Fight Ticker letter to ABC News regarding piece on youth 'Ultimate Fighting'
Here is the Fight Ticker community's response to ABC news' piece on youth 'Ultimate Fighting':
Robin Roberts and Andrea Canning
ABC News
7 West 66th Street
New York, NY 10023
Dear Ms. Roberts and Ms. Canning:
We would like to formally comment on your story aired on Good Morning America March 28, 2008, titled “Ultimate Fighting: No Age Barred: Kids as young as 6 train in the mixed martial arts sport.” This letter represents the collective thoughts of individual members from the mixed martial arts (MMA) internet community on FightTicker.com, including the website’s founder, Mr. Pramit Mohapatra, who has written for The Baltimore Sun and Sports Illustrated, and Dr. David Mayeda, who has authored the nation’s first and only scholarly book on MMA – Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society.
A sport still in its infancy, we understand that MMA is going through growing pains, which include its own evolutionary challenges, as well as the ways it is portrayed in the mainstream media. Given these circumstances, we would like to highlight a few observations pertaining to your story. To begin with, we noticed repeatedly that the sport was referred to as “ultimate fighting,” rather than its proper name, “mixed martial arts.” While the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is MMA’s most popular organization right now, the sport includes numerous other organizations, all of which refer to their sport as “mixed martial arts,” including the UFC. As an example, Ms. Canning stated, “Put two men in a cage with few rules, and you have ultimate fighting, a mixed martial arts sport that requires years of training,” thereby marking “ultimate fighting” over “mixed martial arts.”
Furthermore, as noted in the above quote, this story focused on the perceived lack of rules that put athletes at risk, in this case children. In fact, when run properly, MMA does include more rules than people normally assume, which are enforced to protect the participants. A thorough list of these rules can be found on the following internet link:
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=LearnUFC.Rules
Obviously, part of MMA’s allure is the leeway given to combatants. Still, when both participants are evenly matched, properly trained, and an attentive referee is in place, the level of risk MMA athletes face is far less than most critics expect. These are factors Ms. Roberts surely knows apply to virtually any contact and collision sport, being a former ESPN commentator and N.C.A.A. Division I basketball player.
To this end, we would like to point out a few facts gathered from studies that have been published in peer reviewed academic journals and reputable newspapers/magazines.
1. Approximately 10% of all college and high school football players suffer from concussions , , (note, these percentages represent only those concussions that are reported).
2. A self-report study carried out in Ohio and Pennsylvania found that 47% of all football players surveyed reported being concussed during the 1996-97 school year.
3. Ten to 12% of all youth hockey players suffer from head injuries each year, frequently concussive in nature.
4. Concussions are serious problem in girls’ and women’s basketball, and even more so in girls’ and women’s soccer.
5. ACL tears are twice the rate for females versus males in soccer and three times the rate in basketball.
6. Longitudinal research has found that both concussions and ACL tears can have long-term negative consequences for those who have sustained these sporting injuries. ,
We raise these facts not to suggest that MMA is safer than football, basketball, hockey, or soccer for males or females (though it very well may be safer than some or all of these widely accepted sports), but rather to stress that our sporting culture as a whole is risky. MMA is violent and can put athletes at physical risk. However, this is clearly a sporting issue that extends well beyond the MMA realm. In addition, the minor gender dimension to your story, illustrated in the comment, “Even their twelve year old sister, Shelby, is in on the action,” is flat out sexist. If girls/women want to participate in any sport, irrespective of its nature, they should be allowed to do so freely without such commentary.
Next, your numerous portrayals of youth fighting on YouTube do not reflect MMA in any way whatsoever, and neither does the recently released movie, Never Back Down. These examples exemplify the very thing from which MMA is trying to disassociate itself – unregulated street fighting. We were disappointed when you stated, “On YouTube, kids as young as six can be found punching, kicking, and pummeling each other, mimicking their UFC heroes,” yet there was no serious follow-up, noting that any responsible MMA gym, coach, or athlete would despise such practices. True, MMA is a combative sport, with obvious similarities to street fighting. However, MMA is nothing near a street fight, where parity and rules are completely nonexistent.
This could have been exemplified more clearly had you televised others from the MMA world, rather than only interviewing the Swinehearts family. Jennifer Swinehearts did a fine job explaining that MMA, if coached properly, can teach youth those values historically associated with the traditional marital arts (e.g., confidence and healthy friendships). However, again, a responsible MMA coach could have explained further that like traditional martial artists, MMA athletes are encouraged to avoid fighting and only practice MMA in structured, supervised settings.
