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 MMAyou.com is proud to bring on board, David Mayeda, author of Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society. Mayeda will be answering questions from our readers along with sharing information about his book and also some great quotes from various fighters.
Aloha MMAyou.com readers!
Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society is the first research- and politically-based book delving into the world of mixed martial arts. The book was written by myself and David Ching. Both of us taught at the University of Hawaii for a few years before moving on to our current careers in research and finance. In order to do the research for Fighting for Acceptance, we held in-depth interviews with 40 mixed martial artists, including "Rampage" Jackson, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Antonio McKee, Frank Trigg, Chris Leben, and Guy Mezger, so we interviewed some pretty big names. But we also made sure to interview men who were just getting started in MMA and other veterans, which enabled us to get a wide variety of opinions on the topics we investigated.
We asked these guys about the struggles they face in terms of being accepted in society as athletes and simply as people, if they thought MMA's exploding popularity might increase street/school violence, what needed to be done to improve fighters' rights, what their childhoods were like, MMA media trends, and a whole host of other topics not normally addressed. We also made sure to compare injury rates in MMA to other sports, and not just with boxing. In addition, we compared MMA to sports like football, hockey, soccer, and basketball in order to show readers that although MMA may have some safety concerns, our sporting culture as a whole can be pretty dangerous.
The final chapter of Fighting for Acceptance focuses on my training and entrance into a small amateur MMA competition, well, sport pankration and submission grappling. I'm no MMA fighter, but I gave a less rigorous version of the sport a shot. The book's Forward is written by Jason "MayheM" Miller, who is also on the cover and one of the interviewees. If you have questions about Fighting for Acceptance or anything else, hit me up here on MMAYou.com. I'll be answering questions every two weeks. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
David Mayeda, PhD
Quotes from Fighting for Acceptance:
"…when the sport first came out, it was marketed as a barbaric spectacle, you know, two guys go into the cage, and one guy comes out type of thing…. That's not exactly how it was…it's drastically changed since then." - Dan Henderson
"It (MMA) looks worse, but it's a hundred times safer than boxing or kickboxing. First of all, you don't get too much head trauma. On average, seven boxers die a year, on average ... In boxing, you watch a boxer, you see him get dropped, they fall down, they get an eight-count. And then they continue to fight. In my sport, if you get dropped clean like that, the fight is over." - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
"…to be a real man, you stand up for what you believe in and you don't have to fight. And he knows when to turn and walk away and knows the consequences of his actions and doesn't need to go there unless his life's in danger and then it's a whole different situation…. And if this sport has done one thing, it's given me confidence to do a whole bunch of things that I never thought I'd be able to do. And I've never had to fight to do them." - Randy "The Natural" Couture
"…the reason guys, kids fight, teenagers fight on the street most of the time is to prove themselves. They don't fight to survive. They fight to prove themselves, and if you train in the gym everyday, then you're confident. You don't have to prove yourself. I've never known a great fighter that had to tell you he was great fighter…. So you'll find that with greatness comes humility." - Chris "The Crippler" Leben
From Jason "MayheM" Miller's Forward:
"For the next few hundred or so pages, David Mayeda should take you through the sport's long journey, through its inception as a violent spectacle to its current stage, now considered the fastest growing sport in America. During that journey, you will get to hear from some of the sport's biggest stars, many of whom have walked down the long and twisted road that is mixed martial arts, often stumbling, and at times crawling, but now standing tall and proud as a staple in mainstream American culture."
From Guy Mezger's Review of Fighting for Acceptance:
"Rarely does an author take time to explore the various angles of a sport from the athletes' perspective. Dave did a great job giving a clear picture of today's MMA athletes, from what motivates them as a whole to how they view themselves. It is an interesting and easy read for both the fan and the critic."
To purchase Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society click here.
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