Fight Club Junior: Cage Fighting for Kids
When two dogs are in a cage to fight each other, it’s illegal.
When two children are in a cage to fight each other, it’s part of the fastest growing sport in America: “ultimate fighting.”
Also known as cage fighting or mixed martial arts, ultimate fighting is a no-holds-barred combo of wrestling, boxing, and martial arts that is increasingly popular, often bloody, and usually staged in a cage.
Now, in the sport’s latest spin-off, kids as young as six are brawling in cages, using kicks, body blows, and choke holds in a contest of physical submission.
Unlike adults who engage in ultimate fighting, kids wear padding and head gear. And also unlike adults, kids who cage-fight can only do so with the consent and support of their parents, who say the violent fighting is no more dangerous than wrestling and believe it teaches skills like discipline, respect, responsibility, and control.
“It’s wonderful,” said a Missouri mother who encourages her 10 and 14 year old sons in ultimate fighting. “They build such good character and good friendships, and that’s what you need to further yourself in life.”
But while some applaud, others are appalled. “I have parents who kind of scare me sometimes,” said the owner of a Massachusetts gym where kids train in ultimate fighting. “Moms and dads letting their kids choke them just for practice reasons. The days of Dad throwing a ball with little Billy are over.”
Medical experts are also concerned about the pummeling kids endure in cage fighting, saying it can cause significant injuries to the neck and bones.
There are no standardized laws governing children’s cage fighting matches in the U.S. Massachusetts and Missouri allow youth contests, while other states ban the practice or don’t regulate it at all. “I think it borders on child abuse,” said a Missouri legislator who has introduced a bill to ban ultimate fighting for children in that state.
As a spectator sport, ultimate fighting continues to grow, its ever-larger TV audiences turning cage combat into a mega-millions fight club, with an increasingly younger face. “I daydream during school,” said one 14 year old ultimate fighter, “of me being in the cage with everybody watching me on TV.”
Tell us what you think: Is cage fighting for kids a responsible sport? Should anyone be responsible for regulating it—parents?…the government? Do viewers of ultimate fighting play a role in the sports increasing appeal to children?
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Not a sport that exhibits skill?
Ha-ha, get in the ring with me and tell me that. These mixed martial artists have a huge bag of tricks and techniques, and the martial knowledge or “skill” to apply them on somebody who is fully resisting and trying to hurt them. This is a skill you can’t learn from martial arts that don’t allow and encourage sparring. As far as the statement “The true purpose about martial arts training is to teach you “not to resolve conflicts with fighting” goes… Are you new to the world or what? Just because that’s what the karate and Tae Kwon Do schools are doing nowadays.
Almost all martial arts and fighting systems were born or created because they needed to be created i.e. good people were being attacked and had no weapons to defend themselves, so they came up with techniques to turn their bodies into weapons. The martial arts that weren’t created because of violence and bloodshed have been created recently. Ironically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which is the fundamental skill set for an MMA fighter was pieced together by the famous Gracie family. In reality the Gracie family was just a bunch of brothers and cousins that liked to wrestle with each other. That doesn’t sound like a scary violent demon martial art to me! I also resent your statement about martial arts schools being money grubbers (be careful because there are some creepy martial arts cults out there though!) The schools aren’t throwing the kids in the cage, it’s the parents.
Chris Eggleston | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Kina, is wrong!
Rooster, dog, and other animal fights are illegal because they are being forced to fight. However there is no one standing behind the kids involved in ultimate fighting with a whip, you are also wrong about wrestling, there is no age. I am involved with former Olympic wrestler Ken Chertow’s wrestling camp and there are kids as young as 5 and 6 there. You are also being hypocritical about stating that we don’t want our kids looking like those men, so your implying that appearances mean a lot, and yet you are shaming a kid for wanting to be on television? And about your statement with kids taking it out on the playground, mixed martial arts training is not just teaching people how to incapacitate their opponents, it teaches them self respect, self dignity, self discipline and it also teaches them to respect their teammates and opponents. If you watch any UFC or WEC fight, at the end of 99% of the fights they give each other hugs, and hand shakes.
Jason Bahrt | 1 year, 8 months ago
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WOW
I completely agree with your story and your grandfather sounds like a great man.
