Hawaii OKs regulating amateur mixed martial arts

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 4/29/2010 2:20am

Hawaii OKs regulating amateur mixed martial arts

Amateur mixed martial arts will be regulated in Hawaii under a measure that has been approved by the Legislature.

The bill requires the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate the sport, and to delegate the control and supervision of amateur contests to a recognized national association.

It also mandates that amateur mixed martial artists be at least 18 years old and to pass a physical examination by a licensed physician prior to engaging in a fighting contest.

The House and Senate passed the measure Tuesday, sending it to Gov. Linda Lingle's desk.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/finan.../D9FC4UQG0.htm

I don't have any insight as to why amateur MMA in Hawaii took so long. Pro-MMA has been legal for a few years now with the help of lobbyist and speakers like ex-TUF contestant Troy Mandaloniz. Superbrawl/ICON Sport MMA has run shows in Hawaii for a while.

**TEA** · Posted On: 5/01/2010 4:20pm

This is so very good. As for taking so long, I have a couple of guesses.

1) Hawai'i politics tend to be very Liberal, so there may have been some resistance on that front.

2) Hawai'i politicians are as lazy as a male monk seal after sex, sitting on the beach in the hot sun; so they may just not have gotten around to it yet.

3) Hawai'i has tons of traditional martial arts schools that might not want to see amateur MMA competing with them.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 5/01/2010 6:36pm

Amateur full contact multi-discipline events have been going on in Hawai'i for decades, just
not regulated.

**TEA** · Posted On: 5/01/2010 6:56pm

Originally Posted by ChenPengFi

Amateur full contact multi-discipline events have been going on in Hawai'i for decades, just
not regulated.

Yes, that is true. My TKD instructor used to compete in bare knuckle matches in the '70s and I heard a lot about cage matches in the '90s while I lived there.

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 5/01/2010 11:53pm

Originally Posted by ChenPengFi

Amateur full contact multi-discipline events have been going on in Hawai'i for decades, just
not regulated.

Has their been government involvement?
News out of here in Ontario, Canada are arrests of people involved in these events. Even on native reserves that aren't encompassed by all provincial or federal law.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 5/02/2010 3:53am

I fought in the old Future Brawl during the 90's, nobody really cared if you wanted to jump in there. The videos are owned by Strikeforce now, iirc. These would later become Superbrawl.
It was advertised in the paper and pretty much anyone could enter, just no "professionals."
Guys would go fight and share beers afterwards, boxers, wrestlers, GJJ guys, TMA'ers you name it. I'd say less than half were truly cross-training at that time.

Hawai'i has a pretty physical culture, very put up or shut up, so it just fits here.
Now it's just more "legit."

Meex might have a few good stories... :)

**spamurai13** · Posted On: 5/02/2010 8:19am

Originally Posted by TEA

This is so very good. As for taking so long, I have a couple of guesses.

1) Hawai'i politics tend to be very Liberal, so there may have been some resistance on that front.

2) Hawai'i politicians are as lazy as a male monk seal after sex, sitting on the beach in the hot sun; so they may just not have gotten around to it yet.

3) Hawai'i has tons of traditional martial arts schools that might not want to see amateur MMA competing with them.

#1. I generally agree

#2. Also very true. Hawaii has a thick old boy network which is very tough to crack. a mixture of very rich white men and very rich Hawaiians.

#3. I don't agree. Yes there are tons of TMA schools but as another poster put it, Hawaii is a put up or shut up sort of culture. There are a number of TMA schools that work side by side with other disciplines. (ex. a Relson Gracie JJ school within a traditional Shotokan school. In fact, the karate instructor trains BJJ)

Also Hawaii has a bit of warrior culture in it. Most people accept MA (BJJ, TMA, MMA, FMA) as a hobby and as an expression. I also agree that full contact fights (in tournament and otherwise) have been going on for a long time and now they are just getting around to regulating it.

**09jojavi** · Posted On: 5/03/2010 3:46am

Originally Posted by PizDoff

Has their been government involvement?
News out of here in Ontario, Canada are arrests of people involved in these events. Even on native reserves that aren't encompassed by all provincial or federal law.

Technically Hawaii isn't considered a native reserve yet under the U.S. laws so it has just been amateur fights that the police either don't get called in or they don't really care

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 5/03/2010 10:00am

You need to reread what I wrote.

**09jojavi** · Posted On: 5/03/2010 2:23pm

Sorry about that my bad disregard the first portion of the post. we have fights all the time even some events a couple years ago advertised on the radio with an amateur night and no arrests were made of the fighters