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COMBAT SPORTS IN INDIA

Combat sports appear to have suddenly become extremely trendy. While combat sports have traditionally had a strong nexus with amateur sports in Olympic disciplines, professional combat sports with the exception of boxing have only recently stormed onto the scene.

Combat sports broadly include martial arts such as taekwondo, karate and judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ancient and modern wrestling/grappling disciplines, boxing, and kickboxing (including Muay Thai). Grouped together, they form Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the defining combat sports platform of this era.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the most popular form of Combat Sport in this generation. A hard-hitting combat sport, MMA involves striking and grappling—it doesn’t matter if the two competitors are standing or not—the opponent with a combination of techniques borrowed from other forms of martial arts. Wrestling, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kick-boxing, taekwondo, karate, judo, etc, all form an important part of MMA, with different components having different philosophies. For a cricket-crazy country like ours, MMA might be a little late on the scene, but it seems it is quickly making up for lost ground, with many like Dhoundiyal embracing it whole-heartedly. Renowned fighters like Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey have become idols for many—both play for the US-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest MMA promotion company in the world.India also hosted the world's first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) 'Super Fight League' in 2016.

There is also the Indian martial arts which refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent. A variety of terms are used for the English phrases "Indian martial arts", usually deriving from Sanskrit or Dravidian sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines (e.g. archery, armed combat), by Classical times they were used generically for all fighting systems. The ancient weapons which are used in Indian Martial Arts are Swordsmanship (Khadgavidya), Staffplay (Lathikhela), Spearplay, Archery (Dhanurvidya) and Mace-fighting (Gadayuddha).

Today, not only are combat sports the gateway to Olympics glory, with between 150-200 Olympic medals to be won across disciplines, but the options for professional careers have grown exponentially. The growth of sustainable MMA has led to a r
enewed interest in pursuing combat sports as amateur careers, and then crossing over to the professional domain where the elite athletes fight for championship belts in the UFC or in smaller promotions. The UFC has a virtual monopoly on MMA promotions worldwide, and is arguably the best known promotion across all combat sports, boxing included.
In India there are almost 10 million martial artists in our country and all of them from different arts. So we have an amazing pool of talent. A professional structure imbibed in the sport will provide the ecosystem for these fighters to grow. Ideas Unlimited Sports Management Group hopes that the Combat Sports Industry in India paves towards a more professional sphere and creates more young talents who will represent India at renowned international platforms.




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