Jason Bahrt | 1 year, 8 months ago
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WoW
This is sweet: kids fighting each other with protective gear on. You can’t beat that it’s not like they’re really getting hurt. If you ask me they should start charging people to see them fight.
joshua scott | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Its not what your kids do its how they do it.
Kids have been taking martial arts for decades if not centuries – including boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, jujitsu and karate – and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is nothing more than the strongest parts of these arts fused together.
The martial arts can be an incredibly positive experience for children, as anyone who’s had children in martial arts knows. They learn confidence, respect and lifetime fitness habits. Not to mention the best bully buster program known to man.
Kids shouldn’t be doing full contact. At the vast majority of these MMA schools (including mine) they are not. Contact is strictly controlled and the children’s safety is everyone’s top priority.
I teach children MMA every day. I’ve been teaching martial arts for over a decade now. How many times have my kids misused what they’ve been taught? Zero. How many times have they grown to be cage fighters? None. How many times have they been accepted to major universities? More than I can easily count.
Bottom line; take each school on its individual merits. If the school seems like a safe, positive place, it probably is, even if it’s an MMA school.
Something else to think about: MMA is the most powerful martial art taught today. If you’re going to have your kid in a self defense class shouldn’t it be the best one?
Matt West | 1 year, 8 months ago
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You're not thinking...
MMA teaches you techniques you wouldn’t be able to respect? Why does a scissors sweep (an escaping technique) teach less respect than a knee to the face (taught in nearly every karate class)? Speaking from experience, jujitsu techniques are much easier to control in a real life situation than a jumping kick or a hard right cross. That is why police use jujitsu restraining moves instead of karate strikes.
Lyoto Machida, although he does have a karate background, is a classic example of mixed martial artists. IF it wasn’t for his black belt in Brazilian Jujitsu he’d be a footnote in someone else’s career.
MMA forms a better “base” by far than karate, kung fu or any of those other arts you mentioned. Understand I am speaking from the standpoint of someone with a lifetime in karate, a fifth degree black belt, years of police experience and his own school.
MMA is just as good for kids as it is for people in their twenties. Understand the vast majority of people who take MMA are not cage fighters. They are students, parents, working professionals, church parishioners, police officers and members of the armed services.
The one unifying trait: they want a martial art that works. Putting your kid in TKD and then telling him or her that they can defend themselves is lying. Don’t lie to your kids.
Matt West | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Parents these days
All is can say is wow. Everyone fears that MMA shows that things can get resolve with violence, or how they fear that the child’s physical aspects are concerning. Well think of this. The same training and sparing is same as going to regular Martial arts schools or playing sports. Parents who fear this only shows there lack of knowledge in Martial arts. However parents who watch and support boxing which it has long term brain damage compare to MMA which has mainly body damage which is only for short time. Ask any Boxer that has moved to MMA ask them the long term damage in either sport and they say boxing is far worse in which today it is high end physical sports today.
As for the whole roman empire thing our civilization is crumbling. Uhh, look at China, Japan, Korea and other Asian cultures that aspire on Martial Arts that been holding the civilization for the longest. MMA will not bring this country to the end.
As for the violence doesn’t solve anything. That has a yes and no answer. Yes violence can solve certain problems. As well No it can’t solve certain ones. What I’m trying to say is that words or anything other than your fist can get you so far. Sometimes you will have to get into a confrontation. And I know that you or anyone else might disagree, but thats why people learn how to defend themselves.
As for the Martial arts aspects. If you don’t like MMA don’t send your kid to it. If you want him/her to learn how to defend himself/herself. Then take him to traditional martial arts. And yes karate, judo, tae kwon do and other martial arts they can defend themselves people who say they can only shows there ignorance in Martial Arts.
Well the last thing i have to say is this before you judge something please do research. Not only about the subject, but other things that relate to it or can be compared to it. People who put down MMA only shows there lack of knowledge and shows that they know only what they watch and hear. And same goes for other Martial arts that thinks MMA and BJJ (Brazilian ju jitsu) is best or better than other martial arts for self defense. Shows there ignorance in martial arts and its sad that if they call themselves martial artist. So please, please, people, stop listening to what he says/she says and find out the facts.
Know the Facts | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Comments from an Expert in Martial Arts
I’m Tom Callos, a 37 year vet of the martial arts and instructor to 100’s of martial arts teachers and 1000’s of students. One of my students, BJ Penn, is one of, if not the best for his weight-class, “cage-fighter” in the world.
