MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts which deals with full contact combat and is a combination of the techniques of a lot of other forms of fighting. This form of martial arts is particularly popular because it has scope for all the forms of fighting styles. The blend of world famous karate with the lesser known street fighting styles makes it very entertaining and power packed.

The basic principles of it deal with grappling and striking techniques. This is the reason why it is possible to undertake this form of fighting when the opponents or competitors are either on the ground or standing on the ground. This is not possible with the other forms of martial arts like boxing, kickboxing and others.

One might wonder how this concept of Mixed Martial Arts originated and where. The first time such an art form was exhibited was in the ancient Greece where there were very few rules that were imposed on the fighters. The Olympic Games of 648 B.C also included this form of fighting by calling it pankration. As time passed, the style developed into a more intense and violent form and was known as the Roman and Etruscan pancratium. This was practiced at the Roman Collosseum.

It was in the 1800s when tournaments and music-hall challenges all over Europe held a no-holds-barred event which attracted a lot of fighters, each belong to a different region and practicing a new form of martial art.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament is held in high regard in current times. MMA is one of the art forms that are undertaken here. A huge number of submission and knockout wrestlers turn up at the event to be a part of this free-for-all competition.

The popularity of MMA in Japan gave rise to the Pride Fighting Championship which is a martial arts tournament that is popular not only in Japan but also in the other parts of the world.

The United States army also came up with the Army Combatives Championships which is a competition of Mixed Martial Arts held by the US Army Combatives School.

By December 2006, the fame of MMA reached North America. This was because of the rematch held between former champion Tito Ortiz and the UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. This event attracted a lot of people who were made to pay per view. This fight helped the UFC to buy out and merge with the Japanese Pride Fighting Championships.

The popularity of the style has led to a lot of developments in the fighting techniques by the different fighters all over the world. This evolution has proven to be very substantial in the past 10 years.

The initial form of it included a lot of traditional Sumo and kickboxing. However, with the evolution, these traditional styles have been replaced by new ones.

Submission wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and amateur wrestling were the three most important styles during the initial years of UFC. With time, these styles got mixed with the other forms of martial arts. The fighters use their own combinations of grappling, striking, kicking, punching and submission techniques.

In order to be all rounders, the wrestlers began cross training which involves training in all the grappling and submission techniques. The repute of Mixed Martial Arts has increased largely since its invention and the fame is expected to only rise in the years to come. It is the only form of martial art which does not have a lot of rules governing it.