Do you consider mma a fun and safe sport?

Question

I mean safer than football, hockey, and boxing?

And for you who train and also fight in mma, whats it like? Do you have a good time?

Answer 1

I love MMA it's fun but Ehhh ... Not exacly safe, it has it's harsh risks like any other sport, but it takes lots of dedication.  

Answer 2

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I don't train in MMA per se but I take wrestling, boxing and BJJ on different days. It's a blast.

Answer 3

Statistically, I've been told that it is safer than football.  I don't have a source for that claim though.

It can definately be rough on the body, make no mistake.  But many cuations are used to prevent injuries to fighters.  You also have to remember that most coaches won't let someone fight unless they are ready to actually fight.

So, if you are getting in the ring, there is an assumption that you can at least take care of yourself.  Besides, fighters know when they should tap.  Those that don't, and subsequently get hurt, only have themselves to blame.

I love MMA, and love doing it.  

What seperates MMA from other sports is that it is not a team sport.  When you compete, everything falls on you and you alone.  This is what makes it fun for me.

It takes alot of courage to step out there by yourself, knowing the other guy has serious intentions to cause you damage.  Most people don't have the nads to do that.  So, it carries a sense of pride and esteem when you can.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I have terrible stage fright because I hate big groups of people. so I do every thing I can to block them out when I walk to the cage. When I step into the cage it is all about my opponent and the crowd is no longer there. the bell rings and it is all business for the fight. you do what it takes to win. getting hit and hitting your opponent. going for subs and either win or lose. when I win I have a lot of fun and its always nice to hear people congratulate you. when you lose it sucks for a little bit. then its fun again. you give your opponents a hug and tell him good job. mope around a bit then go back to watching others fight and start having a good time. even when you lose people come up to you and still tell you good job and man, you had a good fight. and at the end of the night it is always fun. I have a 3 year old son. if I thought that mma was not safe I would not do it. are there risks. yes but the odds of me getting killed or permanently hurt are so low I believe I will be just fine

Answer 5

Fun and safe don't go together very often.

Answer 6

I've played organized football and boxed recreationally against many people a Marine, one person who was training to do MMA, and a few overall scrappers.  I have never participated in MMA however I know some people who do and none of them have been seriously injured.  I know plenty of people who played football and none of them have been seriously injured (short of occasional broken bones, usually in the hand occasionally a leg.).  That being said, I seriously doubt the legitimacy of the previous claim that MMA has statistically fewer injuries than football.  Although both sports enact safety precautions, football players are protected with high-density plastics on their head and shoulders and thick foam/rubber pads around their hips and legs (and they even make chest/stomach protectors out of high-density plastic, which are optional.)  As far as I know concerning MMA, you are out there with you and your body.  Thus, I would assume the risk is much greater for head trauma, broken bones, etc. from a protection standpoint.  However, one could make an argument that a person clad in high-density plastics who runs a 4.5 sec/40 hitting a person standing still could essentially turn himself into a weapon - but if you're not a quarterback and a good football player, you should never be standing still.

I played football for 11 years from the age of 6 until I graduated high school and I suffered no major injuries.  I had a few sprains, a few cuts, and tons of bumps and bruises but I was never hospitalized or broke a bone.  Football has a lot to do with physics, and they teach you how to hit people so you don't get hurt and how to absorb a hit (if you must) without getting hurt.  It is also possible for a smaller and weaker person to have the advantage over another person by using good form and technique.  (I was only recruited by two Division 3 schools and played for neither however I continuously shut down opponents who were Division 1 prospects because of their size).  One of my coaches in high school had a theory which played out pretty true in front of my eyes concerning players on the team, that the only people who get hurt playing football are those that are scared.  The fact of the matter is that if you meet force with force you can at least minimalize the opposing force and in some cases overcome it, but if you give way to the opposing force you will surely be crushed, probably in a horrific manner.

The cardinal rule of football (which I was taught when I began playing the game at age 6) is NEVER PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN.  There are two reasons for this:  1. Common sense states its a lot easier to get hit by someone if you can't see them coming and 2. You can break your neck.  A few years ago there was a media-frenzy about broken necks sustained during football games but the fact of the matter is everyone who has ever received a broken neck during a football game brought it upon themselves.  Not to sound callous or mean-spirited but it is virtually impossible to break your neck while wearing shoulder pads unless you receive a blow to the top of your head with the force extending down your neck and spinal column, which can only be achieved by ducking your head and hitting someone or something with/receiving a hit on the top of your head.

All in all, football is amazing.  I played many organized sports when I was young (baseball, basketball, soccer) and while the others were fun football was the only one that gave me a true thrill.  Whereas playing other sports felt like playing games, playing football felt like going to battle.  Essentially boys/men (and occasionally a girl/woman), clad in armor line up across from each other over and over and over again and strike with precision and force until one side is worn down and the other is victorious.  While I'm sure football shares many of these elements with MMA (elementary knowledge of physics, precision, force, the thrill of battle, etc.) I would take football anyday.  I feel it is the closest we can get in the modern day to epic, ancient-style battles between groups of men and two sides on a conquest.

Answer 7

No it's a very brutal and uncompassionate sport.  Broken bones and stitches often!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgpPVBYO...

The link above is one of my better student's last fights which took place on 08/16/08 does being pounded in the face look fun?  Then the crowd in your ear and your coach screaming instructions into you as you're trying to get the dude pounding your face into a triangle choke per se.  If a sport as brutal as MMA sounds fun to you then you have a s***w lose and you'll fit right in.  If you're a momma's boy or a pretty boy just stay home.  These young men are trained and could easily kill an average man on the streets.  Their focus and power is never given any justice on video.  Takes years of training.  Michael Eaton ( My Student ) has been at training for the past five ( 5 ) years and has only been fighting in the cage for the past year.  This isn't something you wake up one day and say to your self, "I want to be a Mixed Martial Artist" no quite the opposite this is a very serious and dangerous business.  The T.V. watching UFC fan novice need not apply!!

or you can listen to chumps that don't know squat about anything and step into the cage and leave in a body bag.