[richieb19]

I wanted to know the general oppinion on this forum regarding the allowance and/or disallowance of TMA gis, wrestling shoes and other applicable items in MMA... Basically what I'm getting at is do you think that an org like the UFC should allow these things, and if so should they hold a disadvantage to the fighters who chose to use them (ie no kicking with shoes)???

Now I have 2 arguements to bring to your attention, one which is positive to the idea and one which opposes it...

Positive: The root of MMA is style Vs. style NHB fighting, now I realize that NHB has evolved into MMA, but many fighters still have a TMA to affiliate as their base fighting style, and many of those (Judo, BJJ, Karate, etc...) train exclusivly in Gis, meaning that it gives them a distinct advantage when using them (also shoes for wrestlers), at the same time it can also be used as a disadvantage in some cases, so why should it be dissalowed for a martial artist to use something as basic as a gi/shoes in a mixed martial arts fight... you could always put the fighter using these at a disadvantage to one not using them...

Negative: Very obviously is that the fighter with a gi can use it as a "weapon", and can use it as an advantage over most fighters who are green to fighting against someone wearing one...Also where do you draw the line? I realize this is a silly example, but a martial artist specializing with num-chuks (sp) should obviously not be allowed to use them in the ring/cage, but the same could be said for a gi because it is a sort of weapon...





sorry about the long post...