Making A Case For Indian Mixed Martial Arts

With massive economic growth within India in recent times, our position on the global stage is rapidly changing.

However, one major limiting factor which continues to stifle India’s position is our soft image.

Western countries have icons of strength in media such as Superman, James Bond, Rocky, and countless others while Indians are portrayed and therefore perceived globally as characters like Raj Koothrappali (Big Bang Theory), Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (The Simpsons), and Dopinder (Deadpool).

These characters may be funny and loveable, but are often weak, spineless, and subservient to the main character.

Living most of my life overseas, I have witnessed the real world consequences of this first hand.

The way we are perceived bleeds through to how we are treated. As a result, subconsciously, a lot of us buy into it and perpetuate it ourselves through our actions.

Indians are almost expected to yield to the demands of others and unfortunately, many do, reinforcing this treatment further.

In the most recent US elections, President-elect Donald Trump used a new weapon to demonstrate the power of America in its rawest form, mixed martial arts (MMA).

In several of his rallies, he brought prominent American MMA icons such as the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White and Two-Division UFC World Champion Henry Cejudo to give speeches as it demonstrated his message of a strong America.

Infact, Trump frequently attends UFC events to support his American fighters, who remain dominant in the sport.

So what is mixed martial arts (MMA)?

As the name suggests, MMA is a combination of multiple different martial art disciplines - be it wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, karate, judo or any other.

This sport aims to find the most effective techniques in combat, with limited rules/regulations like no eye pokes, biting and hair-pulling.

A little known fact is that mixed martial arts can actually be traced back to our epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in the form of Malla-yuddha, which is essentially MMA but without many of the aforementioned rules/regulations.

This was deeply ingrained in our society and was practiced and preserved over thousand of years through our Akhara culture.

In fact, with the spread of Indian culture throughout history, this Indian martial art system influenced the forms and philosophies of many martial arts across East Asia, including Muay Thai, Lethwei, and Kungfu.

In the last 3-5 years, MMA has begun to pick up steam across India at both a professional and grassroots level.

Despite their success, the biggest fight for these fighters is actually outside the cage.

For example, despite winning the road to UFC tournament and having over a million followers across social media, Anshul Jubli struggles to find support outside of the MMA community.

In fact, for a vast majority of our fighters, they’re making a loss on their fights even if they win.

Their expenses which include coaching, training, travel & accommodation, medical, and food - far exceed their fight pay.

We have the martial arts know-how, the deep cultural roots, and world class athletes winning at the highest level in both boxing and wrestling.

The issue is that the attention has globally begun to shift from boxing and wrestling towards mixed martial arts.

With that, there has been a shift in the potential for the impact on global perception and financial rewards. In recent times, several world champions in these disciplines have made transitions to MMA for the opportunities it presents.

India is greatly missing out by ignoring the potential of the fastest growing sport in the world since we clearly have the capability.

The harsh truth of the matter is that in order for us to excel in these sports, it requires a substantial amount of investment to build the infrastructure required to fund the athletes and the athletic infrastructure.

Sports policy consultant Gaurav Gullaiya encapsulated the problem when he said “India Inc.’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) spends rose by 5% from Rs 14,816 crore in FY22 to Rs 15,524 crore in FY23 across 1,296 NSE-listed companies, led by HDFC Bank (Rs 820.89 crore), Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 783 crore) and Reliance Industries (Rs 744 crore). Out of which only 1% reaches sports! That too, limitedly for training support to olympics, paralympics and recognised games! MMA not being in any misses out in it too!”

He explained that these issues mainly stem from the “vaguely worded Schedule 7 of CSR law as given by Section 135 of Companies Act 2013” (attached in the appendix).

In a country where we make it a point to celebrate our military strength and we proudly show off our newest and most powerful weapons every republic day in a parade, claiming that it is too violent is hardly an excuse to stray away from mixed martial arts.

As Indian MMA National Champion Varun Sanyal states: “This is not simply about reviving a sport but reviving a martial culture. In order for India to grow as a global superpower, it is important that we develop the fighting spirit within us to take on the world”

Out of the BRICS countries and the United States, India is the only country that is yet to produce an MMA world champion. It reflects on the way that we are treated in everyday life - as pushovers.

Even our best known icon globally is an icon of “ahimsa”. While there is nothing wrong with being peaceful, as the old saying goes “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”.

Dr Jordan Peterson develops this adage very aptly by saying “If you’re not a formidable force, there’s no morality in your self-control. If you’re incapable of violence, not being violent isn’t a virtue”.