Mixed Martial Arts in DC News Blog

Master Mike Moses teaches his MMA Class

GAITHERSBURG, Md. – The popularity of the UFC has brought public interest in mixed martial arts to an all time high. The promotions and the hype of these events often bring misconceptions to fans who may not know mixed martial arts practioners that can clear up these misconceptions. Master Mike Moses, a Vale Tudo fighter from the mid 90′s and now the owner of Evolve Academy, trains his fight team and interacts with new prospects on a daily basis. Part of his job as head instructor is being brutally honest.

MMA Fight Team

Promoters in the early 90′s in the U.S. presented MMA as “no rules fighting” where fighters could kick below the waist, take their opponents down, and choke them until they “tapped out.” Some MMA promoters even marketed the fact that people were protesting about their events. This was a tactic that turned against the sport when some states started to outlaw the events. Some of the opponents of MMA viewed the events as “street brawls” with no rules. When asked about the view of MMA being a “barbaric” event, Master Moses started out by saying, “MMA is a sport so there are rules and regulations…” One of his examples included a comparison between boxing and MMA. “When you are in the cage, you have one person in front of you,” he said. “Yes, they have a lot of options, whether they are punching, kicking, kneeing, going to the ground, or clinching, but that’s what makes it safer than boxing where you stand toe to toe and hit each other in the head multiple times…these are things that make our sport relatively safe.”

Sparring at the MMA Class

Some people see TV shows such as the Ultimate Fighter and think that you have to fight in the Octagon if you want to train in MMA. This could be a deterrent to people that have an honest interest in MMA as self defense or just getting in shape. When asked about this issue, Master Moses stated, “a lot of people do my personal defense system which is MMA for the streets and they never want to fight, and we have people in here that are doing fighter training but never want to get in the ring because they have families and jobs but they want to train with the fighters…you see guys in here that aren’t fighters that are in fighter training.”

Major highlights of the UFC are watching the knockouts and the submissions on fight night. Many fans flock to MMA schools to try to be MMA fighters to be able to do these feats. Some of these fans don’t quite understand what the risk is when you step into the cage. Master Moses responded to this issue stating “I tell everybody…You gotta be prepared to die…It is a sport to where we are trying to make physical contact with each other and you can get hurt, but the risk for these shows are minimal just because how much protection there is for the fighters.” He points out the usage of referees who are trained to identify potentially dangerous situations and stop the fight, but also caveated that although a fighter’s coach may stop the fight, the coach may not be well qualified. “The main risk is if you aren’t at a qualified school that understands that there are steps and stages for people before you step into the cage.” He points out that in his program it is a year long process before even being looked at if you have no prior martial arts experience of significance to MMA fighting.

Coach Danny Farrar and MMA Fighter Zach Davis

When asked what he says to new prospects who want to fight but don’t have any knowledge of his training systems, he stated “You either start as a white belt or you go to a different academy…You aren’t going to fight for me unless you are prepared…My whole thing is keeping you safe.” He says that he has seen a lot of guys that say they want to fight, but don’t want to start with the foundations of his programs and show humility. For these people he says, “Right away that tells me I can’t train you…if you can’t put on a white belt, I can’t coach you.”

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