What's the Deal With the Fascination of Combat Sports?
Hello everyone. Something a bit different this time.
I'd like to talk about boxing in a bit different way.
Have you ever thought about what attracts people to combat sports, and boxing specifically? I often do. I did some research, and found out some very interesting things.
First of all, and this may seem obvious, but combat sports appeal more to men, for participation and as spectators. When a combat sport event is advertised, it is generally aimed at a male demographic.
That is not so much of a surprise, but what is the fascination, anyway?
Look at it this way: If someone is at work and gets hit on the head and knocked unconscious, it is a big deal. People get upset and worried. However, if a boxer is knocked unconscious in the ring, that is perfectly fine. As a matter-of-fact, there seems to be a rather odd fascination with that. Why?
To be honest, I have no problem watching "Boxing's Most Brutal Knockouts" on YouTube. I enjoy it, but I can't tell you why. If someone was to ask me why I enjoy it, I would not be able to answer. I really don't know.
If you go back into history, the very first organized sport was a combat sport called Prankration. It goes back to BC 648. It was a combination of boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling. It also had very few rules.
I find it rather unsurprising that the very first sport was a combat sport.
Although, things have changed over the years in the world of combat sports, I never really found much interest in the MMA-type sports.
As I have said before, if you are going to study a combat sport, pick one, and learn it very well. Nobody can learn every combat sport well enough to be good at all of them.
In my opinion, boxing is still the best. A boxer can still kick an MMA guy's butt all over the place. I used to spar MMA guys when I trained at Xtreme Couture. I miss that. Kicking butts. That was fun, actually. Being able to put those cocky MMA idiots in their place.
MMA guy says, "I know kickboxing, and I know wrestling, and I know boxing, and I know jiu-jitsu, and I know..."
You know nothing.
Boxing still rules.
I found out that there are actually four different current types of boxing:
Shoot Boxing (1985). Based on Japanese rules and created in 1985 by a combat sports promotions company by the same name. Although, technically not 'real' boxing since other types of strikes are allowed. Shoot Boxing can not end in a tie, so in this case additional rounds are added to break the tie. Rounds are three minutes long.
Pugilism. Also called 'bare-knuckle boxing'. It has been around for a very long time, and is currently making a comeback in England. The interesting thing about this type of boxing is that there are very few injuries from strikes. Due to there not being any hand protection, guys don't want to strike hard areas of the body. Therefore, there are few, if any, head strikes. The human skull is very hard and will damage your hand if hit too hard.
Modern Professional Boxing (1867). This is the most common, and most well-known type of boxing. It is based on the Marquess of Queensberry Rules established in 1867. This set of rules specifies the following: Rounds will be of three-minute duration with one minute between; No wrestling allowed; No seconds allowed in the ring during the bout; A man on one knee is considered 'down'; If a man goes down, he is allowed 10 seconds to get up and his opponent must remain in his own corner.
Olympic-Style Boxing (1908) Also called Amateur Boxing. This style is based on a modified version of the Queensberry Rules from 1908. These modifications have determined that when a man goes down, he is considered 'out' and disqualified from the contest. The modified rules also allow for shorter rounds. Currently, there is only one amateur division that has three-minute rounds, and that is the Elite Open category. All others except Masters Novice are two-minute rounds. Masters Novice are 90 seconds.
Boxing For Dollars
I have been asked to participate in a fundraiser on December 14.
I don't know much about it yet, but I will update here once I know more.
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