Fragments of FranceMixed martial arts, the professional practice of which was legalized in 2020 in France, is attractive with its multidisciplinary aspect. In this city of the Loire, they are even taught to children.
Today is the big day. Everyone was hoping for a little more sun to take the picture, but they will do with the drops. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region sent two representatives for the occasion. After saying to each other “Enchanted” by the activity of their hosts, “In the service of youth”, they handed over to the association Born to Fight (NPC), the keys to a sparkling blue minibus.
In all, the region distributed half a thousand similar vehicles to basketball, handball or hockey clubs. But what takes place that day on a damp sidewalk in Saint-Chamond, in the Loire, has a different flavor. The new owner of the vehicle is not just any neighborhood association. He organizes the practice of MMA (for mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts), a reputedly ultra-violent combat sport whose professional practice in France only legalized in January 2020.
“Until then, we had to rent cheap buses that broke down halfway to go and fight in Switzerland or Belgium”, remembers Sylvain Thomas, whose powerful muscles can be seen under the T-shirt. A 42-year-old nurse, known locally for his fight in favor of hospitalized children, he created Born to Fight in 2018. Passionate about MMA, he wants to give back his sport ” accessible to everyone “. In this new 2021 school year, the structure has a little more than 200 members. Some combat sports specialists but above all a majority of children, some of whom are barely 5 years old. The courses are almost all full.
The practice of mixed martial arts was born in the United States in the early 1990s. It then took the form of televised fights, the rules of which were almost non-existent. Bloodied brawls and anthologies of K.-O. : the formula met with immediate success… and a flood of criticism. In the 2000s, strict supervision of the discipline allowed it to gain legitimacy at the world level, and MMA gradually took shape as a combat sport in its own right. “It is a sport which has a dynamic opposite to what we usually see: a media show, created for professional fighters, but which will then seduce many amateur practitioners”, explains Matthieu Quidu, sports sociologist and associate professor of PE at the Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) in Lyon.
Contact and solidarity
In 2020, France, then one of the last countries in the world to ban this discipline, decides to recognize it. Before being able to have its own official federation, by 2024, MMA is placed under the aegis of the French Boxing Federation, in order to supervise the practice and give common training to those who teach it.
You have 64.65% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.