Freestyle fighting

infobox martial art

---

imagecaption = Rashad Evans striking Tito Ortiz
name = Freestyle Fighting
aka = Mixed Martial Arts
focus = Striking, Grappling
hardness = full contact
famous_pract = Kimbo Slice, Rashad Evans
olympic = No

Freestyle Fighting is a synthesis of various styles of martial arts such that the practitioner is free from only one style and able to use whatever is necessary to defeat the opponent. It varies from practitioner to practitioner in both and effectiveness, and has become very popular in today's mixed martial arts or no-holds-barred fighting competitions.

Meaning

Freestyle fighting does not mean the fighter is entirely void of style. It is instead a combination of any technique, style, or concept/philosophy, similar to Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Like Jeet Kune Do, the term freestyle is also generic and can be used by anyone at any time. The name is thought to mean the same as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), which refers to the combat sport. Freestyle fighting can refer to using anything possible, including things that are not allowed in competitions like biting and eye gouging unlike "Mixed Martial Arts."

Practitioners

The name "freestyle fighter" may be used by anyone who chooses to use it. A Karateka may use freestyle fighting if he prefers because it is a generally open term though usually when someone is a freestylist, they emphasize independently observing techniques to learn how they are used. In Puerto Rico, freestyle Goju-ryu is commonly practiced by Goju-ryu pracititioners who felt the art was too crystalized or too linear and began to research it themselves to find what is practical. This is one example of freestyle fighting. There are also those athletes who refer to their styles as freestyle such as Kimbo Slice, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Remy Bonjasky and Rich Franklin.

Outside of fighting systems popular in competitions, some forms of fighting used among freestyle fighting practitioners include:

*Jeet Kune Do
*Karate
*Muay Thai

Another example of freestyle fighting is street fighting. Street fighters are people who make use of fighting knowledge they gather for themselves without any commitment to a martial art and adding only what they find useful to their arsenal while fighting or even gathering knowledge from any source including books and other street fighters. Even with freestylists who do commit to the martial arts, the "street fighter's mentality" (no rules in a fight) is usually adopted.

See also

* Mixed martial arts
* Hybrid martial arts
* Street fighting
* Combat sports