The way you view fighting and martial arts is probably wrong

It is no secret to any of my friends or family that I am obsessed with fighting and especially (mixed) martial arts. I spend a very good chunk of my time every day following the latest MMA news, looking at breakdowns and analysis of fights on YouTube, training in kickboxing and jiujitsu at my local martial arts gym. So much in fact that sometimes I wonder if this time could be better spent doing something else. But then I remember how awesome it is. Let me tell you why.

It saddens me that most people have a very shallow view of the sport of mixed martial arts, but I do not blame them. Usually when people think of fighting they picture two brutes mindlessly swinging at each other until one of them can't take it anymore and falls down. And when you think of a stereotypical MMA practitioner you probably picture a tatted up meathead with ego problems. And well, it could very well be these things. These people do exist. But it could also be so much more.

In the words of Joe Rogan, the UFC's commentator (UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world, in case you live under a rock) fighting is "high-level problem solving with dire consequences" and I absolutely love this definition because it captures everything that captivates me about MMA and fighting. Every time I do sparring with people from my gym, every sparring round is like a mini puzzle that I have to solve. A puzzle that has an infinite amount of pieces and every piece has 37 sides and when I try to put the wrong two pieces together, I get punched in the face or choked out.

Fighting is so much more cerebral than people think it is. Once you get over that initial difficulty hump of learning the basics, you start to realize how complex it actually is and how many different possibilities there are, how many things you have to consider every second. It is about knowing yourself: what are your physical attributes? What are your best moves? How much do you have left in the gas tank? It is also about knowing your enemy: what are their characteristics? Are they faster than you? Are they taller or shorter? What are their best moves? Do you spar them often enough that they know what you are likely to do? How skilled are they? How many levels of misdirection do you have to employ to trick them? The variables are truly endless and this is what fascinates me. Your mind is trying to take all of this information, process it and try to make the best decision within milliseconds.
It is also about manipulation, about making your opponent think what you want them to think, while they are also trying to do the same thing to you.

All of these factors are what make fighting so intriguing to me and what keeps me coming back to the gym week after week, month after month, year after year. And the deeper you go down this rabbit hole, the more you realize how much you don't know.

Sure, not everyone sees it like that and I am definitely not saying that everyone has to see it like that. I just want people to appreciate the fact that it could be like that. Some people like to do martial arts just as a way to stay on top of their fitness or just to relax after a stressful day and that is perfectly fine. Besides, not everyone is ready to go to that level. If you are someone who is just starting out, you can't be worrying about levels of misdirection when you are still figuring out how to throw a punch or do an armbar.

I hope this post was enlightening and that it instilled at least a little bit more appreciation for MMA and martial arts as a whole. And don't take my word for it, try it out for yourself one day :)!