The Hollywood movie star and martial artist Jackie Chan recently gave his opinion on mixed martial arts as a sport. He believes that putting two men in a cage is extremely violent and it disrespects martial arts as a whole. Whether many of us MMA fans disagree with him or not, Jackie Chan should be respected for exposing his martial arts background and knowledge to the public in real life competition and through movies.
For those that don’t know, the Hong Kong native has martial arts skills that came from practicing the arts while at the Chinese Opera Research Institute, headed by Master Yu Jim Yuen. However, he did eventually train specifically in Hapkido, earning his blackbelt under Grandmaster Jin Pal Kim. All told, Chan has trained in Shaolin Kung-fu, Karate, Judo and Hapkido.
From Jackie Chan:
“I don’t like to see Ultimate Fighting…as a martial artist, I find it too violent putting them in a cage. At the end, it’s not fighting anymore. That’s not the martial arts. Martial arts is about respect. When somebody is knocked down, stop. I really respect Sugar Ray Leonard. Come on, [when a guy is down] stop. Don’t fight. That’s not the spirit. When you’re down, I’ll grab you up. Are you okay? Should we continue? That’s the martial arts spirit. That’s what I want.”
