Korea Herald; Mixed Martial Arts in Korea

My latest article in the Korea Herald went to press last Thursday. This time I tackled the problem of getting bored with your workouts by trying out new things. I profiled Mixed Martial Arts; the single most intense, yet intellectually stimulating, physical activity I’ve ever participated in.

Learning to love your exercise program is a critical aspect of staying committed to it. Aside from helping you find something you love, always looking for new things to try is a great way to keep your muscles from becoming too accustomed to your program.

One method I’ve found helpful is to take up activities that feel as much like education as exercise. A few years ago, while in grad school, a friend of mine and I walked into a mixed martial arts gym and ended up signing up the same day.

Mixed martial arts has a brutal no-holds-barred reputation of tattooed thugs pummeling each other for dominance. But consider for a moment that the legend Matt Hughes has a masters degree in Education, while champion Chuck Liddell studied to be an accountant.

So what is so interesting about this particular martial art?

Mixed martial arts came to be when the Ultimate Fighting Championship was founded by Rorion Gracie and Art Davies.

The Gracie family had already been participating in and operating more traditional-style martial arts tournaments in which the Gracie family challenged, and bested accomplished masters from across the various martial arts.

Davies had an idea to bring these kinds of contests to a mass audience. The UFC was born.

In the same spirit that caused Helio Gracie to create the most effective grappling system the world has ever seen, martial artists scoured the globe looking for the best striking systems and found a devastatingly effective striking art being practiced in the villages of Thailand.

Elbows, knees and shins are much harder surfaces with which to strike an opponent than fists and feet, so UFC participants were quick to add those elements to their game.

Modern mixed martial artists may have trained in anything from high school wrestling to more mainstream boxing, but almost all will have adopted techniques and undergone some degree of training in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

For a while, mixed martial arts and the UFC had a pretty negative reputation as being overly brutal and bloody; almost a human cock fight. That image has changed greatly in recent years.

Since current UFC president Dana White took over and implemented a few rules to reign in the unnecessary brutality, while keeping the spirit of the contests alive, a new respect for the sport has been sweeping popular culture.

In fact, mixed martial arts is no longer underground. These days its instructors, with students such as Nicholas Cage, Jason Statham and Ed O’Neil, are hired to train police officers and soldiers in techniques that can be used against any opponent.

Students of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts have to be as smart and calculating as they are athletic and flexible. Some claim the ability to be able to roll blindfolded, literally feeling what their opponent’s next move will be based on subtle muscle movements.

Progressing through the ranks of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not like other martial arts, with structured advancement. In Brazilian Jujitsu you have to prove your ability to the instructor, meaning that earning a black belt is truly an accomplishment, requiring extensive study.

It goes without saying that black belts are much fewer and farther between than Taekwondo, Karate, or even Judo.

My latest Korea Herald column went to press last Thursday. This time I decided to tackle the problem of keeping your workouts interesting. I featured Mixed Martial Arts; the most intense, yet intellectually stimulating, physical activity I’ve ever participated in.

The mixed martial arts scene in Korea is blossoming. Partly due to Korea’s own unique martial arts traditions, but also to its rising popularity in general, the sport does not have the thuggish reputation that has plagued it in North America.

Korea’s own masters, such as Pride veteran Choi Mu-bae, a combat wrestler, have gyms where they teach young prodigies. Choi runs the Team Tackle gym near Seollung Station. Instructors may have limited English ability but usually there is someone there able to translate.

Similarly, people living in Korea are very lucky to have an authentic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in Dr. John Frankl. Dr. Frankl personally conducts Saturday Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminars in both Korean and English at Yonsei University. His students teach classes throughout the week near Apgujeong Station.