Unfortunately, Ms. Swinehearts’s opinions were clearly usurped by Dr. Lisa Thornton, who stated, “I think it’s dangerous from a physical standpoint. It can lead to significant injuries to the neck and to the bones and ligaments, and I think that if they’re being taught that fighting is the way to solve problems, then that obviously is very negative for any child” (this was stated as viewers watched the YouTube fight videos). What research is Dr. Thornton citing, which proves MMA in its proper structure leads to neck injuries, broken bones, and torn ligaments more so than other sports? And Dr. Thornton’s final statement regarding youth learning to solve problems violently via MMA rests upon what foundation?
Finally, we noticed that your media clips from adult MMA matches only showed knockouts and striking techniques. Some of the crucial dimensions to MMA are jiu-jitsu and wrestling, where collisions are minimized. If you talk with MMA experts, they will all tell you that the ability to submit your opponent or give up yourself makes MMA far safer than other collision sports, such as boxing and football. When caught in a submission hold (e.g., an armbar or chokehold), it does hurt while in competition, but as soon as the individual submits (“taps out”), there is no pain and rarely physical damage. Given this enormous element of the MMA game, why did your piece show overwhelmingly striking scenarios in MMA competition but virtually no jiu-jitsu or wrestling? Again, we are not naïve. Of course participation in MMA puts participants at physical risk, but so do a wide array of other sports and physical activities.
We are not advocating at all that MMA be sanctioned for children in any state. In fact, many of us disagree with Missouri sanctioning MMA for children, even with the added padding. What we collectively disagree with, is your portrayal of MMA the sport. It should not be associated in any way whatsoever with the youth fighting videos from YouTube, nor with the movie Never Back Down, and there is no longer any such thing as “no holds barred fighting” in sanctioned MMA competitions. Despite the media portrayals generated by some MMA organizations that do highlight the violence, a large proportion of adult MMA athletes are college graduates, world-class athletes (some past Olympians), and members of the armed forces. Your piece was simply not an accurate depiction of the sport of MMA. We do not mind opinions that are incongruent with ours. In fact, a respectful discourse is healthy. We simply would like to see more responsible journalism, with a more balanced discussion that relies on expertise from both sides. Finally, we invite you speak with us and with members of a responsible MMA gym with whom we would be happy to connect you.
Sincerely,
The FightTicker.com Community
Comments
pardon theeee french people,
pardon theeee french people, but....fuck yes.
you're the man pramit. i
you're the man pramit. i totally agree with you.
i was outraged when i saw that piece of TV. i actually saw it at a bar and i could see the older women in the bar just shaking their heads saying how messed up it was.
i think football is 200% more dangerous...yes, there are lots of players on the field but i don't think i've EVER seen a game where someone doesn't get hurt in some capacity.
Thanks Papa. Dr. Mayeda
Thanks Papa. Dr. Mayeda (MMAcademics) deserves the credit for writing this piece, incorporating the input of the Fight Ticker community. He did a great job and we're currently trying to publicize this piece to combat mainstream media's ignorance of the sport.
yeah the piece was VERY well
yeah the piece was VERY well written. you know though...just playing the devil's advocate, i'd think that ABC that would have been in MORE trouble with the public if they took the opposite stance.
it'll be nice to see another station do that though.
It's a good point. It does
It's a good point. It does bring up the question -- what is the role of media? Is it to give people what they want to hear or to educate them, even if it's uncomfortable to do so. ABC News took the easy route here and played to mainstream fears based on ignorance. There really is nothing to report on here. There was no need for this piece to be aired or at the very least no need to connect this piece to MMA. Must have been a slow news week over at ABC News...
the response needed to be
the response needed to be made, and as an mma fan, i appreciate the thought involved,
but the media is always spinning crap and not looking at things in much depth. more often than not, stories dont offer point-counterpoint perspectives. its always just a skiewed perspective. i've spewed a lot of vitriol at the sports media in response to the crap i read tons of times to the point where it just doesnt seem like its worthwhile. very few writers will respond to comments with any thought or respectfully agree to disagree. they simply put out their crap, hope it gets some attention and move onto the next load of crap they put out.
Excellent letter
Excellent letter gentlemen!!! It's great to be a small part of an MMA community that cares as much as everyone here does. I too get tired of defending my appreciation and enjoyment of the sport of MMA to uneducated friends and family. I will definately point them here to read the good doctors reply to what amounts to total misrepresentation on the part of ABC.
Pity for the Guilty is Treason to the Innocent.
|FaLLeN|-Melting heads since 2002
i did see (but didn't really
i did see (but didn't really hear because i was at a bar) that matt serra made a response in an interview on ABC. did anyone else see that? obviously he thought the piece was biased and i saw him laughing it off mostly but i'd like to know what he said.
