00:10 JENNIFER: You can get hurt in football, you
can get hurt in soccer, you can get hurt in baseball, letting him fight in a cage and
teaching him to protect himself and be able to defend himself in the real world?
I see no problem with it.
00:23 COMM: Mixed Martial Arts, as popularised by
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is one of the world's most brutal sports.
But incredibly, MMA is growing in popularity in children as young as four.
00:37 BUNNY: Some critics say it's like cockfight,
it's just people who don't really understand the sport, who've not trained in it before.
00:43 MARIA: I like MMA because it helps me protect
myself.
00:45 ALBERT: Red corner wins.
00:50 BUNNY: Martial arts has been a part of my
life throughout my life and I love it, and this is what I do for a living.
And it's what I'll do until I'm walking around with a cane and I can't do it no more.
00:59 BUNNY: I have both adults and children, we're
teaching them mixed martial arts.
We're teaching them some jiu-jitsu, we're teaching them some kick boxing, we're teaching
them boxing, some Taekwondo, just a mix of martial arts and since we do that it is mixed
martial arts.
01:15 COMM: Two of Bunny's most promising students
are sisters Maria, aged eleven, and Valery who is nine.
And they have no qualms about going toe to toe with the boys.
01:26 VALERY: Most of my NAGA competitions I had
to fight boys because they couldn't find any girl matches for me.
01:31 MARIA: It is a little nerve wracking but you
get used to it after a while.
01:37 VALERY: Boys are more aggressive and crazy
sometimes.
01:39 MARIA: And they get mad faster.
01:41 VALERY: Some boys, if they get submitted they
get mad.
01:47 BUNNY: Those two girls will stand up and meet
boys toe to toe, head to head, they don't fear a boy at all and you'll see no change
in their performance, no change in how they execute.
01:59 COMM: The sisters who also enjoy gymnastics
and painting were introduced to the sport by their parents, who are both martial arts
black belts.
02:05 ALBERT: They're a little different, the older,
Maria, she more calm I guess.
She's a little bit more, like to play more defence, let the other person make a mistake
and take an advantage and the younger Valery is a little bit faster, a little bit more
aggressive.
She likes to attack.
Not to wait for the other person to come in.
02:29 ALBERT: You never know when you're going to
need what, in life, it's better to know it and never need it than need it and not be
able to do it.
02:39 COMM: And they aren't the only parents who
see the benefit of the sport for this children.
02:43 MISTY: The truth of the matter is there are
bad people out there, and this is to prepare him in the event if something were to happen,
if he were to get in a bad situation, he would know how to handle himself.
02:54 SKIP: We knew it was dangerous but no matter
what type of sports you play there's some kind of danger involved in it.
03:00 ELI: I think it's just a great builder it
teaches them restraint, balance, great physical endurance, it's a very active sport.
03:09 COMM: While children in the United States
can compete in mixed martial arts, it is not legal for them to participate in the full
contact version, UFC style.
03:18 BUNNY: We do not do what you see on TV, children
when they're grappling, they can't punch each other where adults can.
Children are not allowed to punch each other.
But when they do punch each other it's called stand up, when we teach them stand up training
then we put the headgear on, and boxing gloves and mouth pieces, and we stand over the and
supervise them.
And we wear shin and instep pads for the shin and feet.
And we watch them and we don't even have to wait until they tap.
If a child has an arm bar out for instance, we don't have to wait until it's locked and
the child says "ugh" we see the position is there, we call it anyway.
03:54 BUNNY: I've been teaching children for many
years, and I've never had a child hurt in MMA.
04:01 COMM: And Bunny is unphased by any criticism
he receives.
04:04 BUNNY: You still have those critics that quickly,
when they hear the name MMA, oh children are doing it, that's child abuse or whatever but
once the truth comes out and they see it, it's like oh I understand.
We definitely are against violence.
Definitely, and we've stressed that.
Children get out and we find that they're doing anything, even showing other kids some
of their techniques out on the playground at school or anywhere, we warn them first
time and we tell the parents that they have to take them out the second time.
Because that is not what we teach.
04:38 COMM: And as the club grows Bunny is hopeful
some of the children will continue the sport into adulthood.
04:44 BUNNY: Football has peewee football, soccer
has peewee soccer, every sport just about, basketball has got peewee.
Well now MMA has peewee.
04:52 BUNNY: Now MMA stars of tomorrow are be kids
that are peewee stars of today.