Faith & MMA

Unofficial Reverand Alex · Sep 15, 2020

"They believe this whole planet is an accident and I simply refuse to believe that. I truly believe this life is a test to go on to something bigger. Think about it, we are here for about 80 years, that’s it? And in that short time, pretty much everything we do in life is a contest. Your job (you want to move up), sports (you want to be the best), studying (you want to go to the best school), you name it. So why is our life not a contest?"

Perhaps you know the name Bas Rutton. He is an MMA fighter that has won championships worldwide, including a UFC title in the United States. I had never heard of him before; I know what MMA is, but I've never actually watched it. In any case, this is an interesting video with him talking about his life, his fighting career, and his faith. I think most, if not all of what he has to say could be appreciated by people of any spirituality, though he is talking about his Catholic faith in particular.

This is a great interview with him, discussing fighting, his faith, and how both fit into manhood. It's also where I got the quote from the beginning of this post: The Faith of a Fighter: An Interview with MMA Legend Bas Rutten

Thoughts?

Dansiph · Sep 15, 2020

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:
"They believe this whole planet is an accident and I simply refuse to believe that. I truly believe this life is a test to go on to something bigger. Think about it, we are here for about 80 years, that’s it? And in that short time, pretty much everything we do in life is a contest. Your job (you want to move up), sports (you want to be the best), studying (you want to go to the best school), you name it. So why is our life not a contest?"

Perhaps you know the name Bas Rutton. He is an MMA fighter that has won championships worldwide, including a UFC title in the United States. I had never heard of him before; I know what MMA is, but I've never actually watched it. In any case, this is an interesting video with him talking about his life, his fighting career, and his faith. I think most, if not all of what he has to say could be appreciated by people of any spirituality, though he is talking about his Catholic faith in particular.

This is a great interview with him, discussing fighting, his faith, and how both fit into manhood. It's also where I got the quote from the beginning of this post: The Faith of a Fighter: An Interview with MMA Legend Bas Rutten

Thoughts?

That article was one of the first I read after starting to consider Catholicism. I love combat sports. Once corona restrictions are removed I'm starting training again.

I see fighting as a necessary skill, especially for men. Some people in response will claim you need to trust God. Ok, well I can't drive yet. Shall I just trust God and get behind the wheel? No because I don't have the skills or knowledge needed. Same with fighting.

I've done a bit of boxing and k1 and I feel confident I wouldn't fold mentally in a situation where I needed to defend myself or others. I want to train mma though because it is much safer than boxing and very effective.

I'm going to watch the video now btw.

Sketcher · Sep 15, 2020

I didn't know Bas Rutten was a believer until recently. Rich Franklin was another great fighter, and also a believer before he had retired.

awitch · Sep 15, 2020

Guy finds religion and feels it influences his life for the better.
<Shrug>
The same could be said for any religion. The same could be said for many things that aren't religion, too.

Tigger45 · Sep 15, 2020

Yeah I could pretty much relate to everything Mr. Rutten said.

Unofficial Reverand Alex · Sep 15, 2020

Tigger45 said:
Yeah I could pretty much relate to everything Mr. Rutten said.

Do you fight? Or are you referring to something else?

Just curious here.

Tigger45 · Sep 15, 2020

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:
Do you fight? Or are you referring to something else?

Just curious here.

No, more about the struggles of life and comments on his faith journey.

FireDragon76 · Sep 15, 2020

I used to study martial arts years ago. I studied Tai Chi, Wing Chun, and Filipino martial arts. I was not interested in competition. I just like the challenge of improving myself.

Some people have far too much ego, and I don't consider life a competition. But for some people, maybe it's the only analogy they can understand.

Dansiph · Sep 21, 2020

FireDragon76 said:
I used to study martial arts years ago. I studied Tai Chi, Wing Chun, and Filipino martial arts. I was not interested in competition. I just like the challenge of improving myself.

Some people have far too much ego, and I don't consider life a competition. But for some people, maybe it's the only analogy they can understand.

I don't get this. Competition is one of the best ways to improve. Most people who actually train hard and spar don't have an ego.

That's a video by a former Aikido instructor who essentially realised Aikido doesn't work and started mma etc. He's discussing ego.

FireDragon76 · Sep 21, 2020

Aspzan said:
I don't get this. Competition is one of the best ways to improve. Most people who actually train hard and spar don't have an ego.

That's a video by a former Aikido instructor who essentially realised Aikido doesn't work and started mma etc. He's discussing ego.

Aikido is not meant to "work", if you mean disabling an opponent as quickly as possible. It's a traditional Japanese martial art that rejects needless cruelty and encourages respect for all life.

Competition inevitably involves comparison, and that in itself can be a source of egotism.

Unofficial Reverand Alex · Sep 21, 2020

Aspzan said:
I don't get this. Competition is one of the best ways to improve. Most people who actually train hard and spar don't have an ego.

That's a video by a former Aikido instructor who essentially realised Aikido doesn't work and started mma etc. He's discussing ego.

That was a very cool video; thanks for sharing! @FireDragon76 , I can see your point, as people with a more competitive view of life would likely have more of an ego to fuel. Still, I have found through my own limited experience of sparring with friends that the video from @Aspzan has a lot of truth. My own sparring matches with people started with some arrogance on my side; I'm scrawny, but tall & fast, and unlike most guys with no formal training, I can think past my fists. I learned to be a kicker when everybody else only knew how to punch; honestly, I really don't use my fists at all!

But once I moved past some arrogant twits that I could show up by a swift kick to the stomach, I learned that a lot more people have a lot of different techniques. One guy fought like a wrestler, just wrapping himself around me, leaving me clueless about what to do. Swordfighting is one of my strengths, as I'm fast on my feet & the extra range from my long arms gives me an edge (though I may be talking about plastic lightsabres here! ^_^

). So when I was soundly defeating a lot of other guys in my high school hallway, the very large assistant principle walked by, who I assumed would be an easy fight if his gut stuck out half the length of his sword.

I have never been so quickly defeated!

I have had my moments of arrogance, especially where my specialty of swords are involved. I really see where the guy in the video comes from when he says that lack of competition allows pride to be inflamed. Left to my own devices, I would still think I'm a really good swordfighter; a chance fight with a man twice my weight quickly taught me the foolishness of thinking so highly of myself. That's a lesson I never would've learned without competition, and I've never had an ego about swordfighting or any kind of sparring since.

Tigger45 · Sep 21, 2020

I used to take karate but the last time I signed up either I was getting too old or the others seemed too young :comeon:

Dansiph · Sep 22, 2020

FireDragon76 said:
Aikido is not meant to "work", if you mean disabling an opponent as quickly as possible. It's a traditional Japanese martial art that rejects needless cruelty and encourages respect for all life.

Competition inevitably involves comparison, and that in itself can be a source of egotism.

I thought the whole point of aikido is to disable an opponent as quickly as possible. The way they train it seems that's their goal. Also just on a tangent I don't even get the name traditional martial arts. Wrestling and boxing are the oldest sports recorded except running and they're universal sports.

Rejecting what you called needless cruelty is just silly imo. It's not cruel to defend yourself or others or compete to see who is better on the day. Comparison isn't always about ego. In fact if you compare yourself to experienced athletes honestly you'll have less of an ego in that area.

I think that people can avoid being beaten or avoid comparison or voilence so much that it itself becomes an ego problem.

Dansiph · Sep 22, 2020

This video mentions Fathers knowing how to fight.

Faith & MMA

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