Penultimate fighting, maybe
Posted
March 28, 2008 at
6:45 pm by
Prescott
In case you’re not familiar with ultimate fighting, it started off as a no holds barred event, which after people started throwing around labels of “human cockfighting”, further sanctions were put in place and now it is billed as “mixed martial arts”. The end result still involves beating the other guy to a pulp, however. Now, according to a report by the Associated Press, the violent sport is becoming popular with the younger set:
The bare-knuckle fights are now attracting competitors as young as 6 whose parents treat the sport as casually as wrestling, Little League or soccer.
The changes were evident on a recent evening in southwest Missouri, where a team of several young boys and one girl grappled on gym mats in a converted garage.
Two members of the group called the “Garage Boys Fight Crew” touched their thin martial-arts gloves in a flash of sportsmanship before beginning a relentless exchange of sucker punches, body blows and swift kicks.
No blood was shed. And both competitors wore protective gear. But the bout reflected the decidedly younger face of ultimate fighting. The trend alarms medical experts and sports officials who worry that young bodies can’t withstand the pounding.
I certainly have no problem with children being involved in traditional martial arts, I think it’s very good for their minds and bodies. But this is taking it to another level. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I’m just not too keen on enrolling my kid in a sport that has its roots as a “fight to the death”. How about you, would you allow your child to be involved in junior ultimate fighting?
Tags: children, extreme sports, fight club, Garage boys fight crew, junior ultimate fighting, mixed martial arts, ultimate fighting, violent sport
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6 Responses to “Penultimate fighting, maybe”
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1. julymom said:
March 28, 2008 @ 6:49 pm | Quote
I saw this earlier on TV and could not believe my eyes. Those parents are freaking nuts. No way would my kid get involved in cage fighting at the age of 10. Insane.
2. Rita said:
March 29, 2008 @ 8:37 am | Quote
No.
3. Philly said:
March 29, 2008 @ 8:50 am | Quote
It takes all kinds!!
4. Kristy said:
March 31, 2008 @ 10:23 am | Quote
Further proof that not everyone should breed.
5. Kim said:
April 1, 2008 @ 3:43 pm | Quote
I saw that last week, too. Totally wacked. My son takes karate and so do I, but this is karate on crack.
6. fb said:
May 3, 2008 @ 11:54 pm | Quote
It’s so sad that you are judging a book by someone else’s cover. Didn’t you even stop for a second to think, perhaps the associated press blindsided them and used a biased media to fabricate a tragic story on a slow news day? Cockfighting? Bare knuckle? Sucker punches? THey looked like they had padded gloves on to me. If you swallowed that garbage hook line and sinker without even at least wondering what credentials or level of understanding the author had to be able to make choice to project misleading words and emit the essential truths that learning to block punches and keep a good stance is anything other than youth wrestling or any common place martial art,well, if you didn’t even look into how self controled and prepared mma youth are before hopping the band wagon,then you probably shouldn’t breed. If your martial art you train in for mma is karate, then it’s not karate on crack. It’s just karate. It’s just youth boxing. (which has been allowed for nearly a hundred years). It’s just wrestling, Juijitsu, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, or however you want to train. It’s simply a sparring competition with rules to accomadate the major martial arts. It’s also the twenty first century, don’t act so smug if you’re behind the times. Or maybe do some of your own checking into it instead of relying of good ol’CNN to make your decisions. (oh, and the cage? That’s a rubber mesh to keep them from falling off of the PADDED wrestling mat for THE PROTECTION of the athletes. It’s another safety device.)If you don’t want your kid in sports for safety, fine. No martial arts either, fine. If he can’t ride a motorcycle in high school or date until he’s 18, that alright. He’s your kid. If he’s someone elses kid and he’s in a sport with many rules and equiptment for safety and competes in a nationally recognized sport and in a state actual governs and monitors the sport for added safety overwatch then that’s not your situation and not your concern. Does your state require adherence to strict safety guidline for martial arts competition, or is like the majority that just dont care if kids are fighting in true, dangerous unprotected unregulated and crueldogfights in some redneck’s back yard? I at least know in Missouri MMA kids are safe.