Some days ago philosophy teacher and author Damon Young wrote a lyrical defence of competitive Mixed Martial Arts - what John McCain called "human cockfighting".
The context is that cage fighting is illegal in the state of Victoria. Like me, Young is resident in Victoria. Not so in New South Wales and therefore can be seen in Sydney.
Young writes: "Anyone who perceptively follows this sport, or who participates, quickly realises this is not a free-for-all. It is not a brawl. It is two well-trained, disciplined athletes trying to win a match through skill, guile and endurance."
For myself I mostly agree with Young's position. Young is a bit more 'elevated' about it than I would be, but he correctly percieves the patience, commitment, respect and humility that a competitor who has not been "corrupted by pride, warped by money-lust, or simply crushed by the corporate and technical demands" must have in order to cultivate his skills and attitude.
Nonetheless there are a great many people who don't agree at all, and Young's article drew a lot of hostile comment, most of it equating MMA with mindless violence.
One guy - 'Mike'- wrote "You are no philosopher Damon - you are a barbarian. This sort of violent public spectacle is the antithesis of civilised sports. It is never beautiful to see people injuring each other and it should be entirely banned in Australia and elsewhere - as should boxing and kickboxing."
While 'Mike' obviously hates all combat sports, others might single out competitive MMA alone.
Some people who actually do MMA don't like UFC. The variance in opinion is endless.
Intent and perception...
I'd observe that gentle and doting parents take their kids to karate lessons, where they make new friends, get fit, have fun... etc etc and have nice photos taken of them wearing neatly pressed white uniforms. It's part of the after-school landscape - like soccer and piano lessons. Harmless joyful photo album stuff.
But within karate forms is everything you need to kill someone. There are in-close moves designed specifically to inflict total and fatal damage. Techniques that, if fully applied, leave no chance of the opponent surviving. It's lethal and it's all there... for those who have had that depth of instruction.
Kids just don't get taught those particular bits, is all.
They get the Ralph Macchio version.
Personally I take UFC or equivalent as being one facet of something much bigger. My main interest is in martial arts per se, not competitive fighting.
As another commenter wrote "MMA encourages violence about as much as Formula 1 encourages hooning your car".
What about all the screaming mobs watch and yelling for blood...? some might ask...
Well... like drunks at a football match, they have nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of the sport itself.
I'd also add that it's hard not to watch ANY sport you are excited by and not yell something.
The context is that cage fighting is illegal in the state of Victoria. Like me, Young is resident in Victoria. Not so in New South Wales and therefore can be seen in Sydney.
Young writes: "Anyone who perceptively follows this sport, or who participates, quickly realises this is not a free-for-all. It is not a brawl. It is two well-trained, disciplined athletes trying to win a match through skill, guile and endurance."
For myself I mostly agree with Young's position. Young is a bit more 'elevated' about it than I would be, but he correctly percieves the patience, commitment, respect and humility that a competitor who has not been "corrupted by pride, warped by money-lust, or simply crushed by the corporate and technical demands" must have in order to cultivate his skills and attitude.
Nonetheless there are a great many people who don't agree at all, and Young's article drew a lot of hostile comment, most of it equating MMA with mindless violence.
One guy - 'Mike'- wrote "You are no philosopher Damon - you are a barbarian. This sort of violent public spectacle is the antithesis of civilised sports. It is never beautiful to see people injuring each other and it should be entirely banned in Australia and elsewhere - as should boxing and kickboxing."
While 'Mike' obviously hates all combat sports, others might single out competitive MMA alone.
Some people who actually do MMA don't like UFC. The variance in opinion is endless.
Intent and perception...
I'd observe that gentle and doting parents take their kids to karate lessons, where they make new friends, get fit, have fun... etc etc and have nice photos taken of them wearing neatly pressed white uniforms. It's part of the after-school landscape - like soccer and piano lessons. Harmless joyful photo album stuff.
But within karate forms is everything you need to kill someone. There are in-close moves designed specifically to inflict total and fatal damage. Techniques that, if fully applied, leave no chance of the opponent surviving. It's lethal and it's all there... for those who have had that depth of instruction.
Kids just don't get taught those particular bits, is all.
They get the Ralph Macchio version.
Personally I take UFC or equivalent as being one facet of something much bigger. My main interest is in martial arts per se, not competitive fighting.
As another commenter wrote "MMA encourages violence about as much as Formula 1 encourages hooning your car".
What about all the screaming mobs watch and yelling for blood...? some might ask...
Well... like drunks at a football match, they have nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of the sport itself.
I'd also add that it's hard not to watch ANY sport you are excited by and not yell something.
It's always fascinating to me to hear people complain about something they don't like to watch. If they don't like it, don't watch it.
ReplyDeleteI cringe when I see those guys fighting, but I do so not because I'm opposed to it, I just can't imagine the toughness of the competitors and wonder if I could last more than 3 seconds.