Intro to combat sports
This site will explain what are combat sports, the different sports categorized as combat sports, the training and competition that goes into it, and some pros and cons of each combat sport. I will be deep diving into the world of Boxing, MMA, and Muay Thai. This is only a small select few, some of the bigger combat sports that I won't be diving deep into include wrestling, BJJ, kick-boxing, karate, judo, and taekwondo. Wrestling and BJJ will be brought up again when disecting MMA.
Combat sports is defined as the competitive contact sport where two individuals engage in physical combat with the aim of defeating their opponent according to a specific set of rules. This can include striking, grappling, and submissions with victories coming via knockout, submission, doctor stoppage, or decision (depending on the sport). There is a noticible difference between Martial Arts and Combat Sports, this mostly being derived off the competition, combat sports are sole focused on competition and winning while as martial arts are about the dicipline, self-defense, and tradition. Combat sport athletes tend to more dangerous the better fighters.
History of combat sports
Combat sports is said to have evolved from ancient rituals and different forms of military training. Combat sports as we know it could be creditted to ancient Greece which had "Pankration", A mix of boxing and wrestling, boxing, and wrestling in their Olympic games. Most of our combat sports today derived from the military martial arts of different regions including Japan, China, Thailand, Brazil, Greece, Russia, and many more. Throughout the history of combat sports since its orgins, combat sports was still used for military training, self-defense, and competition. More rules started being applied to some of these combat sports, for example the use of weight classes in wrestling and boxing matches. With access to better equipment, training methods, and sports science, combat sports and their athletes have continued to progress generation after generation.
Combat sports like kick-boxing, BJJ, and MMA were all adapted forms of martial arts transformed into a combat sport. Kick-boxing derived off of Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu orginated from Judo, and Mixed Martial Arts is exactly that, a mix of all martial arts and their techniques to not only see what style is most effect but also produce the best fighters.