ABC=AMERICA'S BROADCAST of
ABC=AMERICA'S BROADCAST of COMMUNISM
Matt Serra the mouthpiece of
Matt Serra the mouthpiece of modern MMA - God save us all - HAHA! It was great when Rich Franklin was the champ only because he is such a good personality and face for MMA... well eductated (masters degree I think?), looks like Jim Carry (how bad can a guy that looks like Jim Carry be?)... now we have Matt Serra and Kimbo Slice as the mouthpieces for our sport. Please GSP - please dont lose again!!!
BTW - Thanks for the letter MMAcademics and Fight Ticker. Hopefully this works two-fold and not only adds some balance to the discussion but also helps to elevate each of you.
Update. I've emailed this
Update. I've emailed this letter to Ms. Canning and Ms. Roberts. I will let you know if I receive a reply.
yeah i'd like to see GSP get
yeah i'd like to see GSP get more press. he'd be a great face to the sport.
Update. HDNet Fights has
Update. HDNet Fights has linked to this letter: http://www.hdnetfights.com/
We're gaining steam with this movement!
Wow. Great response. ABC's
Wow. Great response. ABC's piece was biased and ignorant. I hope they at least respond to the letter so we can all watch as she inserts her (most likely if she was an ex b-ball player) enormous foot in her mouth.
Thanks for all the support!
Thanks for all the support! I'm proud to be part of this movement. I actually am a big fan of Robin Roberts, and I hope some good, constructive discussion comes out of this. I just saw the link to this thread posted up on HDNet Fights...awesome!
Check out Fighting for Acceptance - the nation's first and only political book that supports MMA, based on interviews with Coutuer, Rampage, Hendo, Mayhem, Mezger, McKee, Leben, and many more.
sam caplans thoughts on kids
sam caplans thoughts on kids in mma...
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/story/2008/3/31/12236/6017
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Dr. Mayeda/Pramit, Thank
Dr. Mayeda/Pramit,
Thank you for enunciating clearly what we all felt. It was too easy for ABC to produce a critical article without doing any research and providing a point of view vice providing a well researched informational piece and let the public decide for themselves.
It's a great letter, but I
It's a great letter, but I would be shocked if they respond.
Of course they won't. But,
Of course they won't. But, that in and of itself is telling and speaks volumes to the fact that they have no basis for the report.
You know how when reporters
You know how when reporters want to make the point about thier position/story they call out the other party by saying, "so-and-so refused/declined to comment" or "so-and-so could not be reached"... you should put out a press release saying, ABC refused to comment. Heh.
or ABC is a bunch of jack
or ABC is a bunch of jack holes...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
yeah sam caplan is an idiot.
yeah sam caplan is an idiot. he's worse than ABC. much worse.
he says absolutely NO minors
he says absolutely NO minors fighting...i don't get it. whats so bad?
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Should we get someone on
Should we get someone on Toe-to-Toe radio against minors learning this sport...and then question the hell out of them?
Sure. If you want, I can
Sure. If you want, I can hook you up with Sam. That would be entertaining...
that would be entertaining.
that would be entertaining. and get someone who has no clue about mma too, so we can laugh at them...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
I think it would make for a
I think it would make for a cool 3-4 minutes segment...
After we set it up...we'll field questions from everyone...
next sam caplan should say
next sam caplan should say they should get rid of youth football, because of the contact. little league, because the kids can get hit my a pitch of a line drive. also, bowling because they could slip on the slippery floor and break their necks.
all kids should just sit at home and play video games, until parents complain that video games causes columbine situations....what a catch 22.
tell sam that he doesn't
tell sam that he doesn't make sense, that he should read a book on how to make sense...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
Another article someone just
Another article someone just directed me to...we have a lot of work to do:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080328-9999-1n28fight.html
oh god...those comments are
oh god...those comments are going to make me jump out a window. people are so naive.
Wow, let's start a separate
Wow, let's start a separate blog entry for this. I haven't finished it and there are already a bunch of factual errors in this piece....
Example: "CBS announced a deal last year to broadcast prime-time fights" -- try last month, not last year.
I also saw a reference to tournaments...
people generally don't get
people generally don't get mad with youths doing wrestling, boxing, or karate so who cares if they combine all three?
I think we should start
I think we should start promoting Xbox and PS as excellent alternative to sports or really any type of physical activity. We want to protect our children and make sure they never get hurt in any way and sports is far too dangerous. Of course, we should also promote thumb protectors and start pre-emptively prescribing arthritis medicine as the controllers can be hazardous to the joints in your hands. Perhaps promoting an erganomically correct game-controller as well.