I started the martial arts when I was 11 and, besides experiencing the martial arts as both a child myself and then having taught 1000’s of children (now adults with their own children), I can speak as an expert; no child has ever been seriously hurt in any school I have ever been involved with. And, no child or person I have heard of or have known has ever been seriously hurt by a kick or punch. Diabetes, now THERE is a dangerous thing. 1 in 3 children will be touched by diabetes in the next decade. Relationship issues, poor role models, lack of self-esteem, lack of time in nature, lack of training in emotional maturity —THESE are the things that hurt children.
The author of the article here has taken a sensationalist viewpoint and has never seen or experienced the amazing and character building aspects of the martial arts of the practice, of facing fear, of knowing about alternatives to hitting and kicking and aggression, of the relationships that children form with their coach and with their classmates. Comparing what martial arts teachers teach to children and the kind of fighting that takes place, among pro-fighters, in the UFC and other cage-fighting organizations, is like comparing a tricycle rider to a Tour De France racer —-it’s like comparing a 6-year-old’s ride in a fake airplane at a carnival to fighter pilot in a Stealth Bomber. In both cases there are similarities, but, obviously, there are HUGE differences.
Parents, read this short essay at theubbtand100.blogspot dot com to find out what these martial arts teachers are REALLY all about. Recognize too, the ring or the cage is the ONLY place, the only acceptable place for any sort of violent behavior to manifest itself. Fighting belongs in the ring, NOT in the streets. Not where innocent children lose their limbs or eyes or lives because of political insanity.
A martial arts teacher teaches young people things they don’t learn anywhere else —valuable ideas about personal protection, empathy for others, and self-control. There are, indeed, some young, dumb, and brash fighters in the sport aspect of MMA, but likewise, there are hundreds of 1000’s (perhaps millions)of young people in America who learn lessons in courage, in character, in self-control, in teamwork, in facing fears, and in overcoming obstacles through the martial arts — that will NOT learn these lessons from sitting behind a computer, from standing in a line for a concert, from MTV, from shopping at WalMart, or from any of the “heroes” manufactured by the media to boost some industry’s sales. A martial arts teacher who will get down on his or her hands and knees to work with kids —in a “hands-on” way, who will work patiently to teach young people about dietary self-defense, anger management, self-discipline, and all the other things that go along with martial arts training —well, these folks are real heroes. The martial arts has saved my life on a number of occasions, and not through physical self-defense, but from the things I learned in the ring —the give and take, the respect for things that challenge you, for the patience required.
Don’t be afraid of the martial arts, and appreciate that MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is not the enemy —MMA or any kind of martial art is not the things we have to protect our children from in today’s world.
Tom Callos, team coach for the Ultimate Black Belt Test Project (www.ultimateblackbelttest.com)
Tom Callos | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Well said, sir
Thank you, Mr. Callos. Both for your post and for all your hard work in the martial arts.
Matt West | 1 year, 8 months ago
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Youth Support
I understand everyone’s concerns about this issue. But I have been to these youth MMA events and I have watched the referees call some of these matches and how closely they pay attention to make sure that the participants do not get injured.
You would have to be a fan of the sport of MMA and really know what it is like to be in the “cage” to make a judgment call on this issue. In my opinion, you would pretty much have to be against youths doing any type of contact sport to be against youth MMA. Do the research and see how many people have died or had serious life threatening injuries in other contact sports such as football, hockey, and even baseball. Then look at how many have had similar injuries in MMA. After researching the entirety, let me know which sport on paper is safer.
These kids work hard – just as hard if not more than the pros that we watch on TV and deserve the right to showcase there talent and hard work. The “cage” issue is a joke. Kids compete in amateur boxing matches all the time and the problem with that is these youth fighters can easily fall through the ropes and risk getting seriously injured. In the “cage” there are no ropes for them to fall through and the cage is not as bad as people think. The fence is codes with like a plastic material that keeps anyone from being cut and the canvas is wood and covered with material (just like a ring).
I really have to have been in the “cage” to understand what I’m talking about. In my opinion, if youths are not allowed to compete in MMA, then all other youth sports such as football, wrestling, samba, baseball, kickboxing, et al, should be banned as well.
Once again just my opinion
CrisPowell | 1 year, 8 months ago
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