A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport with
one-on-one combat. Determining the winner depends on the particular
contest's rules. In many fighting sports, a contestant wins by scoring
more points than the opponent or by disabling the opponent. Boxing,
Kickboxing, amateur wrestling, Judo, Brazilian Jujitsu, mixed martial arts,
and Muay Thai are examples of combat sports.
History Folk wrestling exists in many forms and
in most cultures, and can be considered a cultural universal. The Ancient
Olympic Games were largely composed of sports that tested skills related to
combat, such as armored foot races, boxing, wrestling, pankration and
chariot racing, amongst others. Combat sports are first recorded during the
Olympic games of 648 B.C. with pankration. Pankration allowed
competitors to use all striking and grappling techniques. The only rules for
this sport in its origin were no biting and no eye gouging. A winner was decided
by submission, unconsciousness, or even death of an opponent. It is a common
occurrence for matches to last for hours. Pankration grew in popularity
during the Hellenic Period. Matches were in small square arenas to promote
engagement. This tradition of combat sports was taken even further by the
Romans with gladiators who would fight with weapons, sometimes to the death.
Through the Middle ages and Renaissance the tournament became popular, with
jousting as a main event. While the tournament was popular amongst
aristocrats, combative sports where practiced by all levels of society. The
German school of late medieval martial arts distinguished sportive combat from
serious combat. In the German Renaissance, sportive combat
competitions were known as Fechtschulen, corresponding to the Prize Playing in
Tudor England. Out of these Prize Playing events developed the English
boxing of the 18th century, which evolved into modern boxing with the
introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry rules in 1867.
Amateur boxing was part of the modern Olympic Games since their introduction
in 1904. Professional boxing became popular in the United States in the
1920s and experienced a "golden age" after World War II.
The creation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is attributed to the Gracie family of
Brazil in 1925 after Asian martial arts were introduced to Brazil. Vale-tudo,
wrestling, muay thai kickboxing and luta livre gained popularity. Modern Muay
Thai was developed in the 1920s to 1930s. Sambo was introduced in the
Soviet Union. Modern Taekwondo also emerged after the Japanese occupation of
Korea and became an Olympic sport in 2000. Sanshou as part of modern wush was
developed in the People's Republic of China since the 1950s. Kickboxing and
full contact karate were developed in the 1960s and became popular in Japan
and the West during the 1980s and 1990s. Modern Mixed Martial Arts developed out
of the interconnected subcultures of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and shoot wrestling.
It was introduced in Japan in the form of Shooto in 1985, and in the United
States as Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993. Unified Rules of Mixed Martial
Arts were introduced in 2000, and the sport experienced a peak of popularity
in the 2000s. Modern sports
Today athletes usually fight one-on-one, but may still use various skill sets
such as strikes in boxing that only allows punching, taekwondo where punches
and kicks are the focus or muay thai and burmese boxing that also allow the use
of elbows and knees. There are also grappling based sports that may
concentrate on obtaining a superior position as in freestyle or Collegiate
wrestling using throws such as in judo and Greco-Roman wrestling the use of
submissions as in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Modern mixed martial arts competitions
are similar to the historic Greek Olympic sport of pankration and allow a
wide range of both striking and grappling techniques.
Combat sports may also be armed and the athletes compete using weapons, such as
types of sword in western fencing and kendo. Modern combat sports may also
wear complex armour, like SCA Heavy Combat and kendo. In Gatka and Modern
Arnis sticks are used, sometimes representing knives and swords.
List of combat sports = Striking=
Fist Fighting Historical Ancient Greek boxing
Historical Russian Fist Fighting Historical English Bare-Knuckle Boxing
Modern Amateur Boxing Modern Professional Boxing
Kickboxing and analogous styles Savate
Sanda Indochinese Kickboxing
Muay Thai Muay Lao
Lethwei Full Contact Karate
Taekwondo Shoot boxing: Japanese combat sport
introduced in 1985. = Grappling=
Pinning, clinching and takedown oriented wrestling
Ancient Greek wrestling Beach wrestling
Belt wrestling Judo
Freestyle wrestling Greco-Roman wrestling
Scholastic wrestling Sport Sambo
Sumo Submission grappling:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu FILA Grappling
Folk wrestling Catch wrestling
= Hybrid= Hybrid martial arts, combining striking
and grappling elements: Pankration
modern Amateur Pankration Dambe: traditional form of boxing,
including kicking and wrestling elements, practiced by the Hausa people.
Combat Sambo: Russian sport introduced in the 1920s.
Vale Tudo, derived from Brazilian circus shows of the 1920s.
Sanshou, institutionalized as part of modern Wushu since the 1950s.
modern Mixed Martial Arts, since the 1990s.
= Weapons= (simulated) bladed weapons
Matrak in 16th century Ottoman Empire Fechtschulen in 16th to 17th century
Germany traditional academic fencing
Kendo Modern fencing
SCA heavy combat Historical European martial arts
Historical medieval battles sportive stick fighting
Quarterstaff Singlestick
Bâton français Gatka
Arnis hastilude
Modern competitive jousting Techniques
The techniques used can be categorized into three domains: striking, grappling,
and weapon usage, with some hybrid rule-sets combining striking and
grappling. In combat sports the use of these various techniques are highly
regulated to minimize permanent or severe physical damage to each
participant though means of organized officiating by a single or multiple
referees that can distribute penalties or interrupt the actions of the
competitors during the competition. In weapon based sports, the weapons used
are made to be non-lethal by means of modifying the striking portions of the
weapon and requiring participants to wear protective clothing/armor.
See also Hand-to-hand combat
Martial arts Hoplology
References External links
"A Brief History of Combat Sports - KocoSports.com." Kocosports.com: MMA
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