD class paid the majority of the school's bills. When the TKD was being taught some nights, in the back of the training area was a separate room where we did BJJ and some Muay Thai (mainly BJJ). The school however didn't participate in MMA events as they were far and few in between, however the students did participate in actual straight BJJ matches and kick boxing matches.This was years ago and it may have changed (the BJJ/Muay Thai instructor left the school to teach at another TKD school in the area, but too far from me).

Second school I trained at left a bad taste in my mouth. This was a school that also originally started as a TKD school. The head of the school knew only Karate and Tae Kwon Do (taught both himself) but he then brought in a guy who taught Muay Thai and another guy who taught BJJ. This school however trained fighters for local MMA events. When I was being "interviewed" by the head of the school, he asked why I wanted to train there. I explained that I wasn't there to participate in events or be a fighter. I just wanted to learn the stuff more for defense than sport, figuring a school that was more heavy into training and fighting would be better than a traditional school. He was fine with that. However, one of the other instructors wasn't, and asked me after my second month "Why are you here if you don't want to be a fighter?" I explained to him what I wanted and he told me to leave as he would not instruct me any further if I did not have the "desire" to be a fighter. So I did. Hence the bad taste.

Now, I know there are those who say "Well if you want to see how good they are, go there and fight some of their fighters." This is where it is different than past fads in the martial arts.

However, it seems every couple months a new MMA school is popping up. With MMA becoming more mainstream, people who have no business doing it (I.E. they aren't in any shape) want to do it, and so the demand increases. I understand this is basic economics.

However, looking back over the history, in the 1960s karate and judo schools were popping up everywhere, the 1970s it was Kung Fu schools, the 1980s we had the ninja craze, and what were the 1990s? Tae Kwon Do? I think those were the dominating thing.

Now it seems almost every TKD McDojo in my area has a room set aside for the MMA training. Anyone else think this is the newest fad? Or do you think it will stay around?

One more thing, I decided to do a simple Google search in my area for Judo schools. I found 2 schools in my county that taught traditional Judo. All of the BJJ schools said in the searches that they teach Judo, however upon contacting the school, they only taught BJJ/MMA. It seems like traditional Judo is dying as a result of what I believe to be a fad, and that to me is the biggest disappointment of it all.

[PHILBERT]

Did a quick Google search for schools that teach BII/MMA in my city. 8 schools in my city alone of 370,000 people. Of those, the following are also taught at the schools.

5 teach Tae Kwon Do
7 teach Muay Thai
2 teach Judo, but neither of which give any information on what rank the instructor has in Judo.

Only 1 school exclusively trained in BJJ. Gi/no gi training.

There are 2 gyms, and by gyms I mean the type of gym you see in Rocky, in my city. One offers MMA and Muay Thai, as well as Judo and "American" Ninjutsu. The Judo instructor is different than the MMA/BJJ/Muay Thai instructor. The other has no internet information, as it is a private gym that does not advertise, and you only know it if you know where to find it. So I don't know if they offer Karate/Tae Kwon Do, but I've been to it in the past and they offered BJJ and Muay Thai at the time.

I found 3 schools that taught Tae Kwon Do that didn't do MMA/BJJ.

3 that taught Karate. One claimed to have an MMA course but there was almost no information about it, other than "we teach the best of Judo, Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling" and that their instructors are "the best" at it or something. So I think that school is fake.

The MMA schools outnumber the Tae Kwon Do and Karate schools in my city now.

[gwa sow]

ya its the newest fad, the tapout/affliction/mma fad will burst soon and a lot of these mma schools will close eventually.

[GeneChing]

The UFC gyms that are opening now are doing really well.

[Knifefighter]

Yep... McMMA is the latest fad.

[Merryprankster]

Yep... McMMA is the latest fad.

Yup. The difference is that there is a set of objective standards by which to measure. That doesn't mean that McMMA won't proliferate and grow. It means that if we want to find good MMA training, BJJ training, whatever, all you have to do is look at who their school has produced.

[PHILBERT]

Yup. The difference is that there is a set of objective standards by which to measure. That doesn't mean that McMMA won't proliferate and grow. It means that if we want to find good MMA training, BJJ training, whatever, all you have to do is look at who their school has produced.

Perhaps so, perhaps not.

Several reasons really. If the school is new, then it hasn't produced anyone, now has it? Now obviously the older schools may be different.

Even then though it also depends on what people join for, versus the desire and skill. Some people have a natural skill, others, no matter how much they try, just can't get it going.

When I did BJJ, I was only good at getting out of things, combined with my stamina I outlasted my classmates. However, even after a year, I still lacked skill to do anything to the others (though I was like the last student to join that year). I know the process for a kimura, arm bar, triangle, etc. Can I execute it? Not a chance in hell. Does that mean the teacher sucks? No, I just lack the understanding and technique to pull stuff off. I was however good at getting OUT of things.

I also have no desire to go into an octagon ring and fight. Watching that stuff bores me to death, I haven't watched an MMA match in probably at least 6 years. I also don't feel like standing up in front of a hundred people and fighting someone. This may turn some schools off from teaching me, as it has already in the past.

[Merryprankster]

Originally Posted by Merryprankster
Yup. The difference is that there is a set of objective standards by which to measure. That doesn't mean that McMMA won't proliferate and grow. It means that if we want to find good MMA training, BJJ training, whatever, all you have to do is look at who their school has produced.
Perhaps so, perhaps not.