Really, it's not even safe for the children to be outside... the UV light from sun can cause cancer... so really it's safest if we just keep them on the soft couch (preferrably without wood railings, only soft arms). This really is the best for them. Besides, who wants children that are physically fit, confident, and having a healthy appreciation for athletic competition? I prefer children to be pudgy, video game addicts who yell obsenities through XboxLIVE with no parent supervision.
kids shouldn't jump in
kids shouldn't jump in puddles of water, they might slip...i see caplans kids in a bubble, with laminated comic books so they won't get paper cuts.
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
HA! This is the type of
HA! This is the type of stupid response that leaves me scratching my head...
In response to that article by Jeff McDonald that MMAcademics posted someone said:
"I remember when I was twelve, my father and his boxing buddy squared off my best friend and I to a friendly neighborhood boxing match.
First it started out as something very innocent and in a short period of time over several matches, they graduated us into bare-fist fight.
There was nothing sporting, disciplined or any fitness about it, I could only see the thirst to see blood in my father and his buddy's eyes.
The neighbors and my friend's mom got involved and put and end to that so-called sport....my friend and I never saw each other in the same light again....I didn't see my father in the same light as I once used to and I lost respect for his best buddy who was like an uncle to me."
WTF is he takling about?? What does that have to do with MMA and competitions??? This is exactly the type of thing that any self-respecting 'MMA' gym would completly denounce. I cant speak for every gym, but at ours there is a complete zero tolerance for being in any form of a 'street fight' ESPECIALLY against someone untrained. Once you are suspended from training for a period of time, the second time you are never allowed back.
...just read the article,
...just read the article, idiots, man. idiots...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
meanwhile sam caplan's kids
meanwhile sam caplan's kids are picking up girls on the street corner on saturday night while high on LSD...but at least they're not doing MMA.
Another professor down in
Another professor down in the San Diego area alerted me to the article. Should we get another response letter going? I could ask her if she would like to chime in as another advocate along with us. Maybe we could get an Op-Ed published in that newspaper. Let me know. You all know, I'm game.
Does anyone here have kids,
Does anyone here have kids, and if so, do they train any martial arts? Just curious.
Rate fights at
http://www.mma.kamander.com
if i had kids, and they were
if i had kids, and they were interested in learning MMA i would let them. (you know, all the while living through my kids because i failed as a person just like that article suggests)
i say beaty pagents are far more dangerous for kids than mma...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
i don't have any kids, but
i don't have any kids, but my brother and i used to practice MMA in the basement all the time back in the ufc 1->10 days...and my parents had no problem with it because they knew we had wrestling, judo, and karate backgrounds and knew we weren't going to actually hurt each other minus some bruises and the occasional sprained bone. my parents are EXTREMELY conservative too but at at least they were smart enough to know that it was better for us to do it in the basement than doing drugs on the street or something else.
i do think we should get another response letter going.
if i did have kids
if i did have kids though...i'd actually PREFER them to practice MMA than baseball, or basketball, or football...ie, "popular" sports.
Go to the "members blog"
Go to the "members blog" page to the right and start asking questions for Caplan
I dont have any children yet
I dont have any children yet (or at least any that I claim!) but we do have one on the way. I already have plans to have them in the gym and on the mat - probably before he/she can walk.
I believe it is so much better to have your kids in something like MA, MMA, or wrestling at a young age than most other sports. There is a discipline and self-restraint that is taught, and learned that builds confidence and character like nothing else. It's not about showboating or showing someone else up like it is in so many other sports, about developing yourself improving your abilities/technique/discipline. Nothing against team sports, they are important for kids to learn/play too... but I'm partial to the 'discipline' sports...
Just another case of people
Just another case of people rushing to judgement and running their mouths before getting their facts straight. If we were to make comments on something they were interested in without truly doing our homework and making non-sensical comments we would be lambasted.
Godfather and all-around Mafia Aficionado
Co-Founder of The MMAFIA
Live Blogger for Fightticker.Com
Ms. Roberts was gracious
Ms. Roberts was gracious enough to respond to an email I sent to ABC News with a link to the letter.
Here is the body of the email in full. It's a start:
"Dear Pramit,
I sincerely appreciate you bringing this to our attention. I am sorry you took offense to our piece. I apologize for that.
We will certainly keep in mind your concerns and comments for any future stories.
Thank you very much.
Robin"
wow...you got a response
wow...you got a response huh? I'm actually very impressed. Hey Pramit if you ever go on Good Morning America I'm coming with bro, your just too pretty for TV
We need a Big Mac Attack to kick these people in the ass. Word.
That's kind of awesome that
That's kind of awesome that she responded to the email. Good deals.
its just a standard
its just a standard response. they probably get a million complaint letters for every piece they put on the air.
Something tells me they
Something tells me they didn't get much complaining on this one...But as Papa has stated it's a fairly generic response... Still, it's an important first step. We just need to keep fighting the good fight. It will pay off one day down the road...
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