Taekwondo is a great martial art for mixed martial arts (MMA), but it's not the best. Over the past few decades, the footwork and kicking power of martial arts such as Taekwondo have proven to be very useful, but they are easily countered by many of today's most popular martial arts. Taekwondo alone is not effective in MMA, as it is considered too one-dimensional. It is almost entirely limited to a variety of different kicks.
For a fighter to succeed in MMA, Taekwondo techniques must be combined with another discipline.
Mixed martial
arts promotions generally require male fighters to wear shorts in addition to being bare-chested, which prevents the use of gi or fighting kimono to inhibit or help maintain submission. This has led to a shift in the octagon, with Thais, wrestling and BJJ losing control in the center of the cage and being forced to share the spotlight with techniques drawn from a variety of previously marginalized disciplines. This meeting attempted to unify the myriad of rules and regulations that had been used by different mixed martial arts organizations.Mixed martial arts contests emerged in Hong Kong's street fighting culture in the mid-20th century in the form of rooftop fighting. Bruce Lee popularized the concept of combining elements from multiple martial arts through his Jeet Kune Do system in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Taekwondo was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by several Korean martial artists as a mixture of native Korean fighting styles of Taekkyeon, Gwonbeop and Subak, influenced by foreign martial arts such as karate and Chinese martial arts. Some of the best fighters in MMA history, such as Bas Rutten, Anderson Silva and Valentina Shevchenko, wear black belts in Taekwondo, and many others have also relied on this popular martial art.
Influenced by women's professional wrestling and kickboxing, Smackgirl was formed in 2001 and became the only major all-female promotion in mixed martial arts. Judo is a Japanese martial art that has both ne-waza (ground fighting) and tachi-waza (foot fighting), with several judo practitioners competing in MMA games. A contemporary of Bruce Lee, Wong Shun Leung practitioner gained fame by fighting between 60 and 100 illegal kiss fights against other Chinese martial artists of various styles. Newer fighters were more skilled as boxers, fighters and martial arts practitioners, requiring them to train extensively and remain in top condition to perform well.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport that allows for striking and gripping techniques both standing and on the ground from a variety of other combat sports and martial arts.
