What do you say when people ask "What belt are you?"

[Emevas]

Assuming you practice an art with no belt ranks. I usually come up with some answer, but I'm curious what other people say.

[Can Chaser]

"Green"

Bad assumption, chico. :P




Anyway.

[meowrsx]

The easiest thing for me is to compare it to kickboxing or wrestling. then people usually get it.

[JKDChick]

Puce.

Seriously, I just say we have no belts. That it's about what you know, not about what rank you are.

*JKDCHICK IS DRUNK POST*

[Zeddy]

The easiest thing for me is to compare it to kickboxing or wrestling. then people usually get it.

^ Best answer. Telling them how MMA/vale tudo people are usually sorted out,that is to say by record, usually makes things pretty simple to understand.

Unfortunately some people seem to think it's a barbaric way of doing things. :BangHead:

[Macistani]

Black...LIKE YOUR EYE FOOL! *punch*

Ok, not really. I just tell everyone I'm a white belt, its more fun to be cocky when people think you're a cocky n00b.

[MEGA JESUS-SAMA]

If they ask me what color my belt is I get into a short speech about the different obi and what color mine are.

If they ask me "What belt are you?" I pretend that they're asking about the belt I'm currently wearing and point out all the features on it, then move to the obi thing when they correct me.

[feedback]

Obviously, I tell them that actually I train in MMA, which doesn't have a belt ranking system, and that MMA is a term for the combat sport in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance over one another by utilizing three general tactics: striking, finishing holds, and control. The rules allow the combatants to use a variety of martial arts techniques, including punches, kicks, joint-locks, chokes, takedowns and throws. Victory is normally gained through knock-out, submission (one fighter concedes victory to the other by tapping the mat or his opponent with his hand), or stoppage by the referee, the fight doctor or a competitor's cornerman. MMA is also alternately called NHB (for No Holds Barred), but this term is mostly retired. It is no longer an accurate description of the modern competitions which utilize many more rules than before. The first UFC's only rules were against eye-gouging, fish-hooking and biting. It was not unusual to see hair-pulling, toe-stomping and people being choked with the lapels of their clothing. One infamous early match even featured one combatant repeatedly striking his opponent in the groin. Currently, all of the major promotions have a list of rules and banned techniques.

MMA is also used to describe any modern style of martial arts which incorporate techniques and theories from several sportive martial arts. This especially applies to MMA styles which incorporate a mixture of ground fighting, stand-up striking, and takedowns in their training. The main goal of this article is to provide information about MMA as a "realistic, few rules full contact fight sport" rather than to describe hybrid martial arts that are not typically used in minimal-rules sporting environments.

As a result of these sporting events, martial arts training and the understanding of the combat effectiveness of various strategies have changed dramatically over the last ten years. While the early years included the widest possible variety of styles (everything from Sumo to Karate), modern fighters often train in a mixture of only three styles: Amateur Wrestling (focusing on clinches and takedowns), Submission Wrestling (focusing on submissions and positioning on the ground), and Kickboxing (usually Muay Thai)(focusing on striking). These three distinct styles coincide with the "phases of combat" theory, which suggests that fights can be broken into three distinct phases, each requiring completely different skill sets: stand-up fighting, clinch fighting, and ground fighting. According to the theory, a fighter's best strategy is to determine the phase in which he has the greatest advantage over his opponent and then to force the fight to take place in that phase. It currently appears that this is mainly correct, in the sense that if you are equally skilled in all phases of combat, you are prepared to take advantage of any weaknesses in your opponent.

Well-known examples of MMA organizations are the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships.

In the early 1990s, two styles stood out for their effectiveness: Wrestling and Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ). Jiu-Jitsu had the early advantage, since wrestlers were not equipped with a way to defeat them standing or on the ground. However, when wrestlers started training in striking, pure Jiu-Jitsu stylists ran into difficulties since they had a hard time taking the fight to the ground and away from their stand-up weaknesses. This represented the first step of evolution towards cross-training. Wrestling eventually branched into two styles described below: "Ground-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting on the ground) and "Clinch-and-Pound" (wrestlers who prefer fighting standing up).

The kickboxers were next to evolve and added grappling skills to their arsenal. In the early days, they could not compete with the grapplers, since they could not avoid the takedowns and had no defense on the ground. After adding ground techniques to their training, they scored some major upsets, and showed that fighters specializing in striking could be effective in the sport.

Due to its early dominance, BJJ was the last to evolve. Eventually, Wrestling and Muay Thai were added to their training, and Jiu-Jitsu fighters have returned to being competitive again in the sport.

MMA is also considered an evolution of Pankration. A combination of striking and grappling that was introduced in the Olympic games in 648 BC. The "Pancrase" fighting promotion in Japan has strong ties to modern MMA and actually predates the first UFC by a few months.

MMA is often referred to as "cagefighting" in the US as it is associated with the UFC's octagonal caged fighting area. Most major "Western" MMA promotions ( US, Canada and Britain ) use the "Cage" as a result of directly evolving from the first UFC events. On the other hand, Brazilian and Japanese events usually use an area similar to a standard boxing ring, but with tighter ropes and padded "stops" at the edges of the platform to keep grappling athletes from rolling out of the ring onto the floor. There are also variations such as replacing the traditional cage's metal fencing with net and a one foot high padded barrier surrounding the combat area. The choice of cage or ring is more than aesthetic, however, as it impacts the type of strategies a fighter can implement. For example, a popular and effective strategy in a cage is to pin an opponent into the area where the cage meets the fence, and then pummel him with strikes. This is not possible in a roped ring. On the other hand, the roped ring can result in entangled limbs and fighters falling through the ropes, requiring the referee to frequently stop the fighters and re-position them in the center. There is debate whether the appearance of "fighting in a cage" results in the negative stereotyping of MMA in America, hindering efforts by its supporters to achieve mainstream acceptance.

What else would I tell them?

[MEGA JESUS-SAMA]

Feedback gets a bonus for length, but is penalized for actually being helpful.

[feedback]

Feedback gets a bonus for length, but is penalized for actually being helpful.

JUST GIVE IT I'M SO CLOSE TO 4

[Emevas]

Feedback, I really hope you didn't take the time to write that =P

[feedback]

I'm not that bored

[alex]

I don't think anyone has asked me that in relation to muay thai. they ask what muay thai is though, I usually just say kickboxing and the light dawns. good enough for me.

[Knightmare]

5th Degree Black Belt.

The highest rank in the U.S. for my style.

[alex]

you do savate knightmare? I didnt know there was anywhere outside europe that taught it... let alone in atlanta. whats it like compared to kickboxing?