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Full-contact martial arts comes to Macau on 21 Mayin FURY 1 – Clash of the Titans.Since the dawn of time man has been looking to test and prove hisendurance, strength and skill against a worthy opponent in one formof full-contact sport or another. It seems to be an instinct intrinsic tohuman nature. In ancient Greece, as early as 648 BC a blend ofboxing and wrestling called Pankration was introduced into theOlympics Games. The term was derived from a combination of thewords for “all” and “strength/power” – in other words an all-encompassing fighting style and the beginnings of organized,minimal rules, empty-handed combat.

Through the ages the concept evolved and adapted to civilizations asthey came and went. Popularity also peaked and waned over themillennia with notable activity at the beginning of the 20th century.Numerous multi-disciplinary, no-holds-barred events searched forthe most effective fighting style in Europe, Japan and the PacificRim, as well as in the Gracie family’s vale tudo martial artstournaments in Brazil.

The late 1980s and early ’90s ushered in the most recent and moreorganized resurgence and modern Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) wasborn. For the past 20 years MMA has been growing in popularity inEurope and the USA, propelled largely by the Ultimate FightingChampionship (UFC). Sets of rules such as the Unified Rules ofMixed Martial Arts have created a safer and more reasonableenvironment and opened the door for a wide acceptance andfollowing.

Under the surface, Hong Kong is now also starting to catch onto theMMA craze and is home to several fighters. The gyms and dojos thatwere, until recent years, catering only to the demand for MuayThai/kickboxing, are now filling up with enthusiasts of all ages andprofessions who can’t wait to throw off the monkey suit after a longday at work and dive onto the mat for a gruelling session of themartial arts of their choice. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), wildly popular inthe USA for its effectiveness in grappling and submission and anarguably essential element to an all-round MMA training, is now alsogaining recognition in Hong Kong with some world-class instructorsand purpose-built training facilities.

I spoke with Damien Roche, director of the Kontact Mixed MartialArts Training Centre in Central recently. Roche arrived in Hong Kong6 years ago and has witnessed the evolution of the interest in MMA

here firsthand. He points out that, even though there are as yet noformal regulations for MMA in Hong Kong and China, it is reallytaking off and is already hugely popular in Shanghai. In fact, evenfashion labels are clambering over one another to get in on theaction.

‘For fitness, it’s a very complete sport, you get to work your wholebody,’ says Roche. But he advises those who want to train moreseriously than just for workout purposes to first develop afoundation in one particular style and then go from there. Beingfrom a karate and kickboxing background himself, Rocherecommends people start with standing styles. Although the basicsin such styles may be slightly counter-intuitive, once they aremastered, it is easier to move to the grappling styles, which tend tofollow a more natural and instinctive approach.

In November 2009, Roche organized the first Vegas-style MMA eventin Macau, which was hugely popular. So, following on that success,he is organizing FURY I – Clash of the Titans, the region’s first cagechampionship competition to be held in Macau on May 21. It’ll be aVegas-style, high-class event in the Grand Ballroom of the GrandHyatt Macau at City of Dreams – complete with food andchampagne.

This preliminary battle for the light heavyweight title will featureAntony “Wild Thing” Rea from France against Yoshiki Takahashi fromJapan. The 33-year-old Rea stands 1.83m and weighs in at around93kg, has a total of 17 wins (10 by knockout and six by submission)and 13 losses. He specializes in savate, Greco-Roman wrestling andBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Forty-one-year-old Takahashi, stands 1.78m andalso weighs in at around 93kg with 28 wins (eight by knockout and10 by submission), 24 losses, three draws and a no contest. Hespecializes in Pancrase from Japan, a hybrid form of wrestlingderived from the aforementioned ancient Pankration.

This is set to be the first of several such MMA events to bescheduled at 3- or 4-month intervals with an impressive list ofparticipants reading like a Who’s Who of the MMA world, such as thelikes of Ramazan “The Punisher” Ramazanov from Russia versus“Russian Beast” Sergei Vasiliev, Dion “The Soldier” Staring versusPeter “The Chief” Grahams, Jason Jones (Netherlands), VaughnAnderson (Canada), James Doolan (UK), Nabuhiro Obiya and TakeshiNumajiri (Japan), Sayed “White Tiger” Irshaad and Vuyisie“Cheetah” Colossa (South Africa).

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