Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport that allows a wide variet
y of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in training and in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete. Modern mixed martial arts competition emerged in American popular culture in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Originally organized with the intention of finding 
the most effective Martial Arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors of various arts were pitted against one another with minimal rules for safety. In the following decade, MMA promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The name mixed martial arts was coined by one of the developers of these rules, Jeff Blatnick, a former Greco-Roman Wrestler and Olympic gold medalist.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai and Kickboxing are the styles that will be introduced into the MMA program at
EAST WEST KARATE.
Kickboxing -(キックボクシング) refers to the sport of using martial-arts-style kicks
and boxing-style punches to defeat an opponent in a similar way to that of standard boxing. Kickboxing is a standing sport an
d does not allow continuation of the fight once a combatant has reached the ground. The term kickboxing was created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi for a variant of Muay Thai and Karate that he created in the 1950s. The term was later used by the American variant. When used by the practitioners of those two styles, it usually refers to those styles specifically.
Muay Thai - Muay Thai is referred to as "The Art of Eight Limbs", as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A practitioner of Muay Thai ("nak muay") thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight "points of contact," as opposed to "two points" (fists) in Western boxing and "four points" (fists, feet) used in the primarily sport-oriented forms of martial arts.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - is a martial art and combat sport focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. It is a derivative of ea
rly 20th century Kodokan Judo, which was itself then a recently-developed system (founded in 1882), based on multiple schools (or RYU) of Japanese Jiu Jitsu. It promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant using leverage and proper technique; most notably, by applying joint locks and choke holds to defeat them. BJJ can be trained for self defense, sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Sparring(commonly referred to as 'rolling') and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition.
