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In my recent examination to better understand why mixed martial arts will never become more mainstream and popular than it currently is, I have concluded that a lot of the animosity that is aimed directly towards mixed martial arts stems from its poorly perceived social image as it relates directly to the intimidation factor that currently exists in today's pop culture environment.
The use of intimidation in every single aspect of this particular sport goes against everything that is pure about martial arts and as entertaining as it may be for its’ current blood-thirsty demographic, the sport of MMA will most definitely suffer for it in the long run (as will the reputation of all traditional forms of martial arts).
What is intimidation?
Intimidation is threatening to use power or control to get others to do what you want them to do. A very nice advantage for any fighter.
Where is this intimidation?
Everywhere you look!
Nicknames such as “The Axe Murderer,” “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” “The Pitbull,” and of course “The Nightmare.”
And not just nicknames....
The music that is played during a fighter’s entrance.
The clothing line complete with skulls and phony blood spatter.
The trash talking and poor sportsmanship which always takes place before, during and after a fight.
The over-sized muscles (steroids).
The neck tattoos.
The entourage of highly experienced and well known trainers in a fighter’s corner screaming “He’s nothing!! He’s scared!!”
And last but not least, a fighter being known for his street-brawling YouTube videos (gee, I wonder who that could be?).
The list is very long indeed.
The back-fire effect is that when a fighter acts overly confident and tries too hard to implement scare tactics to get inside of his opponents head, a smarter fighter will usually sense that he is really only trying to cover-up his own feelings of massive insecurity, uncertainty and overall lack of talent. It becomes a “window to the soul” so to speak.
I can remember when I was younger, I fought in a local tournament against a guy that I had beat rather embarrassingly at a black belt grading the year before. This was our first meeting since then, and I could tell from the moment that we first made eye contact with each other that he was out for redemption.
As I endured the constant dirty looks throughout the day, I knew that we would be destined to meet again in the ring. And I was right.
As fate would have it, we had been paired up against each other in the very first round of competition. The winner would move on. The loser was done for the day.
While the centre judge prepared us, my opponent suddenly looked afflicted with severe constipation. He had this odd, scrunched up look on his face and he was breathing and grunting like a beast in heat. When the referees’ hand was finally drawn away, my opponent came firing out at me like a wild man, determined no doubt to take his revenge.
The growling and the grunting became increasingly louder as the match unfolded. He was huffing and puffing and doing everything that he could to get into my head. Unfortunately, his biggest problem was the same as when we had met the first time. He was up against a young man who would not be easily intimidated.
In the end, my opponent lost. Again.
What’s the moral of the story?
Remember kids, the more a person tries to intimidate you, the less likely they are someone that you need to worry about.
If you should worry about anyone, worry about the quiet, serious guy who always keeps to himself and minds his own business. He is likely more dangerous. Everyone else in my opinion is nothing more than a hyped-up poser.
As a major sponsor, Harley Davidson is an absolutely perfect fit for the UFC because the entire biker image has been developed solely to intimidate. “Wow look!...another fat bald guy with a goatee, in black leather chaps and flame tattoos up his forearms! How originally intimidating!!”
Pardon me while I piss myself laughing.
To me, the entire “fighter” image has become absolutely ridiculous. Someone please tell these guys that the more that they try to intimidate, the more insecure and cowardly they appear.
They are simply becoming a recycled product of mass marketing and media influence.
The more they try to be different, the more they are exactly the same. I ask you, what’s to fear in that?
The use of intimidation in every single aspect of this particular sport goes against everything that is pure about martial arts and as entertaining as it may be for its’ current blood-thirsty demographic, the sport of MMA will most definitely suffer for it in the long run (as will the reputation of all traditional forms of martial arts).
What is intimidation?
Intimidation is threatening to use power or control to get others to do what you want them to do. A very nice advantage for any fighter.
Where is this intimidation?
Everywhere you look!
Nicknames such as “The Axe Murderer,” “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” “The Pitbull,” and of course “The Nightmare.”
And not just nicknames....
The music that is played during a fighter’s entrance.
The clothing line complete with skulls and phony blood spatter.
The trash talking and poor sportsmanship which always takes place before, during and after a fight.
The over-sized muscles (steroids).
The neck tattoos.
The entourage of highly experienced and well known trainers in a fighter’s corner screaming “He’s nothing!! He’s scared!!”
And last but not least, a fighter being known for his street-brawling YouTube videos (gee, I wonder who that could be?).
The list is very long indeed.
The back-fire effect is that when a fighter acts overly confident and tries too hard to implement scare tactics to get inside of his opponents head, a smarter fighter will usually sense that he is really only trying to cover-up his own feelings of massive insecurity, uncertainty and overall lack of talent. It becomes a “window to the soul” so to speak.
I can remember when I was younger, I fought in a local tournament against a guy that I had beat rather embarrassingly at a black belt grading the year before. This was our first meeting since then, and I could tell from the moment that we first made eye contact with each other that he was out for redemption.
As I endured the constant dirty looks throughout the day, I knew that we would be destined to meet again in the ring. And I was right.
As fate would have it, we had been paired up against each other in the very first round of competition. The winner would move on. The loser was done for the day.
While the centre judge prepared us, my opponent suddenly looked afflicted with severe constipation. He had this odd, scrunched up look on his face and he was breathing and grunting like a beast in heat. When the referees’ hand was finally drawn away, my opponent came firing out at me like a wild man, determined no doubt to take his revenge.
The growling and the grunting became increasingly louder as the match unfolded. He was huffing and puffing and doing everything that he could to get into my head. Unfortunately, his biggest problem was the same as when we had met the first time. He was up against a young man who would not be easily intimidated.
In the end, my opponent lost. Again.
What’s the moral of the story?
Remember kids, the more a person tries to intimidate you, the less likely they are someone that you need to worry about.
If you should worry about anyone, worry about the quiet, serious guy who always keeps to himself and minds his own business. He is likely more dangerous. Everyone else in my opinion is nothing more than a hyped-up poser.
As a major sponsor, Harley Davidson is an absolutely perfect fit for the UFC because the entire biker image has been developed solely to intimidate. “Wow look!...another fat bald guy with a goatee, in black leather chaps and flame tattoos up his forearms! How originally intimidating!!”
Pardon me while I piss myself laughing.
To me, the entire “fighter” image has become absolutely ridiculous. Someone please tell these guys that the more that they try to intimidate, the more insecure and cowardly they appear.
They are simply becoming a recycled product of mass marketing and media influence.
The more they try to be different, the more they are exactly the same. I ask you, what’s to fear in that?