Several reasons really. If the school is new, then it hasn't produced anyone, now has it? Now obviously the older schools may be different.

Even then though it also depends on what people join for, versus the desire and skill. Some people have a natural skill, others, no matter how much they try, just can't get it going.

When I did BJJ, I was only good at getting out of things, combined with my stamina I outlasted my classmates. However, even after a year, I still lacked skill to do anything to the others (though I was like the last student to join that year). I know the process for a kimura, arm bar, triangle, etc. Can I execute it? Not a chance in hell. Does that mean the teacher sucks? No, I just lack the understanding and technique to pull stuff off. I was however good at getting OUT of things.

I also have no desire to go into an octagon ring and fight. Watching that stuff bores me to death, I haven't watched an MMA match in probably at least 6 years. I also don't feel like standing up in front of a hundred people and fighting someone. This may turn some schools off from teaching me, as it has already in the past.

You misunderstood me.

In BJJ and MMA, there are objective standards - is your school producing winners or not? Regardless of the number of MMA or BJJ McDojos out there, it will ALWAYS be possible to distinguish schools that produce good fighters from those that don't.

There will be lots of McDojos, but we don't have to have silly arguments about who's got the real BJJ or MMA. Are the students winning or not? That's all you need to know to find high-quality instruction.

Lots of bad boxing gyms and trainers out there, but people know who the best ones are/it's easy to find out. Lots of bad wrestling clubs, but the standard is objective, and the best ones are known. Lots of bad Judo...but the standard is objective and the best schools are known. They compete. They win. It's that simple.

This does not rule out the possibility of non-competing students or schools that don't compete much, or at all, who are nonetheless very very good. But that's not what I was talking about.

Your personal experience really doesn't have much impact on the above.

[Merryprankster]

And if the school is new, it is either most likely affiliated with a particular team and/or it will trade on the competition record of the instructor, until a reputation for how that instructor's students are, can be established.

Did you some out of a sportive art, because it doesn't sound like it.

[MasterKiller]

The local TKD school here is called Price MMA. They only teach TKD and Hapkido.

Philbert is right, to an extent.

[KC Elbows]

Objective standards will only mitigate the suckitude of the lowest common denominator, not erase it. MMA's students in the old days(in the U.S) were originally martial artists respecting the skills they saw. The majority now are not. This will not come without cost.

Popularity is not always a virtue, and often lessens the virtue that made something popular.

This is not to say mma does not have it's place or worth, just that, once you attract the dregs, you no longer have the same environment that you had before, and it will have its effect.

I can choose which mma guys I train with, and avoid the asshats. You cannot do this in a school context if the teacher fails to, and I've seen teachers in mma and tma fail to often because they have mouths to feed.

[Frost]

Prankster is as always spot on, yes there are MCMAA gyms everywhere (people follow the money and MMA is the new cash cow) but unlike TCMA schools its easy to spot the good schools, they have a competition record which is easy to find, and even if its a new gym the coach/owner will have competed or be affiliated with a known school.

Unlike the TCMA schools they won't be able to fool people by saying they are too deadly to compete as its kind of pointless running a sports club that does not compete

[MightyB]

One more thing, I decided to do a simple Google search in my area for Judo schools. I found 2 schools in my county that taught traditional Judo. All of the BJJ schools said in the searches that they teach Judo, however upon contacting the school, they only taught BJJ/MMA. It seems like traditional Judo is dying as a result of what I believe to be a fad, and that to me is the biggest disappointment of it all.

Judo's killing itself - a recent Kodokan rule change makes it so you can no longer directly attack the legs with a single leg / double leg takedown attempt. You can do a single/double as a counter or 2nd move in a combination attack. I asked my coach about 2 of my bread and butter attacks - a high crotch modified kata garuma (fireman's) and a high crotch initiated (looks like a single leg but I wrap with my leg) Kosoto Gari and he said they're disqualified as an attack under the new rules. Plus, you can't close your guard anymore in Newaza.... WTF!!!

I've personally have had it with the Kodokan's long history of modifying the rules to try and keep some type advantage for Japanese trained Judoka. I suspect that they were getting their arses handed to them by BJJ players and made it so BJJ would be at a disadvantage in Judo rules competition. The irony is that if the Kodokan would've been more open minded years ago with the Kosen school, there wouldn't be BJJ and it'd all be Judo.

[Frost]

Judo's killing itself - a recent Kodokan rule change makes it so you can no longer directly attack the legs with a single leg / double leg takedown attempt. You can do a single/double as a counter or 2nd move in a combination attack. I asked my coach about 2 of my bread and butter attacks - a high crotch modified kata garuma (fireman's) and a high crotch initiated (looks like a single leg but I wrap with my leg) Kosoto Gari and he said they're disqualified as an attack under the new rules. Plus, you can't close your guard anymore in Newaza.... WTF!!!

I've personally have had it with the Kodokan's long history of modifying the rules to try and keep some type advantage for Japanese trained Judoka. I suspect that they were getting their arses handed to them by BJJ players and made it so BJJ would be at a disadvantage in Judo rules competition. The irony is that if the Kodokan would've been more open minded years ago with the Kosen school, there wouldn't be BJJ and it'd all be Judo.

the single/double change came around because they were getting crushed by the east european wrestlers, thats also the reason why you they brought in the grips rules a while back