Styles

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that focusing on position of body in order to gain dominance. Once dominance is acquired, chokes, joint-locks, and submissions are utilized to win the bout. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu uses leverage to allow a person of a smaller size to compete against a person grossly larger than them, relying on leverage to even the playing field. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created by Mitsuyo Maeda and passed down to the Gracie family. BJJ has a Judo background, and received the name Jiu Jitsu from Maeda. The art gained mass popularity with the formation of Mixed Martial Arts such as Vale Tudo and Ultimate Fight Championship. Royce Gracie showed the art's relevance with his victory in the first UFC. Since then, the art has been spread throughout the world.

Clinch Fighting

Clinch fighting has been around as long as fighting. Certain martial arts have worked on specific areas to perfect strikes, submissions, throws, and takedowns. Clinch fighting is a major key in wrestling, grappling, boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Judo. Fighters in MMA utilize the clinch to set up strikes with the knee and elbow, and also to set up for takedowns and throws. MMA has been the medium to unite the mulitple aspects of clinch fighting into a blend of strikes, blocks, and grappling/takedowns.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is known as the deadliest martial art. Muay Thai focuses on eight striking points: the hands, shins, elbows, and knees. Muay Thai originated in Thailand, and is common throughout Southeast Asia. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand. Muay Thai is the precursor to kickboxing throughout. Muay Thai varies from country to country. Most Southeast Asian countries wrap the hands in tape or rope, whereas the U.S. Muay Thai uses gloves of varying sizes. Muay Thai has made it's presence felt on the MMA, forever changing the stand-up game.

Catch Wrestling

Catch wrestling originated from a variety of styles. Derived from European wrestling, the name catch wrestling comes from a style of wrestling from the British Isles called catch-as-catch-can submission wrestling. Catch wrestling gained popularity in the United States through carnival side shows. Locals were given a chance to beat the carnival strongman for to receive a prize. This led to intense training for the worst of unarmed combat, forcing competitors to invent several new submissions and chokes. Catch wrestling gained popularity and led the formation of Shoot Wrestling and Pancrase, which eventually led to the formation of Mixed Martial Arts leagues and foundations.

Dirty Boxing

Dirty boxing is a form of clinch fighting that focuses mostly on strikes with the upper body. Fighters clinch in a typical matter, and strike using the shoulders, elbows, knees, feet, and hands. Dirty boxing is a stand up martial art and is useful to help set up for other forms of clinch fighting. Fighters rely on blocks and counterstrikes to penetrate an opponents weaknesses.