MMAWW ̶ an abbreviation of ‘martial arts without weapons’ as an attractive incentive to intensify the promotion of neogladiatorism

Abstract

Simply prefixing this name with the word ‘mixed’ (abbreviation: MMAWW) gives promoters of bloody hand-to-hand combat spectacles a new opportunity to dominate the social space with the message that the centuries-old tradition of martial arts in numerous cultures is nothing more than an attractive spectacle. The aim of this work is to present arguments supporting this pessimistic outlook versus the optimistic alternative. Already today, the dominance of such a message in a sense exposes scholars and educators who provide evidence of the multidimensional health and utilitarian benefits of a significant part of the movement forms of almost every more or less coherent hand-to-hand combat system to ridicule. Therefore, the position of the editorial board of the journal ‘Archives of Budo: Journal of Innovative Agonology’, as well as the Scientific Advisory Board AHFE of the Conference Track ‘Preventive Medicine and Innovative Agonology’, sounds alarmist: with the current low public awareness of the health and humanistic potential of prudent hand-to-hand combat practice, science may lose its real influence in compensating for the pathology of neogladiatorialism. The optimistic aspect is linked to the need for interdisciplinary research teams to address this issue in cooperation with prestigious entities and institutions with the greatest social influence. A key competence is proficiency in the use of complementary research methodology as the number of indexed publications whose authors raise issues of hand-to-hand combat in terms of health and survival is significantly lower than the number of works dedicated to medicine, the latest technologies and other fashionable areas of exploration. Two innovative reviews of scientific publications – review of residuals and omitted implications – deserve even more attention.

Keywords: Combat Sports, Complementary Research Methodology, Mental Health, Social Health

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007818